Cash sat like a fucking mute, unable to find the words to explain what had really happened, while Natalia made up all sorts of shit in her head. She snatched her hand away from his and fiddled with her napkin.

When she met his gaze, her face crumpled. “You kissed,” she whispered.

“She kissed me,” he reiterated.

“But you let it happen.”

He clenched his hands. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Did you enjoy it?” she said, her voice breaking up.

“No!” He scraped a hand through his hair. “What do you take me for?”

She reached underneath the table and grabbed her bag, slinging it diagonally over her chest. She pushed back her chair and clambered to her feet.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” He lunged for her arm, but she wrenched her shoulder backwards.

“I knew there was something going on. She was so… so… territorial.”

“Sit the fuck down and listen,” he hissed.

She leaned over the table, palms flat, and glared at him. “Don’t you tell me what to do. I will not be treated like a second-class citizen in this relationship, if that’s even what this is. And I most definitely will not share. Not you. Not anyone.”

“Just sit down,” he said in a placating tone.

Fucking Kinga and her fucking baseless obsession with him. He’d be having a serious talk with Kinga as soon as this tournament was over.

Tally lifted her bag over her shoulder and hung it on the back of her chair. She sat down, and he heaved a sigh of relief.

“No wonder you never bring women to tournaments,” she said petulantly. “You’ve got everything you need on tap.”

He dragged a hand through his hair. “That’s not how it is. Jesus! Will you just let me explain properly?”

She was frustrating the hell out of him, but to be honest, he liked the challenge. His mood suddenly lifted, and he repressed a smile. Rupe would be yelling “pussy-whipped” if he were there. Cash barely recognised himself as the man he’d been a few short weeks earlier, and the most surprising thing of all was that he wouldn’t go back to his life before Natalia. She’d brought excitement and challenge to his shallow existence, and he was happier than he’d ever thought himself capable of.

Natalia crossed her legs and picked up her glass of water. She took a sip and waved her hand at him. “I’m listening.”

Cash gave a hard stare to a couple of diners at the next table until he embarrassed them enough that they focused on each other instead of on him and Natalia.

“Before I start, I’m going to reiterate that Kinga kissed me, not the other way around. And for the record, I didn’t kiss her back, and I most certainly didn’t enjoy the experience.”

She blinked slowly. “Okay.”

“You need to understand, I met Kinga right after I won my first Grand Slam. I was twenty years old and naïve as hell. I didn’t understand how winning such a prestigious event would change everything. Kinga was so confident she could turn me into an international star, and not just inside the world of tennis. Over the past eight years, she’s made good on that promise. Most of the money I’ve made hasn’t come from winning tournaments but from the truckload of sponsorship and merchandising deals she’s negotiated over the years on my behalf.”

He paused and took a sip of water. Natalia leaned slightly forward and rested her chin on her hand. Excellent. She was finally listening.

“Go on,” she said.

“When I turned twenty-one, she broke the news she’d got me a huge sponsorship deal with Nike. It was more money than I’d ever dreamt of, and that night, we went out to celebrate. That was the first time she made a pass at me.”

Air whistled through Natalia’s teeth as she sucked in a breath. “As long ago as that?”

“Yeah.”

He paused while the waiter served their food. “Eat,” he said, pointing his knife at Natalia’s plate after the waiter had retreated.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Neither am I. Eat anyway.”

Reluctantly, she picked up her knife and fork and scraped the skin of the pigeon to one side.

“That’s the best bit.”

“Too fatty. Stop procrastinating.”

He couldn’t help a smile from tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Cash,” she said with a hint of warning in her tone.

“Okay.” He held his hands up. “I’m going to shortcut this. Since that first time, Kinga has made multiple passes at me, usually when she’s pissed but not always. And I’ve rejected her every single time. Including today.”

A soft crease appeared in the space between Natalia’s eyebrows. He withheld an urge to lean across the table and kiss it away.

“So if you’re not interested in her like that, why do you keep her around?”

Cash shrugged. “Because she’s fucking brilliant at her job. Whatever her faults—and she has enough of them—I can’t deny I owe a lot of my success to her. Financial success at least.”

“Utter bollocks,” Natalia said, the rare curse making him raise an eyebrow in surprise. “If she hadn’t come along when she did, someone else would have. Don’t you see that?”

His lips twisted into a half-smile. “Perhaps.”

“You’re not exactly filling me with confidence by telling me the only reason you keep her around is her financial prowess.”

He pressed closer. “Look. Kinga is an important person in my life, but you have to believe me when I say I have no interest in fucking her. Not then, not now.” He caressed Natalia’s soft cheek with the back of his hand. “In fact, there’s only one woman I have any interest in fucking, and if she continues being so challenging, I might have to take her in hand.”

A reddish flush spread across Natalia’s neck and chest, a glow he’d come to understand meant she was aroused. He dropped his hand and leaned back in his chair.

“Now, finish your meal so we can get out of here,” he said, attacking the pigeon with more enthusiasm than before.

“That’s it?”

“If you mean explaining myself, then yes, that’s it. Can we finish eating in peace, please? I don’t know about you, but I’m horny as hell, and all I can think about right now is getting back to the apartment and spending the next several hours in bed screwing you.”

Astonishment widened her eyes, and then she laughed. “How can I refuse?”