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She lowered her chin to her hands, still watching him. ‘What about me?’
‘You know why I’m still single, but what about you? If there’s competition out there, I’d like to know about it.’
Tasha laughed. ‘Nope. No competition.’
Oh, there was no way he was letting her get away with that as an answer. ‘Come on, you can’t expect me to believe a smart, sexy, beautiful woman like you hasn’t got a romantic skeleton or two in her closet.’
Her eyelids lowered, masking her expression. ‘Nothing I feel like sharing right now.’
That put him on alert. If someone had hurt her then he wanted to know about it. ‘I like you, Tasha, and the last thing I want is to upset you by inadvertently saying or doing the wrong thing.’
She rolled away from him. ‘As long as you’re not in the habit of cheating, then I think you’ll be fine.’
He fumbled between them until he found her hand. Lifting it to his mouth, he placed a gentle kiss on the back of it. ‘I’ll try not to push when it’s clear you don’t want to talk about something.’
Tasha sighed. ‘It’s okay. I mean, I’m over it, but it’s a bit awkward sometimes because he’s still close to my family. He’s best friends with my brother-in-law and we’re godparents to my niece so whenever I go back home he’s always around.’
Now her not wanting to go home for Easter was making a lot of sense. ‘That can’t be easy for you.’
She turned her head to look at him, a wry smile on her lips. ‘You’re the only one who thinks so. My mother blames me for being too career-minded. She thinks it puts men off. Thinks that’s what put Jonny off.’
Jesus, that would be enough to make anyone scream. Rhys turned on his side, snuggling closer until they were just inches apart. ‘Then Jonny’s a fucking idiot. If it’s any comfort, I can promise you it doesn’t put me off in the slightest.’
23
Tasha and Rhys talked for the next hour. Slowly, slowly Rhys managed to tease out the full details of Jonny’s betrayal while sharing the ins and outs of what had gone wrong between him and Amelia. Though she felt vulnerable at times, it helped they were both in the same position. The kissing they did in between helped a lot too. Before too long there was a lot less talking and a lot more kissing and somehow Rhys’s shirt was unbuttoned and her jumper was lying in a tangled heap on the floor behind the bed. He was trying – and failing – to unclasp her bra when a door banged somewhere below them. They both froze. Footsteps sounded on the stairs and Tasha made the mistake of meeting Rhys’s eye. A giggle formed somewhere in her chest and she squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to hold it in. He removed his hands from the clasp, thank goodness, though her relief was short-lived when they began to slide ever so slowly down her bare back, their callused roughness sending a wave of delicious shivers through her. Stop. It, she mouthed, glaring at him.
What? he mouthed back, eyes widening in mock innocence.
The footsteps stopped and Tasha was about to heave a sigh of relief when Zap called out, ‘Goodnight!’ It sounded as if he was right outside the door.
She clamped a hand over Rhys’s mouth just in case he got any funny ideas about replying, but then they heard Stevie saying, ‘Night, both,’ and then there were more footsteps quickly followed by another door closing overhead.
Rhys licked her palm and Tasha yanked it back with a shocked laugh she quickly tried to smother. ‘Stop it! I need to go.’ She tried to get up but Rhys held her waist so she ended up straddling his hips, her hands braced on his chest.
‘Stay,’ he urged, his body undulating beneath her in a way that made her swallow hard.
‘I really shouldn’t.’
He shifted his hands from her waist to cup her bottom. ‘That doesn’t sound like a no to me…’
Twenty-nine was too bloody old to be sneaking out of your boyfriend’s house at five o’clock in the morning, but somehow that was what Tasha’s life was now. She’d almost died when a pigeon flew down in front of them in the yard and Samson had barked, but Rhys had quickly shushed him and they made it into his Range Rover and out of the yard without being discovered. The estate was silent as they drove, the first hint of daylight obscured by the mist rising off the fields. ‘It’s going to be a nice day,’ Rhys observed, though how he could tell was a mystery to her. She’d just have to take his word for it.
‘What are your plans?’
He glanced over with a smile. ‘After I drop you off I need to head back and check on the livestock. Then I’ll be over at the stable yard for a couple of hours because Penny and Sandra need a hand shifting the furniture around in the café. I’ve got a meeting with Ziggy just after lunch to sign off some invoices so he can get the pay run out at the end of the week.’ He pulled into the campsite car park and turned off the engine. ‘What about you?’
‘I need to pop into the village for some shopping. Would you like to join me for dinner tonight?’
‘I’d love to.’ His face lit up and he leaned over to kiss her. Tasha leaned into the tempting heat of him. Goodness but kissing him was addictive. ‘Forget about work,’ he murmured against her mouth a few minutes later. ‘Let’s do this all day instead.’
‘Tempting,’ Tasha said with a laugh. ‘But I’m not sure my boss would like it.’
‘Then let’s not tell him,’ Rhys said, sliding his hand into her hair and coaxing her back towards him for another kiss.
She relented, but only for a moment before dropping back into her seat with a sigh. ‘I am too old to be making out in the front seat of your car,’ she grumbled, rubbing the ache in her leg where the handbrake had been sticking into it.
‘You were the one who insisted we get up so early,’ he pointed out. ‘I was all for a lie-in.’
