Destined To Fall by Tamsyn Bester

around and walk straight into Kyler.
~ Kyler ~
    “Mr. Knight,” Cassey greets, the surprise on her face obvious. I almost cringe
when she calls me Mr. Knight. I hate it. It sounds professional, and not nearly as satisfying hearing her say my name.
“Cassey,” I reply. “Quinn.”
“Kyler,” Quinn says. “What a pleasant surprise. I didn’t think we’d be seeing
you here tonight.”
“My parents are friends of Joanne and Clive.”
“I see,” Quinn replies. “Well, it was nice to see you. Cassey and I should get
back to our dates.”
Cassey still hasn’t said anything and it bothers me. More than it should.
“Actually,” I say, stalling them. I look at Cassey. “I was hoping you’d honor me
with a dance.”
Her brows knit slightly and she looks down for a second before looking back
at me. “I don’t think that’s - ”
“That’s a great idea,” Quinn interrupts, ignoring Cassey’s glare. She bends,
whispering something to Cassey that causes her features to soften.
“Okay,” Cassey relents. “One dance.”
    Quinn walks away and I take Cassey to the dance floor, just as ‘Home’ by
Michael Buble starts playing throughout the speakers. My right arm wraps
around Cassey’s waist, brushing against the exposed skin of her back, while
my left hand lifts hers to my chest. We start swaying, and Cassey is looking
everywhere but me. I have a feeling it has something to do with what she
walked in on yesterday, and I don’t blame her for feeling uncomfortable. But
what she saw wasn’t what it looked like. Not that she’s listen to me, or believe
me even if she did. However, there’s one other thing I need to talk to her
about first, and I suspect it’s the reason she came looking for me yesterday.
“I hear the Board has accepted your proposal,” I say.
Her eyes meet mine for the first time since we started dancing. “You heard
correctly. You father must’ve told you.”
“He did, but I was hoping you’d be the one to do it,” I sigh. “Is that what you
wanted to tell me when you came looking for me yesterday?”
Her gaze drops, and she nibbles on her lip. I fucking love it when she does
that. It’s does crazy things to my cock. My imagination always runs wild,
thinking up ways I can bite her lip instead. She nods, and I slip my finger
under chin to bring her beautiful eyes back to mine.
“It wasn’t what it looked like, Cass. I swear. Jessa caught me off guard and
you just walked in at the wrong time. I’m sorry if you were hurt.”
“Why would I have been hurt, Kyler? You have every right to whatever you
want with whomever you want. I told you, I don’t need an explanation.”
“You might think you’ve convinced yourself of that, but you’re not fooling
me. Your emotions are written all over your face, and right now I can see that
what happened yesterday upset you.”
Cassey scowls, and damn if I don’t find Pissed Off Cassey sexy as hell. “You
don’t know me,” she snaps. “Just because you read some shit in my employee
file, doesn’t mean you know anything about me.” She tries to step out of my
grasp, but I pull her in closer. I start rubbing slow circles on her lower back
and feel her shiver.
“I know you better than you think,” I retort quietly. “I know that you bite
your lip when you’re nervous, or when you’re thinking something over. I
know you chew your thumb nail when you’re unsure, and I know you scrunch
your eyebrows when you disagree with something someone has said. I know
you stick your tongue out, when you’re working really hard, and you tap your
foot to whatever song is in your head when you’re lost in your own thoughts.
I know you hate talking about your family, and your past, but you also get sad
when you talk about it, like you miss them. Your eyes shine, like diamonds,
when you’re excited, and you also happen to bounce on the balls of your tiny
little feet when you think no one is watching. And when you curse,