“All work and no play, makes Cassandra a dull girl.” He runs his finger along my cheek.
I shiver in repulsion. God, why are some men such pigs?
“Firstly,” Lucas growls as he pulls Eugene’s hand from me. “Her name is Cassie, not Cassandra. Secondly, she said no, and she doesn’t need to give you an excuse as to why she said no. You’re old enough to be her grandfather.”
A few chuckles sound around the table.
“Eugene,” Graham says thickly. “My office, now.”
Eugene gets to his feet and follows Graham out of the office. “Discuss colors, when I get back, I want colors to be decided on so we can get moving with this project.”
The moment the door closes, the rest of his team talk among themselves, trying to figure out what colors would go best for the new brand. Lucas takes Eugene’s empty chair. “That fucker should never have touched you,” he growls.
The urge to roll my eyes is strong, but I know that if he sees it, he’ll only get even more pissed. “I’m fine, it’s something that I’m used to, what most women are used to. Men think that they’re entitled to touch, flirt, and date me. When I say no, they get angry and try to embarrass us.”
“It’s not fine, it’s far fucking from it and that asshole should be fired. Had it been one of my employees that did it, they’d have been out the door without a discussion.”
“You’re only saying that because you’re pissed he touched me. Something you can’t do.”
Oh Jesus, there’s something wrong with me. I can’t stop poking the beast.
His nostrils flare, but thankfully he doesn’t say anything, and Graham returns sans Eugene, which I’m grateful for.
“Colors?” he questions as soon as he enters the room.
His team fire off six different colors, and I inwardly wince, that’s not a good look. Who matches red, yellow, blue, black, gray, and gold. Damn, that’s just awful.
“Ms. Carter, you’re not convinced?” Graham says.
I shake my head. “No, I’m sorry, while I agree that a bold color is needed, I do think only one bold color is needed. Green and gray are a perfect combination with swirls of silver around it.
Graham smiles and nods. “I agree, make me a mockup for tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, sir,” I reply instantly.
“We’ll reconvene tomorrow morning at eight am. Do not be late,” he announces to the room, and with that he leaves, and everyone else gets to their feet.
* * *
“Mr. Greenwood, once again, you have outdone yourself,” Graham says as he shakes Lucas’ hand. “I hope you’ll be offering Ms. Carter a full-time position.”
We’ve been here for four days and finally have everything ready for Graham’s campaign. It should be going live two days after Christmas. I’m exhausted, since we arrived here, I haven’t had time to think, let alone breathe. It’s been intense but also one of the best experiences of my life.
Lucas chuckles. “Absolutely,” he replies quickly, his gaze firmly on me. “It’ll be up to Cassie if she accepts my offer or not.”
His words send shivers through my body. Lucas and I have tried our hardest to be professional, but it’s been torture for me. Whenever he’s around, my body hums with electricity, I want him, hell, I want him more than anything, but I can’t have him. He’s my stepfather, he’s married to my mother for Christ sake. There’s nothing that can come from this attraction. But Lucas’ words and his heated looks spur me on, they’re pushing me to a point where I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. Do I walk away from this internship and hope that I can find something as amazing as this, not to mention walk away from a connection that I have never felt before or do I stay and get everything I could have ever hoped but be the bitch because everyone will think that I’ve stolen my mom’s husband. They’ll see me as the tramp that slept with her stepfather. I’ll never be seen as Cassie, just the whore.
“Cassie, take him up on the offer,” Graham says. “You’re extremely talented, and working for Lucas would skyrocket your career.”
I smile as I shake his hand. “Thank you,” I say shyly. “It’s been an amazing experience working with you.”
“I’ll say,” Graham laughs. “Now y’all should head for the airport, the weather is meant to turn rather nasty. If you don’t leave soon, you could be stuck here.”
We say our goodbyes and exit the office building. Graham was not wrong, the weather has started to pick up, the snow is falling thicker, and it’s like a blanket that’s covering the road. I just hope that we’re able to get our flight.
We climb into the car that Lucas hired yesterday as the weather started to turn. I climb into the passenger's side and reach for my cell, glad that he’s driving, and I get a small reprieve. Things have been crazy busy but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’m looking forward to having a long relaxing hot bath and sleeping in until noon. The office is now closed due to it being Christmas in two days. Which means that I have ample time to destress and unwind before I have to muster the courage to spend a day entertaining my mom’s maliciousness.
By the time we arrive at the airport, my heart has sunk, there’s no damn way that we’re going to make it back home today, hell, I’d be surprised if we could get a flight home before Christmas day. The snow storm is raging on stronger than ever, it’s getting so bad that it’s almost impossible to see out of the window.