Resisting Cassidy (A Forbidden Romance)

Tate

Cassidy was in one of her bikinis again. I watched her bend down, patting the water off her legs after coming out of the pool. I could make out the line of her sweet, sexy ass, and I drowned my groan with a long pull of beer. I was ogling, and I was having a hard time hiding it. We were at her parents' house for one of her nephew's birthday bash. After how I'd acted the last few days, I vowed to make it up to her and Maddy by spending more time with them.

We hadn't ended up in bed since that first time. I had to work for it. Needed to prove I deserved her attention, her kisses, her touch, her body. My big mistake was telling her this, and now she was playing. Teasing me until I burnt to a crisp from wanting her so much. And she didn't care that her family was around.

"When is Maddy going back?" Jason, Cassidy's brother and my best friend asked.

"Couple of weeks. I'm trying to convince Cindy to let her stay the whole summer." I pretended to scratch an itch on my forehead to hide my eyes from Jason. Even if I wanted to I couldn't seem to stop watching Cassidy. Still bent over, she looked over her shoulder and threw me a smile. To anyone else it might seem innocent. A shy smile from a quiet girl. But Cassidy was all woman and that smile was nothing but a wicked tease.

I groaned again and her brother might have thought I was frustrated from our conversation. He patted my shoulder once and squeezed before saying, "Hang in there. Sooner or later Cindy will show her real intentions."

Now I was really concerned. "But at what cost? You know her." Finally I was able to tear my gaze away from Cassidy and stared hard at Jason. Not only was he my best friend, he was also my divorce lawyer. He knew every messy detail of what went on between Cindy and me. If--no, when--when he inevitably found out what had been going on between me and his sister, he'd probably switch sides.

He smirked and tilted his head. He spread his arms wide. "Who do you have on your side?" Then he pointed both thumbs towards his torso.

"You."

"And you have doubts because..."His brows rose.

Because I'm sleeping with your younger, one and only sister. "Because Cindy is a conniving..." I had to cut it short when Cassidy joined us.

"Hey, Tate, would you mind helping me with some of my stuff upstairs?" Her hair was still wet, the ends sticking to her skin, and droplets of water dripped down her cleavage.

"What stuff?" Jason asked.

"Stuff." Shit. This was it. This was the time Jason would clue in. He'd have to chase me. He'd probably chase me with a bat. If he hadn't become a lawyer, he would've played in the major leagues. He'd chosen a different path.

"Some things I want to bring over at their house for Maddy if you must know, Mister Nosey." She stuck her tongue out at her brother and turned toward the house.

Jason shook his head. When Cassidy was out of ear shot, he said, "I meant to thank you."

"What's that?"

"Thanks for letting her watch over Maddy. She needed it."

I made a noncommittal grunt for fear of saying the wrong thing back.

"Her asshole ex did a number on her."

"Really? I hadn't noticed anything wrong."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. She bottles things up until she can't handle the pressure anymore. She won't admit it but we all know how much she's hurting from her breakup from that asswipe."

Was this true? I'd been made aware of the break up but Cassidy seemed over it, even before we slept together. Or was I her rebound?

"So it's good for her to stay with you, and the longer the better until she moves to New York with us."