Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 94630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
“You liked it?”
Now Jo rolled her eyes, setting the spoon on the counter with a clatter.
“This isn’t fair.”
“Have you slept with him?”
“What if I have?” Jo gave in to the indignation she had barely checked since Cam went all cold and prickly on the sidewalk. “You and I have been together all of a day, and you have the nerve to question me about what I did before? After what you’ve put me through?”
“I wasn’t judging you.”
“Good, because you don’t get to.”
“I was just asking—”
“If I’d slept with Peter. I heard you.”
Jo dipped her spoon back into the carton, teasing the mocha chips out of the ice cream.
“What if I have? Would that make a difference?”
Cam looked away, gripping his spoon until she thought it would bend. He put the spoon down, still not giving her his eyes. He swiveled on the stool, resting his elbows on the counter and his feet on the stool rung.
“It wouldn’t make me want you less, if that’s what you mean.” Bits of shrapnel lodged in his deep voice. “But it would make it harder for me with the two of you working so closely.”
Jo slipped from her stool and stood in front of him, sliding her hands under the sleeves of his shirt, skidding her palms over taut skin and hard muscle. He drew in a sharp breath, finally looking up to meet her eyes.
“I didn’t sleep with Peter.”
Only when his shoulders dropped, releasing tension, did she realize how much her answer mattered to him. He rested his palms on her lower back and drew her between his thighs. His lips journeyed up her neck until he reached her ear.
“I’m glad.”
Jo fought off the little imps stealing all her sanity with every kiss he feathered over her skin. She drew back and met his eyes.
“And what about you?”
“I haven’t slept with Peter, either.”
“Come on, I’m serious. If you get to ask me who I’ve slept with, it’s only fair that I get to ask you.”
“Ask me anything.”
“Etinette. How many times have you slept with her?”
“Never.”
“Don’t lie to me, Cam.”
“I’m not lying. Never. I used her to throw you off the trail some, but those kisses you saw in New York were as far as it ever went.”
Jo pressed her nose into his neck, inhaling him and twining her arms around his back. She nuzzled beneath the collar of his shirt, pressing a kiss to the warm skin there.
“Promise?”
He pulled back, brushing the hair behind her ears and cupping her face, caressing her cheekbones with his thumbs.
“I promise.” He bent to tuck his chin between her neck and shoulder. “And I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you.”
“Then why…?” The unfinished question was a Rubik’s Cube she kept twisting and turning, examining from every angle and still unable to solve.
If he wanted her so much, why didn’t he just take her? He had to know she would fully cooperate. And why had it taken so long for them to get here?
Cam set her gently aside and covered the ice cream, putting it away and coming back to grab her hand. He brushed his fingers across the skin beneath her eyes and held her face.
“You’re exhausted, baby.”
She smiled into the palm of his hand and kissed it.
“You called me baby.”
“Because you are. My baby, I mean.” He kissed her forehead. “And I won’t hesitate to fuck Peter up if he forgets.”
“Cam, for God’s sake.”
“And he knows it.”
“When did you become all caveman?”
Even though no one was in the house but them, he leaned in to whisper in her ear like it was a secret.
“Last night in the gazebo, you came when I kissed you. Somewhere around then.”
Her cheeks must be the color of beets.
“Will I never live that down? I told you that’s never happened before.”
“Aw, you saved that for me.” He ran a thumb across her bottom lip. “Now to bed.”
“You’re coming with?”
For a moment, the fight going on inside of him showed on his face. Then he relaxed, steered her to the back steps. He gave her a subtle nudge, pulling her into his side and resting his hand on her hip.
“I’m coming with.”
He paused halfway up the steps and pressed her against the wall. He kissed her, licking into the wet heat of her mouth, sliding his hands down to palm her butt. He pulled her up onto her toes, feeding her the words she’d been hungry for. For years.
“And, Jo, the answer is yes. I do want to be your boyfriend.”
Chapter Fourteen
Only a few kisses.
Jo hasn’t slept with him.
They’re just friends.
Cam rolled the words around, but they pinged off the jealous walls of his mind like spiked marbles. Seeing Jo standing in the empty conference room so close to Peter drew his hands into fists at his sides. Wrapped barbed wire around his chest. Drove nails into his eyes until they bled red.