And he couldn’t dismiss just how incredibly beautiful she was. With her striking good looks he would think she would have a date every night of the week. So the question that was presently popping in his mind was why didn’t she?

In just the brief time he had spent with Cassie he had a feeling she was extremely bright. Maybe it had been the way she had studied him before making the decision to join him for dinner tonight that had given him that perspective.

A chuckle welled up inside of Brandon. He would find out just how bright she was at dinner when he really got into the game of wining and dining her. Whatever it took, he needed her to feel comfortable enough with him to share things about herself; things that could possibly damage her reputation if they became public knowledge.

He was suddenly unnerved by what he had to do and if he dwelled on it too long he would probably find the entire thing disgusting. But he could not let personal feelings or emotions intervene. He had a job to do and he intended to do it well.

Cassie glanced at herself in the mirror once more. She had taken another shower and changed outfits. This one was a dress her mother had bought her earlier in the year that she had never worn until tonight.

It was a slinky thin-strapped mini-dress, fuchsia in color, and what made it elegant was the silver-clasp tie neck. She nervously smoothed the dress down her body, wondering if perhaps in trying to make a good impression she was making some sort of a statement, as well.

She ran her fingers though the long, dark brown curls on her head, fluffing them around her face. A face she thought had a remarkable resemblance to both of her parents, but mainly her father. She had her mother’s eyes but her father’s mouth, nose and cheekbones. And then there was that cleft in her chin that definitely came from him.

Her skin coloring was a mixture of the both of them, but her smile was that of John Garrison. She chewed her bottom lip nervously, thinking her smile was something she hadn’t shown much of lately. But tonight she had smiled more than once already, although she had lowered her head so Brandon wouldn’t see it the first time she’d done so.