One Season And Dynasties Collection

He let out a groan. ‘I can guarantee I’ll love the under wear—no matter what colour. But what I love most is what’s underneath. He traced his fingers down her throat as she arched her back in response. Then slid his hand underneath her, unfastening her bra strap and leaving her breasts exposed. ‘Now, what can I do with these?’ he murmured.

Cass pushed herself upwards, her breasts towards his mouth. ‘You can start by getting rid of the rest of these clothes,’ she commanded as she undid the buttons on his jeans, before wriggling out of her own. She waited as he discarded his jeans and underwear, before pushing him down on the bed and setting her legs astride him.

‘I like this,’ he murmured. ‘A woman who likes to be in charge.’

‘Oh, I’m always in charge,’ she breathed in his ear as she ran her hands down his chest. ‘And anyway, I’m examining your skin. You’re way too tanned.’ Her hands stopped at his nipples, brushing around them onto the fine hair on his chest. ‘I feel it’s my duty to check you for any areas of concern.’ She lifted her hips and rubbed against him again.

He groaned. ‘Anywhere in particular you’d like to start?’

She smiled and leaned over him again, her hardened nipples brushing against the skin on his chest. She swayed against him. ‘I’ll need to think about that.’

Brad let out a primal roar. He grabbed her and flipped her around on the bed so he was poised above her. ‘Enough teasing. You’re going to be the death of me.’

His fingers reached down and dispensed with her g-string. She could feel the heat rise inside her. She was aching for him. He touched her and she gasped, tilting her hips upwards to him. ‘Oh … this is going to be so good.’

‘You bet it is,’ he whispered in her ear, the stubble on his jaw scraping her shoulder.

‘Mmm … Where else am I going to feel that?’

‘Wherever you like.’

He moved for a second, reaching into the nearby drawer, and she heard the rustle of a condom wrapper being opened. Ten seconds later he was above her again. ‘Are you ready?’ he whispered.

‘Oh, yes …’ She opened her legs further and gasped as he plunged inside her.

He stopped, just for a second. ‘Okay?’

She took a deep breath, while the full sensation surrounded her. Then she pulled his hips even closer, taking him deeper inside. ‘Don’t you dare stop,’ she groaned. ‘I’ve got you just where I want you.’

‘Ditto.’ He smiled again as he moved slowly, building momentum between them as he trailed a line of kisses down the side of her face and throat.

And there it was—the fever that had been building between them for weeks. All the looks and lingering glances. All the brief touches. All the electricity buzzing around them like fireflies. The first kiss, with its strained finish. All building to this crescendo, where nothing and no one could get between them.

Cassidy could feel her skin start to tingle. Nothing else was more important than this. Nothing else had ever felt as good as this. Nothing else had ever felt this right. This was perfect.

She let herself go, throwing her head back and crying out his name, as she felt him stiffen at the same time.

She felt her body turn to jelly, the air whooshing out from her lungs. Brad was still above her, his whole body weight now resting on her, his heart thudding against her chest.

She let out a laugh. Sweat slicked them together as she gave him a playful push. ‘Move, mister, I can hardly breathe.’

He pushed himself up and sagged down beside her.

‘Wow.’

Cassidy was breathing heavily, her eyes staring up at the ceiling and fixing on the still-pink light shade above her. She turned to the sandy-blond head on the pillow beside her, a smile creeping across her face. ‘Yeah, wow,’ she murmured.

CHAPTER FIVE

8 November

THE early-morning Scottish light crept across the room. Even on the greyest days the sun’s rays sneaked through the clouds and scattered this room with light. Brad’s brain was fuzzy. Something was different. Something had changed.

Then he felt a movement beside him, and the memories of the night before crowded into his brain. Cassidy. Wow.

Then something else hit him, charging from the dark recesses of his brain, and he stifled the groan in his throat. Melody. He hadn’t told her about Melody.

He turned around in the bed, resting his hand on his arm, staring at the sleeping figure beside him. Her chestnut curls spilled across the pillow that she had wedged half under her arm as she slept on her side, facing him.

She looked beautiful. Her fair skin was smooth and unlined. Cassidy. His distraction. The woman he’d lusted after for the last month.

But his stomach clenched. He was cringing. Things in his brain just didn’t add up. If Cassidy was only a distraction, why should he tell her about Melody? There should be no need.

But he knew better than that. No matter how many times he tried to use the word ‘distraction’ for Cassidy, she was much more than that.

In the last few weeks she had crept under his skin. Hearing her voice brought a smile to his face. Knowing she was working the same shift made his whole day seem brighter. And spending time with her outside work made the days speed past. He knew her habits—she liked to take her shoes off at the door, she sat on the left-hand side of the sofa, she only watched the news on one TV channel. His mood had lifted just by being around her.

His thoughts were always with his daughter but they didn’t consume every spare second of every day.

She made him happy. Cassidy made him happy. And he was about to jeopardise all that. He knew he should have told her about Melody. He’d meant to but just hadn’t found the appropriate time.

And now, after he’d slept with her, it seemed like a dirty secret. He almost wished he’d put a photo in the doctors’ office in the ward as soon as he’d started there. But the truth was that office was used by lots of doctors and it wasn’t appropriate to put a family picture in there. And he just hadn’t been ready to answer any difficult questions about his daughter.

But now? He sagged back against the pillows. It looked as though he was hiding something. It looked as though he deliberately hadn’t trusted Cassidy enough to tell her about Melody. How awkward was this conversation going to be?

He turned his head sideways to look at her again, to look at that perfect face before he ruined everything. A tiny part of him hoped that she wouldn’t be annoyed at all. Maybe she would shrug her shoulders and tell him that it was fine?

Who was he kidding? How would he feel if the shoe was on the other foot? If Cassidy had a child she hadn’t told him about? The thought was unimaginable. He could feel himself automatically shaking his head at the idea.

Things would be perfect if he could just freeze this moment in time. Keep everything just the way it was right now. Or, even better, just the way they’d been last night. That thought sent a smile across his face. If only …

A frown appeared on Cassidy’s brow then her eyelids flickered open. Those big brown eyes that pulled him in every time. A smile appeared on her face instantly. ‘Morning,’ she whispered.

Relief flooded through him. She hadn’t woken up and panicked. She seemed happy and comfortable around him. She obviously had no regrets about the night before. Not yet, anyway.

‘Morning,’ he whispered back. He couldn’t help it. He was immediately drawn to her. He wanted to touch her, taste her skin again. He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose.

A glint appeared in her eyes. Memories of last night? ‘Wow,’ she whispered again, her soft breath on his face.

Brad couldn’t hide the smile. Her memories were obviously as good as his. If only every morning could be like this.

Her hand crept around his neck, and as much as he wanted to pull her closer and forget about everything else, he just couldn’t. He had to get this over and done with.

He shifted backwards in the bed. ‘How about I make you some breakfast?’ His legs hit the floor before she had a chance to answer, and he pulled his underwear and jeans on rapidly. ‘What would you like? Toast? Eggs? Bacon?’

Cassidy looked confused. She pushed herself upwards in the bed and adjusted the pillows behind her. ‘I’ll have whatever you’re making,’ she said quietly.

‘Great. Give me five minutes and I’ll give you a shout. Feel free to take a shower and freshen up.’ He leaned forwards and planted another kiss on her forehead before disappearing out of the door.

Cassidy sat for a few minutes, taking deep breaths. What just happened? They’d had a fabulous night, and he’d asked her to stay over. And for a few seconds this morning when she’d woken up, everything had seemed fine. So what had made him jump out of bed like a scalded cat?

She flung back the duvet and swung her legs out of bed, wincing at the cold air in the room. There was a navy-blue dressing gown hanging up behind the bedroom door, and she wrapped it around herself, then headed to the bathroom.

She flicked the switch for the shower, grabbing an elastic band that was sitting on top of the bathroom cabinet and twisting her hair back from her face as she sat at the edge of the bath for a few moments, trying to fathom what was going on.

Was Brad regretting their night together? The thought almost made her belly ache. She couldn’t imagine anything worse. Maybe he was only interested in the thrill of the chase and once that was over …

No. No, it couldn’t be that. She’d got to know him over the last few weeks, and he didn’t seem to be like that at all. Maybe he just felt awkward because it was the first time they’d woken up together?

Yes, that could be it. Her eyes fell to the sink. Brad had obviously been in here first as he’d left her a new toothbrush and toothpaste and a huge white soft towel. She stuck her hand under the shower. It had heated up perfectly, so she stepped into the steaming water.

There was almost a tremor on her skin. Her insides were coiling, to the point of almost feeling pain. She couldn’t bear the thought of Brad wanting to walk away after their night together. And it wasn’t about the humiliation or about being used. Although those things would be bad enough.

It would be the fact he didn’t feel the same connection that she did. The fact that his thoughts didn’t wander to her about a million times a day—the way hers did to him. It would be the fact he didn’t feel the constant zing between them. Those were the things she couldn’t bear.

She could still smell him on her skin and almost regretted having to wash it away, but the blue shower gel with its ocean scent reminded her of him again. She rubbed it into her body even harder, then a few minutes later stepped out of the shower and dried herself rapidly. It only took a few moments to realise she’d nothing to wear, so she padded back through to the bedroom and rummaged in a few of his drawers.

‘Cassidy! Breakfast!’

The smell was drifting through the house. Eggs, bacon and tea. Perfect.

‘Hey.’

She was standing in the doorway dressed in a pair of his grey jogging trousers and an oversized pale blue T-shirt. His clothes had never looked so sexy. Her hair was ruffled, some little strands around her neck still wet from the shower.

He pulled out a chair for her. ‘Have a seat.’ All Brad could think about right now was getting this over and done with. He had to come clean. Easier said than done.

He put the plates on the table and poured the tea while Cassidy watched him carefully. She wasn’t stupid. She knew something was going on.

She took a sip of her tea, chasing her eggs around the plate with her fork. Watching. Waiting.

Brad pressed his lips together. He reached across the table and took her hand. ‘Cass, there’s something I need to tell you.’

He could see the tiny flare of panic in her eyes that she was trying to control. She set her tea back down on the table. Her voice was steady. ‘So, what is it you want to tell me “the morning after the night before”, Brad?’

He winced. There was no getting around this. Cassidy didn’t even know what ‘it’ was—but the implication was there. If this was something important, he should have told her before he’d taken this relationship to the next level.

‘I have a daughter.’ The words were blurted out before he had a chance to think about it any longer.

‘What?’ The shocked expression on her face was very real. This was the last thing she’d expected to hear.

Brad took a deep breath. ‘I have a daughter, Melody. She’s nearly four.’ His heart was beating against his chest, the words clambering to his mouth—he just couldn’t speak quickly enough right now. ‘I haven’t seen in her over two years. Her mother, Alison, disappeared with her. We had a …’ he flung his hands in the air ‘… sort of informal custody arrangement. Alison was a doctor as well, and we looked after Melody between us.’

Cassidy’s face looked set in stone. ‘She was your wife? Your girlfriend? The one you told me you didn’t have?’ Her tone said it all.

Brad spoke firmly. ‘She wasn’t my wife and she wasn’t my girlfriend, well, not after a few months. We had a very short-lived fling that resulted in Melody. We’d broken up by the time Alison discovered she was pregnant, and neither of us were interested in getting back together.’

He leaned back in the chair, wishing he could tell the whole story in the blink of an eye. Everything about this was painful to him. Every time he spoke about things, he thought about the mistakes he had made and what he could have done differently.

Anything that could have affected the eventual outcome.

Cassidy hadn’t moved. Her face was expressionless and her breakfast lay untouched in front of her.

‘I don’t really know what happened, Cass. I went to pick up Melody as arranged one day, and they were gone.’ He flicked his hand in the air. ‘Just like that.

Vanished. I was frantic. I went to Alison’s work and found out she’d resigned and no one knew where she’d gone. Some of her colleagues said she’d met a doctor from the US and been head over heels in love. They thought she might have gone to the US with him.’ He shook his head as a wave of desperation swept over him. It was the same every time he spoke about this.

‘I hired a lawyer and two private investigators and tried to track her down. I’ve been trying to track her down for the last two years—with no success. I haven’t seen or heard from her in two years. Right now, I have no idea how my little girl is, where she is or if she even remembers me.’ His eyes were fixed on the window, staring out into space.

Cassidy felt numb. ‘You have a daughter,’ she said.

He nodded, it appeared, almost unconsciously.

‘You have a daughter you “forgot” to tell me about?’ She couldn’t help it—she raised her hands in the air and made the sign of quotation marks.

She could feel rage and anger bubbling beneath the surface, ready to erupt at any moment. She hadn’t imagined anything the other night. It hadn’t been all in her head. It had been right before her eyes—or it should have been.

Brad looked in pain. He may have been gazing outside, but the look in his eyes was haunted. A father who had lost his child. She couldn’t begin to imagine the pain that would cause. But right now she couldn’t contain her anger.

‘Why didn’t you mention this before?’

He sighed. A huge sigh, as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. His gaze went to his hands that were clenched in his lap. ‘I know, I know, I should have. But it just never felt like the right time.’

‘How about as soon as you met me?’

His brow wrinkled. ‘Oh, yeah. Right. Pleased to meet you, I’m Brad Donovan. I’ve got a missing daughter, Melody, that I’ve been searching for the last two years. And before you ask—no—I’ve no idea why her mother disappeared with her. No—I didn’t do anything wrong or mistreat my child. Yes—I’ve spent an absolute fortune trying to find her and I’ve been on two wild-goose chases to the US.’ He waved his hand in frustration. ‘Is that how you wanted me to tell you?’

Cassidy took a deep breath. She wanted to yell. She wanted to scream. She could see how damaged he was by all this. But she couldn’t see past how hurt she felt. Hadn’t he trusted her enough to tell her? He trusted her enough to sleep with her—but not to tell her about his daughter? It seemed unreal.

She looked around, her eyes scanning the walls. ‘So where are they?’

His brow furrowed. ‘Where are what?’

She threw her hands up in frustration. ‘The photos of your daughter. I’ve never seen a single one. Where do you keep them?’

He grimaced and stood up. She could hear him walking through to the living room and opening a drawer. He walked through and sat a wooden framed photograph down on the table.

Cassidy felt her heart jump into her mouth as she stared at the image in front of her. The gorgeous toddler with blonde ringlets and Brad’s eyes was as pretty as a picture. She felt her lip tremble and she lifted her eyes to meet his. ‘You put these away when you knew I would be here?’

He nodded. ‘I planned to tell you.’ He hesitated, having the good grace to look shamefaced. ‘I just hadn’t got around to it.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me when I first asked you about your family? When I asked you if you had a wife or a girlfriend? When I told you about my ex-fiancé and his new Miss Spain wife? How about telling me then? Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t that your ideal opportunity?’

She folded her arms across her chest. It didn’t matter that she’d tried to play down how hurt she’d been over her breakup with her fiancé. The fact was she’d told him about it—albeit in sparing detail. There was no way he was getting away with this. She didn’t care about the wonderful night before. She didn’t care how many times he’d taken her to heaven and back.

This was about trust. This was about honesty. This was about the things you should tell someone before you slept with them.

Brad shook his head. ‘You make it all sound so simple, Cass.’

She cringed. The exact thought she’d had when he’d asked her about Bobby. ‘It is.’

‘No. It’s not.’ His voice was determined. ‘Okay, so you may have asked me about a wife or girlfriend—and I didn’t have either, so I didn’t tell you any lies. And I’d only just met you then, Cass. I don’t want everyone to know my business, and this isn’t the easiest thing to talk about. People talk. People make judgements.’ He pressed his fingers against his temples.

‘When Alison and Melody vanished at first, people were suspicious about me in Australia. People, colleagues even, wondered if I’d done something to them. It was only after the Australian police confirmed they’d left on an international flight that people stopped assuming I’d done something awful.’

Cassidy felt her heart constrict. It was something she hadn’t even considered. It hadn’t even entered her mind that someone would think like that about Brad. How could friends or colleagues have done that?

Her head was instantly filled with stories in the media, and after only a few seconds she realised it was true. As soon as anyone went missing, suspicion was generally directed at those around them. What on earth would that feel like?

She could only imagine the worst. The frustration of not knowing where your child was. Continually shouting but not being heard. It must have been excruciating.

He leaned his elbows on the table. His fingers moved in small circles at the side of his head. ‘It didn’t stop there either.’ He lifted his head and stared at Cassidy. ‘Once people realised I hadn’t done something unmentionable to them, they started to say that Alison must have done a runner with Melody to get away from me. As if I’d done something to my child.’

The words hung in the air. Too hideous for thoughts even to form.

‘Oh, Brad,’ she breathed. Now she understood. Now she understood the pain in his eyes. ‘That’s awful.’

‘You bet it is.’

A lump stuck in her throat. She was angry. She was hurt. And she had no idea what this could mean for them. But right now she had to show some compassion. She stood up, the chair scraping along the kitchen floor, and walked around to the other side of the table.

Brad looked as if he was in shock. As if he was wondering what she might do next.

She might never have had a child stolen from her, but she knew what it was like to be left.

Her parents had done it. Bobby had done it.

But she was calm and lifted his hands from the table, sitting down on his knee and wrapping her hands around his neck, hugging him closely. She could feel his tense muscles beneath her fingers, and she rubbed her hand across his back, waiting for a few moments until he relaxed and the pent-up strain had started to abate.

After a few minutes she leaned back, watching him carefully.

‘I’m not happy, Brad. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me something as important as this.’

She felt him take a deep breath. Right now his blue eyes were almost a window into his soul. She could see his regret. She could see his pain. And although hers could only pale in comparison, she wondered if he could see hers.

‘I didn’t mean things to turn out like this. This wasn’t in my plans.’

In an instant she could almost feel his withdrawal. The hackles rose at the back of her neck. ‘What do you mean?’

His hands touched her waist. ‘This. Us. I didn’t realise things would get so serious.’

‘What did you expect? You’ve practically spent the last five weeks by my side. Every time I turn around, you’re right there next to me. If you didn’t want us to be more than friends, you should have stayed away.’

She hated how she sounded. She hated the tone of her voice, but she just couldn’t help it.

The muscles on his shoulders tensed again and he blew some hair from his forehead, obviously in exasperation. What on earth was he thinking? She had a hollow feeling in her stomach. After the wonderful night before, did he want to walk away?

Everything about this was confusing. She didn’t even know how she felt about the fact he had a daughter—she hadn’t had time to process those thoughts. Why was she even considering any of this? Her head had always told her this relationship was a bad idea. She wanted someone who would stay in Scotland with her, and the sinking feeling in her stomach told her Brad could obviously never do that.

But her body and soul told her something else entirely. Brad was the first man in a long time that she’d been attracted to—that she’d even been interested in. She loved spending time in his company. She loved his normally easygoing manner. She loved the fact she could depend on him at work—his clinical skills and judgement were excellent.

But most of all she loved the way she felt around him. Even yesterday, in her grandmother’s house, doing a task that should have made her feel sad and depressed, there had been so much comfort from having Brad around.

And as for how her body reacted to him … that was something else entirely.

Brad reached up and touched her hair, winding his fingers through one of her curls. Her head tilted instantly—an automatic response—towards the palm of his hand. His eyes were closed. ‘How could I stay away from this, Cass?’

He pulled her head down and touched a gentle kiss to her lips. ‘You’re like a drug to me, Cassidy Rae. Apart from Melody, you’re the first thing I think about when I get up in the morning and the last thing I think about when I fall asleep at night.’ His eyes opened and she could tell instantly he meant every word.

This was no gentle let-down. This was no attempt to look for an excuse to end their relationship. He was every bit as confused as she was.

She pulled back. This was too much. She was getting in too deep. She pushed herself upwards, her legs trembling as she walked around to the other side of the table and pushed her untouched plate of food away.