Page 57 of One Week in Paradise
Cashlovesme.
Cash lovesme.
‘But you didn’t evenlikeme until this trip,’ I protest. I can’t wrap my head around it. Cash is attracted to me. Yes, that’s obvious. But love?
Love?
He grimaces and looks down for a moment. ‘I never thought we’d ever have a chance to be together, so I kept you at a distance. I thought that would help dull my feelings a little bit, but it never worked. That dinner at your parents’ house the week before we flew out?’
I remember it well, particularly how irritated he seemed to be with my presence.
‘That was my own personal hell,’ he admits with a wry grin. ‘Seeing you like that, because ofEthanof all people—’ He shakes his head. ‘I wanted to jump across the table, pull you into my arms and never let go. I wanted to tell you then and there that someone like him doesn’t deserve your tears.’
‘Cash, I—’
‘I don’t need you to say it back to me, Bailey. I know you don’t love me and that this is just a holiday fling for you, but for me, it’s not.’
‘Is that why you got so quiet yesterday?’ I ask, remembering how the mood had changed so abruptly between us when I suggested heading back to the suite. ‘And why you didn’t want to continue with anything that first night?’
He nods. ‘I thought that maybe you were falling for me too. But then I realised it was just sex for you. I thought that I could handle it and that I’d just be grateful to have this time with you. But I can’t do it. Not without you knowing how I feel.’
‘It’s not just the sex for me,’ I whisper. His eyes widen, and he swallows thickly. ‘I thought it was after that first night. That you were just an itch I needed to scratch. But it’s not. There’s something here between us.’ I place my free hand over his and give it a small squeeze. ‘I feel it. It might not be love yet for me, but—’ I inhale deeply and force myself to meet his gaze. ‘I want us to get there.’
Pure happiness blooms across his face. ‘We’ll get there.’ He says it like it’s an immutable fact. Like there’s no doubt in his mind that one day – one daysoon– I’ll have caught up with him, and we’ll both be wildly in love with the other.
I nod in agreement. ‘We will.’
‘I will never hurt you, Bailey,’ he says. ‘Not like Ethan. Not like anyone. You can trust me. Let me in. Let me love you the way you deserve to be loved. Let me show you how love should feel.’
I take a deep breath and offer him a watery smile. ‘Okay.’
Chapter Eighteen
Cash’s hand is snaking up my thigh before the door to our suite swings closed.
I moan as his mouth catches mine, and I return each frenzied caress of his tongue with equal eagerness. His hands squeeze the top of my thighs and move to cup the soft curve of my ass. I huff out a startled squeak as he presses his thigh between my legs, using at leverage as he hoists me up and pins me against the wall. I wrap my legs around him immediately, my arms and legs working overtime to pull him as close to me as he can possibly get.
He tears his lips away from mine and, breathing heavily, rests his forehead against mine. For a moment, time seems to stop. It’s just him and me in this dark suite.
‘Fuck, Bailey,’ he groans, voice low and gravelly. ‘Fuck.’
I giggle through my own panted breaths. ‘Very eloquent.’
He laughs, and the sound sends reverberations through my chest. ‘I can’t think straight.’
‘So don’t think,’ I whisper against his lips. ‘Just do.’
He nods, then pulls me away from the wall, tightening his hold on me. I keep our gazes locked as he carries me across the suite. I don’t want to miss a single second of this. His knees bump against the edge of the bed, and he lowers me down onto it. As soon as my back hits the soft mattress, I swivel around, reaching for the zip of my dress, but Cash grabs my hand and holds me still.
He’s hovering over me, his dick straining against the linen fabric of his trousers, a hungry look in his eyes.
I lick my lips and enjoy the way his eyes follow the wet trail I make along my lower lip.
‘Stop stalling,’ I murmur as I try to wriggle free from his grasp and grip the zip of my dress.
He kneels on the mattress, pushing me further into it. ‘I’m not stalling. I just—’ He pulls my hand to the front and holds it firmly in place. ‘Keep the dress on.’ His voice comes out as a rough keen. ‘Please.’
I raise a brow. ‘This is an expensive dress.’
