Temptation's Kiss Ch. 04

Cassidy rolled over in bed and hit the snooze button on her alarm clock. It was Sunday. The shop didn't open on Sundays. There was absolutely no reason to get out of bed, Cassidy thought as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stretched.

With a yawn and a wistful glance at her bed, she stood and headed for her bathroom. Sunday was housework and grocery shopping day. It had been ever since she had opened the bookstore.

After a long steamy shower, Cass put on a pair of old jeans that were close to coming apart at the seams and a grey t-shirt that was fading and had definitely seen better days. She pulled her wet hair into a knot at the top of her head and walked into the kitchen.

Bypassing the Pop tarts, she grabbed a diet Dr. Pepper before pouring herself a bowl of frosted flakes and chopping up bananas in the sweet cereal.

She ate slowly, her mind drifting to thoughts of a certain dark haired man with dazzling green eyes.

Rand was nothing like she would have expected one of the richest people around to be like. He was generous, funny, and very intelligent.

Cassidy had read the tabloids and magazines about Randon Alexander Mitchell the third and had expected that he'd be a spoiled, arrogant, womanizer with no intelligence. He was seen with a different girl just about every week. She only hoped she'd be different. Rand had a whole string of heartbreaks trailing behind him and Cassidy didn't want to be added to the mix.

She shook her head to clear it of all thoughts of Rand. She'd known him for two days. It was no big deal.

When she was done with breakfast, she cleaned the apartment. The task didn't take long seeing as she usually picked up behind herself on a daily basis. She vacuumed, dusted, washed clothes, and polished the furniture. She cleaned the windows and the bathrooms and then deciding that everything was pretty much as clean as it was going to get, she left for the grocery store.

By the time noon came around, she was back home and sitting on her couch with a glass of tea and a book. She'd just began reading when the phone rang and she stood up to go answer it.

"Hello?"

"Cassidy, please tell me that you're not to busy to come shopping with one of your best friends in the entire world! I have a date tonight and absolutely nothing to wear!"

"Cora, you have a bigger closet filled with more clothes than half the population of the world."

"That's beside the point! I need to find the perfect outfit for my date!"

Cassidy sighed. "Okay, where and what time do I need to meet you?"

"The mall, in twenty minutes?"

"Gotcha." Cassidy said.

Twenty minutes later they she was pulling up to the mall. She'd changed into a pair of black jeans and a grey t-shirt.

Cora was waiting impatiently in the mall. Cassidy decided that it should be illegal for someone to look so good in sweat pants. She'd be tempted to hate Cora, if it wasn't for the fact that she was one of her best friends.

"There you are! I was beginning to worry something had happened to you. Come on we don't have all day. He's taking me to that fancy French restaurant. I need a knock 'em dead dress."

"Who is this guy anyway Cora?"

"Ryan."

"Oh Cora, please tell me you're not falling for him again. Do you remember what happened the last few times?" Cassidy groaned. Ryan was Cora off again on again boyfriend. He was jerk of the year and quite possibly the biggest asshole around.

"He promised me this time would be different. It's okay. I believe he was sincere."

Yeah he'd been sincere the last three times as well, Cassidy thought but chose to stay quiet. It was best not to argue with Cora, especially over men.

"I was thinking about a simple black dress, but I really want to wow him. Black is classic, but boring. Red is too slutty. I was thinking maybe something in green?" Cora rambled.

Cassidy sighed and agreed. It wasn't as if Cora needed her opinion when it came to clothes or shopping.

"So I hear someone had a date with Mr. Rich and infamous." Cora said as they walked into one store.

"Yes. It was a very nice date. I had a very nice time."

"Mhm. Is he nice in bed?"

"I wouldn't know." Cass laughed at Cora's expression. It was a cross somewhere between disbelief and horror.

"You went on a date with Mr. Fuck me I'm gorgeous, and you didn't sleep with him."

"No, I did not sleep with him Cora. It's not the end of the world. He's a nice guy and I like him. Not all dates end in sex."

"The good ones do."

Cass sighed and chose not to respond to the comment.

"Oh Cass this dress would look killer on you!" Cora said and held up a dark purple knee length cocktail dress with a high neckline and a plunging back.

"I came to help you shop." Cass reminded her.

"Just try it on!" Cora begged.

"Alright."

By then end of the shopping trip Cora had found herself a killer green dress, shoes, jewelry, and lingerie for her date. Not to mention three other bags full of clothes she just had to have.

Cass had bought the purple dress, as well as four pairs of new shoes, some new jeans, and two other bags full of items she'd fallen victim to. It wasn't her fault that the grey cashmere sweater had looked so good on her and was comfortable to boot. It was getting colder and she was going to need some sweaters pretty soon, she'd reasoned after looking at the forty dollar price tag. It made her feel a little better about that purchase. She came up with reasons she needed every new article of clothing. Except for the shoes. She could only come up with the fact that the shoes were amazing and she wanted them badly.

When she got home it was almost seven o'clock. She felt sleepy, and wanted a hot bath and a good night's sleep. She unloaded her new purchases into the already overflowing closet before running her bath water. Just as she was about to step into the steamy water, scented with lilac bath oil, the phone rang and she sighed in disappointment.

She wrapped herself in a towel and went to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey beautiful."

Cassidy's heart leapt at the sound of Rand's voice. She couldn't help her reaction to the man, God help her.

"Why hello there." She said with a slight laugh.

"What are you doing?"

"Well I was just about to get into the bathtub." She admitted.

"Tease." he joked and she sighed.

"What about you?"

"Well I was going to see if I could come over and share this large pepperoni and pineapple pizza with you, seeing as there is no way on earth I can eat it alone." He said, and Cass could hear the hopefulness in his voice.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"In the parking lot." He said nonchalantly.

"Someone's very confident in their ability to pursued me." she said and rolled her eyes, though he couldn't very well see her.

"I am indeed. So what do you say? Your bath will still be there when we finish the pizza."

"Oh fine come on up." she told him and hung up the phone.

She rushed into her room and through on a bra and some underwear under a pair of black yoga pants and a blue Colts t-shirt.

Her door bell rand and after letting the water out of the bathtub, she went to answer it.

Rand stood on the other side looking very sexy in a pair of worn jeans and a hoodies. His hair curled in a mad disarray on his head and his eyes shined with mischief. In his hand he had a large pizza box and Cass could smell the pizza inside.

"You're lucky you brought pizza." She said and let him pass.

"What? No thank you kiss?" he asked with mock innocence.

Cass took the pizza box from him and set it down on coffee table in the living room before turning to him. She stepped closer and put her arms around his neck, rising up a bit to place a soft kiss to his incredibly delicious mouth.

Before she could pull away, Rand arms wrapped around her waist bringing her closer, and he took control of the kiss. He deepened it, letting his tongue find its way into her mouth to dance with hers. Cass felt her head begin to swim as she kissed him back, arching slightly against him to feel his body next to hers.

All too soon he pulled away. Cass felt a bit of disappointment in ending the kiss but followed him down on the couch. "Anything good on TV?" he asked and opened the pizza box.

"I have no idea."

"Why don't we find something to watch?" he asked around a mouth full of pepperoni and pineapple pizza.

Cassidy shrugged and grabbed a piece of pizza for herself.

They settled on watching some very old Law and Order re-runs, which Cassidy didn't have a problem with. She liked the show.

"So, how was your day?" he asked her.

"Good, I cleaned, went to the grocery store, and went shopping with Cora." She said and laughed at his expression when she said shopping.

"I hate shopping. I like clothes, but I despise shopping with the fiery heat of a thousand suns." He said and shook his head. "I don't understand women's fascination with it."

"It's a mystery." She nodded and took a bite of pizza. "How was your day?"

"I spent time with my brother and his wife. Then I went and played a game of golf with my father, or actually attempted to play. I'm not very good at the game. Me and dad just go and enjoy hitting the balls and laughing at the ridiculous outfits some people wear." He told her.

"You're lucky to be so close to your parents."

"You aren't?"

"Not in the same way you are." She told him. "I love them, and they love me. We just never had that bond that you seem to have with your family."

"Not many families do." he said.

They devoured the entire pizza over the course of four Law and Order episodes. By the fifth one, they were sitting extremely close and Cassidy felt his hand rubbing up and down her arm. It was nice. Companionable. Then he leaned over and touched his lips to her forehead as if were the most natural thing in the world.

Cassidy looked at him and smiled. He leaned down to kiss her again and she sighed as his mouth met hers in a soft yet deep kiss that rocked her down to her toes. Before she knew what was happening, Rand had pulled her into his lap so that she was straddling him with his hands on her hips. The kiss had turned rough and just a bit untamed. It was a flurry of teeth, tongue, and lips that had her visibly shaking. His hands began to roam under her t-shirt and she groaned when they found her breasts through the thin material of her bra.

His lips moved to her neck, nipping at the soft skin just below her earlobe. She jumped a little at the intense pleasure that the draw of teeth on her skin brought to her. He pulled back for a brief moment, only to pull her t-shirt over her head and toss it somewhere on the floor. He pulled her back down for a mind numbing kiss as he expertly unhooked the claps of the dark grey bra. When it was gone, Cassidy moaned as his palms connected to the pale skin of her bare breasts. Her nipples hardened and she arched into his hands.

"You are too incredibly perfect, Cassidy." Rand said and stared at her for a minute. His hands made their way up to her hair and he tugged on the clip that was holding all the marvelous mass in place.

"No, I'm not." She said with a sigh as his hand threaded themselves through her hair. She'd always loved for people to touch her hair.

"Yes, you are." He told her firmly and pulled her back down for another kiss. This one was soft, sweet, and full of pure passion and want. It shocked her. She kissed him back putting everything she could into the kiss, everything she was feeling, though she wasn't quite sure what that was at the moment.

His arms wrapped around her, bringing her as close to him as possible and he started kiss, licking, and nipping his way down her neck. He took his time on her shoulder. He places soft wet kisses on the slope of her breast and then took one hard tip into his mouth to suckle gently.

Cassidy felt as if she were flying. Her eyes closed and her head fell back as his mouth made her weak. He moved to the other breast when she began to feel impatient.

She felt each draw of his wonderful tongue down to the very core of her body. Heat began to spread through her like wildfire.

His hands worked their way down to the waistband of her pants, and hid fingers skimmed the soft flesh just beneath, causing Cassidy to shiver. She wanted him. She wouldn't deny him if he wanted her. It was too much too fast, but she couldn't seem to help her reaction to him. There was something more than attraction. It was like she was being drawn to him.

She knew it wasn't love. It'd only been a few days since she'd met the man, for God's sake, but something about him tugged at her heart.

"Cass. I have to go." He told her with a sigh.

She looked at him and felt a little confused. He didn't want her? "Why?"

"I want you. I'm not use to denying myself what I want. It's hard on me, but I do not want to rush this. What I feel for you is more than simple lust. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it might mean something and I don't want to rush into anything that might jeopardize that." He told her with an apologetic smile.

Cassidy nodded and crawled off of his lap. She bent down to pick up her t-shirt and pulled it over her head.

"I better get going." Rand said. Five minutes later, after a brief goodbye kiss he was gone, and Cassidy was outright exhausted. She turned out all the lights in the house and collapsed into her bed, falling asleep almost before her head hit the pillow