Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
I shook off the heavy memories that always came around Christmas and took the private elevator up to Camden’s penthouse.
Thankfully, there was nothing Christmassy in sight. Unlike me during my childhood, Camden abhorred Christmas. He was glad that we were leaving the city and missing the worst of it. I’d never found out why.
“Drink?” Camden asked as I slid my jacket off and hung it up in the closet.
“Bubbly?”
He nodded and reached into the wine fridge, retrieving a bottle of Moet & Chandon Rosé. Maybe he was trying to woo me tonight.
I took out the box of diamond earrings from my pocket and carried it over to the bar. “My favorite,” I said, taking the glass from him.
He poured himself a glass of scotch, neat. His eyes were on the box under my hand, watching me fiddle with the thing. But he said nothing. He was scariest when he was silent. His words sliced like knives, but his silence stretched like death by a thousand cuts.
Slowly, I set my half-empty champagne flute down and opened the box. I breathed out softly and then took out the pearl earrings I had been wearing, replacing them with the Harry Winston diamonds.
There. See. I was trying.
“What do you think?” I asked.
Camden took a step into my personal space. His hand cupped my jaw, holding me firmly in place. My heart stuttered at the command. For a fraction of a second, I’d forgotten how dominating he could be in one touch. How he could hold me like I was breakable and then enjoy watching me shatter.
He gently turned my head to one side, exposing the long column of my neck to him. I swallowed, telling myself that I didn’t want this, nor did I fear it. I didn’t know how much I lied to myself.
He moved me the other direction, examining the diamonds, controlling me with ease. I loved and hated how effortlessly he did it.
“They suit you,” he said, turning my head back to look at him. “As I knew they would.”
“You really picked them with me in mind?” I kept my voice low and silky. I hadn’t believed him when he first said it. But now… maybe.
“I’ve always been a man of action,” he said evenly. “I say what I mean with what I do.”
It should have been reassuring. Instead, it felt like a gut punch. I knew the actions he’d performed. I knew what he’d done. And they hurt worse than words ever could. I took a breath. I wasn’t here to argue. I didn’t want to deal with another argument with him tonight. I just wanted to… not for one evening with him. Neither of us was going to move on from the past. But I’d rather be talking about this than what we’d been discussing back at the restaurant.
“Why don’t we go for a swim?” I suggested.
“It’s December.”
“And? You have a hot tub.”
“You want to get into the hot tub?” he asked incredulously.
“Is it on?”
“Yes,” he admitted.
I stepped around him, plucked the champagne bottle out of the ice bucket, and headed toward the frigid night beyond.
“You know it might snow tonight, right?”
My hand slipped down the side zipper of my dress. I let the skintight dress slowly fall off of my shoulders and down around my hips. I heard his sharp intake of breath. At least he was predictable in that way. If nothing else.
I set the champagne down on the edge of the hot tub, shivering in the wind and cold. I hastily shimmied out of the rest of my dress, leaving me in nothing but a La Perla black silk thong and matching bustier. I was pretty sure Camden was going to owe me a new set. I sank down to my neck, taking pleasure in the heat.
Then Camden appeared in nothing but his black silk boxers. We matched. I would have laughed, but the heat in his eyes was enough to let it die on my lips. He looked… like a god. A Greek god leaving the trappings of Olympus to feast among and upon mortals. His dark hair was slicked back. His strong jawline cut like a razor. The six-pack that ended at the Adonis lines that made a perfect V, low, low, lower to what was hidden by a scrap of silk.
My mouth went dry.
I hated that I wanted him. I hated that we were so messed up. I hated that we were too proud to say any of that.
Camden stepped into the hot tub and sat on a bench in the water. He put his arms up on the edge of the pool. He watched me and waited. I sipped champagne, pretending to ignore him, but his gaze lingered. I determinedly sipped more champagne. I was definitely a little drunk now. I had to be to have even suggested this.