46. Lunch Talk
Cassidy was nervous the whole morning, she was tired from studying and only got three hours of sleep. Her veins were infused by coffee.
A cup of coffee and cream when she woke up, two shots of espresso at eight, a latte by eleven, and now a large ice americano just minutes before two. Any other person would be jittery by now, but Cassidy was used to coffee, she might not bounce around from the caffeine but her eyes and brain were alert for the next couple of hours.
She wanted to wait for Rowan by herself, but Wren, the smartest guy in the class decided that he would accompany her until her rides arrived.
“So, waiting on your boyfriend?” the okay-looking guy smiled a bit too friendly people might think he’s a pervert. Cassidy cursed on the inside, she wanted nothing but to get away from him, but Wren had always been the nicest guy, ready to help her out with the notes and assignments. So she let him be.
“He’s not my boyfriend.” she shrugged and gripped her backpack tighter, feeling the weight already. So she decided to put it down on the bench next to hers and checked on her phone. Though she didn’t have to wait long when an unfamiliar car too posh for campus stopped in front of her.
“Woah, nice ride, Bentley continental GTS. I see I stand no chance with you.” Wren chuckled and wave her goodbye.
“Who’s that?” Rowan asked when she got in the car.
“Well, hello to you too, Wren is a friend.” Her lips tightened when he asked her like he needed to know everything about her. She was having second thoughts about the lunch date with Rowan already, and they haven’t even left the campus ground.
“So, what’s with the lavish car?” she likes all the finest things in life, the car was exquisite in its way but one that she won’t be able to afford, at least not until she became the best surgeon in the country. And with the way she was struggling with her studies she doubted that she’d make residency. She felt like she was drowning already, maybe she should change her major.
“I was out with a business partner.” Rowan did not explain further, he was still pissed that a guy was standing too close to Cassie. The possessive surge was all too new for him and he was not sure what he feels about it. Yet.
“So, where are we going?”
The conversation was light and meaningless, Cassidy was a being awkward since she doesn’t date a lot. Obviously not with an experienced and successful, recently divorced older man. Though she relaxed when Rowan pulled over in front of the valet then Cassidy reached for her phone from her backpack and followed him out of the car, leaving her book bag in the car.
It was a cozy older feel kind of restaurant, she was liking the atmosphere. It was the kind of exquisite restaurant her parents would take her and her brothers to on special occasions.
It was well over lunch hour so the place was quitter, and Cassie let Rowan usher her to one of the corner tables.
“Your first time here?” Rowan asked once they were seated and waited for the waiter to bring them the menu.
“Yeah, what’s good here?”
“Have you had lunch yet?” he asked after thanking the waiter when she presented them with the menu.
“No, you said you wanted to take me to lunch. I had Snickers and coffee.” She said as she opened the heavy leather bind menu.
“Their steaks are good, you want to try it?” Rowan smiled, seeming that he had forgotten all about Wren already.
Twenty minutes later, Cassidy was trying not to moan while taking a bite of the juiciest steak she had in months. She usually had the half-ass steak where the meat was too dry or the blood was still present on the inside. But the steak on her plate was heavenly, the mashed potatoes were creamy and soft, the veggies were sweet and delicious, and the man in front of her was not too shabby, she thought.
That afternoon Rowan was wearing tailor-fitted pants and a work shirt, the navy tie matching his expensive-looking baby blue shirt, he left his suit jacket in the car but still looked like he just stepped out of a business magazine. He rolled up his sleeves showing off his Omega watch perched perfectly on his manly wrist, slightly veiny and dusted with sexy arm hairs. The man has expensive taste down to his polished leather shoes.
He looked fine and Cassie imagined that he fitted perfectly in his finance world with all the other posh people. She knew those kinds of people, her parents were one of them, she used to love watching them get ready for dinner parties. Her mom would look so beautiful and her dad would match her polished look with his overpriced Armani suits.
“Cassie?”
“Huh?” Rowan took her back from her thoughts and she blushed for getting carried away while the man arched his neat brow, still waiting for her answer to whatever question he had asked earlier.
“I want to discuss your dad’s company with you.”
“Oh, why?” she asked after another bite of the steak, reminding herself that she’ll take the twins there when they visit her next.
“Um, because it’s yours?” he tilted his head in confusion, maybe he thought Cassie was being careless for not involving herself in their dad’s company.
“It’s me and my brothers and since the passing of our parents, dad’s partner has been taking over. Our lawyer coveys me the details.” She dismissed his question, well… at least she tried to.
“Yes, I’ve been talking to Adler, your dad’s business partner. I was proposing buying half of the company but as we kept on talking he offered a buyout saying he wanted to retire early.” He didn’t mention that the company was failing under the man, Rowan was convinced that her lawyer will disclose the situation later on, he just wanted her to know first and get it out of the way.
Rowan took a bite of his steak while waiting for her thoughts on the matter.
“Huh, I thought the company was failing, why do you want it? did at least Adler give you all the details and offer you a calculation for the company’s worth?”
At her words Rowan was left speechless, she would at least be happy that someone would take over the company, not telling him to take a second look at its worth. “I was your dad’s apprentice actually. Then I started my own company and we became great friends. A selfish part of me wanted to expand my business, but another part of me wanted to nurture the company back to its previous glory.”
Cassidy looked at him for what felt like the longest time until she nodded and continued eating the side dish.
“So, I assumed your parents had set aside a fund for your future regardless of how the company was doing?”Material © of NôvelDrama.Org.
“Yeah, they did, insurance money and all and at the moment our childhood home is being rented out, I just couldn’t deal with the upkeep, the maids and the boys live in a dormitory anyway, so it’s just seemed like a waste of space for myself.”
Rowan liked her practicality, she moved out to a studio apartment and let their lawyer handle the other properties and get more money pouring into their bank accounts.
She gave him her vicious glare when he asked, “So, why do you keep on stripping?”
Cassidy took another bite of her steak, prolonging her answer and making Rowan feel annoyed. “I’m thinking of changing my major, but I still couldn’t figure out what. I’m in medicine, I wanted to be a doctor since I was a kid, dad encouraged me, but now…”
“Now, you lost your motivation?” his eyes went soft on hers and she broke their too intimate eye contact with a shrug.
“Something like that,” Cassie was disappointed but the feeling did not make her appetite go away, she was happily finishing her steak and washing it down with a glass of fancy water.
“Ah, that’s why you dance,” Rowan hid his smirk behind a glass of red wine.
“I told you already,” she groaned and Rowan chuckled finally realizing that she was struggling with her studies and wanted to let herself go by dancing in the club. Though a bit excessive, he still thinks it was better than if she did drugs. At least now he knew how to stop her from stripping at the club.
“Well, change your major then and quit the stripping.”
“Maybe I will, we will see.”
“Cassie, just do this, I’m sure your dad would approve just as long as you stop stripping.”
Their conversation revolved around her choices of school subjects and his demand for her to stop dancing at the strip club. When they finally finished with their second dessert, she was finally glad that the talk was over.
“So you’re going back to your apartment?” Rowan asked, clearly ready to take her back home when lunch was done and they were back in his car.
“Yeah, then to the club, I wanted to talk to Gage, he’s the owner. I’m thinking of cutting down my schedule…”
“What? Haven’t we established that you’re quitting the club?”
“Yeah, I don’t know, I always get flimsy with my decisions. And that’s when I get the urge to dance again.”
“Cassie, why can’t you just buy a goddamn pet?” Rowan asked but drove her to the club regardless.
“Hey, I need to get my stuff from the apartment to work tonight.”
“You’re not going to work there anymore, I’m taking you there and going talk to this Gage guy. I’m sure we can reach some agreement.”
“Rowan! you’re not my guardian, you don’t get to…”
He stopped the car abruptly at a stop sign and cupped her cheek then pressed his lips to hers. She gasped and he wickedly smile and deepened the kiss. She was about to moan when he abruptly pulled back, satisfied with himself for making her lips plumper and cheeks pinker.
She was quiet on their way to the club. Her mind was going in circles thinking about what the fuck just happened and where the kiss came from.
Cassidy was not ready when he parked his posh car and walked with her into the club. Even Elvis drooled when he saw the sleek sporty car and forgot to not let Rowan in since the club hadn’t exactly open to the public. She was cursing on the inside, but then her lips were still tingling from the kiss and now that he kept their fingers entwined, she felt swooned. Maybe it was the steak, she convinced herself as they walked to the bar and asked Rocco if Gage was in.
She just hoped Rowan would stay at the bar while she talk to her boss. Though she knew he wouldn’t, she still wished for it.