Up to Me - By M. Leighton Page 0,34

they think for one second that any of us poses a threat. Or could get them something they want. This is real. And it's serious."

I search his eyes. I guess, considering the conversation, I'm looking for a monster. But I don't find one. I see only the guy I've been steadily falling in love with. I wonder if it's too late to turn back now.

"What are you asking of me?"

His eyes never leaving mine, Cash straightens. "Give us a minute, guys" he says to Gavin and Nash. Quietly, they make their way from the room. Cash takes my hand and leads me through the door at the back of the office, into the kitchen of the apartment area in behind. When he releases my hand, I lean against the cabinets to keep from falling over. My heart is pounding so loudly I wonder if Cash can hear it.

Cash's back is to me. I see him run his fingers through his hair and I hear him sigh again. "I'm asking you to trust me, Olivia." He turns to face me. "Trust in what you know about me. Because I know, if you stop listening to your fear, you know who I am. Deep down. You know me, Olivia. You know me."

His voice is sincere. His expression is urgent. I close my eyes against his face, his handsome face, the face that haunts both my waking and my sleeping world. I open them again when I feel warm hands cup my cheeks. Cash is a breath away, his eyes oceans of midnight, drawing me out into the deep.

"It's me," he says softly. "Stop listening to everything else. Remember the way you feel when I'm kissing you and touching you. Don't think with your head. You know me. And when my lips are on yours, you trust me." As if to make his point, he dips his head and brushes his mouth over mine. Sparks fly between us. As always. "You trust me, when my hands are on your skin." He runs his palms down my arms and then over to my waist where he pushes them up under the edge of my shirt. Chills break out down my back. "You trust me when you turn your mind off, when you just feel."

His hands move further up, skating over my ribs to cup my breasts. His thumbs brush my nipples then he squeezes them through the thin material of my bra. I catch my breath.

"See? You aren't thinking. You're just feeling. You're feeling me. Right now you trust me. You know I'd do anything for you, that I'd never hurt you. You know you're not like the others. I know you know that. And that you want me. Just like I want you."

He's right. He's right about all of it. And I do want him. I always have. In a way it makes no sense, that I'd want him right now considering what might be happening in the next few hours. But in a way, it makes perfect sense. If things go wrong, this might be the last time I see Cash, or get to be with him this way.

That thought brings with it both panic and abandon. I swallow the words that want to rush out, words about love and devotion, words that have no place in this moment. They deserve to be spoken when there's no pressure and no distress. And that's not now.

But we still have tonight. So I'll show him. I'll give him everything else I have.

"Tell me you want me," he commands softly, his voice a low growl.

I don't hesitate. Reaching up, I drag my fingertip along his perfect lower lip. "I want you."

"Tell me you trust me."

"I trust you."

He exhales, his warm breath fanning my face. "Now tell me you want me to touch you."

His hands are still, unmoving over my bra. But I don't want them to be still. More than anything, I want for them to move. "I want you to touch me."

His eyes are pure heat, searing mine. He watches me as he pulls the cups of my bra down. His palms are rough as