Tally arrived for work early, anxious to get the day underway. Although she’d only been off for two weeks, her nerves were as bad as they’d been on her very first day at the paper, and she swept her tongue over dry lips. She crossed the road in front of the building, and a couple of flashes almost blinded her. She raised her arm in front of her face.

“Tally, this way. Over here.”

“Where’s Cash, Tally?”

“Is he off the market?”

“How did you get the black eye? Did Cash hit you?”

A few microphones were pushed in her face as question after question came at her, and the cameras continued to whirr. She ducked her head and, without saying a word, managed to stumble through the doors into the relative safety of her office. She quickly scanned her card at the barriers and escaped into the lift, her knees buckling as the doors ground to a close. Cash had protected her from the reality of fame or, in her case, notoriety. Now that she was on her own, she needed a strategy, and fast.

When she arrived at her floor, the office was in darkness. She waved her arms at the automatic lights and glanced at her watch. Danny would be there in a matter of minutes, and with any luck, he’d remember that she was back and bring her an Americano. After running the gauntlet downstairs, she was desperate for a shot of caffeine.

Her desk was exactly the same as she’d left it a couple of weeks earlier, and she switched on her computer, surprising herself when she remembered her password, avoiding a painful call to IT.

The doors to the office swung open, and Danny sauntered in holding two coffees from Starbucks.

“Hey, baby girl.” He put down both cups and kissed her cheek. “I thought you must be back because of all the photographers outside. How’s that gorgeous man of yours?”

“Heterosexual,” she said with a grin.

“Damn. Just my luck. You okay getting through the hordes?”

“Not exactly my favourite experience.” She dragged a spare chair across the room and gestured for him to sit. “How have things been around here?”

“Dull, although I’ve been living vicariously through you. The TV cameras barely moved off you between points yesterday.”

She groaned. “That’s what I was afraid of.”

“You can’t be surprised, surely. You snap up one of the world’s most eligible bachelors. Bound to be a healthy amount of interest.”

“Who says he’s been snapped up?”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Only everyone. You know better than most what makes a great story, and when a philanderer like Cash does something out of the ordinary, the world’s press sits up and takes notice. The minute you appeared in the player’s box, that was it. You must have seen the papers.”

“No.”

Danny strode across to his desk. He dug around in his bottom drawer and pulled out a handful of newspapers from the last few days and dropped them in front of her. She picked up the first one. It had a picture of her standing, midclap. Kinga was in the background, so it must have been the first day. Tally looked happy and relaxed and oblivious to the cameras. She scanned the article. Danny was right. At least fifty per cent of the coverage was speculation about her. She flicked through the next one. More of the same. On the third one, the photographer must have used a very powerful lens because you could just make out the bruise on her cheek beneath the heavy make-up. The headline was innocuous, but the article hypothesised how she’d got it, correctly guessing it had something to do with Kinga’s absence, although Cash was the culprit as far as they were concerned.

“Just brilliant,” she said, expelling a curt breath as she tossed the paper to one side.

“Who hit you?”

“Off the record?”

“Of course.” Danny leaned closer and bumped her shoulder playfully. “What do you take me for?”

“Kinga whacked me. Hell of a right hook it was too. Jealous cow.”

Danny chuckled. “I take it that’s why she disappeared.”

“Yep. Cash fired her. He was absolutely furious. I felt a bit sorry for her, to be honest.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “She thought he was hers.”

“Ah, let me guess. She was waiting in the wings while Cash got the womanising out of his system, confident that when he’d had his fill, she’d be in pole position to become Mrs Gallagher. And then you came along and ruined her plans.”

“Something like that.”

“Oh, dear.” A slow grin crept across Danny’s face until he was full-on laughing. “Who’d have thought it? Our bashful little Tally nabbing one of the hottest and most eligible guys in the world right under the noses of a queue of hopefuls.”

Tally snorted. “I’m not some shrinking violet waiting for a white knight to come and sweep me off my feet.”

Danny nudged her shoulder. “I know that, but be honest, when Pete agreed you could go to the Dorchester last year, did you think, for one moment, you’d end up here?”

She let out a brief sigh. “No.”

Danny smirked. “I rest my case, baby girl. Just give me plenty of notice so I can get a date in time for the wedding.”

“Trust me, we’re nowhere near that.” She kept Cash’s offer about moving in to herself. Danny was already jumping way ahead, and the last thing he needed was any encouragement.

As Danny sauntered off, she opened her email programme and groaned at the number of things requiring her attention. It was going to be a very long day.

 

* * *

 

After the shittiest day possible, Tally went to the supermarket on the way home and bought two bottles of Pinot Grigio. Drinking midweek was a bad idea all round, but given the day she’d had, she needed cheering up, and Em rarely needed any encouragement to join in with ill-advised bad behaviour.

Em was in the shower when Tally arrived home, so she popped the wine into the freezer to chill. Her dream return to work had been anything but. The morning battle with the press had been followed up with them chasing her down the street as she left for the evening, and she’d had to dart down several back alleys to give them the slip. In addition, Pete had piled so much work on her plate that the week ahead was going to consist of early starts and late finishes.

Depression settled heavily on her. She missed Cash. Whereas once work had been her everything, it didn’t come close to filling the hole caused by his absence.

She grabbed her phone out of her bag, needing to hear his voice so badly. She hit dial, her breathing increasing as the ringing sounded in her ear.

“Hi, baby. I was hoping you’d call.” His deep voice with its musical Irish tones was a panacea to her bleak mood.

“Hey, you.” She choked back tears that threatened to fall. I’m tired, that’s all.

“How was your first day back?”

Hideous. The worst.

“Great. It was so nice to see everyone again.” Her voice wavered, and she bit her lip, hard. “How about yours? Good to be home?”

“No. It doesn’t feel like home anymore.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re not with me.” He let out a long a breath.

An uncomfortable prickling sensation spread across her chest. She lay down on the sofa and closed her eyes. He was suffering too, and right that minute, she couldn’t remember why he was there and she was here.

“I’ll be there on Friday.”

“I was hoping you might have reconsidered my offer.”

The discomfort increased, and she rubbed the heel of her palm over her chest. It would be so easy to give in, to jump on a plane to Belfast and be in Cash’s arms within hours. After that day, she was sorely tempted.

“Cash––”

“I know. I know. It’s too soon. But I miss you, baby. I feel like my arm has been cut off and no one has cauterised the wound to stop me bleeding out.”

He’d described her feelings perfectly.

“Just give me time,” she said.

Cash sighed softly. “I’ve got to go. Someone’s at the door. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

She stared at the Call Ended message on her phone, insanely jealous of whoever was at Cash’s door because they’d get to see him and she wouldn’t.

The time for honesty had come. She didn’t just miss Cash. She’d fallen in love with him.