“Something’s wrong,” Natalia said, clipping in her seatbelt and waving to Em and David through the car window. Their friends waved back, then went inside and closed the door.

Isaac—their driver and bodyguard—drove away from the kerb, the purr of the engine barely making a sound.

“What do you mean?” Cash asked.

“With Em. She hid it, of course, but I know her. She wasn’t herself tonight, Cash.”

He shrugged. “She seemed fine to me. Her usual snarky wit was on full display.”

Natalia shook her head vehemently. “Didn’t you notice how tired she looked? The slight downturn to her mouth, the shadows beneath her eyes. I’ve got a bad feeling.”

Cash raised his eyebrows. “Easy, Miss Marple,” he said, earning a punch on the arm for his troubles. Despite the easy grin she shot his way, whatever she’d seen in Em that Cash hadn’t, it had her worried—and if his wife was worried, then so was he.

And that’s why he did the only thing he could think of to chase away her concern, at least for a few minutes. He unclipped her seatbelt and pulled her onto his lap, his lips going straight to her neck.

“You’re breaking the law,” she murmured, her body ignoring the caution in her words, as she leaned into him and burrowed her fingers in his hair, her nails scraping his scalp, just the way he liked.

“The fine and the smug lecture from the traffic cop will be worth it,” he said, his mouth moving over her jaw, nipping, sucking, tasting. Tally’s groan sent a rumble through his chest. After eleven years, he still couldn’t get enough of her. He felt around for the privacy screen button, and when the familiar whirring sounded, Natalia relaxed. Isaac was a very discreet man but, Natalia preferred it when the thick sheet of tinted glass separated the front and back of the car.

“My mother had better have worked her magic by the time we get home. If those kids aren’t fast asleep, there will be hell to pay.”

Natalia giggled, a sound he craved more and more as time passed. “Why’s that, ace?”

“Because you, sweetness, need distracting. And I know just how to divert your attention.”

She wriggled in his lap. Instantly, he grew hard. “Jesus, it’s going to be a long ride home.”

Natalia’s tongue swept over her top lip and her navy-blue eyes glinted with mischief. “Oh, ace. I hope so.”

An hour later, they spilled out of the car, Natalia’s hair a wild tumble that she desperately tried to tame by repeatedly smoothing it with her hands, and Cash had lost a button from his shirt. He dug his fingers into his lower back and chuckled.

“I’m not sure my body can handle car sex anymore.”

Natalia linked her arm through his as they walked across the gravel driveway. “Sounds like someone needs a massage when we get to bed,” she murmured in that low, sexy tone that went straight to his dick.

Cash groaned. “Fuck’s sake, sweetness. I don’t need a hard-on in front of my mother.”

When they reached the living room, his mum was fast asleep on the couch, lying on her side with her knees curled up and a cashmere throw wrapped around her shoulders. Why she hadn’t gone to bed was beyond him. He gave her a gentle shake.

“Oh, Cash, Tally,” she said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. “I must have nodded off.”

“No shit,” Cash answered, grinning. “There’s a perfectly good bed upstairs, Mother. Several, in fact.”

Rachael gave him one of “those” looks. “Thank you for pointing that out, darling. I was watching a sitcom after putting the children to bed. I don’t even remember my eyes closing.”

“Everything okay?” Natalia flopped onto a chair and tugged off her heels, dropping them with a thud beside her.

“Yes, no problems. They’re good kids. Went to bed without a murmur. How was your night?”

“Interesting,” Cash said, smirking in Natalia’s direction. “Especially the journey home.”

Natalia blushed, a trait she’d always had, and he’d always adored. “Ignore your son, Rachael,” she said when his mum raised a questioning eyebrow. “Although interesting is probably a good description of our evening. There was a definite undercurrent. Something was very off with Em.”

“Off how?”

Natalia kneaded the soles of her feet with her thumbs. “I’m not sure, but something was definitely bothering her. She didn’t want to talk about it which, again, isn’t Em’s style. She’s not one for keeping secrets.”

“Well, maybe you should pop across one day this week. Have a chat, woman to woman.”

“Yeah, good idea.”

His mum stretched and yawned. “Right, darlings. I’m off to bed. See you in the morning.”

“Night, Mum.” Cash kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks for staying over to look after the kids. I’ll drop you back home tomorrow, unless you’ve changed your mind about moving in?” Cash asked his mother this question at least once a month. Her response was always the same.

“Good try, darling. You know I like my own space.” She squeezed Natalia’s shoulder. “Try not to worry, Tally. Em’s tough as old leather. Whatever is bothering her, she’ll tell you eventually.”

Natalia flashed her a fleeting smile, but as soon as Rachael turned her back, it fell. Cash tugged her to her feet, and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Looks like someone needs distracting again,” he murmured against the shell of her ear. She trembled.

“Only if my old man’s back is up to it.” He felt her smile against his neck.

“I think he’ll cope.” Leading her upstairs, after a quick detour to the kids’ rooms where both were fast asleep, Cash walked down the hallway to their room, closing the door with a quiet click behind them.

Cash kicked at the covers where they’d twisted around his legs while he’d slept. He must have had a restless night, although after making love to his wife, he couldn’t remember a thing.

A squeal of excitement drifted up from the garden, and Cian shouted, “Pass it to me!” He must be playing football with his mates, his second favourite thing to do after tennis. Cash had worried at first that neither of his kids would take up his beloved sport, but during the last couple of years, Cian had shown an interest, as well as a real gift. Darcey, on the other hand, wasn’t remotely interested, preferring ballet as her chosen creative activity.

He turned his head to see if the noise had woken Natalia, but her eyes were clenched shut, her chestnut hair cascading over her crisp white cotton pillow. God, he loved her more now than he had when they’d first got together. Then, he’d needed her like an addict craving their next fix, and it had been desperate, possessive, at times painful. Now, after nine years of marriage and two kids, his love for her was deeper, more meaningful. He lived for her.

He’d die for her.

She frowned in her sleep, and worry turned down her mouth at the corners. She murmured a few unintelligible words under her breath. Last night had really got to her, yet he hadn’t noticed a thing out of place. Natalia had always been the more perceptive of the two of them, and given she and Emmalee had been best friends for over thirty years, it was hardly surprising they were attuned to each other’s moods.

Cash eased out of bed and pulled on a T-shirt and jeans. After using the bathroom, he wandered downstairs. When he walked into the kitchen, he could see that Mum had been up for a while. She was standing in front of the kitchen window sipping a cup of coffee, having already laid the table for breakfast, and turned on the washing machine.

“Darcey not around?” he asked, grabbing a mug from the cupboard and sticking it under the fancy coffee machine Natalia had bought. He still couldn’t figure out how to use it properly. “I heard Cian in the garden.”

“Yeah, he’s playing football with Mikey and Robert, but I haven’t seen Darcey so far. Do you want me to go check on her?”

“No, leave her. She’s probably still sulking over the mobile phone debacle,” Cash said, pressing several buttons on the coffeemaker. Nothing happened. “Christ”, he grumbled, “whatever happened to instant?”

Mum came over and nudged him out of the way. He could have sworn she pressed the same buttons he had, but regardless, the damned thing started churning out coffee.

“Is Tally still sleeping?” she asked, passing him the steaming mug.

Cash nodded. “I don’t think she got much rest last night.”

“Em?”

“I think so.”

“Did you notice anything amiss?”

Cash snorted. “Me?”

Mum rolled her eyes. “Of course. How stupid of me.”

Cash ignored her not-so-subtle dig. “I wanted to float an idea past you that should give us all something to look forward to.”

She cocked a hip against the kitchen counter and took a sip of her own coffee. “What’s that, darling?”

“I was thinking of going away for Christmas. Not just us three and the kids, but Natalia’s mum, Em, David, Rupe, Jayne. Somewhere warm. It’d do us all good I think.”

“So do I,” came Natalia’s voice from behind him.

Cash turned around. “Sweetness, I was going to make you a coffee and bring it up.”

His mum coughed delicately.

“Okay, Mum was going to make the coffee. I still can’t work the bloody machine.”

Natalia slipped her arm around his waist and kissed his cheek, then plucked his mug out of his hand and took a sip. “Where were you thinking?”

“Barbados.”

Her lips stretched into a grin. “That sounds like heaven.”

“Good, because I’ve already picked out a place.”

Natalia glanced over at Mum and raised her eyes heavenward. “Of course you have.”

He playfully tugged her hair. “Shall I book it then?”

Natalia nodded. “Although I’m not sure I’ll be able to persuade Em to come. Christmas is her busiest time of year.”

Cash huffed. “If she’s that worried, tell her I’ll hire her for the week. She can play fucking beautician to you lot.”

“Dad!”

Cian had appeared out of nowhere, a muddy football stuffed under his arm, and a tear in the sleeve of his Manchester United football shirt. He was flanked by his two friends whose mouths hung so far open, Cash guessed their parents weren’t as foul mouthed as he. He’d curbed his love of the word “fuck” considerably over the last few years – and he was still very much in mourning.

“What the hell happened to you?” Cash said, figuring hell was a perfectly acceptable alternative. Nope. Mouths opened even further. Dammit. He guessed a phone call from irate parents was due some time later today. A problem he would definitely hand over to Natalia to deal with. She was better at all that shit than him anyway.

Cian poked a finger in the hole and tugged, tearing the material further. “Dunno. Can I have another one?”

“No, you bloody can’t.”

“Cash!” Natalia remonstrated as yet another curse word slipped from his lips.

“Jesus,” he muttered—probably another transgression. “I’ll go and call Rupe about Barbados from the study.”

“Barbados?” Cian asked, a cheeky grin making his white teeth stand out in his muddy face. “Can my friends come?”

“No!” Cash and Natalia said in unison.

“Okay, keep your hair on,” Cian said.

Cash’s lips twitched, until he caught Natalia’s subtle frown in his direction. He straightened his face, although it was fucking difficult. She had a strict rule about not showing the kids he was amused when they were being rude, in case they took his humour as accepting of their naughtiness. The problem, though, was that Cash thought Cian was hilarious.

“That’s enough from you, young man,” Natalia said. “Carry on like that and you won’t be coming to Barbados. Now sit down and eat your breakfast.” She turned to his two friends. “Mikey, Robert, are you going or staying?”

“Staying,” they responded eagerly.

Cash left them to it. He was in awe of how Natalia managed to remember all the names of their kids’ friends. The older Darcey and Cian became, the more friends they collected, and the more he struggled to keep up.

He closed the study door behind him, and the noise diminished. Cash sank into his leather chair and opened his laptop. He’d been toying with the idea of Barbados for a while. After last night, and Natalia’s insistence that all was not right with Emmalee, extending the invite list seemed like the right thing to do. Plus, he didn’t see nearly enough of Rupe these days, especially since he and Jayne had got married and Rupe had decided he’d rather drink from her pussy than drink whiskey with Cash.

He missed his wingman. A whole fucking lot.

He called up his search history and clicked on the website listing the house. It was so gorgeous, he considered asking if it was for sale. The thought of being able to whisk Natalia off to the Caribbean on a whim, and the idea of watching her stroll around in a bikini all day, was hellishly tempting. Overlooking the sea on the west coast, the enormous plantation house—ten bedrooms, twelve bathrooms, a wraparound balcony, infinity pool, and a decent sized garden for the kids to run around in—was perfect.

Oh, screw it. Whether Rupe and Jayne, or Em and David joined them or not, he was taking Natalia, Mum, and the kids to the Caribbean for Christmas. He made the call and booked the house for the entire holiday season. He decided not to ask if it was for sale, although that was still on the back burner as a possibility.

His next call was to Rupe.

“Morning, dickhead.”

“What the fuck?” Rupe grumbled, his voice rough as though he’d just woken up. “Did you wet the bed or something?”

“Very funny. Wait until you have kids. There is no such thing as a lie in.”

“You’re rolling in cash – no pun intended. Hire some help.”

“Try telling Natalia that. I’ve been on at her for nine years to get a nanny. Not a chance.”

“Well, for the record, just because you’re up at the arse-crack of dawn does not mean you have to wake your best bud. You know I only like to see one nine o’clock in the day. There’d better be a good reason for this call.”

Cash expelled an irritated huff. “If you’d shut the fuck up rambling and listen for five seconds, you’d find out.”

“Well, go on then.”

“What are you and Jayne doing for Christmas?”

“Fucking,” came the reply.

Cash rolled his eyes. “You can’t fuck your way through the entire Christmas break.”

Rupe snorted. “Can’t I? You seem to have forgotten what it’s like being in the first flush of a relationship, buddy. I guess it’s what happens when you’re coming up on a decade. It all gets a bit samey and boring.”

Cash’s mind shot back to last night in the car with Natalia. Yeah, Rupe was talking shit, as per usual.

He made a dismissive gesture with his hand even though Rupe couldn’t see him. “Three years hardly counts as ‘first flush’,” he said. “Anyway, looks like you’ll be too busy to spend Christmas in the Caribbean with us then. No problem. See you later.”

Cash didn’t immediately hang up because he knew Rupe too well. As he pulled the phone away from his ear Rupe shouted, “For fuck’s sake, hang on a sec. What holiday to the Caribbean?”

“Sending you a link.”

Cash tapped on his phone, emailing the house information over.

“Got it,” Rupe said. He paused, then let out a low whistle. “Wow, that looks amazing. Have you booked it?”

“Yep. So, you coming or what?”

“With Jayne pressed up against that balcony overlooking the sea, I’m inclined to say yes. Several times per day.”

Cash laughed. “Shouldn’t you ask her first?”

“About the multiple orgasms, or the holiday?”

“Both.”

“Nah,” Rupe said. “I doubt she’ll argue about either one. She’s taking time off over Christmas anyway. We were planning to go away on the boat, but this sounds like much more fun. Is anyone else coming?”

“Natalia’s mum and mine. Plus, she’s going to try and persuade Emmalee and David to come, although I’m not sure they will.”

“Why not?”

Cash quickly filled him in on last night. Rupe listened in silence until Cash had finished.

“Well, bud, Tally knows Em better than anyone. If she thinks something is wrong, then she’s probably spot on.”

“I agree.”

“Do you think they’re having marital problems?”

“Not from what I saw last night, they seemed pretty tight, but I think that whatever is going on, this holiday will do them good.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it will. When are we going?”

“I’ve booked it from the twenty-third. Your plane or mine?” Cash asked.

“Mine. It’s bigger.”

“Like your ego.”

“And my dick,” Rupe hit back.

Cash rolled his eyes. “You never change.”

Rupe chuckled down the phone. “Right back atcha, buddy.”