Part 4
"Let's dance," Tom asked Cassy before she had time to process the fluttering in her stomach. Dumbly, she let him take her hand and excuse them from the table.
"About what she said," she began, intending to forestall any discussion of their alleged desire to have children.
"I know, I never saw anything about a kid either. I'm going to sneak off and call Harry and leave him a message to do a deeper check on this tennis pro in the morning," Tom interrupted.
"Good idea," Cassy said over the pounding of her heart and the music.
"Meet you at the table." Tom cut their dance short and walked off, as if they had a fight.
Cassy didn't feel like going back to the table and since there were other suspects who weren't at their table for her to meet she decided to take advantage of the opportunity. She took a circuitous route to the door out to the gardens intending to catch the attention of some of the women she had met earlier that day and garner some introductions.
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"How do these people do that day after day?" Tom asked as he jerked off his tie and tossed it over his shoulder where it landed in a pile of silk behind his seat.
"I'm sure they'd say the same thing about us," Cassy said primly, even as she toed off her shoes and let them lay carelessly before her sore feet. Closing her eyes she leaned her head back against the seat, once again grateful she had given in without an argument and let Tom drive the car. Not that she didn't plan to have a little fun with it before they had to return it.
"Think of it as a working vacation," she advised.
"If I did that, I'd never get the case solved," Tom said, his voice husky.
Cassy's eyes flew open as she felt Tom's finger trace down the length of her leg. When she looked, however, his hand was firmly on the stick shift and he was driving the powerful car away from the valet stand and out of the circular driveway. He looked completely unaware of what he had done.
It was a tight fit, he could have just been shifting, she surmised. She turned and looked out her window into the inky darkness. She was wide awake now.Without even being aware of it, she sighed into the quiet car, betraying her muddled thoughts.
If she and Tom were really a married couple and on vacation, she thought feverishly, he wouldn't have left her chilly and alone on that dance floor. He would have been holding her tightly against him and whispering sweet nothings in her ear. Like he had in the house before they had left for the evening. It was almost eery how much of this cover was reminding her of their actual marriage.
"Let's take advantage of that pool while we can, how about a midnight swim?" Tom asked.
"Might as well, I'm wide awake," Cassy said and stretched her legs the best she could in the small car.
"Must be the car, you looked all done in when we finally left the party," Tom drawled, casting a questioning glance at her.
"Just wanted to get out of there, our friends didn't seem to be leaving," Cassy lied.
"Hmmm." Tom shifted, his hand brushing against her thigh again.
Cassy felt a flush on her cheeks as Tom caught her gaze. Quickly, she looked away.What she didn't do, however, was attempt to move over in her seat.
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Cassy opened her eyes and for a moment was uncertain where she was. She looked over at the other side of the bed and quickly closed her eyes. Breathing through her nose she tossed back the bed coverings and planted her bare feet onto the carpeted floor. Opening her eyes she walked over to the glass doors and looked out at the ocean view beyond the pool. She opened the door and let the moist breeze slide over her skin and through her hair.
Feeling more awake and in control of her self she let her eyes drift down to the clear blue pool.
Last night after a tense ride home, at least for her, she and Tom agreed to take a midnight swim. It wasn't often they had the luxury and she knew she wouldn't get any sleep unless she worked herself tired. Clad in a prim one piece bathing suit of shiny yellow she had dived into the pool without a word to her waiting "husband." For the next half an hour or so she and Tom had enjoyed an unexpectedly fun time playing in the water together.
Suddenly, her heart began to race as she remembered her dream.
All the touching she and Tom had done in the pool, all under the guise of fun had left her hotter than she had been before diving under the cool water. A few times she was sure that he had been about to kiss her, other times that his hands brushing over her hadn't been an accident. She hadn't had the courage to call him on it. What would she have done if he confirmed the desire they both felt?
In real life, she and Tom had parted amiably at her bedroom door. In her dream they didn't make it inside the house before peeling the wet bathing suits from each other's bodies.
No, in the dream when her hand slid down his firm, wet chest and he grasped her fingers he didn't push and try and dunk her, but rather pressed it against his pounding heart and sent her "the smoldering look" that had always made her weak in the knees. Drawn in by his gaze she moved forward against the waves they had created and pressed her lithe form against his broad one. And then his hand cupped her...
"Stop it!" she commanded herself and turned determinedly towards the shower. They had a tee off time with their new friends and suspects in less than an hour.
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Tom was awakened by the sound of a door slamming.
"Ah, my lovely wife is awake!" he exclaimed as he bounded out of the bed he was disappointedly occupying, alone. Tom took a moment to enjoy the lovely view out his windows, the pool and ocean beyond. Stretching his arms over his head he let out an energetic yawn. He hadn't slept this well in months. He wasn't even going to try and pretend it was the laps he had done last night before Cassy had come down wearing that knock-out bathing suit that caused his welcome full night of sleep. No sense in pretending that it wasn't his decision to make this pretense of being husband and wife real. Or that his slow seduction wasn't producing sparks.
Nope, no sense in continuing this stupid self-denial that he had forced himself to live with since their divorce had been finalized, before they even had a chance to be married. The first year of marriage is the hardest all his friends told him, he hadn't believed it until it was too late. By the time he realized what had happened Cassy had run off in fear of doing irreversible damage to their relationship and he had let her. But surely they had proven their relationship could weather the worst storms. It was time they weathered them together.
Whistling, Tom stripped off his clothes and picked up a bathing suit.
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"Yes, Harry. No, Harry. We met most of them last night. Nothing yet. Fine, I'll tell him," Cassy pressed the kitchen phone off and put it on the counter as she filled her mug with freshly brewed coffee. Relishing a sip, she didn't turn around as the sliding glass door opened behind her.
"Smells good. Nice outfit," Tom remarked as rubbed a towel over his chest and took in his "wife's" very short golf outfit.
"You're dripping all over the floor!" Cassy exclaimed as she turned around and took in Tom wearing nothing but swimming trunks and water. He was indeed making a wet path to the coffee machine.
"What are you worried about? You don't have to clean it up," Tom said, undisturbed, as he dropped the towel on the floor and poured himself a cup of coffee and resumed his humming.
"Still." Cassy scowled at him.
"Aw, come on Mom," Tom put his mug down on the tiled counter and swept Cassy into his arms. He grabbed her coffee mug and put it down before he began to hum loudly and twirl her around the kitchen.
"Tom!" Cassy exclaimed.
"Yessss," Tom drawled as he dipped her and looked into her blazing eyes. Cassy's hands were braced on his bare, muscled back.
"You're getting me all wet!" she said.
"Am I?" Tom whispered loudly into her ear before swinging her up and letting her go.
Cassy's cheeks were flushed as she tried to salvage her white outfit.
"Wet t-shirt contest." Tom waggled his eyebrows as he picked up his coffee.
"It's not funny!" Cassy exclaimed.
"That's because you refuse to have a sense of humor," Tom shot over his shoulder as he walked out of the room.
Cassy put her hands on her hips as she watched him saunter out, her face torn between a scowl and smile. Finally, the smile won and with a shake of her head she picked her coffee up and took a gulp of her hot drink.
End Part 4