Tally snuggled beneath the soft quilt as Cash wrapped an arm around her waist. He nestled her back to his front and rested his chin on her shoulder.
“I told you those earrings would be the only thing you’d be wearing.”
She giggled. “What about my toe ring?”
“You’re wearing a toe ring?”
“Yep.”
Cash released her and disappeared under the covers. She yelped as he grabbed her ankle. “That tickles.”
He threw off the covers and held her foot in the air. The silver ring that Em had given her for her birthday when she turned thirteen glinted in the soft light from the bedside lamps.
He grinned. “Hmm, now, what shall I do with this?”
He twisted her ankle to the left, then the right, taking great pains to examine her foot. Without warning, he dipped his head and sucked her toe into his mouth. She squealed when he bit down, even though he barely touched her. He rocked back on his heels, a broad grin on his face and her toe ring clenched between his teeth.
“Now all you’re wearing is the earrings,” he said, dropping the toe ring onto the bedside cabinet. He snuggled back into her side and brushed his hand over her backside and down her leg before settling across her belly. On a reflex, she sucked her stomach in.
“Stop.”
She froze. “Stop what?”
Cash eased her around until his face was inches from hers. His lips were pressed together, no inkling of a smile.
“Thinking that you’re somehow lacking. That you’re not good enough. You. Are. Stunning. I could spend hours staring at your body. Touching you. Kissing you. These curves”—he swept his hand over her breasts before drifting to her hip—“are so fucking sexy.”
She wanted to believe him. She really did. But a nagging voice in the back of her mind wouldn’t shut up. It kept on and on, reminding her that Cash Gallagher didn’t go for women like her. It was as though she was some sort of an experiment and any minute he’d thank her for her contribution to science and move on to the next size-zero model. She was way out of her league, suddenly finding herself in the middle of a long-held impossible dream that was teed up nicely to be ripped from her.
And cut her deep in the process.
She blinked slowly, unable to stop the slight shake of her head. “I want to believe you.”
Cash expelled a curt breath. “Well, if you won’t believe what I’m saying, then you leave me no choice.”
He climbed out of bed and tugged on his boxers.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s obvious I need more time to convince you. I’m calling your editor. You’re taking the next two weeks off work.”
“What? No. I can’t. I’ve got deadlines to meet.”
“Someone else can fill in.”
She dragged a hand through her hair. “Somebody else can’t fill in. We’re not exactly flush with staff.”
Cash cupped her face in his hands. “Don’t you want us to spend more time together?”
“Well, yes, of course I do. But I also have a career to tend to.”
He shrugged. “Then it’s settled. It’s two weeks, not two years. Your career will be fine.” He disappeared into the living room.
“For God’s sake,” Tally muttered as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and knotted a sheet around her chest. She’d only taken two steps when the sound of Cash’s voice filtered through the bedroom door. He appeared in the doorway, his phone clutched to his ear.
“Yes, I realise it’s very late,” he said. “But I have an issue that I need your help with.”
He made eye contact with her before his gaze slipped south. She pulled the sheets closer, and he frowned and shook his head.
“Yes, she’s right here. And she’s fine. I’ll let you talk to her in a moment.”
She held out her hand. “Cash, give me the phone.”
Cash ignored her. “Things have changed since I spoke to you yesterday. Natalia is going to need the next couple of weeks off work.”
She made a grab for the phone. Cash spun away, easily dodging out of her reach.
“I understand. And I’ll happily fund an agency temp if that helps. But either way, she won’t be back in work until the sixteenth.”
“What are you doing?” She made another futile attempt to take the phone from him. “For goodness’ sake,” she hissed.
“Now you’re just being difficult,” Cash continued. “If she was so crucial to the running of the paper, then she’d have a more senior position. Either that, or your business skills are so piss-poor you’ve ended up with a junior reporter as a key man dependency.”
She stared at Cash, horrified. Her legs trembled, and she sank onto the bed before they gave out.
“Oh, God,” she mumbled at the realisation Cash had just made the situation ten times worse. Pete already held the firm opinion that Cash was a total bastard, and comments like that wouldn’t exactly encourage a change of mind. Pete must have been giving Cash an earful, because he was silent for a few minutes. Finally, he turned to her and winked.
“Crystal. Here she is.” He handed over the phone and walked back into the living room, leaving her alone.
“Hey, Pete,” she said in a low voice.
“Are you all right?” he barked down the phone.
She held the handset away from her ear to keep him from puncturing an eardrum. “Yes, I’m fine. Sorry about that.” It wasn’t her apology to make, but instinct told her Cash wouldn’t be making his own anytime soon.
“Pah! I can handle him. Where are you?”
“Paris.”
“Paris!”
She moved the phone even farther away.
“What the hell are you doing in Paris?”
“I’m on a date,” she said, a slow grin building as she spoke the words out loud, and then a sudden realisation hit. “Oh, no. I haven’t told Em that I won’t be home tonight. I’d better drop her a text.”
“Not so fast,” Pete said. “I’ve told him I’ll give you the time off, but I’m attaching a condition to it.”
Seeing as Cash hadn’t fully explained why he wanted her to have time away from work or what on earth they were going to do for two weeks—apart from the obvious—she didn’t think agreeing to any conditions would be a problem. “Shoot.”
“If at any time you want to come home, you call me immediately. Deal?”
That seemed unlikely. She was hooked after one night—although to all intents and purposes, she and Cash were still strangers—so agreeing to Pete’s terms could do absolutely no harm, especially if it reassured him.
“Tally?”
“Yes, deal.”