Page 43 of One Week in Paradise
I curl myself closer to his chest. The sound of his heartbeat against my ear is oddly soothing. ‘I’m sorry,’ I murmur.
‘Nothing to be sorry about.’
‘You’re wasting your holiday in here with me. You should be out there, enjoying the sun.’
‘I already told you,’ he says. ‘I want to be here. Stop trying to push me away. Let me be here for you.’
My heart swells with… What is that? Warmth? Gratitude? Love? ‘Okay.’
It feels like I belong here, nuzzled against Cash’s chest. His body is warm beneath mine, and I never want to let go. ‘I could fall asleep like this,’ I murmur against his chest.
‘Go on then,’ he says softly. ‘I’ll be here when you wake up.’
‘You promise?’
He leans forward and presses his lips against my forehead. The touch is so fleeting. For a second, I’m sure I’ve imagined it, but it sends shockwaves running through my body.
‘I’m not going anywhere, Bailey.’
He keeps his promise.
When I wake hours later, Cash is still curled up beside me. One hand is wrapped around me, and the other is gently combing through my hair. He gives me a lazy smile as I shake off the sleep and blink up at him.
‘Hey.’
I return the smile. ‘Hey.’
‘You feeling any better?’
‘A little,’ I say. Lacey’s words are still there, looming in the back of my mind, but I feel safe here with Cash.
‘Do you want to talk about it?’
I feel like I owe him the truth. Or at least some version of it. ‘I’m guessing you know about my ex, Ethan?’
Cash nods. ‘I’ve seen photos of you two together, and I know you had a messy break-up.’
‘That’s putting it lightly. He was cheating on me the entire time we were together.’ I take a deep breath, steeling myself for the next part. ‘AndIwas the other woman.’
I bury my face in Cash’s chest to stop myself from looking up at him. I don’t want to see the disgust or judgement that must be flitting across his face right now.
‘I swear, I didn’t know,’ I say hurriedly. ‘He’s a photographer and gets a lot of work from high-fashion brands, so he was always travelling to Paris for work. I never suspected that he was really going back and forth to see his long-term girlfriend who lives there.’
Now that I’ve started talking, the words flow freely, and I feel a sense of relief as they come out. ‘She eventually caught on somehow and realised something wasn’t right. She flew to London to confront him and caught us having dinner. She came storming up to our table and went on this wild rant accusing me of being a home-wrecker.’ I pause, my heart thudding as I recall every painful second of that night. ‘Then she threw a glass of wine all over me. She was recording on her phone the whole time, and when she uploaded it online, it went viral.’
‘Is that why you’ve been so quiet online recently?’ Cash asks.
I nod. ‘I don’t come off very well in The Video. I’mshouting back at her, telling her to get lost. And Ethan doesn’t even try and defend me. He immediately chases after her when she eventually leaves. It makes me look really guilty and everyone immediately believed her side of the story. It went viral, and overnight, nobody wanted anything to do with me.’
I tell him about how my face was plastered over gossip blogs for weeks and how my comments were filled with nasty trolls calling me all kinds of cruel and untrue names.
I lean back and force myself to look into his eyes. ‘But I didn’t – I wouldnever—’
‘I know,’ he says.
He says it like it’s the most simple thing in the world. Like there’s no doubt in his mind that he knows I would never purposely ruin a relationship. Other than Amber, he’s the only person who knows who has immediately reacted like this. There’s no sign of judgement or disgust in his gaze. Just pure, raw acceptance and kindness.
It makes my stomach flip.
