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“It’s not rocket science I’ve just been around a while Failed a lot early on and learned a few things No big deal,” he said, and he ducked his head

She swept him with a once-over laden with—dare he hope it—some heat?

“You’ll forgivedeal You’re the CEO of a billion-dollar company for a reason And I’ spoke volumes

“Hey You’re being too hard on yourself”

Her gaze flew to his and so raw flashed in the depths, a stricken sense of anxiety The brief spurt of eh him with equal parts warmth and a desire to fix it He almost reached out then to comfort her

Because she needed hi, independent woman like Cass

It had nothing to do with sex, nothing to do with business—or even fun—and everything to do hy he’d recalled their relationship so fondly Why he’d wanted to revive that between the there for her How had he walked away from that so easily?

Better yet, how did he keep it going now?

“Am I? How many times has one of your employees spilled company secrets?” she asked, and he didn’t like how matter-of-fact she was about it

She’d acco that a blip like the leak overshadowed that riled hiood

“That’s not a yardstick,” he insisted right back “If it was, then you could also compare yourself to the CEOs of companies that went bankrupt or ee jumpsuits You’re a star in comparison”

Her amused smile heated his blood unnaturally fast

And if he could get Cass on the sae, this conversation could very well explode into so that didn’t need words

Cass let her smile widen

She had Gage exactly where she wanted hier to convince Gage his char and shooting her heated glances, he was scarcely paying attention to the e Cassandra