‘I hate to break it to you, but you’re a very shallow person,’ I croak.
His breath is hot against my cheek. ‘For a very shallow person I can go very deep.’
‘You’re unbelievable,’ I breathe shakily. It’s clear I should push him away and I do want to. Really, I do.
‘I’m hoping you’ll be keeping to that storyline later,’ he says with a chuckle.
‘You’re so full of shit there can’t be much room left to house your brain.’
‘I’m a simple man. I keep my brain in my dick.’
‘Cash,’ a hard voice raps.
Shocked by the sudden intrusion, I stumble away from him, and snap my head towards the voice. Octavia Harding. In real life she looks like she lives on low fat, no sugar, gluten free toasted wheat crackers with lettuce and half a slice of tomato, and sucked out whatever little bum fat she had and injected it into her lips. She is everything I am not. The contempt in her eyes is calculated to try and make me feel worse than a used condom. Completely ignoring me after that first dismissive glance, she fixes her attention on Cash. She flashes an insincere smile.
‘I need to speak to you privately.’ Her voice is professional with a tinge of sexy.
Cash takes his own sweet time answering her. ‘Relax, Octavia. It’s a fucking party.’
‘EMI has sent three executives out. I’ll relax once you’ve met them.’
Not taking his eyes off me he says, ‘Say hello to Tori Diamond first.’
Something dismissive and resentful flashes in her eyes. ‘I’m not paid to say hello to every bimbo you fuck, Cash.’
My back prickles. Wow! First time for me. I’ve never come face-to-face with a twenty-four carat bitch before.
‘Don’t mind her, Tori, she’s been digging into her stash of bitch crisps again,’ he mocks, before turning back towards her, his eyes hard. ‘Tori is Britney’s new PA. You could be seeing a lot of her, so it might be a good idea to play nice.’
Octavia’s lips stretch into a malignant smile. ‘Hello.’
‘Hey,’ I say, unsmiling.
Her eyes narrow. ‘Are you an American?’
‘Yes.’
Her eyes glitter. ‘Hmmm. Do you have a permit to work in this country? They don’t usually hand out work visas for lowly PA jobs.’
Don’t sock her. Don’t sock her. I take a deep calming breath and open my mouth.
‘Tori is allowed to work here. Her mother’s English, so she holds a British passport as well as an American one,’ Britney explains cheerfully, having come back from seeing Prince.
‘Hello, Britney. You look wonderful,’ Octavia says, her voice one degree warmer.
‘Thanks, so do you,’ Britney says unenthusiastically.
‘I’m afraid I’m going to have to steal your brother away. He has very important people waiting for him.’
‘They can wait. Nobody asked them to come,’ Cash says coolly.
‘I did,’ Octavia says. She appears to take stock and realizes she is going about this the wrong way. She softens her tone. ‘Come on, Cash. It will only take a minute. Gavin and Joseph are already there. You can party after you finish with them. How about that, hmmm?’
‘Go ahead, Cash,’ Britney says. ‘Tori and I will go help ourselves to the fruit punch. I’m dying of thirst.’
He turns his eyes away from Octavia and looks down sternly at his sister. ‘Go easy, you.’
‘Stop worrying. I’m not a bloody child. I’ll be eighteen soon, and anyway, dad said I could have a couple of drinks.’
‘Right.’ He turns to me, his expression warming up. ‘Don’t lose your head until I get back.’
I flush to the roots of my hair. He’s like a safety pin to the bubble I have spent so long blowing.
Chapter Ten
Cash
‘Got the hots for your little sister’s PA, have you?’ Octavia says as we walk through the party.
‘Since when have you cared who I had the hots for?’
‘Excuse me. You’re talking to me, Octavia, the mug who is constantly getting you out of trouble.’
That pisses me off. I hate it when she treats me like I’m still sixteen. ‘Bullshit,’ I snarl.
‘Oh yeah? Two DUIs?’ she reminds sweetly.
One of these days Octavia will go too far. ‘I was fucking seventeen.’
‘I broke the law for you.’
‘And still holding it over my head like the sword of Damocles. You did what you did and got handsomely paid for it.’
‘And the pregnancy?’
‘Oh, for fuck’s sake. It wasn’t even mine,’ I grit.
‘What about the girl I had to pay off?’