Em sat in stunned silence as Tally finished telling her about Cash’s mum and the story Pete was going to publish. Every now and again, Em would open her mouth to say something, but then she’d simply shake her head and remain quiet.

“So now you know,” Tally said, leaning forward to pick up the cup of tea Em had made her. She took a sip and screwed up her face. Cold. She leaned back on her chair and flicked the kettle on.

“I feel terrible,” Em said. “I gave Cash such a hard time, and yet all he was doing was protecting his mum.”

Tally shrugged. “It’s not your fault, but at least now you know why I was so quick to take him back. I wanted to tell you before it comes out, but please, it’s just between you and me.”

Em made a locking motion across her mouth. “My lips are sealed. When is Pete going to publish?”

“Not sure yet. A couple of weeks, maybe earlier. My preference is sooner rather than later.”

A frown flickered across Em’s face. “Why the rush? He’s kept it under wraps until now.”

“Well, Rachael is getting stronger all the time, and she wants to start spreading her wings, which will undoubtedly cause questions to be asked, but for me, it’s more than that.”

“What do you mean?”

Tally rested her chin on her hands. “Cash has carried the guilt over killing his father around for years, but he’s also consumed with fear—of losing his career, his livelihood, his fans. Once his story is in the public domain, he can let the fear go. And my guess is none of those things will happen. It’s all about how we manage the message.”

Em nodded. “Makes sense.”

Tally stood and made another cup of tea. “Want to hear my other news?” she said as she sat back down.

Em tilted forwards. “Always.”

“I found out who took the photographs of Cash with Gracie.”

Em’s mouth fell open. “Who? How?”

Tally smirked. “The ‘how’ is because she confessed. The ‘who’… Kinga.”

Em sucked in a breath. “Oh my God.” She shook her head. “I never trusted that woman.”

“I know.”

“Cash must have gone ballistic.”

Tally chewed the side of her cheek. “I haven’t told him.”

Em’s eyebrows shot up. “Why not?”

“He’s got enough stress right now. Plus he’s just getting back into playing again. The last thing I want is to knock him off course again.”

Em wrinkled her nose. “Babes, I’m not sure that’s the right decision.”

Tally shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe not, but it’s the one I’ve made. I told Kinga that when I gauge that the time is right, I’ll tell him.”

Em let out a low whistle. “What a fucking mess.”

“I feel for her. She’s trying to do the right thing, make a fresh start.”

Em snorted. “She doesn’t deserve your forgiveness, but then, you always did have a forgiving nature. Me? Not so much.”

Tally laughed. “Yin and yang—that’s us.”

Em grinned. “The perfect team.”

* * *

Isaac dropped Tally and Cash outside Danny’s place later that evening. Danny had invited them round to dinner after Cash reluctantly agreed to include him in writing the article. Danny didn’t fool Tally, though. His benevolence was only because he wanted her to meet Luke, his latest boyfriend, whom he’d described as “the one.”

“Ready?” she said, weaving her fingers through Cash’s.

He glanced at her, his face expressionless. “No.”

Her heart cramped. If there were any other way around this terrible situation they’d found themselves in, she’d take it.

“It’s going to be fine. I’ve already filled Danny in on most of it. He wants to get to know you a little—that’s all. It’ll help when it comes to the edit.”

“Let’s just get it over with, okay?”

She sighed and started to walk up the path, Cash trailing slightly behind. She was halfway to the house when Danny flung the door open and stepped out to greet her.

“Hey, baby girl,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and rocking her from side to side. “It’s been too long.”

She giggled. “Danny, get off. You’re making me dizzy.”

He released her. “And here’s the reason I haven’t seen you in, like, forever. Although I’m not surprised,” he said, leering at Cash with a salacious grin on his face. “If he were mine, you wouldn’t be seeing much of me either.”

Tally gave her friend a dig in the ribs and stole a glance at Cash. She wasn’t sure how he would take to Danny. She had grown used to Danny’s camp ways, but some people found him a bit much.

She needn’t have worried.

“Shame for you I’m hetero, then,” he said with a broad smile as he shook Danny’s outstretched hand. “And you need to watch it. She’s beyond feisty when she’s jealous.”

Danny laughed. “Oh yeah. Vicious bitch doesn’t even begin to describe her.”

Tally planted her hands on her hips when Cash chuckled, and she shook her head at both of them. “I am here, you know.”

Danny looped an arm around her shoulder, tucked his hand into the crook of Cash’s elbow, and hustled them inside. “Come and meet Luke. I’ve told him how utterly fabulous you are, so try not to let me down, Tal.”

Tally glanced once more at Cash. Danny had worked his magic. Cash had completely relaxed. The worry lines around his eyes were gone, and his shoulders were no longer hunched up next to his ears.

Luke was nothing like she’d imagined. Based on Danny’s previous boyfriends, she’d expected someone midheight with dark hair and a fairly lithe physique, a little bit wimpish. Luke couldn’t have been more opposite. He was tall—quite a bit taller than Danny—and broad shouldered with a thick head of sandy hair that flopped over his forehead.

“It’s great to meet you finally,” he said, giving Tally a peck on the cheek. He was a lot more circumspect with Cash, leaving the greeting at a firm handshake. “Please, come and sit down. Let me get you both a drink. Wine okay?”

Tally and Cash nodded, and as Luke disappeared into the kitchen, Tally’s eyes darted to Danny’s.

“He’s a bit of a departure from the norm,” she said.

“I knew you’d say that,” Danny whispered. “But he’s amazing. Everything I could ever want. I want you to like him. It’s important to me that you two get along.”

“Listen, if he’s good enough for you, he’ll do for me.”

“Good. Now shush. He’s coming back.”

“So what do you do for a living, Luke?” Tally said as Luke returned with bottles of red and white wine, which he set in the middle of the table.

“I design Linux systems.”

Tally gave him a questioning look. “What are Linux systems?”

“They’re basically IT operating systems,” he said, laughing as Tally screwed her face up. “Yeah, I know. IT is boring except for geeks like me.”

“IT confuses me,” she said.

“You’re not alone. I get confused at times.”

“What made you choose IT?” Cash said as he accepted a glass of wine.

“I don’t think I chose it as much as it chose me. While other kids were out playing, I was in my room building servers and desktop computers.”

Cash smiled. “I guess it’s a bit like me with tennis.”

Luke nodded. “I’ve never wanted to do anything else. I love tinkering with computers, working out what the problem is when they go wrong.”

Tally caught Danny’s eye and nodded in approval. His grin couldn’t have been any wider as he soaked up every word Luke spoke.

After dinner, Luke and Danny cleared the dishes, and once they were out of earshot, she squeezed Cash’s hand. “You doing okay, ace?”

He gave her a genuine smile. “Yeah. Danny’s grand. They seem like a great couple.”

“Danny’s the best. He’ll do right by you on the article, as will I.”

Cash lowered his voice. “Can he be trusted to keep his mouth shut? I don’t want him sharing anything with Luke. After all, we don’t know him.”

She nodded. “Don’t worry. I’ll make it clear to Danny this is a three-way, not a four-way.”

Cash chuckled. “Not sure he’s my type, and you’re definitely not his.”

She rolled her eyes. “You could turn any innocent comment into a filthy one.”

“And you love it, baby.” Cash coaxed her onto his lap and nuzzled her neck with the tip of his nose.

“Stop.” She half-heartedly tried to pull away.

“I’ll stop when your words match your body language,” he said, tracing his tongue along her collarbone. When his teeth grazed her earlobe, she hissed loudly.

“Cash, let me go. They’re coming back.”

She managed to wriggle out of his arms and make it back to her chair in time to save her blushes. Or so she thought.

“Don’t let us interrupt you,” Danny said, barely repressing a grin as he sat down. “And if you’re going to try to hide the fact you’ve been making out, you might want to sort your hair, Tal.”

He and Luke shared a look before the two of them burst out laughing.

“Bugger off, the pair of you,” she said, running a hand over her hair.

“Impressive,” Danny said to Cash. “We’ve only been gone five minutes, and you’ve got her all of a dither.”

Tally huffed. “Oh, for God’s sake, don’t encourage him.”

“No, do,” Cash said with a grin. “My ego needs a bit of stroking.”

Tally choked out a laugh. “Any more stroking, and your ego will be lying on its back waiting for me to scratch its belly.”

“Now, there’s an image,” Danny said as he poured three coffees. “Okay, let’s get on so you two can finish what you started at my dining table.” Danny glanced over at Luke, who nodded.

“That’s my cue to leave,” he said, kissing the top of Danny’s head. “I’m off to the gym. It was great to meet you both. We should do this again soon.”

Luke gave Tally a hug and shook Cash’s hand before heading out. Danny waited until he heard the front door slam and then switched on his iPad.

“Okay, beautiful people. Let’s get to work.”