Free Bad Boy Secrets by Seraphina Donavan, Wicked Muse

waiter. 
                  “Nothing I can’t handle.”
                  “I have a few things I’d like for you to handle,” he said. 
                  Heat arced through her body at the sensual promise in his voice.  “I’ll let Evie know she’s on her own for clean up duty.”
                  “You do that,” he said, “and I promise to make it worth your while.”
                  Within five minutes, Cass had located Evie, made the necessary arrangements and was strolling back across the ballroom towards him.  In his tux, he looked so handsome standing there and so perfect that her breath literally caught in her chest.  As she neared him, her steps faltered and she slowed, coming to a stop only a few feet from him. 
                  “Is there something wrong?” he asked, moving nearer. 
                  Cass cocked her head to the side and then impulsively, she gripped the lapels of his tuxedo jacket and rose on her toes to kiss him.  Her lips brushed his softly, once, twice, and then he took over, kissing her in a way that left no doubt in the minds of anyone who happened to see them what the nature of their relationship was.  When the kiss broke, they were both breathless and more than a little starry eyed.  “What was that for?” he asked. 
                  “That was for finally coming to my senses.  Between you and Evie, I’ve decided that the elitist matrons of Gresham County can kiss my lilly white ass.”
                  Reed tugged her closer and, with a wicked grin, said, “Me first... Let’s go to your house.  Your kitchen is better stocked.”
                  She chuckled.  “Do you ever think about anything other than food?”
                  “Yes...  I think about you,” he said. 
                  With his voice pitched low, the deep bass rumbling over her skin, Cass could only shiver in response.  “Show me.”
                  Reed kept his hand at the small of her back as he guided her through crowd.  Cass handed her ticket to one of the valets and Reed followed suit.  As they waited, Reed touched her constantly, his hand smoothing over her back, touching her arm.  Cass leaned into him, enjoying the luxury of being able to touch him publicly, to revel in the heat, the spark between them, without trying to hide.  Turning her face into his chest, she craved the feel of his skin against hers and resented the clothes between them.  It was only when she felt him tense beneath her, his arms tightening around her the muscles of his chest bunching beneath her cheek. 
                  “Cass, this is not good,” he said. 
                  Cass recognized the controlled fury in his voice.  She’d heard it before, years and years earlier when he’d been ordering a man more than twice his age to stay away from her.  There had been other times, too, she thought.  Reed had always been there, looking out for her.  Slowly, she turned her head and what she saw made her heart sink and her stomach turn dangerously.  Her car was ruined.  Vicious, ugly words had been spray painted all over it and scratched into the paint.  The word ‘whore’ was emblazoned across the hood.
                  “I will fucking kill her,” Cass said.  It had to have been Crystal.  There was simply no other option. 
                  Reed slipped his phone from his pocket and sent a text to Jackson, who was inside.  “It’s fixable,” he said.  “Jackson can take care of this... and if it was Crystal, I will handle it.  It’s my fault for not being more clear with her.”
                  “Seriously?  You fired her crazy ass for flashing you her hoo-ha... That’s pretty clear,” Cass said moving toward the car to survey the damage more