Cash (Sexy Bastard #2) (15 page)

I walk down the steps, leaving both
boys stunned. “Well, are you two coming or are you just going
to stand there?”

After about an hour of me getting
lessons on safety and watching Cash and Luke race all around the
track, I’m all suited up and buckled in. One of Luke’s
crew goes over the final overview of the car.

“You’re going down,”
I say to Cash through our opened window.

“All ready did that this morning,
Savy,” Cash says with a wink, then slides his helmet on. I
can’t help but smile. He is turning out to be the best break up
cure ever.

“What are you guys laying down
for this race?” Luke asks. When neither of us answers, he goes
on. “Can’t have a race without a bet. Since both of you
seem incapable, I’ll handle it. Cash, you lose and I get a kiss
from your girl here.”

“What?” Cash and I both say
at the same time.

“This is what happens when
neither of you step up to the plate.”

“I win, you come home with me
tonight,” Cash says casually looking at me. “I lose and
you spend the night alone.”

“What sort of a bet is that?”

“One I want to win,” Cash
says, and hits the gas. He peels out, leaving a trail of smoke behind
him. I slide my visor down and chase after him. Luke stands in my
rearview mirror just shaking his head with laughter.

The first curve, and I’m right on
Cash’s tail. His car hugs the inside of the track, and I gladly
take the outside, climbing the steep incline. As we come out of the
curve, it’s me who has the advantage. Using gravity, my car
speeds ahead of his.

I give him a finger wave and take the
lead. But Cash isn’t an idiot, and at the second curve he
steals my idea and I only just manage to keep my lead. As we head
down the home stretch, I can’t help but wonder if I want to win
this race. Losing means more time with Cash, but it’s not in me
to toss a competition. No matter what.

So as we approach Luke, with checkered
flag in hand, I hit the gas and shift gears. Zooming past Luke and
taking the win.

“You’ve driven before,”
Luke says as I climb out of the car.

“My dad taught me how to drive a
stick on the back roads. He always liked the idea of driving in a
race, but never took the chance.”

Cash pulls to a stop and jerks his
helmet off. If looks could kill, I’d be twice in the ground
already.

I hand my fire suit back to the guy and
head back to Cash, who’s just crawling out of his car.

“I demand a rematch,” he
says, landing on his feet as he crawls out of the car.

“Sore loser?”
I tease. He stalks up to me and traps me between his car and his
body. Caught between the heat of the car and the heat Cash brings to
my body, I’m sure that I’m going to burn up and not mind
one bit.

“Only if you’ll kiss it to
make it better.”

“And where does it hurt?”
He taps his lips and I stand up on my toes and give him a long kiss.
When I pull back, the other guys on the track are cheering like we’ve
just won a major award.

“I’m a very sore loser,”
Luke calls. I can feel the color stain my face, but Cash just smiles
genially and shoots them all the finger.

“Sorry about them.”

I just smile and give him another long
kiss. This is what you’re going to be missing, I think. There’s
more hollering behind us and this time, I give them a finger.

Lounging in the stands, Cash and I
watch as the cars are packed up.

“I can’t believe you have
never been to a race,” Cash says. He assumed that I was a big
NASCAR fan given my driving abilities.

“Not exactly in my repertoire. My
parents we didn’t really…” How to say this? My
family wasn’t poor, but there were definite limits to our
budget. Tickets to events like this was never on the agenda when I
was a kid. “Let me guess, you were the type who grew up here.”

“Wasn’t exactly my
repertoire, either.”

My phone goes off before I can push the
subject further. I glance at the screen out of habit. Being a lawyer
means I’m always on call. When the client calls, I always have
to answer. “Sorry, I have to take this.”

I step away from Cash and press a
finger into my ear so I can hear what Rob is trying to tell me.

“We have a problem,” my
assistant says, and my stomach drops. It’s the only sign of
fear I allow myself. Just once I take time for myself and work falls
apart.

“Let me
guess—”

“No time. Richard The Dick is
making his move today. You’re going to need a bigger fish,
boss.” I put a hand to my head. I’ve got a lot of
clients, and they all bring in good business for the firm. But now
that I’m kicking Tanner Jakes to the curb, it’s gonna
have to be bigger than big.

“Tanner is out of the picture,”
I say. Not even a promotion could entice me to make that son of a
bitch another dime. Back to the drawing board. We’ll find
someone bigger, someone who would make everyone forget about Tanner
fucking Jakes.

“And The Dick’s got
something bigger on the line, my sources say. To counter him, we need
at least one brand new client who we do a full work up for. Lots of
billable hours.”

“Okay, who do we have in our
pipeline?” I have friends all over the city who are looking to
hook their artist up with our firm. Finding one new client shouldn’t
be that hard.

“Been sorting through our records
all morning. I have a few ideas, I’ll send over their demos.”

“We’ve got this, Rob. Buy
me as much time as you can.” I look back at Cash. What I really
want is more time with Cash. Relaxed against the railing, he’s
a sex god draped in sunlight. Buy me a few more days, Rob, just a few
more days to wash this outta my system.

“Already on it, boss.”

That is why I pay Rob the big bucks.
Without him, my life would go up in smoke.

Scrolling through a list of contacts,
I’m looking for anything that might jump out at me. Being an
entertainment lawyer is part talent scout and part having the balls
to bet big.

Rob’s sent me a list a mile long
of demos for me to listen to. New people who just need to be put in
contact with the right people. I hit download on a couple. Like hell
I was going to let The Dick run my department.

I’m knee deep in demos when I
notice Cash has come up next to me.

“Planning world domination?”

“That’s what I do on the
weekends, this is much bigger.” Another quick go around with my
iPhone and my inbox and I try to figure out some sort of game plan.

“Top secret, I take it?”
Cash tries to look at my phone, and I pull it back out of instinct.
In my job, you don’t share information unless you want to watch
Richard the Dick steal your clients.

“Sorry.” I turn off my cell
phone and slide it back into my back pocket. It’s always been
my problem—at least that’s what Tanner would say. This is
supposed to be our day. All I wanted this morning was more time with
him, before we both went our separate ways.

No phones allowed—should have
made that rule when we first started out. I should have anticipated
that this would happen. When I first started out at Briggs, Meyers, &
Associates, my mother would confiscate my cell phone the moment I was
ever with her or my family.

Cash gives a casual shrug and matches
my stance at the rail. He’s close enough that I want to lean on
him. Tug his sculpted arms around me and forget that I have a job to
do. “You love what you do?”

“I do.”
To keep my hands to myself, I pull my cap further down on my head. It
was something that Tanner could never understand—I love my job.
Sure, he could write songs all the time or stage our dates at
whatever bar he was playing, but one look at a work email, much less
a call, and he’d be upset for the rest of the evening.

“Hey,” Cash says, hooking
an arm around me he pulls me close tucking me under his chin. It’s
the first time in a long time that I feel safe to just let go. A
million memories from last night play on through my head and I want
to try a million more things. I take a deep breath, inhaling the
clean scent of his shirt and the sharp tang of his aftershave. He
tips my hat back so he can look into my face. “It’s
nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, it’s damn
sexy.”

“Just wait until you hear my
contract negotiation skills.”

He laughs and drops a quick kiss onto
my lips. I want it to go on, but he pulls away just as fast. All of
my nerves are finely tuned to him. I wonder if he feels the same way.
“I draw some hard lines. Beware, counselor.”

“Hmmm, you’re
outta your league my friend.”

“Oh, really?”

“Absolutely.”

“Thank you,” I say.

“For what?”

“Not making a big deal about my
work.”

“Not saying I’m not gonna
make you pay for it.”

“Really.”

“Yup you’re gonna come with
me tonight.” Knowing Cash it won’t be just once, either.
Not complaining.

“Somewhere special?”

“Special to me.”

“Okay.”

“Plus, I’d be a certifiable
asshole if I said you couldn’t answer your phone after I ran
out on you for that work emergency.”

“It’s your baby. You love
it.” Cash shrugs and looks out at the track. “Something
up? Anything you want to talk about?” Maybe that’s
stepping over a line, but we’re friends—we’re going
out again tonight. Cash can open up to me if he wants.

“Stupid stuff, always happens
around the opening of a new club.”

“What sort of stupid stuff?”
He doesn’t answer, and I give him a playful shove. He takes it
with a smile. I shift my position so that I’m leaning back
against the railing. “Come on, what sort of stupid stuff.”

“Doesn’t
matter. Ryder, Jackson and them—they gotta look to the future
and The Library.”

“So, what are your plans for the
future?” That was about as smooth as sandpaper. Well done,
Savannah.

Cash gives me one of his patented
shrugs. This time I refuse to let him off the hook. He doesn’t
have to tell me about his fights with his friends, but I need
something. I’m skipping work. I’m putting everything on
the line here. One thing could give me hope that he wants more than
just a couple of quickies when he feels like it.

“Come on, what does Cash Gardner
want to do with his life?”

“Make drinks, a shit ton of
money, and have a great time doing it,” he says with so much
bravado that I believe him even if I want to smack him upside the
head. He leans in and gives me a lingering kiss. “Be
happy.” The kiss lingers, and I bring my hand up to hold
him in place. It’s a trick to lull him into a false sense of
security. Make him think he’s got the upper hand.

And when I let him go, I strike.

“That’s not what I meant.
Your team all has goals, plans, dreams. Jackson makes buildings like
they’re the Sistine Chapel and he’s Michelangelo. Ryder
rules his bare-knuckle fight empire like Julius Caesar. Don’t
even get me started on the wiz kid who continually whips Wall Street
into submission.”

“No cute historical reference for
Parker—he’ll be hurt.”

“So…”

“So…” Cash parrots
back to me. He leans casually against the bars of the walkway,
completely relaxed. He doesn’t understand what I’m
asking. All right. I’ll lead the horse a little more.

“Okay. What’s your five
year plan?” My mother was all about the plan when I was a kid.
It’s how I got into the University of Texas and eventually
Harvard. Form a plan and then work the plan, that’s what my
Mama would always say.

“Who needs a five year plan?”

“I have one.”

“Of course you do, and how’s
that worked out for you?” He looks down his nose at me like I
might be stupid for even thinking about having a plan. My plan has
worked out very well, I want to snap back. But this isn’t about
me. So I take a deep breath and start in on my plan speech.

“Aside from the personal life
stuff, really well. I’m an associate at my law firm and under
consideration for promotion to be the head of my department.”

“Hold on. You have a personal
five year plan?”

“Yes.”

“That’s ridiculous. You
can’t plan your personal life like it’s some sort of
checklist. What, you want to be married in two years and have a baby
in three?”

“Is there a problem with that?”
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy having a new man at every turn as
much as Cash enjoys walking women up those stairs of his, but at some
point I just want it to end. Not now, but in the next five years—who
knows?

Just as the fight looms on the horizon,
Cash sets us on a different course, trapping me between the bar and
his body. I lean back so that I can still look him in the eye. My
body may respond positively to his advances but I’m not done
with this discussion yet. “See, this is also how you end up in
dating hell. Love isn’t about planning. You can’t network
your way into love. Love is always, always about the here.” He
trails kisses across my cheek and casually nibbles on my ear while
his hands burrow their way under my shirt. I suck in a breath. “The
now. Got me?”

Uh-huh. Loud and clear.

Cash

I pull into the drive of Jackson’s
restored craftsman—it matches the battle between classic and
modern just like my friend. By the cars in the drive, the guys and
Shelby and her crew are already here. If the meeting at the bar was
bad, this was going to be worse.

“Everyone’s here,”
Savannah says. Her eyes sweep over the house a dubious expression
locked in place. At least we’re on the same page. It’s
one thing when we were just getting shit-faced at the bar together,
now we’re fucking. She disappears back into her phone. It’s
been an on again off again relationship with that thing since we left
the speedway.

We stopped briefly back at her place so
she could grab her red swimsuit. It winks at me through her mostly
sheer cover up.