Page 83 of When I Had You

“I can’t just leave because some paparazzi pushes me or calls me a slut.”

“What? The fuck?” I gulp, realizing I probably shouldn’t have said that. He rubs his temple as he looks away, almost sounding disappointed in me. When he turns back, he asks, “That’s bullshit. You know that, right?”

“I know,” I whisper. “But why are you mad at me?”

“I’m not, babe. I just want to punch their fucking faces in.”

I don’t want to let fear dictate how I move in life, but it’s hard. I need to turn it into anger. “So do I right now.” I throw my arm out wide. “I thought it was bad after Miami, but now the whole world seems to be on his side.”

“There aren’t any sides. There are his lies, and your team is doing a shit job of turning this around.” He takes a breath as if to calm himself. “I can come get you, and we can spend the week in Sao Paulo together.”

It may not solve my problems, but the offer is tempting. I stand back up, coming to my senses. Carrying the phone into the kitchen, I shake my head. “I can’t, Cash. As much as I want to, all that will do is leave it for when I get back or make it worse.”

He looks away, natural light shining on his face. His head lowers when he turns back to me. “I’m sorry for causing this. Please let me fix it.”

“Causing what, babe?” I clear my throat and stand in the light of the fridge. “Causing me to fall madly in love with you? You’re guilty, and there’s nothing you can do to fix me, so we just have to adapt.”

A wry smile models for me on his face. Damn him. He can’t even help how attractive he is. “You just have to steal all the good lines.”

“Are they working?”

“They sure are.” He keeps smiling like he doesn’t know how to make another expression. And I love it. The light that gleans in his greens. The lines that form at the corners of his eyes. The way he looks at me like we’re in person standing face-to-face. He’s so authentically himself it’s enviable.

I move into the bedroom and turn on a lamp. “I have good news.”

Running a hand over his head, he says, “We could use some.”

“If I can, I’m going to take you up on the offer of Brazil next weekend because the ban was lifted.”

Surprise shapes his face, but then he smirks. “How’d you get that lifted?”

“I told my family how much I love you.”

“Ah,” he says with a slight nod. “My flight to Brazil with the Westcott brothers should be interesting.”

24

Cash

They’ve been staring at me for over an hour.

Noah shook his head once before looking down in disgust.

Loch has knocked into my shoulder twice. Once while going to the toilet at the back of the plane and then when he returned to his seat on the couch at the front.

It’s Harbor I’m most worried about. His expression hasn’t shifted out of neutral from boarding to now. I can only imagine what’s going through his mind.

Small talk isn’t going to win them over, so I haven’t tried. As soon as I sat in the seat, I put my headphones on and stared right fucking back at them. They don’t intimidate me other than the risk of losing my seat on the grid for having sex with their sister. I fucked around, literally, and I’m willing to find out. I have bigger concerns than them overstepping their role as Marina’s brother.

Loch and Noah share a silent exchange. Must have drawn the short end of the stick because Noah gets up and comes to sit across the aisle from me. He pinches the bridge of his nose, then leans forward to rest his forearms on his legs. “I thought . . .” He looks at the ceiling of the plane and then back at me. “We had an understanding? As coworkers, boss and employee, even as friends.”

Realizing this isn’t going to be quick, I recline the chair. “And what would that be?”

“That you wouldn’t fuck my sister, who’s also your boss, and ten years younger than you—”

“Nine.”

“Nine what?” he snaps.

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