Cash opened one eye, cringing at the carnage inside his hotel suite. Cans and bottles were strewn everywhere, and at a brief glance, he counted eleven pizza boxes. He shouldn’t have agreed to the party, but Suze had started calling people before he could stop her, and in the end, he hadn’t given a shit. It wasn’t worth the hassle to argue.

He staggered off the bed and managed to make it past several unconscious bodies into the bathroom. Fortunately, it was empty, and he locked the door and sat on the rim of the bath, desperately trying to remember more than flashes from the previous evening. He’d taken Suze out to dinner as a way to test whether he was human enough to be around people again, but then she’d started banging on about getting the old gang together and how great it would be to rock the house, like old times.

He grimaced as a sharp pain shot through his temple. They’d rocked the fucking house all right. So much so that he’d have some serious grovelling to do if he wanted to stay at this hotel anytime in the future.

He filled the sink with water and swilled his face. After vigorously scrubbing his teeth, he felt better. If only the splitting headache pounding at his temples was as easy to shift. As he wandered back into the main area of the suite, he counted seven bodies. Five he definitely recognised, including Suze, who was curled up on the right side of his bed wearing nothing but a very tiny thong.

A cold blast shot through him. Oh no. He couldn’t have. He had enough trouble getting it up when sober since his split with Natalia. Totally pissed, he would have had to swallow five Viagra to have any chance of getting a hard-on. And even then, he’d need to have totally lost his marbles to stick it into Suze.

Before he had a chance to delve into possibilities that were too horrendous to contemplate, someone banged like hell on the door. A couple of the bodies on the floor began to stir as Cash stepped over them. He pressed his eye to the peephole and groaned.

He flung the door open wide, allowing Rupe to step inside. “Don’t.”

“What the fuck is going on?” Rupe scanned the hotel room. He tripped over an empty bottle of champagne, cursed loudly, picked it up, and slammed it down on the nearest table. Cash was surprised the bottle didn’t smash.

“Had me a little party,” Cash said with a sheepish grin.

“I can see that. Okay, okay,” Rupe said, poking his toe at prostrate bodies lying on the floor. “Party’s over. You can all fuck off.”

The various groans and moans of still-drunk revellers didn’t stop Rupe. He kept kicking and prodding until he’d corralled the majority into the corridor as they staggered and muttered curses under their breaths.

When he spotted Suze lying on Cash’s bed, Rupe flashed him a look of pure loathing. “You fucking idiot.”

Cash threw his arms out to the side. “I didn’t.” He frowned. “I couldn’t have.”

Rupe crossed to the bed and gently shook Suze. “Time to go, my lovely,” he said, scooping an arm under her and tugging her off the bed. He helped her into her clothes and walked her towards the door.

“Wait, my bag,” she mumbled, clearly still half-pissed from the night before.

Rupe checked around and eventually spotted it hanging off the back of a chair. “Here we are,” he said, slipping the strap over her head.

“Stop!” she shouted as he began to close the door. “I haven’t had my goodbye kiss. Come here, baby.” She reached for Cash. He instantly recoiled.

“Okay, bye-bye.” Rupe deposited Suze in the hallway, slammed the door, and deadlocked it. “Sometimes, I fucking hate you,” he said as he fixed Cash with a hard stare.

“I didn’t bang her.”

“If I asked you to swear on Rachael’s life, could you?”

Cash stared at the floor. “No.”

“I saw Tally today,” Rupe said.

Cash’s head snapped up. “Where?”

“Near Marble Arch. She looked as though she’d been crying. Wouldn’t even let me hug her. Muttered something about the Daily Mail.”

“What does that mean?”

“Let’s find out, shall we?” Rupe lifted his phone from his pocket. A minute later, he handed it over to Cash. “You fuckwit.”

Cash stared at the pictures on Rupe’s phone and then met Rupe’s fearsome glare. “I didn’t screw her,” he said, the horror of his potential fuck-up more than he could bear. If he had slept with Suze, he could kiss goodbye to ever getting back together with Natalia. “It was supposed to be an experiment.”

Rupe expelled an exasperated breath. “An experiment in what?”

With legs that felt as if the bones had been removed, Cash sank into the nearest chair. “You know my history with Suze. Before I met Natalia, she was my London go-to gal for when I needed a quick lay, but out of the sack, she always annoyed the hell out of me. I thought if I managed to spend a night in her company without lamping her, then I had enough coping mechanisms to allow myself to be around Natalia again. And maybe, just maybe, if I explained all this to Natalia, she’d consider taking me back.”

Rupe blinked slowly. “For fuck’s sake,” he said, scrubbing a hand over his face. “You are a total arse.”

“I need to call Suze.” Cash unsteadily climbed to his feet and scanned the room, looking for his phone. When he spotted it over by the window, he trudged across and picked it up.

“What for?”

“If I fucked her, I’ve probably screwed up my chances of ever getting back with Natalia. I need to know.”

“You think she’ll tell the truth?”

Cash grimaced. “We’re about to find out.”

He dialled her number and listened as the hollow sound of the ring tone played in his ear. After the fifth ring, she picked up.

“Why did Rupe throw me out?” she said in a slightly petulant tone.

“Hey, Suze,” Cash said smoothly. “Sorry about that. He needed to speak with me urgently.”

“Well, tell him he’s off my Christmas-card list.” A girlish giggle erupted from her.

Cash’s jaw clenched as he fought down annoyance. “I will.”

“Last night was great, yeah?”

“Like old times,” Cash said, cringing as he spoke the words aloud. Reliving a slice of his past had reaffirmed how much he wanted his future to be with Natalia.

“I’ve missed those crazy parties of yours, although I do have a little bone to pick with you.”

“Is that right?”

“I’m not too mad, because I know it’s been tough since the car accident, but really, baby, next time you invite me out on the promise of wild sex at the end of the night, I expect you to deliver.”

Cash’s heart started to beat double time. “So we didn’t…”

“No. I tried, believe me,” she said with a harsh cackle. “But you kept pushing me away.”

Without saying another word to Suze, Cash hung up. He glanced over at Rupe, a slow smile spreading across his face. “I’m only in the goddamned clear.”