The CEO's Little Surprise by Kat Cantrell Read Free Book Online Page B

more of a challenge because she seemed to have developed Gage-proof armor.
    Dinner was supposed to level the playing field. Warm up that ice so he could get her used to the idea of selling him the formula because she recognized what she owed him. She might be willing to talk to the other ladies about the formula, but he needed her to convince them, not talk about it. For that, she had to be totally in his corner. How was he supposed to get her there when he couldn’t get his feet under himself long enough to figure out what game she was playing?
    â€œUh...” Brain not engaging. He shook off the Cass stupor. “It’s only early if you’re more than fifteen minutes ahead. Technically, I’m right on time.”
    â€œWhere are you taking me for dinner, Mr. Right-on-Time?” She cocked her head, sending her dangly diamond earrings dancing.
    His body was not interested in food. At all.
    â€œI’ll let you choose,” he allowed magnanimously. “Since you cancelled your previous plans.”
    Not for the first time, he wondered what she’d told the poor schmuck she’d ditched, who’d likely spent all day anticipating his date with Cass. Had she admitted to her date that an old boyfriend had unexpectedly come to town? A business deal had suddenly fallen in her lap that she needed to attend to? She had to wash her hair?
    It probably didn’t matter. She’d be forgiven for breaking the date regardless. Cass was a gorgeous, sophisticated woman who ran a multimillion dollar company and she likely had her pick of companions. Suave execs, successful doctors, cut athletes with Pro-Bowl or all-star credentials. The dating circles were wide open and she was most definitely sleeping with someone . A woman like Cass wouldn’t be alone except by choice.
    That burn in your gut? Feels a lot like jealousy.
    Ridiculous. So Nicolas didn’t get it right all the time.
    Gage and Cass hadn’t been an item for nearly a decade. Sure, he’d thought about her and wondered what might have been if he wasn’t so averse to being tied down, but he hadn’t spent all his nights alone since then either. Though lately, a couple of hours at the dog park with Arwen was more fun than wading through the pool of women in his circle. That was the one downside to guarding your freedom so ferociously—you went through eligible women pretty quickly.
    â€œThat’s so generous of you to let me pick after leaving me so few choices otherwise,” she said, infusing it with enough sarcasm to clue him in that she still wasn’t clear on what she owed him.
    â€œYou always have choices,” he countered. “One just might lead to a different place than the other.”
    â€œWell said.” With a cryptic nod, she brushed past him onto the front steps, engulfing him in a delicious haze of jasmine and other exotic spices. On Cass, the scent was half “come and get me” and half “I’m untouchable.” A thoroughly arousing combination.
    Somehow, he managed to drive to the restaurant without veering off into a ditch. Or a shadowy hiding place between two buildings where he could ravish the cool beauty in the next seat. If he wanted her willing, he had to get back on track. But the ice in her spine seemed extra hard and cold tonight.
    The restaurant was as highbrow as they came, making him glad he’d tossed a suit in his overnight bag, just in case. The maître d’ led them to a secluded table in the back, exactly as Gage had instructed, and left them blessedly alone.
    Except Gage still didn’t know how to play this dinner. Seduction or strategy? Which would get him an invitation through the front door of Cass’s house at the end of the night? Because seduction might be the only way to get what he wanted in the end. A sated Cass might make for a much more reasonable Cass. But they did need to work together on the leak or the formula would be