The captain switched off the seatbelt signs, and Cash rose from his chair. “Come on.”

Natalia peered through the plane’s tiny windows into the darkness beyond. “Where are we?”

“Ah, that would be telling.” He held out his hand. “Only one way to find out.”

She gave him a shy smile before taking it. “Okay. Lead the way.”

Cash helped Natalia down the steps to the waiting limousine complete with chauffeur. Her eyes widened as she took in the huge black car and uniformed driver, and he repressed a smile. He was determined to make their date amazing from start to finish. That he gave a shit surprised him, but at the same time, there was something about Natalia. She was sparky and challenging one minute, shy and uncertain the next, and he loved the fact he didn’t know which one he was going to get.

He showed their IDs to the official and handed Natalia’s back to her. “After you.”

She climbed into the car, and he got a great view of her backside in the close-fitting skirt as she bent down. He shuddered with pleasure.

Aren’t you getting in?” she said when he remained rooted to the spot, his mind still firmly on the sight of her arse.

“Sure thing, baby.”

As the car set off, Natalia wiped a hand over the steamed-up window. “I can’t see anything. It’s too dark.”

“We’re at an airport,” he teased.

She rolled her eyes. “I know that. Which airport?”

“Nice try, sweetness.” He dug a hand into his pocket and produced an airline sleep mask, his stomach clenching as all sorts of possibilities sprang to mind. “No peeking.”

She glanced at the mask and swept a few strands of her hair off her face. “You’re not serious?”

“Deadly. Let me surprise you. I promise I’ll behave. Scouts honour.” He held up three fingers, and Natalia giggled.

“You were never a scout.”

“I’ll have you know, until tennis took over my life, my father used to take me to the local scouts group every Wednesday.”

It was clear he’d made a mistake the minute her eyes widened, and he half expected her to take out a voice recorder or a notepad and start scrawling. He inwardly cursed.

“Your father? You mentioned him at the gala, but when I was researching the article, I couldn’t find much about him online at all, only that he died just before you turned sixteen.”

The old familiar anger at his father began to build, and he ground his teeth, his muscles quivering with barely contained rage.

“But you had a good go at digging up some shit, right?” he said, his tone bitter and harsh. He watched her wither as the venom spilling from his lips killed her earlier spark. Yet despite that, he kept going. He moved in closer and narrowed his eyes. “I’d better not see that little nugget in the next edition of your paper.”

Her shoulders sagged, and she pressed her body farther into the corner. “Is that what you think of me?” she whispered.

“Once a reporter…” He was remotely aware—through the red mist that thinking of him always brought about—that he was killing her spirit, killing the small shoots of something pretty wonderful that had sprung up between them. 

A single tear fell from her right eye, and she dashed it away before leaning forward and tapping the driver on the shoulder. “Can you stop the car, please?”

“Ignore her. Keep driving.”

“Stop the car,” she repeated.

The driver pulled over, and Natalia wrenched the door open. Before Cash could wake himself up from being a total fucker, she’d already spilled out onto the pavement. He scrambled across the backseat.

“Natalia, don’t,” he said to her retreating back. “I’m sorry, okay. I’m sorry.”

She drew to a halt but didn’t turn around. He placed his hands on her shoulders and eased her to face him. “I’m sorry,” he said again. He cupped her face and wiped away mascara smudges with his thumbs. “I can be a real bastard at times. I didn’t mean it. I know you’d never spread my personal life across the front pages.”

“But I did,” she said, her face glum. “And that’s always going to be the elephant in the room, isn’t it?”

“I shouldn’t have said what I did. Please get back in the car. It’s freezing out here.”

She hesitated for a few moments and then brushed past him and slipped inside the car. He breathed a sigh of relief and followed her. Once they were moving again, Natalia turned to face him.

“Cash, I’m a journalist. And I’m ambitious. Writing for a living is all I’ve ever wanted to do since I was a kid. But this…” She swung her hand between them. “I need you to believe that I’d never write about what goes on between us. You don’t need to watch what you say around me, worried that it’ll end up on the front pages. You have my word on that.”

He picked up her hand and pressed her palm to his cheek. “I believe you. Forgive me.”

She smiled and held out her other hand. “Give it here, then.”

He frowned. “What?”

“The mask. If you want me to wear the damned thing, I will. But I’m warning you, if you draw a moustache on me or shave off my eyebrows, I will be seriously pissed off.”

The warm laughter in her eyes lit him up inside. How easily she’d forgiven him. How quickly she’d changed the subject to something lighter and more fun. It was more than he deserved. He picked the mask up from the floor and handed it to her. She slipped it on.

“How do I look?”

“Sexy as fuck.”

And it was true. His desires roared to the surface, allowing his imagination to run riot. Natalia naked, blindfolded, his to savour. Cash glanced out of the window to distract himself. He so badly needed to fuck her. He wanted to prove to himself that a screw was all he needed to get her out of his system, but he also wanted it to be the best night of his life and strengthen the errant thought that one night with her would mean more than the others all put together.

“How much longer?”

He rested his hand on her leg, resisting the urge to push up her skirt and bury his fingers inside her.

“Five minutes tops.”

A few minutes later, the car drew to a halt. Cash glanced out of the window and grinned. She was going to love this. “Ready, baby?”

“Yes.”

He removed the eye mask and tucked it in his pocket.

She blinked a couple of times as her eyes readjusted to the light, and she gave him an uneasy smile. “Where are we?”

“Look.” He opened the window and pointed. Natalia stuck her head out.

She gasped. “I don’t believe it.”