Page 6 of Finding English

Chapter 3

“Michaela, grab your bag, honey. I need to be out the door in five minutes.”

Cassie shoved a piece of toast in her mouth as she pulled her dark hair into a ponytail. The tiny bit of mascara and bronzer she’d added to her routine cost her minutes she couldn’t spare, but knowing the sexy Brit, who smelled like sin, was going to be helping out had put her into a bit of tizzy.

So far Cassie had tried three different outfits, dismissing the pencil skirt and blouse as too sexy, trousers and a shirt as too bland, and finally settled on a burnt orange shirt dress that was slightly above her knee. Worn with flat cream pumps it was cute but not so nice that Henry would think she’d done it for him.

Just the thought of the sexy man had her heart racing with wild excitement. She quashed it, a man like that would break her heart, and while she might recover, her child would not. Anyway, a man like Henry English could have anyone he wanted, why would he want a single mom trying to work her ass off to pay back her debt?

She could have her little fantasy though, after all, he spoke like Loki, had expressive gray eyes that crinkled at the corners when he smiled, was tall, muscled in a way that athletes were, and had hair she itched to run her fingers through. Working with him might be fun. It would be no hardship to look at the man that was for sure.

“Micky, what are you doing?” Cassie walked into the bathroom and found her daughter with toothpaste all over her pink dress. Cassie sighed inwardly and counted to ten. Half of her wanted to applaud her daughter from trying to do her teeth alone, the other half wanted to rant that she didn’t have time for this. “Munchkin, you have toothpaste everywhere.”

Her daughter looked up proudly, and Cassie’s heart melted. “I did it for,” Micky frowned and began to count her fingers, “ten hundred minutes, Mommy. Just like you said.”

Cassie crouched down, her heart filled with love for this human. Her pregnancy was unplanned, she’d been halfway through her degree when she’d become pregnant, but her child was her greatest joy.

That Michaela’s father, Cassie’s long term boyfriend, had decided he wasn’t ready for a family and walked out on her was his loss. Not that she thought so at the time, pining for him, and hoping he’d change his mind. When he hadn’t even acknowledged his daughter’s birth after she sent him a picture, her heart had hardened, and she began to count herself lucky that he was gone.

“I’m very proud of you, munchkin. Let’s see if we can get cleaned up and then get you to pre-school. It’s the Teddy Bears picnic today, and we don’t want Mr. Ben to be late, do we?”

“No, Mommy.”

Cassie kissed her daughter’s sweet cheek and then helped her clean up. She was running ten minutes late by the time she walked into the office and saw Henry talking with Calder. Just the sight of him had her heart kicking up, and she tamped it down, slowing her step and relaxing her features.

He must have heard her though, because he turned his eyes sweeping over her from head to foot in a caress.

“Good morning, Cassie.”

“Morning, Henry, Cal.”

“Mornin’, Cass.”

Cassie took her jacket off and hung it on the hook, stashing her bag underneath her workbench but leaving her phone on the top. Calder understood her almost obsessive need to have her phone handy in case anyone needed her for Michaela.

“I need to get going on this autopsy as we already have two backed up waiting. My kids will be eighteen before I see them next at this rate.”

Calder had been working long hours, and Cassie was glad his friend was here and could help out. Cal put his mug in the sink and walked out, leaving her and Henry alone.

His gorgeous scent surrounded her, turning her normally intelligent brain to mush. She didn’t dare even think about the hard muscle of his thigh she’d felt under her hand on the plane.

“Is this a new fashion statement?” Henry had moved closer than she expected and was pointing at her chest.

Cassie closed her eyes and prayed to God that she hadn’t popped a button. Opening them she looked down and instead saw the smudge of toothpaste. Of course, that had to happen today. Cassie shrugged. “My daughter decided to brush her teeth on her own this morning and wore most of it. Apparently, I did too.” Cassie waited for his face to close down as he withdrew at the mention of her child who was her greatest joy, and braced for the disappointment that would follow.

“Sounds like an amazing kid. Must take after her mum. How old is she?”

Cassie was a little taken aback at the question, not used to the interest. She wrung her hands together before smoothing her dress down. “She turned four last week.”

“Did she have a party?” he asked as he leaned against the counter, arms braced on the bench behind him, shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal muscled forearms that made her nipples bead.

Forearms were her weakness, not biceps, or abs, although they were nice too. For her she was a goner over an excellent muscled forearm with a sexy bulky watch.

“She had a pirate party. Micky isn’t a girlie girl. Well, in some ways she is, she loves princess dresses and tiaras, but she wants to wear them with boots and a crash helmet.”

“She sounds like a character.”

“Oh, she is that all right.” Cassie realized he was looking at her intently. “What?”