Page 104 of Cash

My eyes burn. I cover them, throat locking up with the sudden urge to weep.

I whirl around at a loudbang. Cash stands in the doorway, looking so good—so angry—my right knee literally gives out. I grab at the lip of the sink behind me, steadying myself.

“You can’t—you shouldn’t be in here,” I stammer.

The door swings shut behind him as he stalks into the room. His scent—eucalyptus, skin kissed with sweat—fills my head.

My heart lurches as he begins to push open each stall door. “Everybody out. Now.”

The third and final stall is locked. The girl inside immediately scurries out when Cash bangs on the door, glancing at me before she loops her purse across her chest. “You okay, Cash?”

“Mind giving us a minute, Lucy?”

“You got it.”

When Lucy exits, Cash crosses the room and bolts the door that leads to the bar, the lock sliding home with a definitivethumpI feel between my legs.

Then Cash turns to me. My pulse leaps, feeling like a fist slamming against the back of my throat.

He looks downright furious. Jaw ticcing, nostrils flaring. Eyes on fire.

The hungry, barely containedsomethingI see in them turns me inside out. I hold on to the sink for dear life, falling back against it as he approaches.

He closes the space between us in three huge, angry strides. He’s enormous. Even in my boots, Cash towers overme, the air vibrating with emotion as he stops six inches from me. Way too close.

Not close enough.

Is he angry with me? Why?

My body pulses at his nearness, sparks of desire catching up and down my spine. My nipples are hard. Pulse is frantic.

“Him?” Cash finally says.

I blink. “What?”

“Palmetto. Palmston. You wanthim?”

“We’re not—I’m not—we’re friends who—wait. My relationship with Palmer is none of your business, Cash.”

His chest barrels out on a sharp inhale. “Answer me.”

“We’re friends.” My voice shakes. “And, yeah, we hook up sometimes.”

“Did y’all hook up today?”

“I’m not answering that.”

He leans in, eyes flicking to my mouth. “Did. You. Hook. Up. Today?”

“We didn’t, all right?” I put my hands on Cash’s chest and give him a shove. “Why do you care so much anyway?”

Cash grabs my wrist, stepping forward so my hands are on his chest again. The firmness of his grip makes my pulse riot. “He’s an idiot. You can do better. So much better, Mollie.”

“Again, who I’m with?—”

“That’s really what you want?” He searches my eyes. “Someone who has no clue how fuckin’ amazing you are?”

My heart must explode into a million pieces, because I feel its ardent beat everywhere: in my lips, my skin, my stomach.

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