The Undercover Playboy (Captured by Love Book 3) (2 page)

It had been a long time since he’d been to a real, fun party like this where he’d felt free to relax and be himself—well, up
to a certain extent. With his job as an undercover detective, it wasn’t always possible to fully open up just because he wanted to.

Melancholy hit him. He missed times like this. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been to a gathering where people knew who he really was. In the last couple of years, most of the parties he’d attended had involved him rubbing shoulders with characters
he’d only pretended to be friends with so he could get what he needed in order to catch criminals.

Fortunately, he had the time to attend Lexie’s birthday party tonight. He usually didn’t accept invitations like this when he was in the middle of a case, but he’d become good friends with Rick. The two of them had bonded after he’d saved Rick from a gun-wielding perp. Then their friendship grew
from Rick providing information that eventually helped catch a whole gang of criminals.

And then there was Cassie, his sister’s flatmate.

He glanced at the brown-haired, brown-eyed woman who, incredibly, had no idea how beautiful she was. Tonight, she was shining. She had on a new red dress that she’d said Jade had helped her pick. And she had matching high heels on, which made her shapely legs
look even sexier.

He knew, though, that she’d prefer to be wearing flats. And from the way she constantly blinked, she’d also be hoping she had on her comfortable black-rimmed eyeglasses rather than her contacts. She was pretty without her glasses, but frankly, he preferred her with them on. They made her look attractively studious. He had a thing for brainy women.

He chuckled mirthlessly. If
he could, he’d ask Cassie out. Unfortunately, that was out of the question. All he could allow at this point in time was the light flirtation they exchanged regularly—the kind that wasn’t meant to be taken seriously.

Marilyn turned to him and the other three guys and he pulled himself out of his musing.

“See? I bet that one of you would soon end up like those two,” Marilyn said, gesturing to
Lucas and Rick.

“Can I ask one of the bachelors a question?” Katrina, one of the single ladies, called out.

“Sure,” Marilyn answered.

“Carter, I’m so glad that you’re here with us tonight,” Katrina said with a sultry smile. “I’m curious... how old are you, and what do you do for a living?”

“Ooh, Katrina’s taking a special interest in Carter,” Marilyn said in a teasing voice, then handed the
mic to Carter.

He took it, hiding a sigh. “I’m thirty, Katrina, and I’m an electrician. Currently, I also do part-time work as a personal trainer for a friend’s fitness company,” he answered, flashing a smile. He hoped it covered up his unease with his answer.

Out of everyone in this party, only his sister and Rick knew that he was an undercover detective. And there were several people in this
group that he hated lying to, including Cassie. They’d considered him a friend and welcomed him with open arms. Unfortunately, the cases he worked on called for discretion and secrecy. And lies.

He usually stayed undercover for a lengthy period of time. Twice already, his life and those of others had been jeopardised because he’d bumped into acquaintances who’d recognised him and inadvertently
blown his cover. Similar situations had to be avoided as much as possible.

But expecting each and every single person who knew him to immediately pick up that he was undercover and play along with it was near impossible. The best way was to tell people that what he did for a living was his undercover role. Only family and close friends knew the truth.

His “part-time” work changed whenever he
worked on a different case. But being an electrician was the constant answer he gave. Fortunately, he really was qualified as one. His parents owned one of the most successful electrical services company in Australia.

“So do you see clients in a gym? And do you work with them one-on-one?” Katrina pressed.

“Yes. And sometimes I see clients at their homes,” he answered. “The personal trainer gig
is only temporary until the guy I’m filling in for comes back from an overseas holiday.”

Katrina smiled cutely at him, but didn’t have any more questions to ask.

He breathed a sigh of relief as Marilyn gave the okay for the four of them to return to their tables. He saw Natasha return to her original seat next to Erin, giving him back the place beside Cassie.

He hid a snicker, knowing what
his sister was up to. His mum and Natasha had been conspiring for a while now to find him a date. They believed that a steady girlfriend was one more person of influence who could convince him to take extra care while working on his cases. From Natasha’s recent actions, it was obvious that Cassie was her selected candidate.

“Mum would be happy to know that you’re one of four men racing to be
the first to fall into a relationship,” Natasha said as he sat back down.

“Sure,” he said sarcastically.

“Watch out for Katrina,” Rick said, leaning across the table. “She’ll be beating a path to your door in no time.”

“Yeah. She can be pretty intense,” Lucas said conspiratorially. “And I think Vicky’s also eyeing you.”

Carter sighed as he turned to Cassie. “Your fault for telling me to go
up there.”

“Why is it my fault? You’re the hot one,” Cassie replied, before her eyes widened. “I mean... you know... ’cause you’re the... uh... personal trainer,” she said weakly, blushing furiously.

He smothered his grin. It hadn’t escaped his attention that even though Cassie flirted with him in private, she was shy about it in public. She wasn’t the type to openly go after a man.

It was
a shame that Cassie seemed intent on not dating while she focused on her career and studies. Not that it mattered to him, because he couldn’t date her anyway. In fact, he couldn’t date anyone. He was supposed to be a loser playboy so he could catch that heartless bitch who’d shot his best friend Gavin Redford, and had Gavin fighting for his life.

“
Cassie!”

Cassie kept walking towards the elevators, pretending she hadn’t heard her boss call her name. It was ten past five, and working hours were officially over.

“Cassie!” Randy Silver called out again, trotting to catch her before she got to the lifts.

“Yes, Randy?” she asked, turning to him and not even pretending to smile. She knew what was coming, and she was sick of it.

“Could you stay for another half an hour or so? I have to go to a dinner meeting and Estelle needs someone to check her work when she’s finished.”

“Sorry, Randy. I’ve got plans.”

“But—”

“It’s after five, Randy.”

“I’ll pay you overtime.”

“Great,” she said a tad sarcastically. “Would you also pay me overtime for all the extra hours I’ve worked in the past few months?”

“Come now, Cassie,” Randy
said, his tone cajoling. “You chose to stay back during those times without telling me. They weren’t approved overtime.”

Cassie took a deep breath to arrest the anger bubbling inside her. This guy just didn’t get it. “You know what, Randy? It’s tough that you don’t even appreciate why I stay back. We used to have five people in the accounting team. For a long time now, there’s only three of us
because you refuse to replace the two who left. We’re overworked.”

“Cassie, we’ve talked about this before,” Randy said with an apologetic smile. “The company is not doing as well as it used to—”

“I know that, Randy. But that’s not my fault. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really have to go.”

She turned to leave, past caring about what her boss might be thinking with her gesture. What was he going
do? Sack her for not obeying orders? He couldn’t afford to do that and he damn well knew it. Unfortunately, he couldn’t pay her what she was worth in the marketplace, either.

She’d had high hopes for her career when she started working for this kitchen appliance wholesaler four years ago. But when her original boss, Randy’s mother, had handed the reins to her son when she retired due to illness,
everything had started to go downhill. Not only had Cassie not been given the financial controller role that Randy’s mother had promised her—that position had gone to Randy’s wife—but Randy had also called a freeze on salary increases and bonuses.

The company had headed southwards from the changes Randy had made. Now he was making everyone suffer for his incompetence. Worse, Randy wouldn’t listen
to anyone’s suggestions and chose to continue along the path of destruction. It was such a huge shame that the company Cassie used to love wouldn’t survive another year if Randy stayed at the helm.

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” Randy said with resignation. “Don’t forget we have a meeting first thing in the morning to go through the monthly reports.”

The elevator doors opened with a ping
and Cassie stepped inside with barely a glance back at her boss. It would be the seventh month that Randy had been asking her to do things that his financial controller wife should be doing. His wife clearly wasn’t anywhere near as skilled in that position as Cassie, but Randy refused to acknowledge that.

Well, she’d played the martyr for far too long. Even her best friends had constantly told
her she was being unreasonably loyal towards a company who no longer recognised her worth.

Except that she didn’t have another job to go to yet. As soon as she did, she’d hand in the resignation letter that she’d already drafted.

She’d been on tenterhooks all day waiting for calls from two companies. She’d been to a second round of interviews with those two firms and she felt certain she’d done
well enough to still be under consideration.

Her phone buzzed as she stepped off the elevator. She pulled it out of her handbag, her heart hammering as she recognised the number.

“Hello, this is Cassandra,” she answered in a professional tone, crossing her fingers.

“Hello, Cassandra, this is Susan Sanchez from Tellman Galleries. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No, Susan. I’m free to talk.”

“Good. I’m ringing to see if you can come in at nine tomorrow morning? Bronwyn Tellman wants to have a chat with you.”

“Yes, I can make that time. I’ll be there.”

“Great. We’ll see you then. Bye for now.”

“Thank you, Susan.”

Cassie couldn’t help the face-splitting grin that spread to her face. That was a good sign. A meeting with the commercial art gallery’s owner had to mean she was among
two or three shortlisted candidates.

Randy wouldn’t be happy that she wouldn’t be there for their meeting tomorrow. She didn’t care. He really should be talking to his wife anyway. Cassie
wasn’t
the financial controller, after all.

Well, that phone call from a potential new employer had certainly lifted her spirits. She’d be in a much better mood for tonight’s dinner with Natasha at that newly
renovated restaurant close to their apartment. Pity Carter wouldn’t be joining them tonight, like he usually did on Thursdays. But he’d said he was busy with a big work project and wouldn’t see them for a few weeks.

She exhaled a swoon-like breath as a picture of Carter flashed in her mind. Yeah, okay, she did have a little crush on him. But she didn’t have time to date...

What a load of crap,
Cassie.

She shook her head as she remembered Erin saying at Lexie’s party that she didn’t know why Cassie was lying to herself.

Well, Cassie did know why. She hadn’t had much luck in the dating game. None of her previous relationships had gone past the getting-to-know-you stage. Somehow, she couldn’t make a guy want her enough.

Each of her past three boyfriends had dumped her with heartbreaking
honesty. Their words had all been different, but their reason had been the same: their feelings for her hadn’t been strong enough to want to continue with the relationship.

Each time, she’d been devastated.

Sure, she knew it was just a matter of finding the right guy—that there was someone out there for her. But, frankly, it was an exhausting exercise looking for Mr. Right. She’d rather concentrate
on her career and finish her MBA first. Those were far easier to achieve... and disappointments in those areas were less hurtful.

As for her crush on Carter, she was happy to keep it to herself. All she had to do was look at him to know that she’d just be asking for heartache if she allowed her feelings to grow. He was too good-looking. Someone like her would have a hard time keeping him. So
why bother?

*****

C
assie stared at a large abstract painting of vivid, earthy colours hanging on a feature wall in the boardroom of Tellman Galleries. It was mesmerising, just like the other pieces of art that were displayed in the room.

It would be wonderful if she could get a job in this place. To come to work every day and be surrounded by so many incredible items would be inspiring. She
didn’t have an iota of artistic talent, but she had great appreciation for art.

Tellman Galleries was still a small company, but it had grown in leaps and bounds in the two years since it had opened. From what she’d been able to Google, and from the information given to her by Susan Sanchez—the gallery’s very pretty human resources manager who’d interviewed her twice before—both artists and art
lovers from around Australia had embraced the gallery and were lining up to do business with it.

“Good morning, Cassandra.”

Startled, Cassie turned around. She hadn’t heard anyone come in.

A beautiful, dark-haired, smartly dressed woman, probably in her early thirties, was closing the boardroom door and smiling at her. “I’m Bronwyn Tellman,” the woman said, approaching her with an outstretched
arm.

Cassie hid her surprise. She wasn’t expecting the gallery’s owner to be this young. “Good morning, Ms. Tellman. I’m very pleased to meet you,” she said, taking the proffered hand for a shake.

“Call me Bronwyn,” the owner said, indicating for her to take a seat.

“And call me Cassie, please,” she said with a shy smile. “The artwork you have displayed here is fantastic.”