The Undercover Playboy (Captured by Love Book 3) (3 page)

“Thank you. The
artists we work with are very talented. And they tell us that they’ve sold more pieces since being exhibited here in this gallery than in any other places.”

“That’s impressive,” Cassie said.

“Yes. Most of them are up-and-coming artists. I believe in giving the right people the exposure they deserve. That’s why I wanted to meet you, Cassie.”

Cassie sat up straighter, ready for whatever tough
questions Bronwyn wanted to throw at her.

“You applied for the financial controller position,” Bronwyn said, linking her fingers together on the table as she looked at Cassie. “According to your résumé, you’ve never held this position before.”

Cassie nodded, expecting that question even though Susan Sanchez had already asked her the same thing in a previous interview. “My official title in my
current job is Senior Accountant. However, I’ve been doing a controller’s work for almost a year. I’m certain I have the necessary skills and qualifications you need for this job. I was actually earmarked for the financial controller position, but there was a restructure in our company after the previous owner retired. While being a controller for a bigger company might be outside my level of expertise,
I believe I’m suitable for a growing firm such as Tellman Galleries.”

“When do you finish your MBA?”

“In about four months.”

“I spoke to Mrs. Silver, your previous boss,” Bronwyn said.

Cassie held her breath. She’d put Randy’s mother as one of her referees. Considering that Cassie had been clashing with Randy recently, she hoped that Mrs. Silver only had nice words to say about her.

“She
said that you were the one person she relied on the most in the company,” Bronwyn said. “She assured me you’re more than capable of doing the financial controller job.”

Cassie exhaled slowly, relief flooding her.

“More importantly, she said you’re loyal,” Bronwyn said. “She spoke very highly of you and gave me an indication why you now want to leave your current employment. But I want to hear
the reasons from you.”

Cassie smiled. “When Mrs. Silver was there, I was very happy. But she’s retired and her son has taken over the business. The promotion and salary increase I was promised by Mrs. Silver before she left have not come to fruition even though I’m now doing higher-level work. And I do a lot of overtime that I’m not getting paid for. So I thought it was finally time for me to
find another company where my contributions are reasonably rewarded.”

“And if I offer you this, Cassie,” Bronwyn said, pushing a sheet of paper towards her, “could I expect your loyalty and hard work?”

Cassie’s heart hammered as she took the document and started reading through a formal job offer. Her breath hitched as her gaze landed on the line that said
Salary.
Yes! She’d been hoping for
this amount, even though she’d expected a lesser figure due to her lack of experience in the position. It was more than fair. Way more than fair.

She couldn’t help but continue on reading what was included in the package: bonuses, inclusion to invitation-only art events, opportunity to travel with the director to conferences around the world, and a company car.

Overseas travel and a company
car!

Wow. Just... wow.

She put the paper down on the table as her hand started shaking. “This—” She heard the squeakiness in her voice and paused to swallow her excitement and nerves. “This is great, Bronwyn,” she continued in a more measured tone. “You can count on me to do my best every single working day.”

Bronwyn smiled widely. “Well, Cassie, congratulations. The job is yours if you want
it. I’ll let you take the paperwork home so you can read through the offer thoroughly. Once you sign it and return it, it will be official.”

“Thank you so much, Bronwyn,” she said, letting a bit of her excitement show. “I’ll read through it today, and if I don’t have any questions, I’ll sign and return it before I head home this evening.”

“I take it you can start in two weeks?”

Cassie nodded.
“If I hand in my resignation this afternoon, yes, I can start in two weeks.”

“Great! I’m looking forward to working with you, Cassie,” Bronwyn said, gesturing for a handshake.

“Me, too. Thank you so much, Bronwyn,” she said, grasping her new boss’s hand gratefully.

Cassie left the gallery, her feet barely touching the ground. She couldn’t believe it had finally happened. She’d landed her dream
job—with a remuneration package much more than she’d hoped to get!

She couldn’t wait to tell someone the good news. She called her parents, then wondered which of her best friends she’d call first. On a playful whim, she went to her list of recently called numbers, closed her eyes and tapped. Her phone started to ring... Jade. Perfect. She grinned as she waited for her best friend to answer.

“Hey, Cass.”

“Hi, Jade,” she greeted, then told Jade everything.

“Oh my God! Congratulations, honey! That is so exciting!”

“Thank you. I’m so happy I could do cartwheels on the street.”

“We should have dinner with everyone to celebrate,” Jade said. “How about tomorrow night? I’ll organise it.”

“Oh, thanks! I’ll also invite Tash, so let me know where we’ll be going.”

“Are you going to ask
Carter too?”

“Carter’s super busy for a few weeks so he won’t be able to join us,” she said, hearing the disappointment in her voice.

Jade chuckled. “Missing him, huh?”

She felt her cheeks burn. “No...”

“It’s me you’re talking to, Cassie,” Jade said with censure.

She inhaled deeply. “Okay, yes,” she answered, then proceeded to tell Jade about her horny dream.

“Oh my God. You obviously want
the man, Cass.”

“It’s only a physical thing because of that damned dream. You know I’m not looking for a relationship, especially now when I have a new, challenging job to focus on. And you know Carter. He’s not in any hurry to go exclusive with anyone. But how do I stop myself from... you know... craving for him?”

“Proposition him for a one-night stand and get him out of your system,” Jade
teased.

“Hm. Maybe I will,” she teased back.

“What? Did I hear you right?” Jade asked in surprise.

She laughed. “Well, I’m on such a high right now that I think I could pull off asking him for one hot night. Carter’s the type who wouldn’t bat an eyelid from that. I only hope that he’ll say yes.”

“Wow,” Jade said with wonder. “Whatever have you been eating, Cassandra Stephens?”

Carter. In
my dreams.

Oh, Lord. She did have to do something about this. It was distracting her way too much. Maybe sleeping with Carter
was
the answer.

“
Hi, Mum,” Carter said when his mother opened her front door.

“Darling! Is everything okay?” Lorraine Garrett asked, her expression one of apprehension.

“Of course,” Carter said with a laugh as he kissed his mother on the cheek. “Why do you always ask me that every time I turn up unannounced?”

“Well, first, you don’t visit often enough,” Lorraine said with a frown. “Second, your
dad hasn’t called when he said he would. So I’m worrying about him, just as my detective son comes knocking on my door.”

“Where’s Dad?”

“In Adelaide to visit the site where we’re doing a major electrical rewiring of an old building that’s being converted into a block of residential units. I was talking to him last night when his phone ran out of battery. I was expecting him to call this morning,
but he hasn’t yet, and I can’t get to him.”

Carter placed an arm around Lorraine’s shoulders as they walked towards the kitchen. “I’m sure he’s fine. You know Dad. He always forgets his phone. I bet you he left it in his hotel room again. Let me call one of the other guys who might be with him.” He rang one of his father’s engineers who usually headed a big project. Just as Carter suspected,
his dad was with his employee.

Lorraine gave her husband her usual how-dare-you-get-me-worried spiel before hanging up and giving Carter’s phone back to him. “I really don’t know what to do with the two of you,” Lorraine said with a shake of her head.

“The two of us?”

“If you visited me more regularly, I wouldn’t be so worried. Are you working on a new case?”

“Yes.”

“You know, Carter, your
dad would really love it if you worked in our company again.”

“Company’s doing well without me, Mum.”

“But what will happen when your dad retires? We want you and Natasha to take over soon. You and your sister are keeping your dad from fulfilling his wish of early retirement.”

“Dad’s far from wanting to retire,” he said dryly as he opened the fridge and inspected the contents.

“Are you hungry?
What do you want? I’ll cook something for you.”

“Omelette, maybe?” he said, spotting some eggs and sliced ham.

“Sit down and relax, then,” Lorraine said authoritatively.

Carter obeyed, sitting on a stool by the breakfast nook. His mother loved preparing food for him during his unexpected visits. He hoped that it would distract her enough from talking about his work.

His folks hadn’t stopped
hounding him about quitting the police force. And their primary motive wasn’t their desire for him to work full-time in the electrical services company his parents had started seventeen years ago. They simply worried about him working as a detective. Constantly.

But he loved his job. Since that time ten years ago, when the police had helped catch the swindler who could have taken everything his
parents had worked hard for, he’d known this was what he wanted to do.

“So what can you tell me about your new case?” Lorraine asked as she moved efficiently in the kitchen.

“Not much, except that it’s about money.”

“The more money that’s involved, the more trigger-happy some people can be,” his mother warned.

He rolled his eyes and kept his mouth shut.

“How’s Gavin?” Lorraine asked quietly,
glancing at him with worried eyes.

“He’s still in a coma.”

Gosh, he hated that he couldn’t let his mum know that Gavin was doing well after his surgery. Gavin was practically family, since the two of them had been best friends since they were five years old. But for Gavin’s sake, and to aid the police in finding out who’d shot him, they needed to maintain the front that Gavin was still unconscious
and couldn’t give information to the authorities.

“I’d like to visit him again, Carter.”

“Maybe in a few days, Mum. Hopefully, he’ll wake up soon.”

Lorraine sighed loudly and continued to beat some eggs.

Carter rubbed his face, the hair on his arms and neck standing up as memories of that terrifying afternoon filled him.

Gavin had called and made funny noises over the phone. At first he’d
thought Gavin was joking around, until he’d realised that Gavin was choking out several words, as if he couldn’t breathe. With his heart in his throat, he’d asked Gavin to repeat what he’d said.

“Shot...” Gavin had responded, before gasping out a location.

He’d shouted Gavin’s name when his friend had stopped talking, but he’d only heard silence.

He’d called for an ambulance to get to the place
Gavin had told him. Then he’d raced there himself, all the while praying that he wouldn’t find his friend, who was as close to him as a brother, dead. He’d arrived at the quiet alleyway just as the ambulance pulled up next to Gavin’s sprawled form.

He couldn’t remember being more scared than he’d been when he saw so much of Gavin’s blood on the pavement, and being more relieved than at any other
time in his life when the paramedics found a pulse.

Thank God Gavin’s shooter hadn’t done a thorough enough job. The perp had left Gavin lying on the ground, bleeding, instead of lifeless.

Carter exhaled, still grateful that Gavin had managed to call him before passing out.

“So, Carter, what do you think of Cassie?”

Carter jerked his head towards his mother in surprise. “What?”

“What do you
think of Cassie, your sister’s flatmate?” Lorraine repeated as she folded the omelette in the pan.

He shrugged. “She’s cool. Tash loves living with her.”

“I think you should tell Cassie what you really do for a living.”

“Why?”

“Well, she and Tash have grown close, and it looks to me like your sister will be staying with her for a while longer. Besides, your father and I like her too. It’s
awkward that we all keep lying to her about your job, don’t you think? Of course you don’t need to tell her details of your undercover cases—just the fact that you work for the police. I’m sure she can be trusted with that.”

He smiled. He had no doubts that Cassie would be discreet and trustworthy. And yes, he didn’t want to lie to her anymore about his job, either. “I think you’re right,” he
answered.

“Good!” Lorraine said, pleased. “Tash said that the two of you get along really well.”

He smirked, knowing where this conversation was heading. “Yes, Mum. We get along famously. Why shouldn’t we? We love each other.”

Lorraine gasped, turning to him with a combination of shock and thrill he’d never seen on her face before.

He stifled his laughter. “We’re brother and sister, after
all.”

Lorraine groaned in frustration—or sheer disappointment. “I meant you and Cassie.”

“Ohh, me and Cassie,” he said mockingly. “Well, doesn’t our whole family get along well with her?”

“Don’t you want to ask her out?”

He sighed. No amount of joking would derail his mother from her intended topic. “I’m not after a girlfriend, Mum.”

“And when would you want something more serious, Carter?
Don’t put it off before it’s too late.”

“Fortunately for us men, we don’t have the kind of biological clock women have.”

Lorraine walked over to him with his plate of omelette. “Don’t you want to find someone special?” she asked with consternation.

“Sure, Mum. But not yet.”

He had to go undercover for Gavin’s case, and making his move on Cassie now would make it impossible for him to perform
his job effectively.