Cash (Sexy Bastard #2) (19 page)

“I figured we both needed a
break,” Tasha says, dropping onto a couch and pulling out her
phone.

“What are the chances that we
could make a break for it?”

“You’d have to agree to go
on a date with Morgan Dockson in order to be let back into the
house.”

“I can’t
date Morgan,” I say. That was the wrong thing to say
around Tasha. Her back straightens and she turns towards me with a
predatory look in her eye.

“Cash, are you seeing someone?”

“No.”

“Too fast, brother dear. Who is
she?”

I finish the drink and hand it to her.
Tasha takes a huge gulp and nearly chokes at the straight bourbon
tamed with a bit of mint and sugar.

“Are you trying to kill me?”
Tasha demands, holding the drink out like it’s
a miniature axe murderer.

“Mint Juleps are a sipping
drink.”

“You are no fun.”

“Let’s get out of here.”
I hike a thumb toward the door and freedom. Maybe I should sweeten
the deal with the promise of burgers, but I don’t.

“Oh, no,” Tasha says,
sipping her drink and trying not to gag. “For this, we are
definitely staying for the rest of dinner.”

“Did anyone ever tell you you’re
very cruel?”

“Who do you think I learned it
from?”

I swing an arm around Tasha, and she
drags me back to the dining room for the rest of dinner in hell. By
the end, I can’t get out of there fast enough. Mom reminds me
of a time next week and Dad doesn’t say a thing. Tasha just
smiles and gloats from the sidelines. We’re now stuck in this
together. I think I’ll need a brillo pad to help me get clean
again.

Needing to escape my family, I climb
into my car and peel out of the drive. I glance at the clock. It’s
almost nine here, which means it’s just six in Los Angeles.
Means Savannah is probably done with work for the day. Dialing her
number, I head back toward the bar. Just a quick chat and it’ll
help me feel centered again.

“Hey, I was just gonna call you,”
Savannah says.

“Can’t get me out of your
mind? I’m sure your harem of surfer dudes are very
disappointed.”

“You have no idea. But actually,
I caught an early flight back. We finished negotiations.” She
goes on but I’m still stuck on flight back. There is nothing I
want more than to be with Savannah tonight. My family is something
that just stains me to my very core, and only Savannah can wash me
clean.

“I can be there in ten minutes.”

“It’ll be worth your while
if you make it in five.”

I hang up and hit the gas. Let no one
ever say that Cash Gardner turns down a bet from a sexy woman.

Savannah opens the door in a silk
nightie, and I don’t think she’s ever looked sexier. She
backs up to let me in and I take her in my arms, kicking the door
shut behind me. The kiss is rough and demanding. I don’t have
time for sweet and comforting I need this right now. I need her.

Shoving up the nightie, I find she’s
not wearing underwear. “Do you have a thing against underwear?”
I ask.

“Only when you’re around.”

She threads her fingers through my
hair. Giving one nipple a slight pinch, she moans and it’s all
I can do to not come right there. Satisfied, I trail kisses down her
stomach, but she wraps her fingers around my tie and pulls me back
up.

“Like it?”

She wrinkles her nose and removes it
swiftly.

“I want something else first,”
she says, kissing me. Distracting me while her other hand encircles
my cock. I grab her mischievous hand and pin it to the wall. I look
down at her, eyes glassy, lips puffy. This is what I’ve missed
since she’s been gone. I lean in, our bodies lining up
perfectly.

She hooks a leg around me, and I shift
to pick her up. She shoves at my shirt, ripping at the buttons. Good,
I never liked these clothes anyway. Using the wall for leverage, she
presses against me, and my cock feels like it’s about to
explode.

I grab the edges of her nightie and
pull it over her head. She bucks against me, and I can feel the heat
of her pussy.

Her trip may have just been a few days,
but I feel like I’ve been wandering in the desert for months.
Savannah is cool, clear water, and all I want to do is dive in and
never come out. Her fingers fumble with my dress pants, and when she
pulls my cock free I hiss out a long breath. Teasing my length she
lines me up and, using her legs, fully seats herself on me.

Sucking her nipple into my mouth, I try
to lose everything in her. Gripping her hips, I thrust again and
again. She bows under me, complying with my every wish. Everything I
demand she gives back, not fighting, not protesting, just giving.

“Cash,” she say breathless.

It’s going to be harsh and
insane. She’s so tight and ready for release and I ride her
over the edge.

I don’t
know how we made it back to her bedroom, but we end up in bed.
Cradled in the warmth of Savannah’s body, I finally find ease.
I look up at her, resting my chin on her chest. She runs her fingers
through my hair.

“Hi,” I say.

“Miss me?” There’s
laughter in her eyes. Her other hand traces the design of my tattoo.
I grin and kiss each finger. There is nothing that she can’t
fix.

“You have no idea.” I lay
my face flat against her. I want to freeze this moment and stay here
forever. The outside world filled with parents and problems doesn’t
need to exist. I can feel myself getting hard again.

Savannah

Rob hands me a triple shot latte when I
get into the office. I’m grateful he hasn’t asked why I
want the change in my morning caffeine intake. The last thing I want
to do is try and explain my sex life to my assistant. He can know
about the dating catastrophes, but I’d like some privacy when
it comes to the pleasure.

At least he accepts me as I am. Even
after a few quick sips, the lethargy in my bones starts to lift.
Since I got back from LA, Cash has basically been living at my
apartment.

It’s all late night and early
mornings for me—not that I’m going to complain. I haven’t
had orgasms like these since…ever. Cash may work until two am,
but he also doesn’t have to be at work until late afternoon. He
gets to sleep in while I still have to get up and go to work. The
sight of him naked in my bed every morning is something I look
forward to, and the sex is beyond great.

We are getting so close, but I can’t
help but feel that something isn’t right. He keeps telling me
it’s the new bar, and the old bar. But he’s holding back
on me. Its excuse after excuse, but whenever I try to push him to
open up he becomes a steel trap, boxing himself in better than
Richard The Dick when he tries to be smart.

We don’t
talk about much. Since the racetrack, I’ve tried to stick with
Cash’s plan for just the here and now, but I think his here and
now is falling apart. Over what I can’t say, but there’s
something that’s killing him, and he won’t
let me in.

Rob follows me into the office and
starts our normal run through for the day.

I chuck my bag onto a chair with more
force than I had planned. Rob stops in his tracks, pen held above his
morning checklist. I haven’t been this out of sorts since
Tanner and the no good, very bad break up. Even then, it was just
throwing myself into work.

“And,” Rob says coming to
the close of his spiel, “I set up the event just like you
wanted. Her agent was happy to help—thinks we’re getting
her some great exposure—and even loaned me his assistant to
help out. Also, I added something extra to tonight’s event.”

I raise an eyebrow. What were we
talking about again? I’d trust Rob with my life and then some,
but usually he still runs things by me first.

“For the gig tonight, for Misty
Singh—I’ve got everything pretty much laid out,” he
says, effortlessly filling me in without making me feel like a fool.
“But I thought it was only fitting that we invite the whole
office to the review. You know, let them see what they’re
getting. Take that, Richard the Dick.”

It puts a smile back on my face. Los
Angeles was a way for me to fix the Tanner Jakes debacle as well as
set up our newest client with vital contacts. Looking at the
contracts on my desk, we’ve got several offers from top labels.
This is going to be big. Fuck you, Tanner Jakes. Who says I need you
to make my career?

“Also, I thought—and please
if this is too much I apologize—but I set aside two tickets for
you and your special man friend.”

I snort—it can’t be helped.
Thinking of Cash as my special man friend makes him sound like some
sort of hired lover.

“Is that what we’re calling
him these days?” I ask focusing entirely on my work. We’re
not discussing this, we are not discussing this.

“I could work on a couple of
names,” Rob says.

“Thank you, Rob.”

“Anytime, ma’am,” Rob
says with laughter in his eyes.

There’s an intense urge to stick
my tongue out at my assistant, but I don’t. This was always the
plan, anyway. Getting Cash out of the bedroom and into different
parts of my life. Maybe he’ll finally feel comfortable telling
whatever is really slowly killing him.

Toasting him with my coffee, I relax
back in my chair. The LA trip was all about getting Misty up on her
feet. Now there are just a few loose ends to tie up. I stop Rob as he
leaves the office.

“Can you get me Mathias?” I
ask.

“Sure thing, ma’am.”

Less than a minute later the phone on
my desk beeps and I pick it up.

“Mathias, so good to talk to you.
Sorry I missed your call. I was in LA all week.”

“Well, well, well, you stupid
bitch.”

Not Mathias, definitely not Mathias.

“Tanner, such varied word
choice.”

“You think you’re too good
for me?”

“Since we’re not being
professional in this conversation. Yes. I do, you fucking prick.”

“You ruined my life—my
marriage. I can’t write a damn thing.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.
Now be a good boy and put Mathias on the phone.”

“Why should I?”

“Because we’re through. You
are no longer my problem, so go dip your prick in toxic waste for all
I care. Just make sure to lose my number and forget my name when you
do.”

With that I hang up the phone. Tanner
Jakes is done. He’s out of my life.

Rob comes back in and places an
envelope on my desk and backs out of the room. Slicing open the
envelope, I pull out the two tickets. This is the big play. Cash and
I are far enough along to spend the night, but is it time for him to
meet my work friends? Technically he already has, but that was not
planned. Now we’re somewhere between orgasm and ‘I
do.’

There’s no canceling now. Not if
the whole office is on board. Whatever apprehensions I have about
where Cash and I sit, tonight is going to shove us off the dock.
We’ll either sink or swim.

It may kill the mood and it may end the
whole thing, but that’s just the risk I’m going to take.

I give myself another once over in the
mirror while I’m waiting for Cash to come over. Cassie’s
been telling me about his separation anxiety over giving his bar to a
new head bartender. Her texts about his over protectiveness have had
me in stitches while I’m getting ready.

Tonight, we’re going out, and if
this is our third public outing I want it to be different than the
first two.

So I went with skinny jeans and a lace
top that I can pair with a leather jacket. We’re all in the
business of us tonight. Whatever we decide “us” is going
to be.

Cash knocks on the door and I open it
and step out into the hall ready to go. I’m not going to give
him any time to trap me in the bedroom or talk me out of going
tonight. If we start there’s going to be no stopping, and I
can’t afford to miss this party—not when I planned it. I
wouldn’t get the promotion, and Rob might abandon me for
ruining his big party planning success.

I tuck a curl back into place while
Cash’s eyes sweep me up and down. I can feel my cheeks burn and
I pull on my jacket just to give me something to do with my hands
that doesn’t involve grabbing Cash by the collar and hauling
him off to bed.

“Interested in giving Mrs. Carson
a show?” he asks, an eyebrow arching up in a dare. I smile and
pull him close. He smells like soap and spices, and mint—always
mint. I met Mrs. Carson in the lobby the other day and she wouldn’t
even look at me. Something tells me I’ve finally pushed my
neighbor over the edge.

“No, but we are going to a show.”

“Oh really? Didn’t know you
liked to swing that way.”

It’s always like that with him. A
quick joke. A move back to safe territory. Anytime it seems like we
might be approaching a deeper topic than what I did with my day and
am I ready for sex, he makes a joke. If I counted all the facts I
know about Cash Gardner, I wouldn’t even have a full hand. As
much as I want him, I don’t know him.

I needle his ribs with my elbow. “For
that, you don’t get to go to hear Miss Misty Singh.”

“Whoa, now, let’s not talk
crazy here, my friend.”

My heart hits my kneecaps. I swear,
everyone in a five-mile radius can hear the sound. Only years of
training not to make faces before clients keeps the smile on my face.

Friend
.
Is that where we are? Friends? I refuse to believe it—
it
was just a joke
, I tell myself. Nothing to worry about. It
doesn’t help the growing knot of worry in my stomach. Am I
taking my lover to meet my colleagues as my friend?

“Oh no, you seem to think we’re
headed for something tawdry and that I will not have,” I say.

“How can I make it up to you?”

“You will have to be on your best
behavior.”