Catering to the CEO by Samantha Chase

this!”  Adam turned to look at Katie as if she’d lost her mind.  “I’ll drive her home.”
    “Just a minute,” Cassie said, suddenly snapping out of her wave of pain long enough to be annoyed with Adam’s tone.  “I don’t need you making arrangements for me and you can’t leave!  This is your event!”
    “And as such I can leave whenever I want.  My presentation is done and basically if I stay, all I’ll have to deal with is people kissing up to me about my presentation.  Believe me, I can live without the accolades.”  With that he had her bundled into her coat, tucked against his side as they exited the kitchen.  He’d left Katie in charge of getting a message to Grace about where he was going.  Within minutes he had Cassie in his car and they were heading back to her apartment.
    He could tell even in the dim light that she was battling between being angry at him for making her leave and true pain from her condition.  Whatever she was feeling, however, she was keeping to herself, refusing to even look at him.
    In fact, she didn’t utter a single word until he opened the door at the back of her building that led to the stairs to her apartment.  “Thank you for getting me home.  Good night.”  She didn’t have enough strength to fight him when she went to shut the door in his face.  He merely stepped around her, locked the door and helped her up the stairs.  Cassie wanted to scream at him to leave but she knew that there was no way that she could find the energy to do so. 
    Once up the stairs, Cassie kicked off her shoes as Adam took her coat from her and hung it up.  Without looking at him, she walked to her bedroom and grabbed a pair of pajamas and then went into the bathroom to change.  Adam made himself busy in her kitchen and made Cassie a cup of tea and wondered what in the hell he was supposed to do now.  He had no idea how to take care of anyone and really, he didn’t want to know.  He certainly had no idea what he could possibly do to help Cassie right now. 
    She came out of the bathroom in a pair of pink flannel pajama pants and a white tank top.  Maybe she’d hoped that he’d be gone by now but he wasn’t and he wasn’t going to leave until he knew she was alright.  “I made you some tea,” he said feebly.
    Cassie stopped and looked at him suspiciously.  “Why?”
    He shrugged.  “It seemed like the thing to do.”  When she made no attempt to come and get the mug he’d indicated, he spoke.  “Is there something that I can get you?  Something to eat?  A pain killer?  A heating pad?”  He would never admit it out loud, but after talking with his mother about Cassie’s condition, he had actually done a little research on the Internet to learn more about it.
    Cassie sighed wearily as she headed back towards her bedroom.  “Actually, yes, the heating pad…it’s in the linen closet.”  Ad am found it and followed her into the bedroom and found her curled up in the fetal position on the bed. 
    He wanted to scold her and tell her how foolish she was to stay at work when she was clearly in pain but knew that  while he’d feel better getting in a rant, it wouldn’t help Cassie any.  Finding an outlet, he plugged the pad in and turned it to high and then left the room to grab the cup of tea he’d made.  Adam gently placed it on the table next to her bed and heard a faint ‘thank you’.
    Walking around to the opposite side of the bed, he flicked off the lamp and managed to pull the blankets down with a minimal amount of fuss from under Cassie.  Next he picked up the now-warm heating pad as he knelt on the bed and reached over her trim form and placed it over her belly.  She actually purred with relief. 
    Cassie took the pad from him and positioned it better and finally let herself relax.  She was home and in her own bed and with the help of the heating pad, she would be okay.  She snuggled in deeper as Adam pulled the blanket over her