Swept Away (The Escape Series Novellas Book 1) Read online

  The three girls started to laugh. Cassie leaned back onto the sofa, “Yea, but somehow I don’t think he wants to ever go back. I get the feeling the ad business only reminds him of his best friend.”

  “And he died of a drug overdose?”

  Cassie nodded her head ‘Yes’.

  “Of what?” Rayna asked, curious. “Pain killers? Vicodin? Oxy?”

  “He didn’t say,” Cassie replied, feeling a bit sad.

  Liz noted her reaction. “You looked happy before, now you just look like you’re gonna cry.”

  “I miss him,” Cassie ended up confessing. “I’m in love with him.”

  “When’s the last time you seen him?” Rayna asked, taking another sip.

  “Friday actually,” Cassie relayed. “I saw him by the music room, emptying out the classroom. We shared a fleeting look.”

  “When’s the next time you’ll be seeing him?” Liz asked, grabbing a handful of peanuts and plopping one by one into her mouth.

  “Tomorrow,” Cassie admitted woebegone.

  “Oh boy,” Liz said, rolling her eyes. “You’ve got it bad.”

  “Yes, she does,” Rayna spits out, shaking her head. “She’s in love.”

  Cassie shook her head in defeat. “Yes, she is.”

  The three girls grew silent for a moment until Rayna asked Liz, “And you? What’s been going on with you lately? You’ve been too quiet.”

  Liz tilted her head to the side and said, “Just work mostly.”

  “What could be so bad? You work from home,” Rayna said. “I want that job.”

  Cassie poured herself another glass of wine and joined in. “What’s happening with all that?”

  “Dave quit,” Liz admitted.

  “When?” Cassie asked, shocked. Dave Edelburg had been Liz’s boss for ten years. He was the one who set up Liz to work from home as a website designer. Liz also had an affair with Dave too. Seemed odd that chapter would be over.

  “Two weeks ago,” Liz confessed, gazing down at her shoes.

  “Oh wow, how come you didn’t tell us?” Cassie asked, alarmed.

  “Well, we were focusing on you,” Liz confessed all sudden.

  “Me?” Cassie cried out. “How selfish of me...I’m sorry.”

  Rayna winked at her and then started to giggle.

  “We were all swept away in your love story,” Liz acknowledged.

  “That’s true,” Rayna joined in. “We both were. And now that you’re chummy with Beth Morton, well, we want to surprise Wyatt at his house too.”

  Cassie laughed out loud. “Yea, I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “But glad you did,” Rayna declared.

  “Did I tell you I have a new boss?” Liz suddenly let go.

  Rayna and Cassie make eye contact and together said, “No.”

  “Who is he?” Cassie asked, grabbing the peanuts herself.

  “His name is Tavas Abbasi.”

  Rayna raised an eyebrow. “Nice name, where’s he from?”

  “Iran, I think. He’s Persian,” Liz said as a matter of fact. “He’s a pain in the ass though.”

  Cassie almost choked on a peanut. “What? Why?”

  “Haven’t had our face to face yet, but over the phone he’s so demanding,” Liz disclosed, looking away.

  “In what way?” Cassie asked, curious.

  “Get this,” Liz said fast off topic, “He owns something-like ten thousand domain names and gets rich by selling them on the side.”

  “What? That’s insane!” Cassie relayed, almost tipping over her glass of wine. “I never heard of that kind of job before.”

  Liz started to laugh. “I know, it’s original,” she quipped, taking a long sip of wine. “But you have to admit, that’s pretty darn smart.”

  “He must rule the market on that,” Rayna proclaimed.

  “How much can you make selling domain names?” Cassie asked, intrigued.

  “If it’s unique and in demand, one single domain can cost on average five to ten thousand dollars.”

  “Wow,” Rayna let out. “I’m in the wrong business.”

  Ding

  Cassie stopped laughing and looked down at her purse. “Was that my phone?”

  Rayna looked across at her purse, “Probably. Not mine, no one wants to talk to me.”

  Cassie leaned over and grabbed her purse. Opening it up she pulled out her cell. It was a text message from Wyatt:

  You awake?

  Cassie peered up at her friends. “It’s from him.”

  They both rolled their eyes.

  Cassie looked down at her phone again and began to thumb type:

  Girls Night Out at Rayna’s house, silly.

  Cassie then waited for his reply. “He thinks I’m home.”

  “Is he gonna be upset you’re not?” Liz asked, disbelieving.

  “No, of course not!” Cassie then looked back down at her phone. Was he?

  What time does it end? Thinking you might want to come spend the night with me. We can wake up wrapped in each other’s arms after fucking all night or we can meet tomorrow for lunch, your choice.

  Cassie quickly looked up from her phone. “I’ve gotta go.”

  The other two girls watched their best friend gather her belongings like there was a fire somewhere and eyed Cassie as she ran towards the front door.

  “Next girls’ night out is at my house,” Rayna shouted out to her. “I’ll make my famous spaghetti!”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Cassie lie awake in Wyatt’s bed and watched the sun rise. From her view was a horizon filled with swaying palms in the breeze mixed with light blue, yellows, grays, and oranges. Holding her head up with her hand, she lazily looked out at the sky and thought life could not get any better than this. She was in love with Wyatt and he was in love with her. And after making love through the night she did not feel the least bit tired and was ready to take on the day. Gazing down at her beloved, he too appeared sedated in tranquility.

  Then the bedroom door flew open wide.

  “Wyatt!”

  Cassie turned over and grabbed the sheets up over her breasts. “Jesus!”

  Dawn was surprised and shocked to see Cassie lying beside her ex. Wyatt never allowed the girls he dated to spend mornings with him. Mornings were for him and his daughter. Mornings were special. “Oh Cassie, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you spent the night.”

  Cassie sat up and then patted Wyatt’s shoulder. “Wyatt, wake up,” she calmly said. “Dawn is here.”

  With sleep filled eyes, Wyatt rolled over and then squinted at Dawn filling the doorway. “So, she is.”

  “Wyatt,” Dawn spoke sweetly now. “I’ve got to be in Burbank for rehearsals by nine sharp. You promised you’d take Jennifer to daycare on Mondays.”

  Wyatt immediately popped up, “Yes I did.”

  Cassie and Dawn both watched Wyatt get out of bed butt naked and stroll towards the bathroom.

  Cassie immediately eyed Dawn unfazed.

  “I’ve seen it all before,” she conceded, smirking. “But have to admit he is the biggest I’ve been with.”

  Cassie shook her head, “Me too.”

  Dawn looked down at Cassie still in bed. “I made some coffee, and there’s eggs, cereal or fruit for breakfast. I’ve gotta head out or I’ll be late. You good?”

  Cassie smiled up at Beth Morton...er...Dawn Dansbury. “Real good.” Cassie watched Dawn leave before leaning down and grabbing her clothes that were thrown all over the room. This must have been a sight, she thought. Are those my panties hanging off that wall sconce? Omigod…

  Cassie finally met his daughter, Jennifer. She was a sweet little girl who looked like her daddy and reminded Cassie of own daughter, Kendra when she was Jennifer’s age. Cassie would have to return the favor and have him meet her kids.

  Meeting each other families was a big step for them both. They both got to meet one another’s ex’s, it was only natural for them to take that next leap. The biggest hurdle would
be to introduce him to her best friends. Besides Damon her ex-husband, Rayna and Liz have only been introduced to one other relationship, and that didn’t work out so well. The man in her life would have to get along with the women in her life and her ex-boyfriend was as nasty as he could get. Wyatt meeting the girls would be the ultimate test.

  After dropping off his daughter at daycare, Cassie left her car at Wyatt’s house while the two of them drove together to work.

  Holding hands while driving, Wyatt and Cassie were on cloud nine.

  “Will you move in with me?”

  Cassie whipped her head around from the impact. “What?”

  Wyatt stared straight ahead of him and kept his eyes on the road. “I’m asking if you’d move in with me.”

  “What about Dawn?”

  “She won’t care.”

  “I would care,” Cassie let out, feeling not the least bit liberal.

  “Are you jealous of Dawn?”

  “Of course not,” Cassie said, gazing out her side car door window. “Well, a little--she’s famous.”

  “But she’s ordinary to me.”

  That was good to know. “I just believe that our relationship shouldn’t have to start off cohabiting.”

  Wyatt laughed out in front of him. “She’s hardly there.”

  “Why don’t you move in with me?”

  Wyatt gazed out his rearview mirror. “I’m the one with the six-bedroom house, hon. Seems more practical for everyone to move in with me.”

  “Can I think about it?” Cassie asked, batting her eyelashes.

  “Cute,” he said, pulling up to the school after gazing back at her silliness.

  Parked now and back in reality, Wyatt brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of her hand. “Have a good day.”

  Cassie leaned over and gave him a small peck on the lips. Kids and office staff were starting to do double-takes. “You too.”

  Walking away from the car, Cassie had a whole lot to think about. She was in love with Wyatt Zander, no doubt about that, but what she did feel was apprehension about uprooting her children. When she got a divorce from Damon, Cassie fought tooth and nail to get that house away from him, so their kids would have a normal life. And now within meeting another man, she was supposed to walk away from it? Could she do it? Would she?

  When Cassie reached her office, she sat down with nothing but questions about her relationship with Wyatt now. Second-guessing what it meant to be with him. Someone would have to suffer and that made Cassie sad.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Dawn watched Wyatt with Cassie from afar. The two of them were outside on the patio discussing God-knows-what and Dawn was contemplating how she was going to bring up a touchy subject.

  It had always been her goal of becoming a successful actress. Ever since she could remember she wished for acting accolades. Now with the success of her television show Second Best and her recent Emmy win, she was well on her way to fulfilling her lifelong dream.

  Now how to break the news?

  Dawn leaned back up against a wall and watched the couple kiss and hug each other through the French glass doors to her backyard. They seemed happy...he seemed really happy and Dawn was happy for them. She would be making a huge sacrifice, but she couldn’t pass up the offer. She wasn’t sure she would ever get the same chance again and she knew in this business that you have the grab the opportunities when they were handed to you and Dawn seized hers with both hands.

  She had accepted a job offer in Europe working with a well-esteemed European movie director and planned on moving out. She was waiting for her character, Beth Morton to be incarcerated for her plan to go into motion. She would be leaving Jennifer with Wyatt for the time being and until the movie was done. Filming was scheduled next month, and she had to put plans into motion.

  Cassie sat outside with Wyatt and she laid her head down on his shoulder. Sitting side by side on the outdoor couch, Cassie sighed heavily before she confessed, “I can’t move in with you.”

  Wyatt sat up disappointed and turned to face her. “Why?”

  Cassie gazed down at her shoes. “I can’t unroot my kids.”

  Wyatt was just about to fight for her some more when in the corner of his eye he sees Dawn walking out of the French doors and shuffling towards them.

  He looked her in the eye. “What’s up?”

  Dawn came around the couch and stood in front of the twosome. Eyes dancing from one to the other, she let go, “I got the lead part in Paris in Springtime.”

  Cassie spoke up first, “Wasn’t Lorianne Bennett supposed to star in that movie?”

  Dawn looked down at Cassie. “Yes, but she dropped out. She just found out she’s pregnant and at her age, her doctor enforced complete bed rest.”

  Cassie closed her mouth. Had the weight been lifted? A path was now clear for her to land. Wyatt would not take no for an answer now.

  Cassie watched Wyatt stand up and go embrace Dawn and give her a congratulatory hug. Sending off a small smile, she watched him hold her near and give her a kiss on her cheek.

  “You did it, Dawn...you finally goddamn did it.”

  Dawn held back her tears. “I know, but it’s so hard to leave Jennifer behind. My heart is breaking right now to think I won’t be seeing her for almost a year.”

  Wyatt reached out to give her another hug. “It’ll be okay, Dawn, it’ll be all right. I’ll be here..and,”

  Cassie watched him as he released Dawn and turn to look towards her. “I’ll be here too,” she said, smiling up at them both.

  Dawn felt relieved and walked over to Cassie. Grabbing at her hand she said tearfully, “Ohmigod Cassie, you don’t know how good it feels to know that my daughter will be in good hands.”

  Cassie nodded her head. “You’re gonna knock’em dead, Dawn. I can’t wait to see this picture.”

  “Thanks Cassie,” Dawn said joyfully, wiping away her tears. “I’ll leave you guys alone now. I’m gonna go spend some quality time with my baby before I start to pack.”

  Cassie and Wyatt watched Dawn leave through the French doors before they set eyes on one another.

  Cassie nodded her head yet again. A confirmation as such to let him know her decision was indeed, real.

  Wyatt stepped into her and grabbed her body quick. Cupping his hands around her face, he said, “You make me happy.”

  Cassie lifted her chin and gave him a peck on his lips. “I hope so, because you’ll have to wait six months to fully have me here.”

  Wyatt dropped his hands. “How so?”

  Cassie brushed down her attire before she said, “Tristan is a senior and will be graduating in two months.”

  Wyatt watched Cassie and she began to walk towards his pool. “Okay, I can wait two months.”

  Cassie eyed the crystal blue water. How long was he willing to really wait? She turned around to face him. “He was accepted to Arizona State and will be moving out.”

  Wyatt’s eyes bugged out. “That’s awesome, Cass!”

  Cassie searched his eyes before she said, “I want to see him off.”

  Wyatt nodded his head, “And you should. How long then till you can move in? Three months? Five? Whatever it takes. I’ll wait for you Cass.”

  Cassie was about to burst into tears. So much emotion bottled up from the past few weeks. Hard decisions had to be made and prayers were now answered. “Kendra still has one year left.”

  Wyatt stepped into her and wrapped his protecting, muscular arms around her figure. “So, you’ll continue working at Regal, so you can stay close to her.”

  “Yes,” Cassie agreed. “We can all drive in together.”

  Wyatt leaned down and kissed her on her forehead. “No, I’m gonna quit janitorial and work from home while Dawn is away. This way Jennifer will still have one stay-at-home parent.”

  Cassie kissed him on his lips. “What will you do?”

  “Thinking about opening up an online ad agency, what do you think?”

&n
bsp; Cassie’s eyes lit up. “My friend Liz can help you out with that.”

  “Liz?”

  “You have to meet them,” Cassie finally said at last. “You free next Friday for spaghetti? I want you to meet the girls.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Rayna lived in the Santa Clarita Valley, a suburb of Los Angeles County.

  Once a month for the past ten years, each friend would host a Girls Night Out at their home. It was Rayna’s night to host and she laid out a gourmet feast. Cassie had given Rayna a head’s up that Wyatt would be joining them, and she wanted to impress her friend’s new man with her tasteful home-cooking. Over the years, Rayna had been given praise about her pasta dishes, especially her spaghetti. Using fresh herbs, two kinds of sausages, meatballs, chopped tomatoes, milk, butter and a secret ingredient she has yet to share or divulge.

  After pouring her guests a glass of champagne, Rayna brought up her glass and toasted Cassie. “To good days ahead, full of love, joy and prosperity.”

  Wyatt smiled at Rayna, “And dirty sex.”

  Liz nearly choked on her champagne. “Oh lord! He’s a keeper!”

  Cassie started to hoot as well, “And he’s not kidding either.”

  “Thanks, dear,” Wyatt joined in, clicking his glass with Cassie’s and giving her a wink.

  Rayna sat back down on her seat and looked at Cassie, “So you’re finally moving out?”

  Cassie looked into her best friends’ eyes, “Yes, I am.”

  “Good,” Rayna released, surprisingly. “So glad she’s finally getting rid of that house. Too many old memories. It’s good to start anew.”

  Liz cleared her throat before she declared, “I agree. She needed to break away from her past.”

  “Why am I only hearing about this now?” Cassie spoke up, puzzled by her friend’s confidence.

  “You would never leave unless you were pushed,” Rayna admitted blowing her friend a kiss.

  Wyatt grinned sensuously at Rayna then turned towards Cassie. “She was never pushed.”

  Rayna sat back and studied her friend’s ease with her new lover. Their body talk spoke volumes. She would lean into him lovingly while whispering, while he would affectionately brush up against her ear while replying. She wanted that. Rayna also admired Cassie’s good taste in men. Wyatt Zander was absolutely gorgeous! Long, wavy brown hair that fell around his shoulders, a nice trimmed beard and heavenly brown eyes. Did he happen to have a brother? “Who’s hungry?”