What had she done? It was all well and good to try to justify her actions by saying she was a spineless jellyfish when in close proximity to Lincoln Callahan, but now, sitting here in the aftermath, it was a little less easy to explain it to herself. She really was a lost cause. She kept relapsing back into old habits. He may be the wrong kind of guy, but holy mother of God, he’s good.
Stop it! That was not the point. Cash rolled her eyes and groaned out loud. Now she was arguing with herself.
After the impromptu sex—really, really good impromptu sex, the little voice inside her head added—Linc seemed as surprised as she was. For a long time they didn’t speak. His head hung as he fought to catch his breath, his arms braced either side of her on the bed and his chest moving steadily in and out as his heart rate slowed back to normal.
She wasn’t sure why she felt so nervous—she’d never been the shy type before, but now she had a sudden urge to run and hide. Hide what—she wasn’t exactly sure—not so much her nakedness, it was more than that, it was her thoughts and her emotions that felt most at risk. He had an uncanny knack of making her feel as though he could see through her, and that was a very new experience. No man had ever got under her skin in quite the same way as Linc seemed able to. It was a little … unnerving.
‘Are you all right?’
Cash’s gaze flew to his, expecting to find the usual amused grin in place, but instead discovered Linc watching her with a steel-like intensity, holding her eyes firmly. ‘I’m fine,’ she said, clearing her throat quickly. ‘Why wouldn’t I be?’ and she made a move to get off the table, hoping he’d take the hint and step away so she could. For a moment, she thought he didn’t believe her, but then slowly he eased away enough for her to slide from the table and gather her things from the floor.
She could sense his uncertainty because it mirrored her own. She wasn’t sure what he was thinking—most likely he was trying to think up a polite way to extract himself from the situation. She opened the door and followed the trail of discarded clothing out to the foyer, giving him some space to get dressed. As he came out of the room a few seconds later, she handed him his shirt and plastered a smile to her face.
She didn’t feel like listening to his excuse for leaving all of a sudden, so she decided to give him an easy out. ‘I better get things set up for the next client.’
‘I thought you said I was the last one today?’
Damn. He was. ‘I meant for tomorrow.’
‘How much do I owe you?’
Cash’s fake smile slipped.
Noticing her expression, he seemed to trip over his words. ‘For the appointment … not … that.’ He gave a swift nod back towards the room they just exited.
‘Don’t worry about it,’ she said dully. Just go. Please, she begged silently.
‘Cash. I’m sorry. That came out all wrong—I wasn’t offering to pay you for—’ He stopped at the lethal glare she gave him. ‘Okay,’ he said, holding up one hand in a placating gesture as she walked towards the door and opened it for him pointedly. He stared at her silently for a brief moment before letting out a small huff of frustration. ‘That was—’
‘A mistake,’ she managed. Why wouldn’t he just leave already? She wasn’t holding him here with small talk, she was letting him go, free and clear, so why was he insisting on talking?
‘Is that what you think it was?’ he asked, searching her reluctant gaze. He was standing so close, too close. She couldn’t think straight like this.
‘I can assure you I do not have sex with clients. This was a huge mistake on my part, and I’m mortified that I let my professionalism slip so badly.’
‘You came here as one.’
‘Yeah, but I’d already cancelled before we … did anything. So technically, I wasn’t a client and you were officially finished for the day.’
‘That’s not the point,’ she said, feeling exasperated by his argument.
‘Look, you can call it whatever the hell you like, but I’m calling it amazing. I’ll see you around, Cash,’ he said, swooping down to kiss her unexpectedly, then heading outside before she could protest.
Cash sagged against the open doorway as she listened to the sound of his engine fade into the distance, feeling as energetic as a deflated balloon. Albeit a sated, ache-in-all-the-right-places, kind of balloon. She wished she didn’t have to call it a mistake, but what else could it be?
What the hell had he done?
Linc gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white. That had definitely not been what he’d expected when he’d called his sister’s bluff about having a massage. Okay, sure, maybe the idea of Cash giving him a massage had turned into an X-rated fantasy, but he hadn’t honestly expected it! He was a guy, of course he’d thought about having sex with Cash, but the fact that it had actually happened took him completely by surprise. Memories flashed through his head and when he accidentally glanced in the mirror, he caught the wide grin on his face. Probably not the most appropriate reaction to something that clearly upset Cash. A frown momentarily replaced the grin as he pondered her response. Upset was probably not the right word; she’d been pissed off. That didn’t sit well with his ego at all. He’d just experienced the most incredible, mind-blowing sex he could recall in, well, way too long, and she’d waved it off as a mistake?
He instantly thought about his brother and a stab of guilt hit him in the ribs, but it soon passed. Yeah, he felt bad for Griff, who would no doubt still be feeling the effects of rejection, but in all fairness, the attraction was completely one-sided. Cash hadn’t been into him. She hadn’t even been on a date with him. It would be different if Cash and Griff had slept together, even though the mere thought of that was enough to send a sear of heat through his chest, but they hadn’t, they’d barely kissed.
He’d been attracted to her instantly—she was sexy and sassy and smart, and he’d found himself thinking about her body way too often during the long hours of monotonous labouring work he’d been doing around the property. She’d far exceeded his expectations in the sex department, she clearly knew what she was doing there. She was almost his perfect woman—except for one thing. He’d figured once they’d set off the powder keg, so to speak, he’d be over the intense attraction he was feeling for her and he could carry on with his visit like a rational adult, but to his dismay, the craving hadn’t gone away. If anything, it was even stronger. Now he’d know what he was missing, instead of just imagining it.
She’d called him the wrong kind of man.
Hadley had referred to him more than once as a man-whore and maybe he had been in his younger days. Now though, he’d slowed down; there weren’t anywhere near the number of women his siblings imagined. He’d been too busy over the last few years to even contemplate a permanent relationship, which was probably why one-night stands had become his messed-up kind of normal. He didn’t like to think of himself as a player or whatever the hell they called them nowadays. He never misled a woman, he was always upfront that there would be no texting, no ‘I love you’, and he was always very careful about the types of women he chose to spend time with. They knew the score. He had a select few long-term friends whose numbers he had stored in his phone—they were mostly women who travelled all the time, flight attendants mainly. It was an arrangement that had worked well for all concerned over the years, but lately he just hadn’t been into it like he used to be.
Cash had flipped the switch that sent his entire being into ultra-aroused. He didn’t know what the hell was going on, but she was messing with the strict order of his life. He was pretty sure he didn’t like it, but she had sideswiped him so fast that he hadn’t had time to realise everything inside him was shaken up.
Not that it mattered now though, he thought with a disgusted snort. Offering the woman money after they’d just had sex was probably not the smartest move. Dumb arse. All he could do was ride out her anger and pray to God he could fix it. It had been a case of bad timing and misunderstanding. She was pretty annoyed though, he had to concede. A smile began to tug at his lips as he remembered the flicker of reaction he’d gotten when he’d kissed her goodbye. Nope, Cash Sullivan was not as immune to him as she wanted him to believe.