Kylie tried to watch Daphne as the night wore on. She tried to see if Daphne went out to smoke cigarettes repeatedly, like Cade said she would do when she was finished with drugs. But she didn't see Daphne leave the room. She didn't see her light up. She didn't see her throwing up or clutching her stomach, or even looking the slightest bit sick.

Instead, Daphne looked happy . . . almost manically so.

She wondered if she should say something to Cade. Or would it come across as pettiness and jealousy instead of concern?

"We're heading back to the hotel," Ginger said, distracting Kylie. "You coming with?"

"No, uh, I think I'm just going to, you know, stay here for a bit." To her vast embarrassment, her cheeks kept getting redder and redder.

"Uh-huh," Ginger said, clearly not buying the lie. "See you tomorrow, then."

"Right," Kylie said vigorously. She gave her a thumbs-up. "See you then."

Ginger just rolled her eyes, picked up her own bag, and headed out with the others. It left Kylie in a curious predicament. Exactly how would she sneak out without alerting Daphne, who was currently clinging to Kylie's man?

And Jesus, what was wrong with Kylie that she was thinking of him as her man? He wasn't even paying a lick of attention to her, standing across the room with Daphne's posse. She doubted he'd notice if she exited and disappeared for the night, too.

He was probably bluffing about the panties thing, too, right?

Theoretically.

But even as she pondered making a swift escape, her cell phone buzzed. She checked the screen.

Cade: Go outside and head to the limo. My driver knows to expect you. I'll follow in about five minutes. When I get in there, if you're not there, I'm presenting Daphne with your still-wet panties.

God, he didn't play fair. Even as she thought it, she felt a shiver of desire. Why was she so insanely attracted to this guy? Why was it that having sex with him and being around him was suddenly trumping all common sense? It was maddening.

She should man up and confess to Daphne that she'd slept with Cade. Twice. And she might have married him by accident. And then let him go down on her in the janitor closet. But no, they were done. Really and truly. And she didn't want him, despite the fact that she'd promised to send him dirty selfies.

It would all be totally aboveboard if she just told Daphne, right? And maybe she wouldn't get fired. Maybe Daphne would still be on her manic shit and she'd laugh it all off. Maybe the best time to tell Daphne something bad was when she was on whatever uppers she was on. Brightening, Kylie looked over at Daphne's small group.

As she did, Daphne knocked a drink out of someone's hand and shot him the bird. "Get out of my party, asshole."

Everyone around her looked shocked. The room got quiet again, a sure sign that Daphne was lashing out unexpectedly.

Kylie swallowed. Okay. Maybe now was not the time after all.

As she watched, Cade leaned in and murmured something in Daphne's ear. His gaze caught Kylie's from across the room, and he oh-so-subtly pointed at the door.

Yeah, okay. For now, she'd go and have fabulous forbidden sex with the sexy rich guy. Like that was a hardship. She just wouldn't think about the bad things that could happen, like sending a junkie into a downward spiral . . . or losing her job and her senile Nana getting kicked out of her nursing home.

Not that Cade, Mr. Money himself, would let that happen. He'd probably swoop in and try and pay all her bills to rescue Kylie. But damn, she would be a horrible person if she just rolled over and let him. If she just threw her hands up and allowed herself to be a burden to him.

She didn't need rescuing; she needed to make better choices in life.

Besides, if she did let him swoop in and pay for everything, what was to stop him from holding that stuff over her head? Bad enough he had her panties. And then what? Throw the money in her face every time they disagreed? Remind her constantly that she owed him?

That she was a burden? And then when he was tired of "supporting" her, would he toss her out on the street, too, leaving her humiliated and alone?

No, it was best if Cade didn't know about her Nana and wasn't involved, no matter how "easy" it might be to confess her money woes to him and let him handle things.

So she quietly slipped out of the room and headed to the front of the concert hall.

As was becoming familiar to see, a stretch limo waited at the curb in front of the building. The driver was leaning against the car and he straightened as Kylie headed toward him.

"I'm with Mr. Archer," she told the man.

He gave her a surprised look, and Kylie felt a flare of annoyance. What, a fatty like her didn't deserve a hot, wealthy guy? She hated seeing that expression on people's faces. Maybe that was why she was pushing so hard against Cade as he tried to get closer to her. At what point was he going to up and realize, Oh, Kylie's not all that attractive, and dump her? Everyone else seemed to be waiting for him to wise up, so why not her?

She got in the limo in a sour mood. It didn't help that her phone didn't have a single new text lighting it up. Maybe he'd changed his mind and decided to hang with Daphne after all. Even if he wasn't interested in her romantically, Daphne still had to be more fun than "Fat Marilyn," right? Maybe he was regretting his pushiness toward her. He could have anyone. Why was he working so hard to get her?

Kylie stewed for a few minutes, staring at her phone, wanting a text to appear. As five minutes dragged into ten, and then twenty, she contemplated texting him a snotty little remember me? sort of text.

But she knew Daphne, and she also knew how hard it was to sometimes detangle from her when she wanted you there. So she was patient. Sort of.

Just when her patience had reached its limits, the door to the limo opened and Cade slid in. The driver got in the front, and before Kylie could snap out some quip about how long he'd spent, his arms went around her and he pulled her close to him.

"Can I hold you for just a moment?" he asked.

And all of Kylie's anger melted, because of all things she'd expected to hear coming out of him tonight, that wasn't it. She nodded. His arms tightened around her and he buried his face against her neck.

She remained still, unsure what to think of this.

"She's using again," Cade murmured against her skin, and Kylie caught the notes of sadness in his voice. "I can tell by the way she acts. She says she's clean, but she's on something. And every time I tried to bring up the topic, she changed it."

Her hand went to his hair, and she stroked it. However turbulent and strange her own relationship might be with this man, she understood his frustration and unhappiness at seeing someone he cared for destroy herself. "I figured."

"You can't even talk to her right now. She just . . . refuses to hear it. Any of it. She acts like nothing is wrong, but she's not the old Daphne." His hands hugged her tighter. "The woman there tonight? I feel like she was a stranger. And it shouldn't surprise me, but every time . . ."

"You still hope for the best. I know." She felt that way with her nana. Every time she saw her, she went in hoping that this would be the time Nana would smile when she saw Kylie. Would feel real love and affection for her. Would view her as a grandchild and someone to love and not just an unhappy burden that cost money and a reminder of everything she'd lost. She knew how devastating it was to get your hopes up, only to have them dashed over and over again. "You can't be blamed for having hope, Cade." Her fingers brushed through his soft, soft hair. "You can be sad you want more for her than she wants for herself, but you can't get angry that you hope she'll change. The day we stop hoping is the day we stop caring, I think."

He lifted his head from her shoulder and gazed into her eyes. "You sound as if you're speaking from experience."

"Maybe I am." She tried to give a halfhearted little shrug. He didn't need to know about her personal sob story. Not tonight. So it was time for a distraction. "Does this mean I can have my panties back now?"

His eyes gleamed with that wicked edge she'd seen in the janitor's closet earlier that night. "Not a damn chance."

FOURTEEN.

Kylie existed in a state of anticipation as the limo pulled up to the same hotel as the one she'd escaped from this morning. She'd left him hanging midsex over twelve hours ago . . . and she suspected it wasn't going to happen again.

And honestly? She wasn't sure she wanted it to happen again.

Their interlude in the janitor's closet had pretty much proven to her that all Cade needed to do was snap his fingers and her panties would practically melt off of her, legs springing open in eagerness for him. She wanted him more than anyone she'd ever dated in her life. It wasn't just because the sex was great-and it was fabulous. It was that Cade made her feel . . . well, beautiful. He never looked at her with that strangely questioning look that the limo driver had given her. He never made her feel like she was the ugly one in the relationship. He always made her feel desirable and perfect at his side.

Of course, that was what made this off-and-on relationship with him difficult. Because the more she tried to push him away, the more she wanted. The more she craved.

His arms were still around her when the limo stopped, though they hadn't spoken in several minutes. He was probably tired, she told herself. She knew she was. Her head hadn't stopped throbbing all day, and she'd been drinking water by the gallon in an effort to wash away her hangover. The weight of her new wedding ring was still heavy on her finger, and she couldn't resist twisting it occasionally, as if to remind herself that yes, it existed, and yes, she was married to Cade, however drunkenly spontaneous the ceremony had been.

She didn't recall the wedding. Okay, there might have been flashes of memory that included flowers and a drive-through wedding chapel and Elvis, but that was about it. Overall, the canvas was a big blank. It probably was for him, too.

And she felt a twinge at realizing that he'd drunk-hooked-up with her twice now. It seemed like every hookup they had was buoyed by alcohol, except for the interlude in the closet from earlier. And that had been fueled by anger.

What did that mean for tonight?

Kylie kept the doubts in her head as the driver opened the limo door on her side. She got out and waited for Cade, her big purse clutched to her shoulder.

Cade got out a moment after her, and pressed a wad of cash into the driver's hand. "Thank you, sir. We need you back here at . . ." He looked at Kylie. "What time does the tour bus pull out?"

"Ten."

"All right. We need you back here at eight thirty," he instructed the driver, then looked again at Kylie. "It'll give you time to pack up your hotel room and still be on schedule to leave with the others."

"Thank you," she murmured, and was a little pleased when Cade's arm went around her waist possessively. He began to steer her into the hotel.

They were silent as they went up to Cade's suite, and she wondered which Cade he'd be in bed tonight-the ruthless man he was in the closet earlier? Or the laughing, smiling man he normally was?

But when the door shut behind them, he took Kylie's purse from her arm and set it down on a nearby chair, then moved toward her and cupped her face.

And he began to kiss her. Softly. Sweetly. Tenderly.

It threw Kylie for a loop, and made her ache deep inside. Made her want things she couldn't have.

"Please," he murmured between kisses. "Let's not argue over whether or not I get to hold you tonight. Let me just love you, Kylie. Let me touch you and lose myself in you. I need that tonight."

He kissed her again, his eyes closed, and she saw the strain on his face, the worry and sadness for Daphne. Kylie might be jealous of her, but she was still a childhood friend of Cade's and she was still heading toward self-destruction. And if Cade needed comforting?

Kylie wanted to be the one to do it.

So she put her arms around his neck and kissed him back with all the pent-up longing she'd been fighting all night.

He groaned against her mouth, and then the two of them were staggering toward the bed as Cade shrugged off his jacket. She tugged at his shirt, and then they were both unbuttoning it together, anxious to get him free of his clothing. Within moments, Cade was undressed, and then it was Kylie's turn. She kicked off her shoes and tugged her top over her head, quickly followed by her bra and her skirt. Then she was just as naked as he was.

And Cade pushed her back on the bed, his gaze reverent as he stared at her breasts. "God, I love these," he told her, reaching out and caressing one nipple. It hardened against his touch, and Kylie shivered, gazing up at Cade as he moved over her. His knee pushed hers apart, and she spread her legs for him.

"You have the most beautiful breasts," he murmured, cupping them in his hands and then leaning down to kiss the nipples. "I want to bury my face in them constantly. A man could lose himself in these gorgeous tits."

He made her feel pretty. Made her feel sexy instead of just fat. She loved that, and so she raised her arms over her head and clasped them there, knowing that the movement would make her full breasts stand at attention.

He groaned at the sight of it and leaned in to kiss the valley between her breasts. "So beautiful, Kylie. So soft and gorgeous and all mine." He raised his head. "If I go get a condom, are you going to abandon me again?"

She shook her head. She didn't think she could, even if she wanted to. And it was the last thing on her mind right now. At the moment? All she wanted was Cade, between her legs and thrusting deep inside her. "I need you," she whispered.

He kissed her skin again and moved off the bed. "Be right back."

She watched his tight ass as he headed for the bathroom and felt like a jerk when he kept glancing backward, as if uncertain if she'd try to escape again or not. She'd pulled a dick move on him, that was for sure. He needed her tonight, though. Needed comforting. Needed to lose himself in sex.

She wasn't going anywhere.

Cade's smile as he returned to the room with a handful of condoms made her chest ache with the beauty of it. He was so delectable, this man. So utterly gorgeous and completely perfect in every way. She sent a silent prayer of thanks for her being in the right place at the right time when he'd been discarded and needed scooping up.

Kylie licked her lips as he tossed all of the condom packets but one onto the bedside. He tore open the one in his hand, then carefully rolled the condom down his length. She watched him with fascinated anticipation, and when he looked up, she held her arms out for him.

He came to her, moving over her, and as she raised one leg to go around his hip, he pushed into her with one swift, sharp stroke that left her gasping in surprise at the suddenness of it. She thought there'd be more foreplay, more kissing, more licking, but as he pressed his face against her breasts again, and then gave another rough, sudden thrust, she got it. This wasn't about mutual pleasure tonight. This was about comfort. He needed her, needed the distraction of sex.

Well, he wasn't coming without her. She adjusted her hips, rocking them with every thrust he made. She was still wet from before, so it hadn't hurt when he'd pushed into her . . . but she needed more if she was going to come. So she lifted a hand and licked her fingers, and the small movement caught his attention.

His gaze shot to hers, and she gave him a sultry smile just before she slid her hand to her pussy and began to tease her clit with her fingers.

Cade groaned. His fingers dug into Kylie's thigh, and he propped her calf up against his shoulder, her foot in the air. The angle left her wide open, and allowed him to thrust even harder, more vigorous than before. If his kisses had been sweet earlier, his thrusts were not. They were rough and full of need and power, and each one made her breasts heave and bounce. She tightened her arms against her sides to keep them from jouncing painfully, and her hand continued to work her clit.

"Goddamn, that's hot," Cade growled. "Why are you so fucking sexy, Kylie?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she raised her fingers to her mouth and licked them again, returning them back to her pussy a moment later and rubbing harder. His thrusts were slamming into her, shoving her back against the pillows in the bed, but the friction between their bodies was making her own pleasure ratchet up quickly. Moments later, her own orgasm blasted into existence, and she cried out, rubbing herself hard even as her pussy clenched around his pistoning cock.

Cade snarled and palmed one of her breasts, and she felt his entire body shake with his own violent release. Twice more, he pumped into her, movements ragged, and then he collapsed onto her, sweating and spent.

She sighed, a little surprised she'd come so quickly. That had been nice, though. His weight on her was nice, too. Heavy and pressing her into the mattress, and so good that she felt utterly replete. Her fingers went to the long, boyish curls of his hair and she began to toy with them, fascinated by his hair as always.

"Am I too heavy?" he murmured, and his hand went to her breast, teasing a nipple idly.

"Not at all."

"Then you don't mind if I stay here for a moment and just bask in you?"

Her lips curved into a soft smile. "Bask all you want."

They remained locked together for several minutes, Kylie idly playing with Cade's hair and feeling his breath strum across her skin. He rubbed his fingers over her nipple, but in an almost contemplative way. And though the touch was arousing, she wasn't sure if he was going to do more than just that.

"I have to leave for two weeks," Cade murmured, interrupting her thoughts.

"You do?"

He nodded against her breasts. "Meeting with a UNICEF group to discuss funding, and then after that, I have to attend annual board meetings in New York City for a week straight. It's going to be very, very dull." He lifted his head and gave her an apologetic grimace. "But it's also been planned for six months so I can't exactly get away."

"Oh," she said. Because what else could she say? It wasn't like she was in charge of his schedule. It wasn't like she knew anything about his schedule at all, really. And she should have been relieved that he'd be gone for two weeks so she could concentrate on work without having to worry if he was about to show up for a show and drag her into a closet for some mouth-on-pussy action. If he'd insist on her spending another night with him. And another. And another.

But she wasn't relieved. If anything, she was . . . sad. Unhappy at the thought of not seeing him for two weeks. And she kind of hated that. "Does this mean I get my panties back?"

His mouth quirked. "Not until I get my pictures of you. I'm going to need something to keep me company in the board room." He leaned down and tongued one of her nipples in a slow, delicious tease. "Something to look forward to when I get done with work."