His To Seduce (Fireside #4) - Stacey Lynn

His to Seduce is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. A Loveswept Ebook Original Copyright © 2017 by Stacey Lynn Excerpt from Love, Always and Forever by Alexis Morgan copyright © 2017 by Patricia L. Pritchard All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Loveswept, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New Y ork. LOVESWEPT is a registered trademark and the LOVESWEPT colophon is a trademark of Penguin Random House LLC. This book contains an excerpt from the forthcoming book Love, Always and Forever by Alexis Morgan. This excerpt has been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content of the forthcoming edition. Ebook ISBN 9781101967980 Cover design: Caroline Teagle Cover photograph: © Kisilev Andrey Valerevich/Shutterstock randomhousebooks.com v4.1 ep

Contents Cover Title Page Copyright

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29

Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Epilogue Dedication Acknowledgments By Stacey Lynn About the Author Excerpt from Love, Always and Forever

Chapter 1 Camden My back hit the metal shelf behind me and I cringed. “David.” I gripped his shoulders tighter. His hands squeezed my backside as he moved us. “Fuck, sorry.” In the darkness it was almost impossible to see, but my eyes slowly adjusted as he pushed aside a stack of tablecloths and placed me on a table. “Better?” His hand gently brushed down my cheek and goosebumps popped on my arms. What was I doing? The salty Jamaican air had scrambled my senses. Or I was tired of being alone. Tired of being the outsider among all my friends who had recently found the loves of their lives. I was thrilled for them, especially Tyson and Blue, whose marriage we had celebrated earlier on the beach of a Jamaican resort. In the last year, I’d watched three of my closest friends fall in love and find the men of their dreams, along with their happily ever afters. I was genuinely happy for them, but I was also tired of being the one who always went home alone. This…whatever it was with David…gave me a break, if only for a moment. “Please,” I whispered, and leaned into his palm now cupping my cheek. His hands were strong. Long, tanned fingers that had made me think of naughty things like this for months. In the darkness, I saw a flash of his white teeth. “I like it when you beg. When you need me.” Tonight’s need was selfish. A moment to forget the loneliness. A moment to take what I’d been too chicken to go after for months even though it was right in front of me. He’d been right before my eyes, flirting relentlessly and trying to break me down. Tonight, I was tired of fighting the pull I’d felt for him despite how wrong I knew he was for me. This was one night. A moment of wildness I didn’t usually indulge in, but who didn’t enjoy getting laid at a friend’s wedding? It was almost a requirement. His hands dropped to my knees, spreading them wide so he could step in between them. His fingers teased my thighs, running up and down my bare flesh until I shivered from the softness of his touch. My eyes were half-lidded when I forced myself to look at him. I saw only his lust for me, and my heart rioted against my rib cage. Damn…he wanted me. It was as thrilling as it was terrifying. One of his hands left my leg and cupped the back of my neck. He pulled me to him until our foreheads touched. “I want this,” he said, his voice thick and gruff. “Tell me you want this.”

“I want it.” “Tell me you want me.” I couldn’t. A long time ago I swore to myself I’d never be vulnerable again. I certainly wasn’t about to make that admission when all I currently wanted was a night of pretending and forgetting. “Camden, I want you to know that when I sink into you, when I push your panties to the side and run my fingers through your wetness, this isn’t a one-time thing for us. This is the beginning.” I shivered again. From his words, his promise—something I so desperately craved but was too terrified to take hold of. I shifted my hips, pulling him to me until his erection brushed against my center. “Tonight.” I gasped as he rubbed against me in the perfect spot. “It’s all I can promise.” He chuckled, moving his mouth against my cheek, down to my jaw and my throat. “We’ll see about that.” — My breathing was still erratic as I pushed down my gray silk dress, the same dress everyone in the bridal party had worn for the wedding. “You okay?” David asked. I couldn’t look at him. My pulse pounded and my fingers were trembling when they went to my hair to smooth it back. It was no use. “I look like a mess,” I said, unable to see myself in the darkened closet where we’d just had sex. But I knew I did, based on the hair that had escaped my clips and pins. God. I’d just let David, a man I’d avoided for months despite my physical attraction to him, sweep me into a darkened supply closet and screw me senseless during a wedding. A wedding! My friend’s wedding! Panic rolled through me and I flashed my eyes to David. He was calm as a cucumber, tucking his white linen shirt back into the waistband of his gray dress pants. “What did we do?” I asked. I pressed my hand to my chest to calm my heart rate, but it was useless. “They’re going to know. And—” He curved his arms around my shoulders and slid his lips against mine. It did nothing to quell the stampede I felt inside me. Instead, everything increased…the heat flooding my veins, the pounding in my ears. “We did what I’ve been wanting to do ever since I first saw you. That’s what happened.” He pulled back to whisper in my ear, “It was incredible, and I want more of you. On my bed, in the light so I can see you.” I shook my head. “We can’t.” “Oh. We can.” I squeezed my eyes closed before forcing myself to look at him. David was gorgeous. Lean and handsome, with short sandy-blond hair that was cropped in a professionally styled cut.

His blue eyes were beautiful, even though I couldn’t see them clearly at the moment. When he’d first showed up at Fireside Grill months ago, I’d barely been able to pull my eyes off him. It was still difficult, but months of practice had helped me at least act like I wasn’t affected by him. He wasn’t only sexy, but calm and laid back. He laughed easily and often. He’d shown up in Latham Hills after his friend Aidan’s son died in a skateboarding accident and then made himself at home behind the bar at our friend Declan’s Fireside Grill restaurant. For months now, he’d made it clear he wanted me. My resolve to stay away was dwindling by the day, especially after this. He was my complete opposite. And absolutely wrong for me. “David,” I sighed. “That was a—” He pressed two fingers against my lips. “Don’t say mistake. It wasn’t. It was wonderful. And besides,” his lips lifted into a grin, “you promised me the night and it’s not nearly over yet.” “Everyone will know.” This wasn’t me, and everyone knew it. I didn’t succumb to temptation, despite how good the promise of it was. My life was controlled and ordered. Planned out to the letter. I couldn’t afford to let myself get swept away in the silliness like the rest of my friends. I didn’t have that luxury. It was my lists and organization and neurotic planning that had kept me sane for the last sixteen years. “I don’t care.” His fingers slid to my jaw and then to my neck before sliding around to the back. I shivered from his gentle touch. From the way he made me feel. “Turn around.” “What?” “Your hair’s a mess and I want to fix it.” “Oh.” My hands went back to my hair but he stopped me, taking my hands in his and tugging them to my side. “I can do it.” “I know, but I want to.” Turning me around, his hands glided up my arms to my hair and I began to relax. My auburn hair was long and thick and held back with dozens of pins, half of it up and the other half curled in a way that would have taken me hours to do had I done it myself. Fortunately, Blue had covered the cost for all of us at a salon at the resort where she and Tyson had swept us away for their last-minute wedding. Not having much family, and a small circle of friends, they’d decided to forgo a typical wedding and whisked everyone to Jamaica for a long weekend. We’d arrived yesterday but hadn’t had much time to relax. Most of the day and night and then this morning had been busy with wedding preparations. “That feels good.” I sighed as David began releasing pins and gathering them in his hands. I relaxed, leaning forward and holding on to the table in front of me. The table where I’d sat minutes ago and had sex. I inhaled a deep breath, calming myself before I panicked again. “Thank you for helping me with this.” “My pleasure,” he whispered, as if now he cared about anyone hearing us. “We’ll get this done and then say our good nights. Think anyone missed us?” I laughed awkwardly. “If they noticed we were gone at all…” The only reason I’d allowed David to take me away from the reception was because it had been just the two of us. He’d walked up to me at the bar, bought me a drink, and then before I knew it, after flirting like he’d been doing for months, he was tugging me down a hallway. I’d

thought maybe we were going for a walk when he asked me if I wanted to get away for a moment; I hadn’t expected him to guide me into a closet and kiss me. But what a kiss it had been. “They noticed. They’re probably thrilled.” “I’m not sure I can talk about this.” He slid his hands into my hair and I groaned. My head fell forward as he massaged my scalp with his strong fingers. I didn’t typically like having my hair touched and played with. His sure and confident touch made me forget why for a moment. “I like that what we just did makes you nervous. I bet when I pull you back into the hallway and take you to my room for round two, your chest will be bright pink.” I was stuck on the thought of going back to his room for round two and it took me a moment to realize what else he’d said. “Don’t tease me.” I pressed my hand to my chest to hide the heated skin. Splotchy wasn’t attractive. “Hey.” He turned me around again and cupped my cheeks with his palms. All the lightness evaporated from his tone as he moved close to me. “I’m not teasing you. I think it’s sexy as hell when you blush. When it starts at your cheeks and spreads to your neck.” A finger trailed down my skin as he spoke, making me shiver…and yes…blush. “We should go back to the wedding.” “We’ll wave to them as we leave.” He licked his lips and grinned. One of his hands moved back until the doorknob clicked, the door opened, and light from the hall flooded in. “I need you.” Need. No one needed me. No one had ever needed me. He might have been saying he just wanted my body, but I didn’t care. I liked the way the admission rolled off his lips. I grinned then, unable to stop it as he pulled the door open and his eyes dropped to my chest. He winked when he looked at me and tugged me into the hall. “Tonight,” I reminded him. “I promised you tonight.” “Sure, Camden. For tonight.” He might as well have called me a liar. We walked down the hall, back to the reception area, and I clung to his hand holding mine. I ducked my head, embarrassed to see anyone, but when we got back to the restaurant, it was empty. My head snapped to him and he laughed, throwing his head back. “Looks like everyone had the same idea we did.” He winked at me again, and darn it. He was so cute when he was playful, which he generally was. Strong jaw and cheekbones, perfectly straight nose, David could have been a model, admired by millions on a billboard if he wanted to be with his long and lean but finely formed frame. “Well.” I grinned and shook my head in disbelief. “I guess I don’t have to worry about them seeing us together.” The humor evaporated from his eyes and I wanted to kick myself. I’d made it clear to my friends for months that I wouldn’t date David. I craved financial stability and safe men. A

bartender who swooped into town could just as easily flee whenever the mood struck. In that moment, I wasn’t thinking about David’s job or his lack of money or anything except the fact that I’d done something outside my comfort zone and my friends would think it was hilarious. I was twenty-nine years old and just had my first taste of wedding sex in a closet that could potentially lead to my first one-night stand. In my mind, I heard Suzanne and Chelsea’s unending, gleeful laughter. Before I could explain that it was my behavior I was embarrassed about, he turned and tugged me forward. “I can take you back to your room, Camden. I don’t want to pressure you into this. If that’s all that was for, just a way to get off with someone while you were at a wedding and feeling emotional, I get it. But I’m telling you now that I want more.” He dropped his hand from mine and stepped back. “Your choice.” In for a penny, in for a pound. I’d agreed to this, and not only that, I wanted it. I wanted to see David’s body like he wanted to see mine. I wanted to throw away my lists and my carefully planned life, if only for a night. I felt something with David, something I had tried to ignore. It felt like freedom and fun and a wildness I had never experienced before. As he stood in front of me, waiting, there was no choice. For the night, I was letting go of everything and taking what I was tired of denying myself. I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth and stepped forward, pressing my palm to his chest. It tightened beneath me, and David peered down at me with beautiful blue eyes brighter than the Caribbean Sea. “Take me to your room, David. And show me what else you have planned for me.”

Chapter 2 David I slid my key into the door of my private bungalow and pushed it open. As much as I wanted to throw Camden over my shoulder and not give her a choice, I could practically hear her thinking. She was worrying. She was debating turning around at any moment. In the last five months, Camden had become someone I studied, mostly from a distance. Camden was uptight. She was more serious than the rest of her friends, and she regarded everyone with wariness. But I saw something different in her, too. I had learned that once you’d earned her loyalty, she’d die for you. I saw the way she loved her friends as if they were more important to her than anyone else in the world. I saw the way she fought for them and defended them. She couldn’t hide everything beneath her straight, professional skirts and blouses always perfectly pressed, and her hair always wrapped and tight at the base of her neck. Since the first night I’d talked to her, I’d had multiple fantasies about what her hair would feel like, how soft it would be, how beautiful if she simply let it down. My dick was still hard from running my hands through it. It was even softer and more beautiful and longer than I could have ever imagined. Fuck, I wanted her. I wanted to be the man that solved her puzzle, despite knowing I’d been hiding something really big from her. But like Camden had her secrets and reasons, I had mine. I wouldn’t bare those to anyone, either, until I knew I could trust them. Perhaps we actually had something in common. “You still doing okay?” I asked, as I held the door open and gestured for her to enter. She’d chewed on her lip so harshly I saw marks on it when it popped from her teeth. “Yeah.” She grinned and stepped inside, tucking a chunk of her hair behind her ear when she pushed past me. “Have anything to drink in here, though?” “At the bar.” I pointed in the direction and followed her. God, she was pretty. Her hair was curled and wild and draped down to her waist at the back, hiding the openness of the dress that exposed almost everything. The skirt of her dress swayed back and forth, curving around her ass and hips in the most spectacular, teasing way. I unbuttoned my white shirt at the wrists and rolled them up, meeting her at the bar. “What would you like? There’s some wine and beer in the fridge.” Her lips pressed to one side. “Beer would be great, actually.” Before I could get it for her, she squatted down and opened the small fridge. Everything clinked and clanked and she peered up at me, smiling wide. “Red Stripe.” She grinned and stood up, holding two beers in her hands. “Want one?” “Please.” I took it and opened a drawer that contained a bottle opener. Once the beers were

opened, I nodded toward the deck. “Outside?” “Sure.” She took a healthy swallow from her beer, closing her eyes as she swallowed. A brief, pleasured moan escaped her lips when she pulled the bottle away from them. Hell. How did just that sound make me hard? How did enjoying watching a woman turn me into a horny teenager? I shook off the thoughts and allowed her to go first. Just like everything else about Camden since I’d first met her, she turned me on. From top to toe, she was the sexiest, most beautiful woman I’d ever met. I didn’t care if it made me a pussy to admit it, either. She was beautiful in a pulled-tight, tense sort of way. Intelligent, too, based on the fact I’d gleaned she was some sort of accountant. Her downside? She hated my damn job. She also didn’t know shit about me, had never asked about me from what I had learned. None of that mattered when she looked at me. Her pretty green eyes softened, a wistful expression making her look like an angel, and that flush crept up her cheeks. She wanted me. She just didn’t know what the hell to do about it. When Tyson had sprung this last-minute trip to the Caribbean for his wedding, I decided two things. One, that I’d go, obviously. He’d been one of my best friends for thirteen years. And two, I’d spend the weekend making Camden want me. Making her see me. So that when she learned the truth, we’d both know we were in this for the right reasons. I was taking my chance, even knowing I could be burned in the end. I hoped like hell I wasn’t. My last girlfriend had wanted nothing other than the prestige that came along with saying she was a doctor’s wife and the black AmEx she assumed came with being a McGregor. What she hated was the being-alone part and the fact that my being an ER resident didn’t exactly feed her desired lifestyle. On the surface, Camden was the same. Wanting money, wanting a man who made more than the tips I could carry in my pocket, but I saw beyond it. I saw the guilt she carried when she’d mentioned that she’d never date a bartender. There was more to the judgments she professed during her night out at Fireside Grill, where I worked and helped Declan. This weekend, I was going to explore every inch of her, inside and out, so I could find what it was she really wanted. Then, I’d do my damnedest to give it to her. “It’s so beautiful out here,” Camden said, folding into one of the outdoor lounge chairs. The white cushions were a stark contrast to the chocolate wicker, and while they were nicelooking on their own, seeing Camden’s alabaster skin and auburn hair draped over one made it more striking. “It is.” She was here. With me, and not running. When she panicked in the closet after I couldn’t keep my hands off her, I’d been afraid she would run away. She turned to me, tilting her head and leaning back to look to me. I met her gaze, not once looking out to the teal water that seemed to sparkle through the gentle lights on my deck. I didn’t care about the view…she made it beautiful. Dipping her chin, she twisted back to the water and took a drink of her beer.

I sat in the chair closest to her and tried to relax. I wanted her in my bed, but she needed to want it, too. It seemed like she’d need some time to get used to the idea. “You girls have a good day?” “Spent all of it having our hair and nails done.” She shrugged and turned to me, sitting up on the chair until her feet were on the ground, facing me. “What are we doing?” I hid my smile behind my beer. “What do you want to be doing?” Her eyes flickered to my bedroom windows behind us before her bottom lip found its way to her teeth again. “I want you,” I said bluntly. “I’ve wanted you for months. This weekend, our friends are all paired off and I plan on spending most of it with you, convincing you why we’d be good together. That’s what I’m doing, Camden. What do you want?” She chewed on her lip and let it go free. “I think that if we have to spend time together, we should at least be friends.” “Friends?” Her lips twitched and pink spread to her cheeks. She took another sip of beer. “I’m going to be honest, David. All of this, tonight, it’s all so far outside my comfort zone that I’m still reeling a little bit. I mean, I just had sex with you in a closet and I’ve never done that before.” I grinned. “But you liked it. And you like me.” She rolled her eyes, but it was playful, not annoyed or disgusted. “Fine. Yes, I liked it. And I want more of it.” It was all I needed to hear. Before she could tell me why we shouldn’t, I stood up and reached for her hand, pulling her to her feet and then to my chest. I wrapped my hand around her lower back and held her to me, dipping my chin so I could whisper in her ear. “Stop thinking so hard, Camden. Spend the weekend with me. We’ll have fun, we’ll be friends.” We’d be friends. Good ones. With excellent benefits. “And then we’ll just see what happens when we get back to Latham Hills, okay?” Her pale-pink tongue slid across her lower lip. I leaned closer until my nose brushed against hers. She shivered in my hold and a puff of breath escaped her parted wet lips. “Camden. Kiss me.”

Chapter 3 Camden Before I could talk myself out of it, before I could question what in the hell I was doing with David, I listened to him. My lips slid across his and I was immediately enveloped in his scent and taste. He tasted almost as good as he smelled, a mixture of cologne and body wash and salty sea air. I wanted to bottle it, have it forever, even if it was unnecessary. My night with David would be permanently ingrained in my memory bank. I slid my hands into the breadth of space between our bodies and up his chest, feeling the ridges of his stomach, the curve of his chest, the firmness of the muscles at his shoulders. In the darkened closet earlier, I’d wanted to see every inch of him. Now, I could have all of him and do all the things I was too scared to do back in Michigan, where responsible and safe and sane were my middle names. In Jamaica, I could turn reckless and wild, free to be whoever I wanted for the short vacation before I returned to bills and plans and lists. I pressed my lips more firmly against David’s, my tongue licking the seams of his lips until he opened for me. As he drew me in, that became my new plan. I could do this. Forty-eight hours of fun with a man. “David,” I whispered, against his lips. “Your room.” I was breathless and unashamed. He laughed softly, lifting me at the same time. “Your wish is my command.” “That sounds like it could be fun,” I said, swallowing my laughter. Twenty-four hours in the Caribbean and I was being silly. How different would I be in another two days? He carried me to his room and my legs tightened around his hips as he moved, pausing only to close and lock doors. It warmed me, somewhere deep down, that he’d be thinking of safety when I was in his arms, but I didn’t dare say anything. We entered his room and he shut the door. He stepped farther inside, but I stopped him. “Lights,” I whispered, looking at the switch and feeling my cheeks heat. “I’d like them on.” I’d imagined him naked for months. I’d had glimpses before. Long, drool-worthy glimpses, like on the day I stopped by to see Trina. Declan and David had just finished working out in Declan’s basement gym. I’d watched one drop of sweat, and then another, and then a third, roll down David’s molded chest into the sandy-blond trail of hair along his waistband before dipping below. I’d been speechless, and I’d felt his eyes on me. He’d put his hands on his hips and allowed

me to look my fill. I’d felt my body grow so hot I must have been a deep violet color from the tips of my ears to my chest. I hadn’t been able to look at him for a week afterward. Now I could stare all I wanted. I didn’t want the first time I saw him in all his magnificence hindered by the shadows of the moonlight and outdoor floodlights. His hands tightened around my lower back before he stepped back and flicked on the switch. When the light illuminated his room, my breath lodged in my throat as I took in the expression on his face. His lips parted as if in surprise at my request, but he hid it behind lust in the blink of an eye. “Have to say,” he said, and started moving toward the bed, “you’re full of surprises.” My lips twitched as I fought against embarrassment. Boldness wasn’t me. It was David that made me feel unknown and inexpressible things. I shook my head and pressed my forehead to his shoulder as his knees hit the bed. I wanted to hide the heat flaring white-hot on my pale skin, hide in the crook of his neck, where I could smell him and feel him but not have him see me. “Hey.” He pushed a knee onto his bed and crawled forward, lowering us while I clung to him, my limbs holding on tight like they were suctioned there. He pressed one hand to the mattress and gently lowered me to the bed. “I like this,” he whispered, “and I’ve already told you that. Do you know how many times I’ve wanted to trail this blush on your skin and see where it goes when it disappears beneath your clothing?” I laughed awkwardly. Not that I’d ever examined myself in the mirror for that, but with the way he touched me, the way he talked to me, I felt the heat spreading everywhere, straight to the apex of my thighs. “It’s not attractive,” I whispered, admitting my own vulnerability before I could stop it. There was nothing beautiful about splotchy, pale skin, or the abhorrent scar on my thigh he’d brushed against earlier. It was impossible to avoid that scar, and usually it didn’t bother me. But earlier, when David’s thumb had brushed against the raised and rigid flesh, old but forever visible, he’d frozen on it, opened his eyes like he’d wanted to ask me what it was from. I’d kissed him before he could. Suzanne and my mom were the only ones who knew. The only ones who would ever know. David’s eyes narrowed. He made me feel like he could truly see inside me. And I was the one who’d requested the lights on. Stupid. He already watched me too closely. But you want this. And him. And you like it. I pushed my hands into his hair. “Kiss me,” I whispered. “Now.” “Bossy.” His mouth brushed against mine, sliding back to my jaw and my ear before he nipped my tender lobe. “I like it. Like everything I see in you.” I shivered and pretended it was from his touch, but it was the roughness of his voice that told me I was right. He saw more than he let on, knew more than he should. It would take effort to protect that part of myself over the next two days. My hands dragged from his hair to the front of his shirt, where I quickly undid the buttons. The shirt was a wrinkled mess over one pec. I’d done that. Latched on to him and curled my

fingers into his shirt when he’d first kissed me. He’d been so soft and tender. I didn’t want that now. In his bed, with just the whisper of our voices drowning out the lapping water below the bungalow, I wanted wild and free. I wanted what David promised he could give me with one heated look. I shifted beneath him and pushed myself up until we were both on our knees on the bed. Pushing the shirt off his broad shoulders, I scanned his body, my eyelids dropping at the sight in front of me. The linen of the shirt, coarse beneath my fingers, was in opposition to the smoothness of his arms. Veins popped on his forearms and the backs of his hands, muscles straining while he let me touch him, explore him first. His chest rose and fell quicker as his pulse kicked up. He groaned when I slid a finger through the dip between his abs, tightening in response to my light touch. I stopped when I reached the black belt threaded through the waistband of his gray pants, the bulge beneath them obvious and large. “Don’t stop now,” he muttered in a thick voice. “Take what you want.” My gaze flickered up to his and I threw away my embarrassment. There was no more room for that here. I barely recognized my own voice as I boldly declared, “I want it all.”

Chapter 4 David Her boldness undid me, snapping the remaining strands of restraint I’d clung to. I want it all. She didn’t know yet what the words meant, but I’d show her. I had two full days to convince her. I climbed off the bed and held out my hand. She took it quickly and I tugged her to her feet. “Turn around.” My hands went to her waist as she moved, and then my fingers found the zipper concealed beneath the barely there back of her dress. It started just above the curves of her backside, and as I pulled it down, I was instantly shown two small dimples just above her ass at the small of her back. I wanted to taste them, lick them, touch them. I wanted to devour her. Take my time and make it fast. I’d felt her earlier, but it had been rushed and dark and we’d been fully clothed. God, why had my first time with her been in a closet? I swallowed the groan building in my throat and finished undoing the zipper. She flinched as I did, and my hands went to her shoulders to push the dress off of her. “David,” she whispered, and her hands went to her hips as if to hold her dress in place. Was she stopping this? It would kill me. “What?” My hands curled into fists while I waited for her and she twisted her neck to look at me over her shoulder. A mischievous smile hid her earlier nerves. “Don’t be gentle with me.” “Fuck.” My head fell forward to her shoulder and I wrapped my arms around her stomach. I held her against me and pressed kisses to her bare skin. Then I undid my belt and let my pants fall to my ankles before pushing down my underwear. Something told me she’d enjoy it more if she wasn’t the first one naked. Her breath caught, a slight hitch of sound when I stepped back to finish removing my clothes, and then I returned to her dress, to the silk straps at her shoulders, and pushed it forward. Her dress fell to a pile at our feet, mixed with mine. And damn…had anything ever looked so right? So perfect? If I’d seen it, I couldn’t remember. She didn’t want gentle, but I couldn’t give her anything other than adoring worship. Placing my hand on her hip, I twisted her until she faced me and slid my hands to hers, gripping her lightly. “We can stop at any time.” “I don’t want to.” Pretty, lush pink lips curved into a smile. She moved back, scooting onto the bed until her head was propped on pillows.

Pale skin, deep auburn hair, lashes that fluttered wildly. Nervous bumps pebbled her skin as my gaze raked over her. She had a beauty mark on a hip bone, another just below her left breast. Light pink fingernails trembled as she brushed her hand softly over her stomach. “I don’t know where to start,” I admitted. Everywhere. I wanted to touch all the imperfect places on her, all the perfect ones. Burrow inside of her, and not just her body but her heart. I was thirty-two years old, done dicking around with one-night stands and short, shallow relationships. I knew what I wanted and I was taking it. “You can start here,” she whispered. She drew a circle around her belly button, up the divide in her abdomen and between her breasts, to her throat, her chin…her lips. She tapped them twice. I was done for. Vixen, seductress, siren…whatever song she sang, I wanted to be addicted to it. My hand wrapped around my hard dick and I stroked it. Her eyes followed the movement of my hand, lashes fluttering languidly. I bent down and grabbed my pants, removed the condoms I’d put in my wallet earlier, and tossed them to the bed next to her. She looked at them and then me. “Two?” “Better safe than sorry.” All teasing evaporated when I bent over her and crawled up the length of the bed. I stopped when I reached her stomach and pressed my lips there. Her muscles rippled. Her whimpers went straight to my cock. “Is this where you wanted me?” I looked up at her and waited for her nod. All confidence was gone. All I saw was pure need and nerves, a heady combination. “Yes,” she gasped, as I began trailing circles around her stomach. Over to the beauty mark I’d seen above her hip bone. My eyes stayed on her the whole time, watching every intake of breath, cataloguing every time I reached a spot that tickled or turned her on even more. My hands on her thighs, I slid them upward until my fingers grazed over raised flesh. My hand froze. Then moved again. Her eyes closed and I wanted to ask. A scar. Large, long, jagged raised flesh scarred over. What the hell? I’d brushed against it in the closet earlier, but now in the light, I could see it. It was longer and wider than I’d originally suspected. On the outside of her thigh, I hadn’t seen it when she first lay down. “David,” she whispered. Her voice was a plea, almost as jagged as the scar beneath my fingertip. My mouth opened to ask but she shook her head, stiffened as I swiped a finger alongside it again. My other hand gently brushed her inner thigh, calming her while I explored. Thick and nasty, the scar was all I could think about now. She wouldn’t answer and I knew not to push. So instead, I bent over her hip, pressed my lips to her scar, and slid my other hand to her center. “Oh,” she gasped, arching her hips into my hand. She was wet, hot…and terrified out of her mind. I didn’t need to see her to know, and I gave up wanting to ask the question in my mind. What had happened to her? There’d be time. I slid back to her stomach. My fingers slid through her folds, inside of her. I smiled against her stomach and moved up to her breast, tasting her nipple and sucking it into my mouth.

Hard. She bucked against me, pressing my finger inside her deeper. “You’re so tight and hot.” I groaned against her breast. “It’s been a while,” she admitted. “Please, more.” “Soon.” I continued exploring her body, slid my finger out of her, then pressed another one inside her. Added a third. The closet had been rushed and frenzied. Here, I’d take my time. Her hips arched into me, quickly, losing control. I spun circles around her clit, gathering her wetness. The need to taste her…her pussy, her neck, her breast. It overwhelmed me, made me hotter and harder than I could ever remember. “Please,” she gasped, widening her legs until her inner thighs trembled beneath me. “Come for me,” I whispered, abandoning her breast and moving to her collarbone. I was right. She flushed everywhere and it was magnificent. “Let me see you lose it.” Her head pushed into the pillow, her lips parted, and little sounds, moans and groans and whimpers, ripped from her throat. And then she was gone. Her whole body trembling and her thighs quaking, I thrust my fingers deep inside her pussy. I pushed and pulled and scraped the pads of my fingers against her inner walls. Her hands gripped my shoulders. My biceps. She clung to me like an animal, my name ringing on her lips. “David!” I pushed off her, ripped open a condom, and rolled it on. I entered her. Inch by inch, I worked myself inside of her as her orgasm still rolled, throwing her into another one. She cried out, squeezing my arms. I silenced her with a kiss. Forced my mouth against hers and fucked her with my mouth along with my dick, until sweat dripped down my forehead and she went limp beneath me, but still with me. Her hands slid to my hair, the back of my head, my neck. Everywhere she touched, my skin ignited until her hands slid down my spine. My balls pulled heavy and tight, slapping against her with every pump of my hips until everything inside me burned. “Camden,” I groaned. I buried my head in the crook of her shoulder. Pressed my lips to her flesh as her hands squeezed my ass, pushing me into her harder, faster…relentlessly. Her walls tightened, convulsing around me…another climax, quieter but just as fierce, hit her and I went with her, thrusting with abandon, losing all the control I’d fought for. I seated myself balls deep and growled her name. I emptied myself inside her, my dick pulsing almost to the point of pain. Glorious. Perfect. Everything about her, her body and how we fit together, down to the whimpers she made and the way our heartbeats synced. — I took a sip of my coffee and stood next to my bed, admiring the view. I didn’t give a shit if she woke right now, saw me watching her sleep, and thought I was a creeper. When Camden slept, all her features gentled. The firm press of her lips, the determined look in her eyes, and

the tightness in her shoulders was gone. Perhaps I’d just worn her out. I grinned at the thought before setting down the cup of coffee I’d bought for her on my way back from working out. Settling next to her on the bed, I ran my fingers through her hair. I leaned closer and pressed my lips to her temple. I’d planned a big day for us; and as much as I wanted to climb into bed next to her, slide my hands to her stomach, her hips, and then farther south, we had to get moving in order to meet our boat. “Camden.” I whispered her name, brushed my lips over her ear. She stirred and her eyes flickered. Her body tensed to roll, so I moved my hand to her hip, stilling her. “Wake up, sleepyhead.” She shifted again and I grinned. Her eyes flickered again and opened. I had a brief flash of fear that she’d wake up, turn those beautiful green eyes away from me, and scramble out of bed and take off. My hand on her hip tightened in preparation for her flight. “Hey,” she said, surprising me with her easiness as she fully awoke. Her lips spread into a wide, soft smile and she blinked the dredges of sleep away. “Good morning.” “Good morning to you.” “What time is it?” “Time to get moving.” Her eyes widened and so did my smile. Gesturing to her cup of coffee, I stood from the bed to restrain myself from collapsing on top of her, taking her the way I wanted to. “We have a busy day.” Her brows wrinkled and she looked at the cup before glaring at me. “What are you talking about?” Her eyes narrowed as she watched me. “And why are you dressed? And showered?” I grabbed our coffees from the table and held hers out. “Sit up. Have some coffee, and then we need to hit the beach. We have a chartered boat waiting for us soon.” “A chartered boat?” Her eyes widened again and she blinked rapidly, looking around my room as if she were still dreaming. “You’re awake,” I assured her. “Or at least you will be after you have coffee.” She shook her head and pushed herself back on the bed, propping her shoulders on the pillows. “Thanks, but I don’t drink coffee.” Someone who didn’t live off caffeine? I briefly wondered if I could trust her. “Weird,” I muttered and set down the cup. “Can I get you anything, then, while you get ready?” Her gaze swept the room once more before landing back on me. “I need to go to my room.” “No you don’t.” I bent down and picked up the bag I’d gone to her room to get earlier. It wasn’t breaking and entering if I used a key—her key…from her purse. I wasn’t ashamed of my actions. I’d already told her I was planning on spending the weekend proving we’d be good together. I couldn’t do that if she went to her own room and hid from me. Her brows jumped up and her mouth went slack when she saw the lime-green bag I placed on the edge of the bed. Her lime-green bag. “You…what?” She scrambled from the sheets and I drank in the look of her body. Damn, she was so pretty. All long and lean, a runner’s body, and all that pale skin because she hadn’t slept in

anything. She didn’t even notice she was still naked when she grabbed the handles of her bag. I categorized every dip and curve. Every beauty mark, especially the one I’d spent time sucking on right inside her left hip bone. The scar on her hip that I desperately wanted to ask her about but knew she wouldn’t explain. Three inches of jagged and raised white flesh. It was old but nasty. She didn’t seem the least bit conscious of it until I felt it and kissed it last night. “You went to my room?” she gasped as she dug through the bag, searching for…what? And then gave a resigned sigh when she sat back on her heels. Her pussy was visible and my dick hardened at the gorgeous sight of her. Had I really chosen to go snorkeling instead of spending the day in bed with her? But I had, and I couldn’t, wouldn’t, turn back now, despite how tempting her body was. “I did. I packed all your bathroom stuff and what you’ll need for today.” She did another quick search of her bag. “There’s barely any clothes. Only my swimsuit.” “I know. The rest of your things are hanging in the closet.” “This is crossing a line.” Her words were a warning, but her voice wasn’t. It was too soft, too surprised to carry any weight. I shrugged and took another sip of my coffee. “We’re running out of time. Go shower and get ready, and then we’ll head out.” I reached the doorway before she called out, “You haven’t told me what we’re doing.” “I know. It’s a surprise, and you’ll love it. Be ready in twenty minutes or we’ll miss our boat. Now, can I get you anything?” “Juice.” She growled, low and frustrated. “Please.” I grinned into my mug and left the room to go replenish my coffee and get her some juice.

Chapter 5 Camden David had helped himself to almost all the items in my bungalow. I tried to gather my indignation while showering and getting dressed for whatever he had planned. He’d helped himself to my personal space, my personal items…hell, he’d seen my birth control pills and packed them. Better safe than sorry. His words from last night made me smile, even while they shouldn’t have. I should be pissed, right? I mean, he’d broken into my bungalow! Dug through my things! Yet there I was, dressed in the swimsuit he’d brought for me, pulling on my cover-up, brushing my hair back into a ponytail. Hopeless. I was hopeless when it came to him. Somehow, I caved and did every wild and crazy thing he suggested. On the plane ride to Jamaica, Blue had laughed when she caught me writing a list of all the things to do over the weekend, all the items that needed to be checked off to ensure that her wedding to Tyson went off without a hitch. She’d crumpled the paper in her perfectly manicured fingers and shook her head before reminding me she had a wedding planner at the resort. She’d looked at me, her humor evaporating, and then flicked her gaze to David, who had sat two rows ahead of us in the aisle, and whispered, “All you have to do is enjoy yourself, Camden. That’s it. Have some fun.” She’d then winked and moved back to her seat next to Tyson. He had placed his hand on her thigh. She curled her hand around his, and then rested her head on his shoulder. The smoothness of their connection, the way their eyes softened when they looked at each other, had made my chest hurt. I was used to being alone. I had been raised by a mom in a run-down trailer, in a run-down trailer park. My mom had spent most of her life treading water, trying to give me what she’d never had for herself. Sometimes, after a heavy summer thunderstorm, we almost literally treaded water in our small living room from the leak in a roof we could never repair. Surprises meant being able to afford ham instead of bologna. Surprises meant two small Christmas presents instead of one. Surprises meant being able to scrounge up enough change from a coffee jar that contained my mother’s tips to be able to afford to pay our electric bill. For me, surprises had never been all that great, but as I twisted my ponytail and wrapped it in a bun at the base of my neck, the way I usually wore it, I forced myself to remember that this was David. He was laid back and fun and seemed to be able to live sure of the moment. He wore a laugh or a smile so easily I wondered if he’d ever cried, if he’d ever felt pain in his life. His surprises had to be better than my mom’s had always been.

Right? Puffing out my cheeks, I blew out a breath in the mirror and stared into my own green eyes. “Enjoy yourself. Have some fun. Throw away the lists.” I used those lists to cope with my past, to survive after everything I’d been through. When my innocence had been stripped away too early, I had to find a way to deal with it. Lists and plans and goals and accomplishments kept me on firm footing. Without them, I didn’t know if I could move forward. The very idea of not being prepared, not knowing what was going to happen, sent a shiver down my spine that wasn’t entirely pleasant. The urge to run bubbled inside me, threatening to take over. Inhaling, I counted, closed my eyes, and focused on staying calm. Before I could back out, demand that David let me go, I made a choice. What the hell? What was the worst thing that could happen in one weekend? Before I could think of what that worst possible outcome could be, I forced myself to turn from the mirror and open the bathroom door. Making my way through the bedroom, I stopped and stared at the bed. Memories of the night before invaded my mind. David on top of me. David touching me. Me touching David. His strong hands doing delicious things to me when he ran his fingers over my nipples and through my sex. God, he’d been incredible. By far the best lover I’d ever had. My hips and abs ached from the pleasure he’d given me, repeatedly, and when my gaze caught sight of multiple condom wrappers on the floor, my cheeks heated. Multiple orgasms…before last night they’d been as mythical as unicorns. A knock sounded to my left and I jumped, startled. “Hey,” I said, pressing my hand to my chest when David entered the room. “You scared me.” His eyes roamed my body from top to toe before sliding to the bed. “Thinking about last night?” He kept walking toward me and my heart pounded against my rib cage. “I have. All morning long, it’s all I’ve been able to think about.” He reached me and pressed his hand to my cheek. I melted into his warm touch, the move as innate as breathing. My eyes fluttered closed as he bent down and his lips brushed against mine. “I’ve been hard all morning, and all I want to do is keep you in this bed where I can touch you and slide into you.” My chest burned at his words and my mouth went dry. “Can we?” My own words reached my ears like I’d whispered them through a tunnel. When did I become so bold? “No, beautiful.” He kissed me again, and his hand at my cheek slid to my neck. “We have to get going.” I nodded as his hand reached the bun at my neck. He tugged on my hair and it fell down to my waist, brushing against my skin. “What are you doing?” My hands went to my hair, feeling for my tie, but David stepped back and out of my reach. My bright pink hair band was now on his wrist and I glared at him. “I’m keeping it. I like your hair down. It’s gorgeous, and I want to be able to touch it

whenever I want.” My hands flew to my hips. His unabashed grin didn’t disappear under my withering gaze. “Besides, you’re gorgeous, all of you, and this weekend, I plan on touching you. A lot. All the time, actually.” To prove his point, he reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me flush against his chest. “I can’t even decide right now if I like you dressed in this bikini or if I like you naked more. But I do like knowing that when you’re close to an orgasm, all of your body flushes.” God. I was on fire. Burning from the inside out. From my toes to my scalp. How did he do this to me? He was arrogant and cocky and bossy and impossible, but every time he touched me, every time he whispered to me in his husky voice, I conceded to whatever he wanted. “David,” I whispered, his name ragged through my dry voice. “What are we doing today? I’m not such a fan of surprises.” As if he caught my nerves battling with my desire for him, he pulled back and gave me a kiss on the forehead. “I told you. We’re going on a boat.” — We were not on a boat. We were on a vessel leading me straight to my death. The wind whipped my hair, and I held it back with one hand as David stood next to me, one arm wrapped around my waist and the other hand at the railing. “Isn’t this view insane?” He had to shout over the roar of the boat’s engine. He looked down at me, wide smile stretching across his cheeks showing perfectly white, straight teeth. He was in love. I was terrified and speechless. I shook my head, rolled my eyes at his excitement, and curled my fingers more tightly around the railing. Snorkeling. In the ocean. With fishes and sharks and jellyfish and a host of other creatures that could kill us before we knew they were there. My idea of fun? Hardly. Give me a book and a foreign beer and a fireplace and I was happy. The boat slowed and the bow dipped low. Waves of salt water rushed over our feet and I jumped back, straight into David’s chest. He laughed. His mouth pressed against my ear and the vibration of his laughter made me shiver. “You’re crazy,” I said after the engine died and we were drifting over the waves. Two small islands were a short distance away in front of us. I’d been told they were uninhabited. Between those islands and the boat there was nothing but water and the curves and movements of life beneath it. “Are you sure this is safe?” “We didn’t die yesterday.” “Comforting.” Footsteps behind us caught my attention and I turned, looking at our captain, Raheem, over David’s shoulder. David removed his hands from the railing and placed them on my hips, holding me steady. “It’ll be fine, Camden. Raheem brought us guys here yesterday and we had a blast. Nothing

can hurt you here, I promise. And besides, I wouldn’t let it.” His words soothed me slightly until Raheem held up two sets of flippers and eye masks and snorkels. Raheem looked like he’d been toking it since he woke up; he had bloodshot eyes and a lazy smile. Long black dreadlocks fell past his shoulders and he moved in a way that was almost lyrical. Smooth and relaxed, and he was probably stoned out of his mind. I flashed wide eyes to David. “This man? He’s who you trust to keep us alive?” David chuckled, letting go of me to take the gear from Raheem’s outstretched hands. “The water is rougher today,” he said in a thick Jamaican accent. “More sea life will be visible, but don’t go too deep. The coral can scratch.” More sea life? Coral that can scrape me? As if David sensed my growing unease, he settled a hand on my lower back and moved us toward a bench on the side of the boat. Raheem, done with the duty of his warning and delivering our snorkeling supplies, turned and walked to the back of boat, where he lifted a joint and lit it. “Great,” I mumbled, sitting down while David squatted in front of me. “Raheem’s stoned.” It rolled off David like water off a duck’s back, slick and quick. He hadn’t stopped smiling since we stepped onboard our vessel of doom an hour earlier. “I’m sure he was stoned yesterday, too. And the day before, and the day before that…” I slapped his shoulder playfully. He grinned at me while his hands worked flippers onto my feet. “Stop it. You’re not helping me.” “Do you think I’d let anything hurt you?” I didn’t think he’d try to let anything hurt me, but that didn’t mean he’d succeed in protecting me. “Hey.” He pushed the second flipper onto my foot and wrapped both of his hands around one of my ankles. “I won’t let go of you out there, and we’ll be fine. I promise. What are you most afraid of right now?” I had more fears than the beaches had shells. Like I usually did when things became too stressful, I took a moment to categorize them in order of priority. “Death, pain, shark bite, drowning—” He covered my mouth with his hand, silencing me. He pressed his lips together and his shoulders shook, pointlessly trying to hide his laughter. “Will it help if I told you that I used to be a lifeguard?” I shook my head, still unable to speak due to his hand covering my mouth. “Good.” He dropped his hand and took a seat next to me, tugging on his own set of flippers. “Because that’d be a lie.” “You—” “Are adorably cute, sexy, great in bed.” He lifted a finger as he rattled off his qualities, his grin never slipping. “I’m also one hundred percent serious that you will be completely fine. We will snorkel to the beach, I’ll hold your hand the entire time if you need me to, and if anything happens—which it won’t”—he stressed and his expression went serious—“I will make sure that you are safe.”

He leaned forward and ran his hands through my hair, which was whipping around my cheeks and neck like a new auburn necklace. “Trust me, Camden, and come play with me.” Play. When was the last time I did that? I had fun at girls’ nights. I laughed and drank too much, usually the only time I let myself overindulge. I ran, but that was more work and stress relief and accomplishing goals than actual fun. The word echoed in my mind along with Blue’s command from the plane ride. Have fun. Enjoy yourself. Play. Be silly. Be stupid. “Okay.” I was breathless. My heart rioted against my chest, but I reached for my face mask. “Let’s do this.” I fumbled with my mask and snorkel while David got ready, and then he moved us to a flattened seat at the back of the immaculately clean white boat. Had to give it to Raheem. For a man who sat at a chair behind the wheel smoking a joint and listening to reggae, he must have taken great pride in his boat and his business. David grabbed my hand as we sat on the edge, our backs to the water. My fingers clasped around his, much like I imagined a woman’s hand did to her partner’s during childbirth. I squeezed the hell out of it in an effort to ensure I wouldn’t lose his touch or his confidence. “Ready?” I had to fight not to laugh. With goggles and snorkels and flippers, we looked ridiculous. Even David looked silly, and it wasn’t a way I’d ever have described him before that moment. Before I could respond, he leaned forward and tugged the snorkel from my mouth and his. His lips took its place and his tongue invaded. His hand wrapped around my neck and he held me to him, until everything evaporated except for the taste of him, the feel of him, and the now gentle rocking of the boat along smoothed waves. “Ready now?” he whispered when he pulled back. “I’m ready.” Now or never. Sink or swim. Possibly not the best thought. I quickly pushed that one out of my mind and slid the snorkel back into position. David did the same. He turned toward me, smiling around the plastic bulging from his mouth. “One…” His countdown was muffled around the snorkel. I nodded. “Two…three!” On three, he tugged me with him and we fell backward into the water. We landed with an enormous splash and just as he’d said, he never once let me go. I kicked and followed his movements, until we were swimming with our backs brushing against the air above us. He’d already told me we’d stay near the top of the water until I was comfortable and I could lead us wherever we wanted to go. While I tried to quell the fear threatening to burst out of my chest, I was plenty comfortable holding onto David’s hand and hoping like hell a wave or a riptide or an octopus or jellyfish or shark or any other deadly creature didn’t pull us apart.

Chapter 6 David My knuckles ached from Camden’s tight grip, her little hand so strong around mine I thought she might break my fingers. I kept my promise, swimming at her speed, and languidly kicked through the water. Snorkeling had taken my breath away yesterday when the guys and I had come out. This morning, with Camden at my side, it was just as gorgeous. Through the bright teal waters, below us was a myriad of neon colors. Coral in oranges and yellows, spotted with a purple so bright I’d never seen the shade before. It waved through the blue waters, looking like brilliant balls of popcorn. I tugged Camden’s hand to get her attention. Her eyes were wide with wonder and she smiled as best she could around the snorkel. I wanted to talk to her, ask her how she was doing, but the softness in her features told me she was okay. A flash of movement caught my attention, and I pointed below as a school of neon-yellowand-black-striped butterfly fish swam toward the coral. Larger than my head, the fish were beautiful. Everything swam below us, seemingly unaware of our presence. There was a quietness beneath the water, a peacefulness that rolled around me. Yesterday, for what felt like the first time in months, I’d felt like I could breathe again. It was as unsettling as it was welcome. Camden pushed closer to me and loosened her grip on my hand. Nudging me with her shoulder, she pointed at something farther away and then looked at me quickly before glancing back to the coral. Another school of fish, vivid orange and blue and red, they looked like they’d been dipped in color and tie-dyed. Raheem had called them rainbow parrotfish and their name fit perfectly. They mixed with the colors, blending into the coral and the water, and were even larger than the butterfly fish. All of it mesmerized me. I was so lost in the colors and the shapes and everything we were seeing, more so than when I’d been with the guys, that I scarcely recognized it when Camden let go of my hand and dove lower. I followed her, chasing her body as it cut through the water without effort, until we were swimming among the fish. Our hands reached out, fish swimming around us, avoiding us at the last moment before contact. The schools split into sections and merged back together. Camden turned and smiled at me behind her, her teeth visible around the snorkel. Her laugh vibrated through the water, straight to my dick. Even muffled by the water, the sound was glorious. We swam through the reef, bobbing and dipping with the waves. I led Camden and she switched, leading me. I followed her, pulled between marveling at the brightness and wildness of sand sharks and fish and seahorses bobbing above coral and focusing on the

curve of Camden’s ass and the length of her legs, along with her auburn hair billowing behind her as she swam. Between her hair, the deep-emerald bikini that barely covered her ass and breasts, and her porcelain skin, she was as vivid as the colors beneath us. Eventually, I caught up to her and tapped her on her shoulder. She pulled her gaze to mine, almost reluctantly. I gestured for us to go up, and she frowned before nodding. Above water, I pulled off my goggles and removed my snorkel. As soon as she did the same, I pulled her to me, forcing her to wrap her legs around my waist. “Beautiful,” I murmured against her lips before I kissed her. She was. The entire morning had been. She hummed against my mouth, and I swallowed the sound and the salty taste of her lips. My hands roved her skin, unable to get enough of her. Beneath my swim trunks, I was hard and I pushed myself into her, settling my hands at her hips to pull her against me. “I have more planned,” I said, yanking myself away from her. Raheem was somewhere on the boat nearby and I had to get control before I lost it completely. How did she always do this to me? Ever since the first night I saw her at Fireside I’d wanted her this desperately. Five months of waiting and planning and pushing and flirting had taken its toll. “You do?” I nodded, sliding my hand on her hip, switching her goggles and snorkel to my other hand so I held all of our gear. “Yep. Come on. I have a lunch for us on the boat and then another surprise.” “I hate surprises.” She grinned as she said it and looked back to the ocean. “But I suppose one more of yours might not kill me.” — “Why are you trying to kill me? I thought you liked me.” I stared down to the water below us. Our toes were at the edge of a cliff. Seventy feet across from us was another cliff. Forty feet below us, white-capped waves rolled off the rocks, the thundering of the impact echoing up to where we stood. We’d eaten lunch on the boat, and I’d convinced her to explore the rocks of the smaller uninhabited island with me. I’d saved the surprise until we’d reached the top. “It’s just a little cliff-diving, Camden. Where’s your sense of adventure?” “I lost it when I was twelve.” Her voice, thick with fear, snapped my attention off the water below. Her lips pressed together into a thin line and her hand began trembling in my grasp. Something about the tone made me take in her seriousness and, for a moment, I questioned taking her over the edge with me. She was truly afraid. “What are you afraid of?” It was the same question I’d asked her on the boat. This time it carried a heavier weight. Squeezing her eyes closed, her entire body shivered visibly, as if a blast of subzero temperatures had racked her. “Camden.” I took a step back, tugging her with me. We stepped away from the edge and I shifted until I was directly in front of her. “What is it?”

“Heights.” Redness bloomed on her cheekbones, but she wouldn’t look at me. “Heights aren’t my thing.” Shit. I wanted to push her outside her comfort zone, not throw her headfirst into facing her fears. I curled my hands around her shoulders. She shook beneath my touch. “I’m sorry.” I pulled her to me and wrapped my arms around her back. “I didn’t know.” She shivered again. Her chest rose and fell at a rapid pace and I held on to her until she calmed. “We can go back to the boat,” I whispered, pressing my lips against the top of her head. Tucked close to me, she barely reached my chin. She nodded against me, but when I moved to step back, she held me tighter. “No.” “No?” Pressing my thumb to her chin, I tilted her head up until her green eyes met my gaze. Fear swirled inside them, and she was still breathing too rapidly. “Camden, I didn’t mean to scare you, and I don’t want to. I won’t make you do this.” Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. “I have this friend from college. She owns this crafty, small, home decor store and hosts painting classes at nights and on weekends.” My brows drew together in confusion. “Last week, she posted on Facebook this sign she’d painted that says ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway.’ ” She looked away, toward the edge of the cliff and the water below. When she spoke again, her voice was raspy and dry. “I’m tired of my fears deciding how I live.” “Camden—” Wrapping her fingers around my wrist, she pulled my hand to hers and entwined our fingers together. It was the softest hold, and the most timid I’d ever seen her. In that moment, with her skin paled, her eyes widened and scared, her body still shivering from her own personal fears and demons, she allowed me see a completely different side of her. I drank her in. The softness in her, much like when she slept, made her more exquisite. Proved that everything I was trying to do this weekend was working, that it was worth it. She was trusting me. Leaning on me—opening up to me in a way I’d only begun to imagine she would. “You made snorkeling okay, right? And you won’t let anything hurt me.” “Never. I wouldn’t let anything hurt you.” Her eyes roamed my face and I poured out as much honesty as I could manage in my expression alone. Her tongue slid along her bottom lip and she swallowed heavily before nodding. “Okay, then. Let’s go punch my fear in the face.” I laughed despite myself. Laughed because when she smiled as she fought against her fear, walked toward the ledge despite knowing she wanted to run away, she was more beautiful than I’d ever seen her. We walked back to the edge. It was a forty-foot drop. Not massive, but certainly not minuscule. I’d done larger jumps before, but the fact that there wasn’t much space between the rocks added a thrill of excitement. Or terror, in Camden’s case. “You sure?” I squeezed her hand tightly in mine. “I’ll hold you for as long as I can, but we’ll

be pulled apart at some point.” “Okay.” She stared at the rocks across from us, paling with every breath she took. I fought the desire to wrap her in my arms and carry her back to the boat, wrap a towel around her and hold her close until she never shook from fear again. Goosebumps popped up and down her arms, visible even on her stomach and thighs. “Camden, we don’t have to. You don’t have to,” I stressed. She stared at the expanse of space like she saw nothing but whatever she was fighting. “No.” Her resolve had strengthened, mask slamming in place, but her expression was different from the distant look I’d seen before. Determination. Victory. It covered her fear like a thick blanket and she rolled to her toes, nodding. “I can do this.” She turned to me and bit her bottom lip again. “Just…let me count this time?” “Of course.” Whatever made this easier for her. “If you want, you can watch me jump and then I can come back for you.” “No way,” she laughed. “If I see what’s coming I’ll never do it.” “You sure you want to?” “Yes. But I’m counting. Come on.” She pulled on my hand and I stood next to her. I clasped her hand in my grip and held it tight as I stepped farther to the side. I stopped when our arms were stretched wide beneath us. “On three.” She nodded. “On three.” Her lip trembled when she looked back out at the water, whispering, “Don’t look down. Don’t look down.” Then…nothing. I waited, alternating my gaze between the water below, the rocks across, and the beautiful, terrified, pale woman next to me. I was about to pull her back from the edge, make the decision that she wasn’t doing this, when through quivering lips she said, “One.” I looked back to my target, stared straight across. “Two.” I turned to her and smiled. She was still trembling, but she bent her knees. “Three.” I jumped before she finished the word, pulling her along with me as I launched us both off and over the ledge, far enough where there was no danger of hitting land on the way down. “David!”

Chapter 7 Camden My heartbeat roared in my ears as I plunged into the water. David’s name on my lips evaporated as soon as the water covered my head. Terrified, my eyes were squeezed closed, the grip of David’s hand the only thing tethering me to reality as the icy water washed over my body. He had lied. I wasn’t safe. He didn’t keep me from harm. Every time David pushed me, I felt the undeniable urge to not only answer him, not only prove I could be brave, but conquer everything that held me back. This weekend was quickly turning from a way to break away from my lists to living in a way that was stolen from me when I was too young to really have dreams. The depth burned my lungs and I felt David pulling me toward him. He hadn’t let go of me. We had entered the water together, fear chilling my skin for a moment before the adrenaline buzzed through my veins, and now, he lifted me as he kicked toward the surface. I hit the surface and inhaled a lungful of salty air. “Holy crap!” I shouted. Elation ignited inside me, and I threw my arms around his shoulders and wrapped my legs around his waist. “I did it!” Staring up at the ledge we’d jumped from, I threw my head back and laughed. “That was crazy and insane and I did that!” How did I do that? I couldn’t comprehend what came over me on the ledge. “You were magnificent,” David said. He treaded water, holding both of our weights, and I turned to him, my cheeks hurting from being stretched wide. “Thank you.” My hands pushed through his hair and before I could stop myself, I kissed him. I was breathless, lungs burning from the water and the air and the jump and…I did that! But I still kissed him until I needed to breathe, and when I pulled back, gasping for air, David followed me, chasing my lips with his. “Get back here,” he growled, before pressing me to him. His tongue slid into my opened mouth and he tilted my head, giving him deeper access. Beneath his swim trunks, he pressed against my center, hardening the longer our kiss continued. He kicked, swimming backward. He spun me around until my back pressed against sun-heated, smoothed rocks. “David?” He dropped his hand without answering and pressed his fingers at my center. “I’ve been hard for you all day. Every time you’re scared, you conquer it. You blow me away.” The awe in his voice and desire shimmering in his eyes stunned me speechless. I couldn’t handle being inspected so closely. Dropping my head to his shoulder, I adjusted my hold around his hips. His hand between us, his thick cock rubbing against me—all of it

made me shiver in a way that had nothing to do with adrenaline or fear. “I want to take you here,” he whispered harshly into my ear. His voice strung tight, as if he’d lost all control. “Raheem—” “Is on the other side of the island, probably napping until we return.” “Or getting so stoned he won’t be able to drive the boat back to shore.” He laughed softly, the husky sound vibrating against my ear. God, he was beautiful. Everything about him. His body, his voice, his character…damn it. He was making me fall for him despite all the reasons I shouldn’t. “Then we’ll spend the night under the stars, using body heat for warmth.” When he put it that way… I rolled my hips, his fingers pressed against me. “How do you always know what to say to me in order to get your way?” He slid his fingers along the seam of my swimsuit bottom. Goosebumps popped on my legs, beneath the cool water. “I’m hoping you’re a willing partner.” “I am. Please.” My head rolled back until I bumped against rock. Was I really doing this? Having sex in the ocean, braced between stone and David? The Caribbean air hadn’t scrambled my senses, it had annihilated them. He pushed aside the gusset of my bathing suit, the thick fabric running against my needy center. One of my hands fell to the waistband of his swim trunks. I hitched myself higher, pushed them down with the heels of my feet, and took him in my hand. He was cool, but thick and hard. It had been so long since I’d had sex—years—that in the closet, it had hurt a bit. In his bed, he’d taken his time. But water wasn’t exactly a natural lubricant, and salt water felt worse. I wouldn’t be able to take him, but I could do the next best thing. I slid my hand down his length, his swim trunks at his thighs. Gripping him firmly, I stroked him hard, once, then twice. He pulled away from my kiss and dropped his head. Watched me jerk him off as clear water rippled between and around us. “Fucking hell,” he groaned. I kept my gaze between us, both of us watching as his fingers ran along my clit, rubbing me at a perfect friction. I gripped him tighter, stroked him faster. “Harder, Cam. My balls.” I pushed my other hand between us and complied. My legs shook from squeezing around his hips as I worked him. Harder. Faster. Long firm strokes, teasing soft touches where I swirled my thumb over his tip. My stomach tightened from holding on to his hip, from the heat he created at my center. Every time he touched me, I shivered. “David,” I gasped. His mouth slid over mine. He swallowed my groans and gave me his. Together we worked each other. Faster, slow…hard…gentle…the mixture devastated my senses and stole my sensibilities. When I came, I did it crying his name into his mouth. He swallowed it down and pushed into my hand, shooting himself all over my fingertips.

“You’re crazy,” I said, laughing softly. I wiped my hand on my thigh, letting the water wash away his come. “Come on,” he said, his eyes looking sated from my hand on him. “Let’s get back to the boat before Raheem forgets we were ever out here. I’ve got more plans for you later.” I followed him as we swam to a flat rock, climbing out when we reached it. We reached the boat and found Raheem lying on the bow, clad only in a lime-green Speedo. He cracked an eye open as we stepped onto the boat and it jolted from our weight. “Ah.” He grinned. “Another satisfied customer.” I was. I most definitely was. David opened his mouth to answer and I clamped my hand over it, shooting him my best “don’t you dare say anything” look. After Raheem stood and wrapped a towel around his waist, turning his back to us and heading toward the pilothouse, David leaned toward my ear. “Oh, I’m satisfied,” he whispered in a husky voice. “Very satisfied. And soon, you will be, too. Again.” — “The fish and the sand sharks! I swam with those!” I chattered incessantly as we walked down the white sandy beach back to the bungalows. As the boat had driven away from the islands where we’d snorkeled and jumped, I could barely peel my eyes off of the view. Adrenaline and fear had turned to thrilled exultation. I’d conquered huge fears of mine. David listened to me talk, wearing a smile that was more than indulgent. He slung his arm over my shoulders and pulled me to him. “I’m proud of you, Camden. Today was fun.” “Fun?” I pushed away, shoving him teasingly in the chest. “Today was the best! Thank you.” I meant every word. What I’d avoided thinking about at any part of the adventure was our lives and our realities waiting for us back at home. I didn’t want to think about them now, either. Today had been the best time I could remember having. Hell, the entire time I’d spent with David since the wedding reception the previous night had been filled with more adrenaline rushes than I could ever remember having outside the thrill of the last two hundred yards of a 10K race. They were different, though. A race I planned for, pushed for, worked for, trained for. All of the excitement over the last twenty-four hours had been impulsive and spontaneous. The exact opposite of how I lived. I couldn’t bring myself to question why I was behaving so insanely. I only wanted to continue living in it—at least for the time being. I continued chattering on about the day, walking next to David. In one of his hands he held both of our shoes. I held on to his other hand, easily, like it was natural to be connected to him. He stopped occasionally and picked up a shell, flinging it into the ocean like a skipping stone, and then would return to my side, taking my hand again. We passed very few other vacationers staying at the resort on our way back down the beach. The sand, soft like silk

beneath my bare feet, felt glorious. The sun dipping close to the horizon cast long shadows of David and me in front of us as we continued walking. We were almost back to his bungalow when two small figures I recognized stepped out of the shaded area, arms crossed over their chests, scowls etched firmly on their faces. “Oh no,” I said, my hand flying to my mouth. “We were supposed to get a massage…” My voice trailed off as I realized what I’d done. I’d completely forgotten about my friend. One of my best friends. Because of a guy. Chelsea stepped forward first, Trina quickly following. “Yeah, we were.” Chelsea’s scowl turned to a grin as she raked her gaze over David and me. I released his hand and stepped away. “But I see you had more important things to do, so you’re forgiven.” “I’m so sorry—” She lifted a hand and shook her head. “No apologies. Where were you all day? We looked for you for, like, ever.” “Or an hour,” Trina said, smirking. “Declan and I at least figured with the way you two disappeared last night, you wouldn’t want to be disturbed for a while.” Next to me, David tried to cover his laugh and failed. Heat bloomed to my roots and enveloped my entire body. How embarrassing! “They’re all talking about us,” I said, flinging my head in David’s direction. “I told you they would! They all know.” “That you got laid?” Chelsea said, teasing. “You’re an adult—it’s bound to happen at some point.” Kill her. I was going to kill her. As I stepped forward to throttle one of my best friends, David’s hand grabbed my wrist and yanked me back to him. “Where were you, anyway?” Trina asked. “We looked all over the resort when you didn’t show for the massage.” Chelsea held up a finger. “Actually, it was after the massage.” “Nice to know you took the time to relax when you were worried about me,” I muttered. She stuck her tongue out at me. “We went snorkeling and cliff jumping,” David said, his shoulders still shaking from laughter. Chelsea and Trina both turned to me, eyebrows jumping so high up their foreheads I thought they might fly off. “You?” “Yeah, you didn’t know Camden here is a regular daredevil. Swims with sharks, jumps off fifty-foot cliffs…” I elbowed David in the ribs to get him to be quiet. “Twenty feet.” He shrugged. “Forty.” My eyes popped. “Really? That high?” He chortled.

Chelsea’s jaw dropped to the sand. “What? You?” She snapped her mouth closed and clapped her hands. “That’s incredible!” In the last twenty-four hours, I’d done things I would never have done before. Their surprise at my ability to actually let loose sent an icky feeling to my stomach. Was I really so boring? So predictable? The thought tasted like sour milk. “Yeah, but that’s wonderful. How was it?” Trina asked. “The jump was terrifying,” I admitted. “She was incredible,” David said, cutting in before I could finish. But how do you tell someone what you’d experienced? There were no words to describe the thrill that rushed through me or the vivid, bright colors in the water. “All brave and bold.” I blushed beneath his praise and couldn’t bring myself to look at him. I hadn’t been brave or bold. I’d been a quivering, terrified mess most of the day and he’d seen me more vulnerable, more real than most people ever had in my life. Somehow, he’d stripped away a layer of protection I wore like armor and now pretended he hadn’t seen it in the first place. “Great!” Chelsea chirped and grabbed my hand, tugging me toward her. “You can tell me all about it at dinner.” She paused, wiggled her eyebrows, and shot David a mischievous grin. “And…you can tell us what happened last night.” “Kill me now,” I muttered, feeling that splotchy heat spread to my chest and stomach and down to my toes. As Chelsea started pulling me away from David, he called out, “Kinda hard for Camden to get ready for dinner when all her stuff is at my place.” She stopped so suddenly I ran into her back. She fell forward with an “oomph” before righting herself. “What did you say?” David grinned, crossed his arms over his chest, and nodded once. The move did incredible things to those chest muscles…plus that treasure trail that was boldly on display. “Yeah. She’s spending the rest of the weekend with me.” Chelsea pressed her lips together, but laughter shot through her eyes. “Okay, then.” She winked at me and lost control of her laughter. “Looks like we have more to talk about than I first thought.” — “There’s nothing to talk about.” I scanned the disbelieving eyes of my friends, who sat around a table with me at the resort’s main tiki bar. After Chelsea and Trina followed me to David’s bungalow, they gave me thirty minutes to shower and get ready before they promised me they’d be back to pick me up. “Wouldn’t want you disappearing again on us,” Chelsea had said, mirth filling her tone and her expression. The thought of throttling her crossed my mind again, before I realized I actually needed her advice. Somehow, I’d started to like David. I’d trusted him, which was something I didn’t easily do, especially with a man. My past and experience with men had started out in the

worst of ways and it had taken years of therapy, years of tears and recovery, to even be willing to date someone, much less have sex with him. I had the scar to constantly remind me of what I’d escaped, but that didn’t mean I’d ever be free from the memories. Actually wanting to be around someone, finding enjoyment in a man’s company, was a new experience and one I needed to process. Processing that over drinks and laughter with my besties seemed the wisest decision. “Right,” Blue said. Nodding seriously, she continued. “Because you sneaking off and finally getting some from the sexy and cute bartender is not conversation worthy at all.” I pointed a finger at her. “Don’t you have a husband to be messing around with?” She laughed. “He gave me an hour.” She glanced down at her phone before meeting my gaze, her lips stretching into a large smile. “And we’ve been here twenty minutes already, so let’s get to the good stuff.” I wasn’t sharing specifics. That wasn’t my deal. Suzanne and Paige could rattle off sexual positions and techniques like they were discussing a grocery shopping list, but I’d never been open about sex. Taking a healthy swallow of my margarita, one that rivaled Fireside Grill’s drinks where we always had our girls’ nights, unease began to filter through my veins. “We spent the night together,” I finally admitted, my voice quiet. I hated the uncertainty I heard. “And the whole day. It was…fun.” “Well, that’s a ringing endorsement of David’s sexual prowess.” I laughed at Chelsea’s sarcasm. Typically, that was my role. A blush bloomed on my cheeks until the tips of my ears burned. Under their watchful gazes, I took a moment to gather my thoughts. My insecurities and my fears. But these were my friends. Blue and Tyson had conquered unimaginable odds. Trina had been able to get past physical abuse from her ex-husband to trust someone again. And Aidan and Chelsea fell in love while he was grieving his teenage son’s death. If anyone could understand my hesitation, it was these ladies. “I had more fun today than I can ever remember having,” I said quietly. I ran my finger along the rim of my glass, gathering the salt at the edge. “David was fun. He is fun. He makes me laugh and makes me feel good and fine…The sex was some of the best I’ve ever had.” Chuckles surrounded the table at my admission, most likely also because I was turning the shade of a plum. I fought past the embarrassment and looked directly at Trina. “I like him. I liked being with him. But I need stability and safety and security, and someone who I know won’t punk out when things get hard. It’s not that I don’t want to date him because he’s a bartender; I just don’t think he’s the guy who can give me the rest of what I need.” Flayed open, I’d never felt so raw and ripped to pieces as a quiet settled around the table. Months ago, I had seen the look Trina gave me when I had adamantly declared I wouldn’t date David because he was a bartender. I’d seen the judgment in her eyes and the disappointment. I knew she thought I was shallow, and because of that one night, that one statement, she and I weren’t as close as the others. But only Suzanne knew everything, and she wasn’t here to hold my hand like she had for years and promise me that everything would be okay.

She was stuck at home, too far along in her pregnancy to feel comfortable flying and keeping Paige, who couldn’t get time off work on such short notice, company. “No one’s saying you have to marry the guy,” Chelsea said, her sweet voice cutting through the stone silence. “I, for one, am glad you’re having fun, and if it just ends up being a weekend fling, so be it. But I like David, too. And he’s already shown he can be patient with getting your affection.” She had a point. For months David had flirted with me, undeterred by my constant and sometimes rude rejection. I didn’t even understand why he still bothered. “Give it time,” Blue said, slinging back the rest of her drink. She grabbed her handbag and stood from the table. “I’ve got to get back to my husband now, but I’m with Chelsea. Enjoy the rest of the time here. It’s one more day. Decisions don’t have to be made here.” She winked again and walked around the table until she kissed my cheek and gave me small hug. “I’m just glad you threw away your lists for the day and did something wild. The smile you’re wearing tonight is new and different and relaxed, and you look more beautiful than ever.” She waved goodbye, and when she was gone, I caught Trina’s gaze. Her head tilted toward her shoulder, she asked, “But what would be holding you back from actually dating David?” “It’s complicated,” I said. But that was a lie. I knew exactly what held me back. What always chained me to practicality. Fear. The word flashed in my mind in a bold, large font like a neon sign. Fear of pain, of failure, of heartbreak, of not being able to give someone parts of me that were stolen when I was young. In the blink of an eye, all that fear was replaced with the sign I’d told David about earlier. Feel the fear and do it anyway. Did I have it in me to try? If I picked up the phone and called my therapist, Dr. Gryle would tell me to make a list. Write out my fears and list steps on how to move past them. Blue had suggested I throw away my lists. I didn’t know how to live without them, yet I wanted to be able to the way I had all day. David made me laugh and had a body I could possibly never tire of exploring. More importantly, earlier, I had felt safe with him. And that wasn’t something I’d ever experienced with a man. But would he stick around when he learned the full of weight of my burden? There was only one way to find out. Trina’s gaze softened, and I sat back, thinking…planning…and then I scrapped it all and threw away the mental list I’d created. No lists. No planning. “I’m going to take off,” I said, then slid from my stool. I tossed some cash on the table for my drinks and watched Trina and Chelsea smile up at me. “I have something I need to do.” I turned and walked away, but I was still close enough when I heard Chelsea whisper, “Or someone…” I didn’t look back, but I lifted my hand and flashed my friend my middle finger. It only made her laugh harder, but I held on to the beauty of that sound as I hurried back to David’s bungalow, knees shaking, fingers trembling…determined.

To at least try to move forward.

Chapter 8 David “Surprised you met us out,” I said, walking up to Tyson and slapping him on the back. He jolted and glared at me. Then, bringing his glass of whiskey to his lips, he grinned. “Had to come up for some air, man. At least for an hour.” “Happy for you.” He set his glass down, and Aidan and Declan joined us at the table. When Chelsea and Trina had come back to pick up Camden, they’d insisted my presence was required at the lounge bar in the resort with the rest of the guys. I was going to be facing a ton of questions; but until those started, I had no problem giving Tyson some shit. “Thanks, man,” he said. “And I heard you had fun last night, and maybe all day today?” “Took Camden snorkeling.” No way was I going into the specifics of our night. I wanted more to happen later, and Camden kept everything close to her luscious chest. If she heard I was talking about what she was like in bed, I figured she’d want to cut my dick off. I very much liked my dick as it was. “She worth all this effort?” The question came from Declan and the irony wasn’t lost on me. A year ago when he’d been helping Trina get free from her ex-husband, she’d been hurt in Chicago. I’d left a shift at the hospital to check on the ankle she’d injured. I’d asked him the exact same question. I pressed the bottle of beer to my lips. “Was Trina?” His brows arched in surprise. We all knew the answer to that question. He’d fallen so hard so fast for her, I was surprised they hadn’t eloped yet. “Not really the same thing, and you know it.” “You tell her yet?” Aidan asked. My grip on my bottle tightened. When I didn’t answer, he sighed. “Can I give you some advice?” “Sounds like you’re going to whether I want it or not.” “Don’t be a dick to Aidan,” Tyson said, glancing at his watch. Aidan rolled his eyes. “You guys gave me shit, always wanting to know why I went to Chelsea instead of you after Derrick died.” His voice trailed off, and tension mounted at the table. We all grieved his son, who had died unexpectedly. Derrick’s death was a wound that hadn’t yet healed for any of us. And yeah, we’d been concerned. Aidan had avoided all of us after the skateboarding accident but for some reason, he’d gone to Chelsea. “Couldn’t put it into words then, and I’m not sure I can now. And I don’t say this to hurt you guys, but she was easy to be around because she didn’t expect anything from me.” His serious and sad gaze roamed all of our expressions before he lifted a hand. “Before you can argue with me, I’m

saying women have a sixth sense about that shit—what men need—sometimes before we do. Chelsea was hurting, too, knowing Derrick, but she gave me that time and that space to come to her with my problems. Camden,” he said, and turned to me. “She might be that for you, brother; she might not. But I’m saying give her a chance. Find someone to unload your shit on and get back to being you. For the love of God, I don’t know what you’re running from, what brought you back to us, and I’m not complaining, but sometimes there’s nothing better than the soft touch of a woman’s curves and the tenderness of her heart to soothe the storm inside.” I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth. It did nothing to quell the rage he’d started. Or the pain lacing through my chest. Fuck. Tension mounted around the table, thick and heavy. I shook my head and grinned, but it was forced. “Damn, Aidan. You’re fucking pussy whipped.” The joke was rough, sounding all wrong to my own ears. He shrugged. “Might be. The rest of us might be, too, but we’re also fucking happy. Can you say that?” With that parting shot, he tossed back the rest of his drink and sauntered to the bar to order more. I looked at Declan and Tyson. They were staring at me like they wanted to add something, but what in the hell could they say that Aidan already hadn’t? “Fuck,” I whispered and drained my beer. “You gonna tell her?” I had to. If at some point I wanted anything to move past a weekend where we could pretend we could actually work, I’d have to tell her. “When the time is right,” I admitted reluctantly. “My advice?” Tyson said, glancing at his watch again. “You don’t want it, but these girls have known Camden for years, and from watching her, I’m going to tell you the sooner the better. She finds out you’ve been lying to her, I’m gonna guess that girl doesn’t do second chances.” “I haven’t lied.” “That’s bullshit and you know it.” He grinned then and set down his drink. “I’ve got a wife to get back to. Told her I’d give her an hour of freedom before she was beneath me again. We done with our bullshit for the night?” Like I was going to stop his honeymoon for my bullshit. I waved him off. “Go. Have fun.” “Don’t have to worry about that. Last night Blue did this thing—” “Ack. Fuck.” I pressed my hands to my ears like a kid. “Don’t need to hear that shit, Tyson.” “Yeah, but it made you laugh, and you haven’t done enough of that since you’ve been back, either. So I’m not fucking around, David. Find someone to unload on, like Aidan said. We miss you.” He left and I turned to Declan. He was standing at the table, a pensive expression on his face.

“You have anything you need to add?” “I think they said it all.” I needed to get out of there. All the heavy talk had killed my high of the day with Camden, and all I wanted to do was get back to her so I could forget about everything they’d said. “I’m going to take off. Have a good night.” Declan grinned. “Have fun with Camden.” I walked away without responding but heard Declan’s low laughter echoing behind me. Shoving my hands into the pockets of my shorts, I took the long way back to my bungalow. Camden would still be with her friends, and the last thing I wanted to do was be alone in a quiet place. Kicking off my sandals and holding them in my hand, I walked along the beach until I found a dark, shaded area away from the lights of the resort and sat my ass down. Years of being a doctor had been flushed down the drain after a horrific night in the emergency room. The patient was a little girl, her body so small and mangled, blood seeping from what had seemed like everywhere. She had eventually survived, but it would take years of therapy to get her walking again. Her mom hadn’t made it. And the dad? Absolutely fucking destroyed. All due to a carjacking gone bad and bullets flying in a city where the assault weapons they had used were illegal in the first damn place. From what I’d learned from cops later, they’d been headed south of the city after the mom had taken her daughter on her tenth birthday to see The Lion King at the theater. A drug deal went bad, men were killed, and when the killer needed to steal a car, the men he had been running from caught up with him. Gunshots rang out, hitting the mom in the head before she could get away. The daughter had been hit in the thigh and stomach. And me? I’d snapped. Because fuck it. Every night it was the same damn thing, repeating like Groundhog Day. Wake up, lose some people, save some people. The majority were young men, rushed in with bullet holes in their bodies, and they all had the same damn excuse. “I was just standing on the corner, man, minding my own business. I didn’t do nothing wrong.” Yeah. Bullshit. But we weren’t lawyers or judges. Our job was to fix them, and when we did, if they weren’t arrested for anything, we sent them back to their corners on the streets where they’d deal drugs, pimp out prostitutes, sell more guns, or worse—ruin innocent people’s lives —until we saw them again. My dreams of becoming a doctor evaporated in what seemed like an instant the moment I saw Gavin Merryfield—I’d never forget his name—so full of grief and despair and ruin, turn from a man into a ghost before my eyes. I’d gone home that night and bawled my eyes out. Bawled harder than I had when my own dad died when I was eighteen. All those years of studying and classes and working, only to end up feeling like I wasn’t doing a damn bit of good because the death tolls kept rising, and it was all just…worthless. But could Camden handle that? Who knew when I’d be able to tell her? She thought I was some dirt-poor bartender, but in truth, I had more money than I could ever possibly need thanks to the McGregor Trust Fund. I’d been one of only a few students I knew who had paid

tuition in cash, without a blink of an eye. She might be able to understand me walking away from a career I didn’t know if I ever wanted to return to, but even I knew she’d already feel betrayed by my not being honest about the other shit. I’d grown up with girls and women throwing themselves at me, and I never knew if it was for my trust fund, family connections, or just me. Camden’s need to have a guy with money made her the exact kind of woman I should have stayed away from, even though I knew there was a reason she needed that. She doesn’t seem like the kind of woman to give second chances. Yeah, Tyson was right. She wasn’t, which meant I had a short amount of time to get her so tied to me that when I told her the truth before she found it out from someone else, she’d be hooked so deeply she couldn’t leave.

Chapter 9 Camden David trudged up the stairs to the deck of his bungalow like he held the weight of the world on his shoulders. Head down, shoulders slumped, sandals in one hand, he leaned against the railing like he couldn’t hold up his own weight. I sat in the private infinity pool, where I’d been for the last hour, waiting for him to return, and for the last thirty minutes had debated about whether or not I should at least put my swimsuit on. It was more like a hot tub, the water warmed and toasty. We had the option of turning on jets, but I’d liked the silence. When he got close to the pool, still not looking up and noticing me, I could no longer stand the morose expression. “Hey,” I said, grazing my hand slowly along the top of the water. The waves rippled quietly and he jerked his head up. “Hey.” He looked around the pool, the deck, the beach, and back to me before he frowned. “What are you doing out here? It’s late.” Nervousness fluttered inside my belly. When I came back from having a couple margaritas with the girls, I’d made one decision. To expect nothing from David. We’d finish the weekend together, go back to Latham Hills, and for once, I would just see what happened. The thought made my gut tighten unpleasantly, but I pushed it back. Earlier, I’d proclaimed I wanted to punch my fear in the face. So there I was, naked…waiting for David. I grabbed my beer that I’d set at the edge of the pool. “I was waiting for you.” Did he hear how dry my voice sounded? How it shook while I tried to look brave and nonchalant? Did I look seductive or like a fool? His head tilted, and he gave a small hint of a grin. “Yeah? What for?” He took a few steps toward the pool, and me. I took a hefty swallow of my Red Stripe. Boldly, I went for honesty. “I missed you.” I glanced away at the admission before I could see his expression. I had never made myself so obvious, so open for a guy. His bare feet padded on the wood deck as he walked closer. “Camden?” he asked, a hint of amusement in his voice. “Yes?” “Are you naked in there?” His tone lightened, and I hoped like hell the darkness would hide my eggplant coloring. I turned to face him, twisting my neck and tilting my head back. I came face-to-face with

beautiful dark-blue eyes and a smile of white teeth. He crouched down and ran his hand through my hair, stopping at the back of my neck before he held me immobile. “You naked for me?” “Thought I’d go skinny-dipping.” Everyone did it at least once, right? So what if it was a private deck and no one could see me, and I had been perfectly alone and hidden until David walked up. It still counted. Goosebumps popped on my arms and down to my stomach, making me shiver. Still…in for a penny, in for a pound. “Want to join me?” His gaze fixated on mine, he dropped his smile. For a moment, when he didn’t speak, I thought he’d say no, but then he shook away whatever he was thinking about. “Yeah. I’ll be right there. Give me a minute, okay?” I pulled out of his gentle hold and lifted my beer. “Of course.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to the top of my head before standing. I watched him head into the bungalow. His head up, his shoulders back, and his stroll confident and sure, all the weight he’d been carrying when I’d first seen him was gone. Had I done that? Just me? I brushed away the crazy thought as he disappeared into his bedroom and the light turned on, his form illuminated through the window. Then I turned back around, faced the ocean, and thought of nothing. For the first time since I could remember, I didn’t have lists and doubts and worries and plans clouding my mind. I simply relaxed in the warm water, drank a beer, and reveled in the moon as it lifted higher into the sky and the sound of the ocean waves rolling into the planks beneath our waterfront hideaway. The soft whoosh of the sliding glass door opening pulled my attention off the water and I turned. David walked out, and my body froze. Nothing. He was wearing nothing but a towel and a smile, holding two Red Stripes. In the warm water, my body sizzled at the sight of him. Tall and lean with muscles in all the perfect places, the towel did nothing to hide his thick bulge. My mouth went dry and I reached for my beer when he sat down next to me at the edge of the pool. He slid his feet into the water, his hip inches from my shoulder. “You okay?” he asked with more than a hint of amusement. I could barely pull my eyes off his chest, with that smattering of hair that made me want to run my fingers over it to feel the coarseness. When I didn’t answer, he set down a beer between us. “Thought you’d like another drink. You seem sort of tense.” He didn’t hide his laughter this time. I couldn’t find the urge to scowl at him for laughing at me. I did need the drink. Possibly the entire case. What had I been thinking asking him to join me in the pool…naked? “Thank you.” I managed to remember my manners. Sliding my empty bottle to the side, I reached for the fresh one and took a drink. “Are you going to join me?” “I’m afraid if I do, I won’t be able to control myself.” A dozen bold, seductive responses flashed through my mind. I couldn’t speak them. His

honesty left me speechless and mindless. God…why did he…this guy…make me feel like this? Scattered and bereft, and yet safe at the same time? I glanced to the side only to see his bulge beneath the towel, and quickly looked back at the pool. “What do you want to do then?” Had I swallowed a golf ball? I could barely get the words out, and they felt heavy in my throat. He slid his hand to my hair again, gently pushing it back and behind my ear. I’d left it down. He liked my hair, and I liked him touching it. On his wrist, I caught a quick flash of the band he’d taken from me this morning, worn like a bracelet…like a medal. “Come sit in front of me. You need to relax.” Relax? With David behind me wearing nothing but a towel and an erection and his hands on me? I’d evaporate in the water. I shifted and slid around him, careful to keep my body covered. The curve of my breasts showed above the pool, but that was all I allowed. Once I was seated in between his knees, he brushed my hair off one shoulder. It flowed in front of me and fanned out in the water, tickling me as it moved across my chest. I shivered from the soft sensation and tensed when his hands curved around my shoulders. “I’m not that tense,” I lied, as he began massaging my shoulders. “I have a feeling you’re always tense. Why is that?” His thumbs worked a knot at the back of my shoulder and my head dropped forward. A groan of pain and pleasure burst from my lips. “God, that feels good.” I wanted to tell him I wasn’t always tense, that I wasn’t stressed out almost every day of my life, and that I didn’t constantly feel the burden of responsibility. At the bar earlier, though, I’d decided to try to open up. That wouldn’t happen without a sliver of honesty on my part. “I didn’t have an easy childhood,” I said, feeling my voice hitch. That was far from the truth. My childhood had been easy as pie, despite being dirt poor. It wasn’t until I was almost a teenager that my easy life turned to despair. I pushed myself past the thought that could swallow me if I ever allowed myself to dwell on it and continued. “Typical story, I guess. Single mom, poor. I’ve had to work every day of my life, and the thought of failing keeps me focused.” His hands didn’t stop moving until I was done. He paused briefly before pressing his thumbs deeper into my shoulder. “Poor?” I nodded, thankful I didn’t have to see his face when he asked the question. Everyone always looked the same. I’d get disbelieving looks from people who thought not getting the newest cellphone or designer jeans made them poor. Then pity. “Single-wide trailer, no air-conditioning. Barely had enough money to pay the bills. Sometimes we didn’t even have that. A drunk, though a nice one, on one side of us. Cops always called to the trailer on the other side because the man couldn’t keep his hands and fists off his constant slew of girlfriends.” “God…”

“Don’t,” I snapped. “Don’t take that tone, filled with pity and sadness for me.” I pushed off the bench I’d been sitting on, away from his gentle touch. My hair…my shoulders…my skin…my hips…his hands had been everywhere on me, and for a while, he’d helped me forget everything. “I don’t pity you,” he said when I slid to the side. “Why can’t I be sad that’s how you grew up, though? Isn’t it sad?” He stayed where he was, his hands loosely draped in his lap, but his eyes bored into me from the distance. “It wasn’t all bad.” It hadn’t always been. It had been normal. It meant no birthday cakes or presents at Christmastime. It meant the smallest tree we could afford, or sometimes none at all. But it also meant stringing popcorn strands with Christmas music in the background. It meant homemade cookies from scratch, the only dessert I’d had until I was ten and went to Suzanne’s birthday party. It meant learning to sew my own clothes and finding fabrics on clearance. It meant my mom making a game out of searching for the nicest clothes at secondhand stores. “What did your mom do?” he asked. Memories that always buzzed beneath the surface grew louder. God, I hated thinking about that. “The best she could,” I snapped, more harshly than I intended. But God, after everything, my mom who was sweet and often flighty became a dragon, breathing fire on her quest for vengeance. She didn’t stop, didn’t care what people thought of her; she fought for me. Tooth and nail until that bastard was imprisoned. David lifted his hands, his sigh heavy in the quiet. “Camden, honey. I’m not judging. I’m just asking…trying to get to know you here. You can tell me anything—you know that, right? I wouldn’t judge you for how you grew up.” “Thinking of that time isn’t easy for me,” I admitted. “She worked. All the time. Odd jobs, cleaning houses and office buildings; sometimes she worked at banks as a teller.” A flash of our rusted-out coffee can always filled with change appeared in my mind and I blinked the thought away. “She waited tables. Tended bar.” “I see.” He didn’t. Although I let him assume that was the reason I wouldn’t date a bartender. “Your parents?” I asked, desperate to get the topic off me. I’d told David too much already. He made me think before I spoke, and it was hard to hold everything in sometimes when all I wanted to do was purge it. “What’s your family like?” He laughed softly, shaking his head, and ran a hand through his hair. Looking at me, he grinned and dropped his hand to the towel. To the edge that was tucked in. “I’ll need to be in the pool for this.” I glanced away, his quiet laughter ringing out like a rock concert. “I can feel you blushing from here.” “Shut up,” I muttered. “Can you hand me my beer?” I needed something to cool me down. Knowing David was now naked, sliding into the water, the waves in the pool increasing as he pushed through them and in my direction, made my pulse jump.

“Thank you,” I said when he got close enough for me to take the bottle from his hand. He took a seat next to me and draped his arm around the edge of the pool at my back. His hand went straight for my hair, tangling in it and playing with it. I stiffened for a moment until I remembered who was touching me. “Your family?” “Ah. Norman Rockwell at his finest.” “Really?” I could picture it. Clean-cut David in polo shirts and khaki shorts, clothes always neatly pressed and hair perfectly combed. The perfect family, holding hands in a green field or on their way to church. “What does your dad do?” “He worked an office job. Stuffy suit, large office, lots of windows and spreadsheets.” The past tense he used hit me immediately and I turned to him. We were inches from each other, close enough where I could lean in and kiss away the pain, clear from his eyes and the downturned shape of his lips. “I’m sorry.” He shrugged, but his smile was still sad. “Died when I was eighteen, Camden. We’re good now.” My mom had shown me one photo of my sperm donor holding me at the hospital. I was wrapped in the typical hospital-issued blanket and pink beanie. Even in the photo, he didn’t smile. There was no joy in his eyes or his expression about the fact that he’d had a kid. I didn’t know if he was upset about having a kid in general or if it was something about me he couldn’t stand. Mom told me he left the next day. I’d stared at the photo for an hour before I ripped it up and threw it in the trash. Now, I couldn’t even remember what he looked like, if I had any of his features. I hoped to hell I didn’t. “How?” I asked, curious about David’s dad. “Aneurysm at work. He was on the phone one second, on the floor the next, and gone before anyone knew what had happened.” “Wow.” I sighed and before I could stop myself, I pressed my hand to David’s cheek. My thumb brushed against the lines at the outer edges of his eye. “That must have been tough.” “It was. But we were all close. I was in college, my sister, Lindsay, already married. Mom had a hard time with it, but life moves on, you know? I had almost twenty good years with the man. Mom had thirty. We have a lot of good memories.” He had a sister. Married. A mom. He talked about his family like they were all close. I envied him in a way that I hadn’t any of my friends who grew up in similar families. “What are they like?” I asked, and his grin widened. “Lindsay’s a pain in my ass. She’s seven years older than me and thinks she’s smarter. She stays home with her two kids, Grant Jr. and Leia. They’re five and three, and even bigger pains in the butt than she is. Her husband works for the same company my dad did.” Nothing but fondness shone in his voice. I elbowed him in the side and he looked down at me. “What?” “You’re an uncle.” He guffawed. “Hell yeah. I kick ass as an uncle. I’m their favorite, actually.” He took a sip of his beer and set it down, then rubbed his jaw. “Actually, I’m their only uncle, but that’s not the point.”

“Of course not.” “Those kids are hellions. Lindsay’s loud and obnoxious and doesn’t hesitate to share her opinion. She’s up in everyone’s business, and her kids are the same way.” “You like it.” “It’s a pain in my ass, but yeah, she’s cool. Her husband, Grant, is this quiet, go-with-theflow kinda guy. I used to think she’d be too much for him, but they work.” It sounded heavenly. Something I’d never experienced. Something I hadn’t even always been sure I wanted to experience. “You know,” he said, his voice deepening, “as much as I’m loving thinking about my sister and her husband while we’re naked in a pool together, I think there’s something else I’d rather be doing.” If my skin could incinerate, it did when his hand slid around the back of my shoulders, gliding gently up my neck. “Yeah? What’s that?” His hand at my neck tightened and he pulled me toward him. His head dipped, blue eyes dark, heated with desire. Lips full and wet, as if he’d just licked them. “This,” he whispered, right before he pressed his lips to mine.

Chapter 10 Camden He tasted like beer and mint, as if he’d brushed his teeth before joining me in the pool. I accepted his soft, tender kiss before leaning in and enjoying it. My hand went to his cheek, twisting until I was facing him. His hand slid to my lower back, his fingers pressed against my backside. A quiver ran down my spine, beneath his touch that was always so gentle, so patient. Willing to stop at any time if I said the word, and yet firm and wanting me not to. It made me want more of him. I lifted onto my knees, throwing one over his lap. His hands slid up my back and to my neck, holding me still while he deepened the kiss. I settled back until I was on his thighs. He groaned into my mouth when I slid against the hardest part of him, thick and ready, and pressed against my center, creating a delicious friction. “Camden,” he gasped and pulled back, holding me millimeters from those kisses I was growing to like so much. “I don’t have a condom with me.” I reached between us and gripped him, watching his eyes roll back with pleasure at my touch. Filled with bravado I normally lacked, I slid my hand along his length and ran my thumb over his tip. “So good,” he groaned, and dropped his head to my shoulder. I smiled. Whenever I turned him on, he leaned toward me instead of pushing away. Like he couldn’t get close enough. “Keep going. Harder.” My heart fluttered wildly inside my chest. I was doing this to him. Me. Camden. His pleasured gasps as he looked down at the water, his gaze fixed on where I worked him, filled me with confidence I sorely lacked when it came to men. I forced my next words out through a dry throat, wanting something I’d never wanted before. “David,” I whispered, tilting my head so my lips pressed near his ear. “I want to taste you.” I sucked my cheek into my teeth and nibbled as he groaned again. “Fuck, yes.” “Sit on the edge.” Who was this woman that could be so demanding? I’d never seen her before. The words were mine; the voice was mine. He shifted back. He must have caught the nervousness in my voice because his gazed roamed my face, seeking and searching before he leaned in and brushed his lips against mine. Tenderly. His kiss was slow and tempting; it made me feel drugged when he pulled back, and I followed him, seeking more. His hand came down between us, wrapped around mine, and stilled my movements. “You sure?”

I nodded, nibbling on my upper lip so harshly it stung with pain. He shifted then, gently lifting my hips until he could push himself out of the pool. The muscles in his arms bunched and flexed from the movement, water droplets sliding down the ridge beneath his abs. And then he was there…all of him…right in front of me. I gulped and met his gaze as my hands went to his thighs and I moved in closer. I couldn’t take my eyes off his. My fingers grazed his skin, cool and wet from the water, the coarse hair tickling me. I licked my lips and dropped my eyes to his length, standing bold and at attention, waiting for me. Leaning forward, I cupped him and slowly ran a fingertip up his hardness. “I…um…” I swallowed my fear and my nerves, forcing myself to look up at him. My hand wrapped around him and saliva pooled in my mouth at the thought of what I was about to do. What I wanted to do. I needed to make it good for him. “I’ve never done this.” Heat suffused my cheeks, traveling until my ears and chest burned. Above me, David’s smile stretched into an understanding yet surprised grin. “You haven’t?” I shook my head. “Can you tell me what you like?” With tenderness, he slowly pushed back my wet hair, tucking it behind my ear. His finger trailed down the length of my jaw. The nerves inside me flickered into something hotter and more desirable than before. “You don’t have to do this.” “I want to. I just want to make sure it’s good for you.” He laughed in a way I knew he wasn’t laughing at me. He pressed his fingertips to my chin, tilted my head back, and leaned forward. “I’ll like anything you do to me, Camden. Go as deep as you’re comfortable. Focus on the tip, but I swear to you, you get your mouth on me and I’ll like it.” “Okay.” The word fell from my lips like razor blades. My heart rioted inside my chest, a mixture of overwhelming desire and fear banging together until the sounds of the ocean evaporated and all I heard was the roar of my own heartbeat. Leaning forward, I licked him, keeping my eyes open and up so I could watch him, wanting to see his expression. Timidly, I wrapped my lips around him. He kept his hand at the side of my head, letting me lead, brushing his fingers through my hair. His eyes went half-lidded and his head fell forward as he groaned. “Good. That’s good, Camden.” His hips began to shift, pushing up and toward me as I took him deeper. His enjoyment spurred me forward until my hand wrapped around his base and I figured out a movement, working him with my hand and my mouth. My other hand went to his balls, and I rolled them in my fingers. He groaned, the sound animalistic and music to my ears. God. I was doing this. Taking him to the edge with my mouth and my hand, and I wasn’t terrified. He tasted like salt water and coolness, felt like steel covered in satin, and I began moving faster, sliding up and down his shaft, swirling my tongue around his tip and underneath. “Fuck,” he groaned, pressing his fingertips harshly against my scalp.

He swelled in my mouth, and his hips shifted faster. “Camden,” he warned, “I’m going to come soon.” I held him more firmly, the acknowledgment spurring me on until he covered my hand with his and his other hand dropped to my shoulder, pushing me back. I popped off him and frowned. “What?” “Get out,” he demanded. And for a moment, I wondered what I’d done wrong. Had I used my teeth by accident? “What?” I asked again, embarrassment beginning to bubble inside me. He pushed himself out of the pool and leaned down, squatting as his hands went to my armpits. “I don’t want to come in your mouth. I want to be deep inside you.” “Oh.” Ohhh. I stood and he picked me up, pulling me the rest of the way out of the pool. When he had me in his arms, he didn’t set me down, but shifted so his hands were at my ass. Our wet, chilled skin pressed together. “So you liked it?” I asked, tasting the hesitancy on my tongue. He laughed, the sound warm and deep in my ear. “Yes. You’re a natural, and someday I’ll let you take me to the end, but tonight I want your body beneath mine.” We reached his room and he bent down, placing me on the bed. Naked, the light glimmering in through the opened windows, there wasn’t a hint of hesitation inside of me as David walked to the edge of the bed and pulled out a condom from a fresh box on his nightstand. Unable to take my eyes off him, I focused on every movement he made until he’d sheathed himself and then climbed into the bed. I slid backward until I was in the middle of the bed, David following every movement of mine until our bodies were aligned. Hip to hip, his chest brushed against mine as he dropped to one elbow. His other hand slid between us, over the curves of my breasts and lower, until his fingers were at my center, rubbing me in a way that was absolutely tantalizing. I arched into him, breathing his name, unashamed at my neediness or the way he made me feel until he pressed against me, and then slid inside me. My back arched at the sensation, so thick and perfect as he slowly began to work himself. “David,” I gasped. His head fell forward, and drops of water from his wet hair sprinkled onto my chest and made me shiver. He moved quicker, his desire apparent in the way his hips jerked at an increasingly rapid pace. I wrapped my ankles around him, pulling my knees up high so he could go deeper, hitting the end of me with every forceful thrust until I could do nothing but claw at his shoulders, press my head into the mattress, and cry out his name as my climax hit fast and hard, seemingly lasting forever until David’s weight collapsed against mine and his own orgasm took him over the edge. “It’s always so good with you, Camden,” his whispered, trailing kisses along my collarbone until his tongue slid against my lips.

I opened to him immediately, greedy for more of him. And when we’d cleaned off, he nestled us together into the bed, my chest to his side, my head on his shoulder. I fell asleep before I could question why it was David, what it was about him, that made me feel cherished and safe in a way I’d never experienced before. — The quiet pattering of raindrops hitting the roof of the bungalow and windows pulled me from sleep in the morning. I roused, stretching my limbs, only to slide my hand across David’s bare chest and stomach. Peeking an eye open, I found myself still next to him, waking exactly how I’d fallen asleep. My cheek to his shoulder, my lips near his chest, my arm and one leg draped over his body. At my back, the heat of his hand held me tight to him. I tilted my chin up to see if he was awake, but his eyes were still closed, his lips slightly parted. His chest rose and dipped in that soothing, quiet rhythm of someone deep asleep. Unwilling to wake him, liking the fact that waking up next to David for the second day in a row didn’t bring on a rush of embarrassment or fear, I peered out the window and watched the rain continue to fall, hard enough to ruin any thoughts of outside fun. Heavy enough to make me nostalgic, reminding me of summer storms that made me curl up with a blanket and a book, doing nothing but reading my current favorite novel. In less than forty-eight hours, David had begun changing my perspective of him. He was a man who laughed easily. I doubted he’d ever passed on a dare in his life. He carried himself with a quiet confidence, a saunter when he moved that said he knew the kind of man he was, knew who he wasn’t, and he wouldn’t be swayed to be someone else. He was perfectly comfortable in his skin…clothed or unclothed…and he was loyal. Like me, he still had the same friends he’d had since college, but they weren’t just people he talked about; they were men he’d dropped everything for in order to move closer and help out when needed. After he’d flirted and teased me and made his attraction to me obvious for the last five months, I was beginning to think I’d pushed him away for all the wrong reasons. That maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t just a bartender who would pick up and leave at any moment. Perhaps he was the kind of man who didn’t just stick around when things got hard, but threw himself into a storm to help those he cared about. The concept was so foreign to me, I couldn’t grasp it. I had the weekend with him, one more night to enjoy him before our flights returned us to Detroit in just over twenty-four hours. I had one more day to get to know him, to try my damnedest to get past the memory of change clanking in a server’s apron tied around his waist. To get over anything that could possibly hold me back from allowing him to pursue me when we returned home. Eventually, he stirred beneath me. His hand at my back drifted up my spine and down to my hip. His breath quickened, and I tilted my head up again to this time greet his sleepy, halflidded blue eyes. “Good morning,” I whispered, smiling softly.

“How long have you been awake?” “Not long.” I turned back to the window, taking the moment to relish the feel of his skin beneath my palm, the pitter-patter of raindrops, and the hint of sun that seemed determined to peek through the clouds. “I was watching it rain.” He adjusted beneath me, turning to look out the window. The scruff on his jaw scraped against the top of my head as he moved. “Seems like the perfect day to stay in bed all day.” I laughed against his chest, brushing my lips against his firm, muscled skin. He tensed from my soft movements, and I pulled back. “I was thinking of when I was kid,” I admitted, forcing myself to open up. It wasn’t easy. Oftentimes, memories weren’t a good thing. His hand on my back continued gliding up and down my spine, until he settled on my hip. Like he knew exactly where to touch me to make me tense, his fingertips grazed my scar. I froze as he ran his finger along the length of it and lost my previous thought until he asked, “What were you thinking about?” I blinked rapidly, unsure if my vision went blurry from the rain at the windows muddling my sight or if it was from tears. Releasing a shuddering breath, I felt David’s hand freeze on my hip, on my scar. Horrific memories flashed in my mind before I focused on the rain, the bungalow, the warmth of the room, and the heat of his body next to mine. “I told you last night that I grew up living in a trailer, really run down, right?” His hand on my skin tightened, burning into scar tissue that never healed enough. “Yes.” “We had this hole in our roof and then in our ceiling. We couldn’t fix it and we couldn’t afford to have someone else come out, so my mom used to patch it with duct tape.” I could still clearly the see the crisscross patterns of gray tape against a yellowed ceiling. “Anyway, sometimes when it’d rain really hard, the water would get into our living room.” Though it usually did, shame didn’t fill me as I spoke the words out loud. Chuckling at the memory, the first time I’d ever found anything humorous about the way I lived, I laughed harder. “I could literally dance in the rain while still being inside.” As proven last night, we had two completely different upbringings, his probably at private schools, city pools with lifeguards, and a tree house built by a loving father. I had dirty streets and games of kick-the-can using rusted soup cans with other barefoot, scraggly haired children. Many who had it way worse than I ever could have imagined. Next to me, with David holding me tight to him, his lips pressing against the top of my head, I was safe…for the first time in a long time…to be completely myself.

Chapter 11 David I hated that for Camden. I hated that she’d had that kind of life, and yet learning the bits and pieces she’d begun sharing last night in the pool, it explained so much more about her. It told me everything I needed to know about her, even though we had barely scratched the surface of who we really were. Yet I wanted to know more. “How’d you get the scar?” I asked, feeling the raised and rigid flesh beneath my fingertips. Every time I touched it, she flinched. I wasn’t an idiot. I’d treated enough knife wounds to know what it was. “Accident when I was a kid.” I felt her swallow harshly against my chest, forcing the words through her throat. It was the most she was going to willingly give me, but I pushed for more. Three inches long, jagged and wide, it probably had needed staples, not just stitches. Unless someone had chucked a knife at her during a magic trick gone horrifically wrong, it was no accident. Knives needed pressure, a lot of it, to leave that thick of a mark. “Looks like a knife wound,” I muttered as kindly as I could. My lips pressed against the top of her hair and inhaled the scent of it. Salt air lingered and mixed with her coconut shampoo, a smell I’d never forget. “Yeah? You know a lot about knife wounds?” Bitterness suffused her tone. I’d gone too far. Not that I could tell her that yes, I had treated wounds like hers almost every night for five years. “Bartenders see a lot of things,” I said instead. Not quite a lie. I bet they did. Hell, wounded men from bar brawls weren’t uncommon in the emergency room, either. She huffed against me, her warm breath tickling my skin. “I was twelve,” she finally said, her voice curt. “I barely remember it.” “Where’s your sense of adventure?” “I lost it when I was twelve.” The strange statement made more sense, left more pieces to the puzzle that was Camden scattered all around. The pain in her voice made me change the subject. “Want to order room service? Eat some breakfast?” She was quiet for several moments before a soft “Yeah, that sounds good” fell from her lips. I uncurled from her and pushed to a sitting position. I ignored the fact that I was naked and climbed out of bed, headed toward the other room for the menu. When I returned to the bedroom, her gaze dropped to my dick, semi-hard from a mixture of waking up and waking up next to her. “Later,” I said with a wink, and crawled back onto the bed. As I moved, she sat up. I pushed myself until my back was against the headboard and tugged Camden into my lap, between my knees. I settled my chin on her shoulder and opened

the menu in front of us. “Let’s eat first, then you can look at me all you want.” “So sure of yourself, aren’t you,” she muttered, but the pain in her voice had disappeared. “When it comes to you, absolutely not.” She was a wild card, skittish and closed off. Out of anyone I could go after, Camden would be the hardest to win. — The last two hours, sitting with Camden on the bed, her wrapped in a fluffy, bright white robe and curled up next to me while we ate breakfast and talked, had been an effort in self-control. The white of her robe made her hair seem more vibrant, and it was softer after she’d showered. Makeup free, and clean and fresh, she still smelled delicious and felt like silk. When she’d tried to tie her hair up and off her face, I’d snapped the hair tie out of her hand and slid it onto my wrist. “Why do you do that?” she asked, her eyebrows arched in surprise. I waved my wrist in the air. “I already told you. I like your hair down.” “Yeah, but you could give them back to me.” “No way,” I laughed. “They’re awards, reminders that I’m the one who causes you to let your hair down. Figuratively and literally.” She’d rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You’re weird.” Then she’d crawled next to me and stopped complaining as I began threading my fingers down the length of her hair. “The rain is stopping,” I told her, my arm wrapped around her lower back, holding her to my side. She was twisted on the bed, covered knees bent and propped over one of mine. We’d watched mindless television and eaten our weight in room service. “Anything you want to do today? Last day on the island?” “Uh-uh,” she muttered, her voice sleepy, sounding like she was ready to take a nap. “I should go back to my bungalow and make sure I have everything packed.” Of course she’d already be planning her departure. “We could go off the resort and do some shopping.” It was the last thing I wanted to do, but girls liked that shit. I’d put up with it for a few hours if it meant Camden smiled at me and held my hand. Maybe danced on the street to a reggae band. “Eh.” I nudged my shoulder into her. “Sleepy? Need a nap?” She tilted her head and looked up at me. The haze in her eyes made my breath catch, and my hand at her lower back tightened. “You’re not tired.” Her lips pressed into a shy grin. “No. I’m not.” God, I loved this side of her. Where Camden always seemed before to be bold and confident when I saw her with her friends, her shyness in the bedroom was a total turn-on. Last night, when she’d admitted to never giving a blow job before, I’d almost busted a nut right then and there.

It was only beginning to dawn on me that she probably hadn’t had that many partners. In moments like this, when she looked up, desire clearly evident in her softened eyes and the way her hand began lightly trailing circles on my sheet-covered stomach, she was the most sexy. I slid my hand from her back up to her shoulder, gently peeling down her robe until one of her breasts was exposed. The pink nipple was already hardened. It was rosy as the blush on her cheeks when I glided my finger over the curve of her breast, along the top, then around it, following the curve at the bottom, tracing a circle, narrowing until I brushed over her nipple. “David,” she whispered, her breath already quickening. God, she was so responsive. The lightest touch turned her on and it was a reminder to go slow…be gentle…despite my desire to fuck her until she screamed my name. “Horny, Camden?” I flicked the edge of my finger over her nipple and she whimpered, pressing her hips forward. Beneath the robe, her legs began shifting, as if she had a weight between them that she needed to take care of. “Was that a yes? Have you been lying here so quiet and still because you want my dick inside you?” Another soft sound from her lips. One that went straight to my dick. “What do you want?” I asked. She pressed her face into the crook of my neck and shoulder, her breath hot on my skin. The quick move made her robe fall farther, exposing her to her waist. I reached down, pulling away from her breast, and untied her robe. I pushed back the soft, thick material until I saw her creamy, pinked stomach. Damn. She really did blush everywhere. I loved it. Loved knowing I was the one that sent her flying into a tailspin with a few explicit words and a gentle touch. “David.” “Do you want my fingers? My mouth on your pussy? I bet you’re already wet, aren’t you?” She shook her head, surprising me. Her fingers dug into the sheet covering my waist and she began pushing it down. Pulling back, her expression was mixed with desire and excitement and nerves. I recognized the look quickly. It happened every time she touched me. Every time she realized she enjoyed me touching her. “No,” she finally said, breathing out the word on a sigh. “I want to play with you.” My dick jumped, all for that plan, and I covered her hand on my stomach with mine. “You sure?” “You’re always on top.” Camden riding me? That wild auburn hair flying all over? Her breasts bouncing close to my face? Hell, yes. I pushed down the sheet and wrapped a hand around my hard dick, pumping slowly. Arching a brow, I gave her a challenging look and slid my other hand behind my head. Hesitating briefly, Camden shrugged the rest of the robe off her other shoulder. It slipped down her back and she tossed it to the floor, her summons bravely masking her nerves. She threw a leg over my mine and straddled me, her hands on my pecs. “Hey.” She grinned at me, her bottom lip sucked between her teeth. I laughed softly at her expression. Mischievous and excited, like she didn’t know where to

touch me first but couldn’t wait to get her hands on all of me. “Keep teasing me with your naked body on top of me, Camden, and I’m going to take over.” “Patience,” she murmured, leaning forward until her lips were at my chest. I shuddered beneath her, because damn…the coconut scent of her hair, the way it tickled my skin, and her warm fingers brushing all over me was driving me to distraction immediately. “Yes,” I groaned, as she flicked her tongue on my nipple and then trailed kisses down my ribs. “I like your skin,” she whispered, meeting my gaze for a moment. Her hands continued sliding over me, trailing the ridges of my ribs and between them. “You’re not bulky but you’re strong. Safe.” I fought the urge to grab her, to slam her mouth against mine. She wasn’t the girl to admit that freely and the way her eyes went serious as she said the word safe told me how important it was to her. As if she couldn’t believe she’d admitted that, she quickly dipped her gaze and continued kissing me. Her fingers slid through my hair, down to my belly button and then farther south. “I like this, too…this trail…” Her voice quieted as she kissed me there. My hips pushed into the bed in an effort not to jam my dick deep down in her throat. She wiggled backward until her hand wrapped around my hard shaft. She pumped me slowly, sliding her fingers up and down my length like she was trying to memorize the feel of me. Fire shot down my spine straight to my balls and I groaned, closing my eyes at the sensations. So gentle, so timid…so fucking determined to please me. “Camden,” I growled, placing my hands on her hips. “Ride me and fuck me before I blow my load in your hand.” She chuckled softly, leaned into my stomach, and kissed me. The vibrations of her laughter sent another shock wave rolling through me. “Grouchy when you’re not in control, aren’t you?” I wasn’t some dominant asshole in bed, a guy who could only get off by being a bossy prick. I liked letting a woman lead as much as I enjoyed leading. But something about Camden actually liking it when I got a bit rough with her only turned me on further. Forcing myself to let her exploration continue, my fingers dug into her hips, pressing against her soft flesh. “Can’t help that I like the way you touch me,” I said, my voice deep and tight. God, I wanted to be inside her. I wanted to hold her tits while she rocked against me. I wanted to rub her clit and watch her head drop back as she surrendered to her own pleasure. I wanted fucking all of it. All of her. “I want you on me, riding me.” She stilled her movements, sat up, and grinned. Tilting her head to the side, she took a moment, as though she needed to actually think about it. “You know, I think that’s a great idea.” I chuckled at her joke and she climbed off me to reach for the condoms. When she was

close enough, I ran my fingers through her wet, slick flesh. She jumped and shot me a surprised look over her shoulder. “So wet already, Cam. Does turning me on make you hot and needy?” “You know it does.” Her long lashes fluttered repeatedly, and that bloom I was so used to seeing on her cheeks went hot pink. I pressed a finger inside her tightness. God, when was the last time she’d had a man? She was tight, virginal tight almost. My chest swelled with pride that she’d been able to give herself to me so easily, so frequently, this weekend. Her cheeks deepened and her fingers began trembling while she ripped open the foil packet. Through it all, my finger continued pressing inside of her, sliding her wetness around to her clit as she climbed back over me. “Ready?” she asked, rolling the condom down my dick. “Hell yes, I am.” I forced my eyes to stay open, to watch her as she began sinking down on me. Her lashes fluttered again and her lips parted. I kept my thumb on her clit, pressing and rolling until I was fully seated inside of her. She collapsed forward, pressed her palms to my chest, and I pushed into her, arching her up. I wasn’t going to last long. My need to release coiled tight in my balls, my orgasm already burning at the back of my spine. “Move.” I gritted out the word through tightly clenched teeth and forced my jaw to relax. Everything within me screamed to take over but I wanted to give her this, the time to do what she wanted despite how insane she was driving me. As she rocked slowly, her tits began shaking. I was mesmerized by the way they moved, the way she moved…like it was another first for her. I imagined it was…She moved hesitantly, taking time to find the right rhythm so it was good for her. I seared every one of her movements into my memory so I could jerk off to them when she wasn’t around. Her lips parted, her tongue swiping along them as she gasped and whimpered. The way her body quivered when I hit that sweet spot deep inside of her, the flush on her cheeks that had nothing to do with embarrassment. I took in all of it, treasured it, hoped like fucking hell that when we got back home and I laid out all of who I was…and who I wanted to be to her…she didn’t think I was a lying sack of shit. The fear of that thought made me jolt and press into her deeper. Her moans filled the room as I took over. One hand on her clit, rubbing fiercely in tight little circles, and my other squeezing her nipple, I rocked into her, needing to fuck all her fears out of her. Needing to make it so good for her, she’d remember this weekend even if— when—she was pissed at me. I needed to be so deeply embedded inside of her, she had no choice but to listen to everything I had to tell her…as soon as we got home, because nothing was ruining this fucking perfect weekend. “David,” she chanted, saying my name over and over again. Unable to hold herself up anymore, she fell to me.

I claimed her mouth the way I was moving inside of her—forcefully and with purpose. My hand left her breast and I held on to the back of her head, pressing her against me and tasting her so deeply I could feel down her throat. Fuck, I needed her. Needed to know she’d be with me, she’d stick with me. “Camden.” I grunted her name over and over, until the sounds of sex and our whispered moans were the only sounds roaring through my ears. She shattered quickly, her entire body quaking with the force of her orgasm. She ripped her mouth off mine and threw her head back, convulsing around my dick while she screamed my name so loudly I knew our private bungalow couldn’t contain it. Slamming her down onto me, I erupted inside of her, my body trembling with exertion and emotion. Fuck. I needed to come clean. I would do it, as soon as I knew she wouldn’t run from me when we got back home. I’d tell her everything as soon as I knew this wasn’t a weekend fling for her.

Chapter 12 Camden I had never known sex to be so incredible. The small number of previous lovers I’d had were chosen purposefully. While their performance in bed had been lackluster compared to David’s, I now knew what I had really been missing. A connection. Chemistry. Maybe even emotions. The realization made me tremble as I lay there, pressed against David. My heart pounded against my rib cage, but it gave me comfort to feel his doing the same. His hands held my hips and he was deep inside me as we lay still, trying to calm our breathing. I tried to slide off him so he could take care of the condom, but he stopped me before I could move. “Stay here,” he whispered, his lips at my ear. “Lie with me for another minute.” The request seemed so bizarre, I froze for a moment before relaxing against him. When I did, my hands went to his shoulders and grazed down his arms. My forehead pressed to his shoulder. I kissed him, unable to stop the feeling that I had to taste him. My hair stuck to my back and to my sides. It was splayed out all over us like a thick, warm blanket. “I need another shower,” I said, tasting the salt on his arm. It reminded me how worked up I’d gotten. “You probably do, too.” “We’ll do it in a minute, as soon as I think I can walk without my knees giving out.” I pushed off him, waiting until he looked at me. Amusement shined in his eyes and in the twist of his lips. I couldn’t help but match his smile. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, to play off how incredible he was. It didn’t mean I was surprised he thought that about me, though, either. One of the reasons I hadn’t taken many lovers in the past was because I was terrified that I couldn’t get into it as much as they did. That I was a disappointment and not sexy enough. With David, things were different. Perhaps it was because he’d made his attraction to me so clear and so obvious for months now. Perhaps it was just him. Perhaps it was the fact that despite myself, despite my feelings about him and what he did and my fears that he could quickly walk away if he wanted, I was beginning to fall for him. I liked him. I liked how he pushed me but was willing to stop when he realized how afraid I was on the cliff. I liked how he challenged me and kept me smiling even when I wanted to run. I liked how he seemed to understand I needed slow and gentle, even though he’d still take me in a closet without thinking twice. He had a sixth sense about me, and over the weekend he’d begun stripping away my

defenses that had always worked so well. He was working to earn my trust, and because of that it was easy to give my body to him in a way I hadn’t ever felt I could before. It was nice to know that when I did, I had the ability to drive him as crazy as he did me. After our breathing calmed, David slid slowly out of me, rolling me to my side. His bright blue eyes roamed my face in that seeking way they did so often. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered, brushing his lips against mine. “I couldn’t have imagined a better weekend, a better way to spend time in paradise, than spending it with you.” My heart didn’t flutter. It leaped against my chest so hard I thought it might burst forth. My cheeks ached from my wide grin and then heated from the exorbitant praise. “Thank you,” I said shyly. “You’re not so bad yourself.” He rolled us, him on top of me, and his grin was full of mirth and wickedness. “Yes. I think I got that when you screamed my name so loud, the walls shook.” I smacked him teasingly, laughing along with him. “Shut up. I did not.” He pushed off me and then off the bed, pulling me with him. “You don’t think? Maybe we should go next door, ask whoever’s staying there if they know my name.” “You’re horrible!” My skin burned. Humiliating me like that and making me laugh. They were things only David could do. It wasn’t even until we were in the shower, still laughing, him still teasing me as we began washing each other, that for the first time since we’d stripped down together I was no longer self-conscious about him seeing my body. I no longer flinched when he ran his finger over my scar. I’d skirted the question earlier, but someday I’d have to tell him. I just didn’t want it to be that morning, when for the first time in my life I didn’t feel the stress of perfectionism and the need for success pressing down on me. I liked who I was with David, and I only hoped like hell I was brave enough to take this wherever it was going as soon as we returned home. I was toweling off my hair when David walked into the bathroom, my cellphone in his hand. “It’s Chelsea,” he said as I reached for it. “I answered it only because it was the second time she called.” He flashed me an apologetic look as I pressed the phone to my ear. “Hello?” “Holy cow! You guys been doing it all day? I’ve tried calling you for the last hour.” “No.” I groaned and reached for the robe I’d flung off the bed earlier. Scanning the room, I took in the mess and frowned. I’d never been the kind of person to leave a trail of clothes in my wake. Everything had a place and everything went in it. David’s bungalow looked like a small tornado had hit it overnight. My underwear and dress from the first night were flung over a chair and draped onto the floor, my swimsuit in another pile. Towels were crumpled and left wherever they’d fallen. Interspersed with all of it were David’s shorts and boxers and swim trunks. The mess didn’t bother me as much as it usually did.

Vacation apparently chilled me the hell out. Or sex with David did. “Hey!” a voice snapped in my ear and I jerked. “What?” Chelsea’s laugh vibrated through the phone. “What the heck, Camden? I’m asking you questions.” “Oh.” I hadn’t heard a single one. “Sorry. What is it?” “Well, I was wondering how good the sex is, but you sound so funny and sleepy and all dreamy-like, now I don’t really want to know the answer.” “Good, because I won’t tell you.” “Yeah, yeah. But I’m calling because we’re all having dinner tonight before we head back tomorrow. Meet us at The Regent Pier at seven, okay?” “We’ll be there,” I said, and David looked my way, brows pulled together. While I’d been talking, he’d thrown on a pair of white shorts and a baby-blue polo shirt. His feet were slipped into a pair of leather sandals. The shirt brought out the color of his eyes and the white accentuated the tan he’d gotten since we arrived. My mouth watered and I heard Chelsea giggle again. “Sorry,” I muttered, embarrassed. “What were you saying?” “Never mind.” She laughed louder. David’s eyes crinkled. “I’ll see you tonight. Don’t be late.” “We won’t. Love ya’.” “You, too, Camden.” I hung up the phone and tossed it on the bed. “Everyone’s meeting for dinner at seven.” “Good.” He walked toward me and without hesitating, slid his hand to the knot at the robe’s belt and tugged me toward him. “That gives us enough time to head off the resort and do some shopping.” I had wanted to go earlier when he brought it up. I’d just wanted him first. Now, it sounded like a great idea. “Give me twenty to get ready, okay?” “You have fifteen, or I’m going to lose my control and take you all over again.” I gulped audibly and David laughed. Tugging off my robe, he pulled it with him and went to the bed. He propped himself up on pillows, threw his arms, elbows bent, behind his head, and arched a brow. “Fourteen minutes, Camden.” I turned and hustled into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. My expression in the mirror’s reflection was one of pure happiness, and it took me by surprise. Through the closed door, I still heard David laughing. — With our tanned skin and wide smiles, the eight of us looked like we could be on a poster for the perfect Caribbean vacation. We once again raised glasses of champagne to toast Tyson

and Blue, and the clinking sound and laughter filtered into the air on the gentle night’s breeze. The day had been another incredible one for the books. So far, this vacation was turning out to be the best I’d ever had and while I was hesitant to put a lot of that on David’s shoulders, I also knew it was true. After he’d dragged me out of the bungalow this morning, we’d taken a taxi, some junky teal-colored car barely large enough for him to fold himself into the backseat, into the small town to explore. Hand-in-hand we walked along sandy streets, wild chickens and goats meandering along with us. David haggled with vendors, their local dialect sounding like music. I watched from the sidelines while he bartered, then walked up to me with a bracelet. Without asking, he took my hand in his and slid the bracelet on my wrist, clasping it, before he guided me to where a small crowd was watching and dancing to a live reggae band. I fingered the bracelet now, while we were at the table with our friends. It was made of bands of small shells in a rainbow of colors, and though I hadn’t asked him why he thought to buy it for me, I couldn’t stop smiling each time I looked at it. His hand dropped to my thigh and he squeezed, as if he knew how much I liked the small gift. Three hair ties on his wrist grabbed my attention and I grinned. I fingered my hair bands and looked up at him. “Are you ever going to take these off?” I whispered. “No. I plan on adding more to them, too, once we get home.” Home. The thought brought to mind returning to normal, returning to bills and stress and my silly, spacey mom. It made me picture seeing him at Fireside and reality… “I wish we could stay here,” I murmured, dropping his wrist where it fell back to my thigh and reaching for a glass of champagne. He nudged me with his shoulder. “Personally, I can’t wait to get you home.” Hopefulness sang in his quiet, whispered voice. My throat clogged, unable to respond, and I looked away. Across the table, Chelsea’s and Trina’s smiles were kind and their eyes soft when I met their gazes. Both looked a mixture of pensive and hopeful as they watched me with David. I fought the urge to roll my eyes at them. I knew what they wanted. At least, I knew what Chelsea wanted. She wanted me happy and with David. I wished Suzanne were around to speak sense to me. Not Paige; she’d be championing the idea of everyone getting married before we left the island. A quadruple marriage ceremony would be the icing on her fairy-tale dreams. Suzanne, though…she knew me. She knew me more than anyone, and when it came to me and my stubbornness and my fears, she knew how to talk to me. I was wondering what she would say, imagining my kind and happily married and hugely pregnant friend sitting at her kitchen table, glass of sparkling water in hand, smiling at me, holding my hand in hers and encouraging me to do whatever made me happiest, when a loud cry rang in the distance. “What the hell?” David jumped, pushing his chair back. He scanned the outdoor seating

area. “Help!” A woman shouted. “My husband! Harold!” My head whipped around toward the voice and I was jolted forward when David rushed past my chair, bumping into it on his way to an elderly woman. All I saw was a mop of graying hair, crouching over a man violently trembling on the wood-planked pier. “Someone!” she shouted. “Help him!” Without thinking, I shoved out of my chair and rushed to David’s side, reaching him as he squatted down and rolled the man to his side. “Hold him steady,” he said to the woman, as he grasped onto the man’s shoulder. He didn’t restrain him, but it looked like he was propping him on his side. Footsteps pounded behind us and David snapped his head up. His eyes met mine and a vacant expression filled them before he looked over my shoulder. “Declan, help move the furniture out of the way, the chair and the table. Everyone step back!” His voice was commanding, calm and controlled. My heart pounded ferociously against my chest as I watched. Stunned. He knew exactly what was going on. Knew exactly how to handle it. How? I turned to see tables and chairs pushed out of the way. Tyson and Declan formed a barrier between us and the quickly growing crowd. My gaze caught on Trina, her eyes glued to David, who I knew was behind me, speaking to the woman. Something in her expression made it difficult for me to turn around, but I did and looked at David. “Medical history?” David asked, looking at the shaking woman. She was squatting next to him, her eyes never leaving the man she’d called Harold. With trembling lips, she forced words out. “Stroke, six months ago. He’s had seizures since then, but none that lasted this long.” David flicked his wrist and glanced at a metal watch. “One minute, ten seconds,” he muttered. “Not so long, though I know it feels like forever.” Beneath his hand, the man still rocked and trembled. Time seemed to stand still as the reality of what was happening began to click together in my mind. “He’s wearing a medical alert bracelet,” David said. “What meds and why?” The woman fumbled with her purse, trembling fingers making it difficult to work the zipper. “The names…there’s so many…I have a list and bottles…” With all the calmness in the world, like he was used to handling encounters like this, David’s hand covered hers. “No worries. We’ll call an ambulance. He’ll be okay, but when we get to the hospital, show them the list, okay?” She shook her head. “I don’t…It’s our anniversary. He always wanted to come here. I tried to talk him out of it. It’s too soon and he hasn’t been well.” “Ma’am…” “Milly,” she whispered. “Milly Payne.”

“Milly,” David said, his voice soothing her. “Seizures can happen after strokes. More common at older ages. How old is Harold and how many has he had since the stroke?” She squeezed her eyes closed. “He’s seventy-four. And he’s had three…no…yes, this is his fourth. The doctors said the meds…” “Sometimes they need to be adjusted. The right combination can help and sometimes it changes.” He glanced at his watched and flicked his eyes up. They met mine briefly and then went to Declan. “Have the restaurant call the ambulance. Non-emergency, but he’ll need to be checked. Tell them we have a post-stroke patient with a convulsive seizure lasting five minutes.” Declan nodded, turned, and hurried away, already moving to the bar. My jaw dropped. Convulsive? Non-emergency? “David?” I asked, unable to stop myself. This wasn’t the first time he’d handled a medical situation. It absolutely wasn’t. “Looks like a knife wound.” He’d said that to me, softly but knowingly. My response had been snippy, but his hadn’t. “Bartenders see a lot of things.” Barely an ounce of truth in his statement. Blood rushed from my face when he looked up at me. “David—” I called his name again. His expression closed off. “Not now, Camden.” “But…” I took a step forward. Stopped. He glanced back down at his watch. “Five minutes, thirty seconds.” A muscle jumped in his jaw. Two of his fingers pressed against Harold’s throat. Taking his pulse. How did he know this? Reality began to pour into me and I looked at Trina, pieces clicking together. “He’s a bartender…” I’d said that months ago. She’d looked so disappointed in me. “Actually, he’s not.” “He helped me in Chicago.” She’d sprained her ankle there. Had mentioned being treated. When she returned, she’d barely limped for a couple of days and then was back to normal. She knew. My eyes burned and I grappled for breath, stumbling away from the scene in front of me. I shot accusing eyes at her, unable to stop. “You knew,” I gasped, breathing it out, my throat lined with sandpaper. She knew. The men knew. “Did you all know?” My blood began to boil and my skin itched. My legs trembled and I glared at Chelsea. Her hand clutched tight around Aidan’s bicep at the outer edge of the

crowd. My voice rose. “Did you all know?” “Camden.” Trina stepped toward me, but I shook my head. “Let me explain.” “I’d like that, too,” Chelsea said, her shocked eyes snapping to mine. “What’s going on?” I turned to Aidan. Nothing in his stern expression gave anything away. He barely pulled his eyes off David and Harold to look briefly at Chelsea. “Told you it wasn’t my story to share, honey.” “Oh my God.” My hand went to my chest. My heart beat so quickly I felt the vibrations beneath my fingertips. My chest heated and burned. My knees wobbled so hard I thought I might fall over. Swaying, I turned and stared directly at David. His head was turned and he was whispering to Milly. Soft, calm words, explaining phrases I didn’t understand, assurances only a man with medical experience could. As if he felt my eyes burning into the back of his skull, he turned and met my furious expression. His eyes softened, silently apologetic. How much had he lied to me? And why? “My God,” I gasped, stepping backward, shaking my head. “Camden.” He stayed in his position, moving slightly as if to reach for me and then seeming to remember where he was…what he was doing. “Camden.” He called my name a second time again. No explanation. No apology. How could I have been so stupid as to trust him? To feel safe with him? Was it all a joke? “You’re a…doctor?” The truth, stated like a question, formed in my brain and I spoke it on a whisper, my voice ragged. He flinched when he heard me and opened his mouth. To speak more lies? I didn’t wait to hear them. “Camden,” Chelsea cried out as I hurried away from them, pushing through strangers who were circling. “Come back.” I kept going, but her footsteps echoed along the wooden planks. She grabbed my arm, stopping me. “Are you okay?” “Did you know?” “No.” She shook her head rapidly back and forth. “I’m as shocked as you, I swear. I wouldn’t keep that from you.” She wouldn’t. I knew that. Chelsea was good and kind and honest and funny…and holy shit, was this really happening? My head swam. My body buzzed like I was at the edge of that stupid freaking cliff David had talked me into jumping off. “I have to go.” “We’re leaving tomorrow—” I cut her off with a glare. “I’m leaving. I have to get out of here. Did he do all this to make a

fool out of me? Trick the uptight bitch into thinking she was enjoying slumming it with him? He lied, Chelsea.” “There has to be a reason. Please, Camden. Don’t leave like this. Go back to your bungalow; wait until you’re calm. Give him a chance to explain.” I ripped my arm out of hers. God, all the questions I’d asked him…and then felt so badly for judging him, and yet the entire weekend, he’d been lying to me. For months he’d tried to get my attention, all while lying. Tears dripped down my cheeks, and I didn’t bother to swipe them away. “I’ll call you later.”

Chapter 13 David The look of confusion mixed with pain and then understanding slamming down on her face hit me in the chest like she’d thrown a rock at me. It took everything I had in me to stay still, to not abandon the still-seizing man in front of me and go for her. Dropping my head, I inhaled a deep, steadying breath. “Damn it.” This was too much. The attention, the people…This wasn’t how she was supposed to figure out the truth. I was supposed to tell her. Damn it! Why didn’t I tell her? Flashing lights in the distance caught my attention as Camden disappeared into the darkness at the end of the pier. “David,” Declan said, rushing forward. “You okay? You can go after her. We’ll tell them what happened and get this woman and her husband situated.” Next to me, Milly’s hand touched my forearm. Her still-trembling soft voice wrapped around me and chained me to my spot. “Please. I don’t know…Harold’s always talked to the doctors, and you know what to say.” I covered her hand without dragging my eyes off Declan. “I’ll stay with you. Don’t worry.” Patting her twice, I watched the EMTs hustle down the pier toward us, a stretcher between them, thudding rhythmically over the wooden dock. The man had been seizing for over five minutes. Other than making sure he didn’t choke or injure himself, there wasn’t much I could do. Hopefully the nearest hospital or clinic could give him something to help. Mostly, I wanted him watched overnight. “David.” I lifted a hand and silenced Declan. To most, his large frame was intimidating. Standing in front of me, hands fisted at his sides, he didn’t scare me. The last time I hadn’t been able to do my job, everything had gone ass-over-teakettle, as my mom would say. That couldn’t happen again, whether or not I was still a practicing doctor. “I have to go with them. They’re elderly. I want to make sure he’s okay and help explain it to her. And who knows what his medical condition will be.” “David,” Chelsea said, scurrying up to me, her breath ragged. She’d run after Camden and then hurried back to the crowd still lingering as the stretcher rolled behind her. I didn’t have time for this. I didn’t need another woman pissed at me. “Where is she?” I asked. “She said she’s leaving.”

Shit. For a moment, I wondered if I was doing the right thing. But I could fix things with Camden later, when I got back. Harold and Milly needed my immediate help. “Chelsea, I need to help them. Please…tell her that I’ll explain everything.” Chelsea shook her head and stepped back, wrapping her arms around her stomach like she needed to hold herself together. “You don’t get it, David. She’s gone. Left.” I stepped toward her, reaching for her, when the stretcher came between us. “Excuse us,” one of the young men said, his voice thickened with the local accent. I bit my lip so harshly I felt the sting of blood in my mouth. Chelsea stepped away, shaking her head. “You hurt her,” she said, her eyes wide and her voice a mere breath in the heavy, tense air. “I didn’t think you’d be the guy to do it. But I think you broke her heart.” “Chelsea, please…whatever you can do to get her to stay…” My gaze flickered down to Harold. The sting of Milly’s nails cut into my forearms. I couldn’t go. She was pale and terrified, and who knew what would happen in a foreign hospital where they knew no one? “I followed her, David. She didn’t even go back to her bungalow or yours. Just hopped in a cab dropping off other guests at the front of the resort’s main entrance. She’s gone.” I stepped forward, out of Milly’s touch. “She what?” “David,” Aidan said, cutting in front of Chelsea. “We’ll take care of Camden. We’ll figure out where she went, okay? You get to the hospital, take care of Milly and Harold here, and we’ll do the rest.” Blood bubbled in my veins, frustration at my own stupidity, my own inability to just tell the freaking truth from the beginning. But I hadn’t figured out if I was ever going to return to being a doctor. What was the point of sharing it? If I didn’t, Camden would have had to get used to being with a bartender. I needed that. I needed that security, just like I knew she craved hers in her own way. My cheeks puffed out and I blew out a breath. There was nothing I could do to help Harold, but hell if I could walk away. “Find her,” I whispered, my voice hoarse and gritty. The clanking of the stretcher being lifted snapped my focus back to the task at hand, and I moved back to Milly. “Just tell her I can explain.” “Would help,” Aidan replied, “if you would have told us what the hell was going on for the last five months, you know. Secrets have a way of getting out and it never turns out well when they do.” “Not really the time for that now, is it?” I snapped. Of course I could have told my friends what had happened in Chicago. Of course they’d understand, or at least be supportive. Aidan took a step back, reaching behind him and taking Chelsea’s hand in his. His lips tugged downward, and he ran a hand over his face. “I know. Not the time, but some fucking honesty would have been nice for all of us. You didn’t let me hide when I needed you.” Memories licked my skin, making me shiver. I couldn’t handle it. I resisted the overwhelming urge to run and jump off the pier, straight into the sea, and hide from all of it. Death, deception, the pain I saw lashing through Camden’s features as reality clicked together.

God, I was an idiot. “I gotta go.” I clapped Aidan’s hand and he murmured, “Keep us posted, yeah? We’ll deal with the rest of this later. It’ll all work out.” “Yeah.” I dropped his hand and gave Chelsea a pleading look. “Chelsea.” She shook her head and looked at the pier where Camden had disappeared. “This is Camden, David. You know that and you know her.” It was a warning. A statement of truth. One that made me know how completely royally I’d just fucked up. “She’s not the kind of girl that gives second chances.” Tyson’s voice rang clearly in my head, making it pound against my skull. Damn it. Fuck! “I know.” I said goodbye to everyone else and hurried to the ambulance where Milly was still standing, staring at the now closed doors. “Fifty-two years of marriage. He just wanted to see Jamaica, always did. Harold can’t go like this. Not on this night.” “He won’t.” I draped my arm over the woman’s shoulder and pulled her toward the front of the hotel to find a ride so we could follow the ambulance. “Come on. Let’s get you to the hospital, and I promise I’ll be there to help you with anything I can.” “You’re a good man,” she said, turning to me and giving me a tight smile. I was an incredibly stupid man. I was a broken man. And if Camden ever found it in her to hear me out, I’d prove that I wouldn’t be so epically idiotic ever again. — Chelsea hadn’t lied earlier. Camden was gone, and I was the idiot who watched her walk away. I was the idiot who stood by and did nothing, all in a vain attempt to be helpful. To somehow be who I was supposed to be. It was never enough. How wrong I was. Again. Lungs burning from tearing through Camden’s bungalow and then my own, just to make sure she hadn’t changed her mind, all I’d found was both of our places exactly how they’d been left. Camden had run off the island with only the purse she’d been holding. I was still breathless when I reached Aidan and Chelsea’s bungalow. After knocking, I waited a few moments and cursed myself. It was the middle of the night, way too late to be showing up unannounced. A pale light flicked on and the door flung open. Aidan stood in the doorway, jaw clenched. He scanned my face, relaxed minutely, and stepped aside. “Thanks,” I muttered, still panting. I released my hold on the doorframe and walked past him. “How is he?” Aidan asked, closing the door behind me.

Ignoring him, I focused on Chelsea. She wrapped her resort-issued robe tightly around her waist. “How is she?” “Gone.” Her hands twisted together, knotting around the belt. Red swollen eyes told me she’d been crying. “Caught the last flight out at one thirty.” Damn it! “Nothing you can do tonight, David. Go to bed and rest. We’re all heading out tomorrow, anyway.” I gawked at the middle school librarian like she’d grown a third head. My mind was already whirling with possibilities and none of them meant staying on this island another eight hours, letting Camden get any farther away. “David,” Aidan repeated. He stepped to me, clasped his hand on my shoulder, and squeezed. When he had my attention, I turned to face him. “What?” “How was Harold?” I shook my head and heard Chelsea’s gasp. “No, it’s not that bad.” My eyes flicked to hers and caught her relief. “He had another seizure after we were at the hospital. They called an air ambulance. He and Milly are off the island on their way to Miami. Jamaica didn’t have the necessary medical equipment to handle him.” I wiped my hand down my face and sighed. “Okay. I’m going to get out of here. I’ll see you when you get back.” Chelsea stepped forward. “You’re leaving? But why? Another plane won’t take off until eight at the earliest and we’re leaving right after, anyway.” I bit back my smirk and looked at Aidan. He arched a brow, curious. “Chartering a plane?” “If I can get someone to fly it, yeah.” He smacked my shoulder. “I’m sure you can coerce them into it.” Because the McGregor trust fund provided millions and I rarely touched it, except for emergencies. I considered this one my largest ever. “How?” Chelsea’s brows bunched together in confusion. “Trust fund.” “What?” Aidan laughed softly. “I’ll explain later,” he whispered to her, tugging her close to his side. Then he speared me with a glare. “And so will you.” “Everything.” I nodded. “Promise. After I tell Cam.” “David,” Aidan said, stopping close to Chelsea and wrapping his hand around her waist. He tugged her gently to his side, pressed his lips to her head, and turned to me, grinning. “Have a safe flight.” With my hand on the doorknob, I looked at Aidan over my shoulder. “I’ll talk to you soon.” I left, closing the door behind me without saying goodbye. I had been a fool to think I could handle all of this bullshit by myself, and it was time to stop running…and start chasing.

Chapter 14 Camden After I paid the cab driver, I trudged up my driveway. Exhaustion pressed down on my shoulders and from outside I could hear my bed calling my name. After catching the last plane out of Jamaica at one thirty in the morning, I’d flown standby and gotten a direct flight from Miami to Detroit that left at eight A.M. Unable to sleep for a single minute on either plane, I’d been awake for over twenty-four hours. My eyes felt like sandpaper from the tears I’d shed on my flight home. David had lied to me. I still couldn’t comprehend it. I couldn’t understand why he’d do it. Why he’d tried so hard and so long to get me beneath him when the entire time, he had been lying to me. And Trina had known. All the comments she’d made, the disappointment in her eyes when I’d said I wouldn’t date a bartender, when he wasn’t one. The anger that had been burning in my veins all day only boiled hotter as I slid the key into my door and pushed it open. “Ugh,” I groaned. Ten stairs until I could collapse into bed. My knees wobbled at the thought. I shut the door behind me and turned, stopping just short of stumbling over my suitcase. My lime-green one. The one I’d taken to, and then left in, Jamaica. “What the hell?” A light turned on, and I screamed. My hand flew to my chest and I jumped back, bumping into the wall behind me. “Welcome home,” David said, sitting in my living room chair. He was in my living room. My boiling rage flew from my lips, instantly overcoming my exhaustion. “What in the hell are you doing here? You scared the shit out of me.” “I came to talk to you. And I wanted to make sure you got home safely.” The exhaustion in his eyes mirrored what I knew mine held. I could barely look at him. Still so handsome in the same outfit he’d been wearing the last time I saw him, except now his blue polo shirt was wrinkled. My breath came in short, quickened pants. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t yell. I couldn’t do all the screaming and accusing I wanted to do. For the last several hours, I’d replayed that moment on the pier. He hadn’t even tried to stop me. “I don’t even want to know how in the hell you got into my house, but you need to go.” “I need to explain. Everything. Camden, please—” “No.” I shook my head violently and lifted a hand to stop him. “No. You lied, and you misled me intentionally. I don’t even want to hear it.” But God…how I did. I wanted to know everything, and why it was always so fucking easy for men to take advantage of me. I was so…

so freaking sick and tired of it. He stood, pushing himself slowly off the chair as if the motion caused him pain. My back pressed into the wall behind me. Tears burned my eyes, and my nose stung as he walked toward me. “God, David. Just go.” “I’m sorry I hurt you.” I couldn’t hear this. Not when I was so close to collapsing. “Go home, David. I don’t care. It was all fun for you, wasn’t it?” And God, why was I still talking? “Seduce the uptight bitch. Get her to loosen up and get her beneath you.” Wet tears filled my eyes and fell down my cheeks. He flinched and then went blurry in front of me. “Lucky you. I mean, you got me to let my hair down, trust you, and you got laid whenever you wanted. Bet that was a great vacation for you, huh?” “That’s not what it was like, and I’ll explain.” “No.” “Please…” “No!” I couldn’t do this. Not with him. Not with pain searing my chest. To hell with it, and him. “Go! Get out of my house!” My voice went shrill as I screamed so loud it echoed in my ears. All my limbs trembled, and it took everything I had to hold myself up. “Camden.” He sounded broken. Wretched. I couldn’t trust it. I squeezed my eyes closed to avoid seeing him. He’d done this to me, after all the years I’d spent protecting myself from men, from this kind of man, who would lie and seduce and play with a woman only to have it be one big fucking joke. “I’m so sorry.” I wiped my cheeks and turned away from the sound of his voice, closer to me now. I couldn’t look at him. Opening my eyes, I stared at my carpet. “Please, God, David. Just leave me alone.” “I’ll go. For now, and I’ll let you sleep. But I won’t stop trying until you give me a minute to explain why, Camden. I swear, not everything is as bad as you’re thinking right now.” “I don’t care about your excuses.” But damn it, I did. And it took everything I had in me to stay still, to keep looking away from him, as I felt the heat of his body draw close to me and then past me. “I don’t care about you at all, David.” “No more lies, Camden.” He was past me now, closer to the door. I heard the click of the lock as he opened it. “Please…let’s not lie anymore. I’ve hurt you and I know it. And I’m so damn sorry I wasn’t up-front, but not all of this is easy for me, either, and I don’t want to talk about it. But for you, I will.” I sniffed and said nothing. The pain in his voice echoed mine, and all the rage boiling inside me began to cool. I forced myself to look at my living room, at the fireplace at the far side of the room. My teeth were clenched together so tightly my jaw ached. “Get some sleep,” he said softly, his voice a comforting whisper. “I’ll see you soon. But please go to bed knowing how fucking sorry I am for being the one to make you feel this kind of pain.” My body shivered from his words that sounded so tortured. I couldn’t bring myself to be

happy about it. I stood there long after the door closed behind him. When I finally moved, I reset the lock and crawled upstairs, unable to hold myself up any longer. When I reached my bed, I collapsed into it, barely having the energy to pull back the covers and climb beneath them. — “My mom’s not here.” “I didn’t come for her. I came to see you.” He pushed his way forward, forcing me backward into the trailer. When he stepped inside, the door slammed closed behind him and made me jump. “Why me?” Evan’s lip curled up. “Because I’ve seen the way you look at me, the way you smile at me… and I like it.” I shook my head. My body trembled. My fingertips began buzzing. “I don’t understand.” He made my mom laugh and he brought us take-out food. My belly had never been so full and I was finally gaining weight. I liked him and I was thankful. How was I supposed to show him that without smiling at him? “Camden,” he said, and reached out, running his hand through my hair that fell below my shoulders. I froze under his touch. I didn’t like his eyes. The way they narrowed and fell just past my hair. I covered my chest with my arms. I was one of the first girls in my school to start wearing a bra and I hated my boobs. “What, Evan?” “I like you.” I tried to step back, but his hand wrapped around my arm, stopping me. He stepped forward. Closer and closer, until I craned my neck back to look up at him. “I think you should go.” My voice shook. Why was he scaring me? “Your mom’s at work,” he said, taking my hair into his fingers again. Tears welled in my eyes, making him go blurry. “She won’t be home for a while. I think you should thank me for all the nice things I’ve done for you.” — My eyes shot open and I looked around my room. My heart thundered against my ribs, and I pressed my hand to my chest to stop the overwhelming sensations. “Holy crap,” I whispered, scanning the room as if Evan were actually inside it. Years. It had been years since I’d seen his evil face in my nightmares, but they all rushed through my mind as I struggled to breathe, struggled to forget. To lock up that day in the recesses of my memory banks where I’d forced them long ago. Gasping for breath, I rushed to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. Nothing

helped. I was still shaking. Trembling so violently I barely managed to fling open my shower curtain and turn the water to scalding. I stripped quickly. It took me three tries to push down the sweats I’d bought at the Miami airport, where I then threw away the dress I’d been wearing. I stepped into the shower with my underwear and bra still on, one hand bracing me up on the wall. The water pounded the top of my head and my shoulders while memories rolled through me, over and over again, growing more violent with every passing moment. The way he’d touched my body. My hair. How I’d struggled and fought. How I’d cried and screamed, and no one had been there to help me. How his breath stank. How change from his job working in some run-down biker bar jangled as he’d undone his belt and whipped it through his belt loops. The hair on his jaw and then the hair on his chest. The way it scraped against my bare skin when he pushed me to the floor and forced himself on top of me. Vomit rose in my throat and I forced it down. Squeezing my eyes closed, I forced myself to remember the good parts. The after parts. When I’d gotten out, injured, blood running from my thigh, a knife still in my hand, his blood and mine mingled together dripping onto my dirt driveway while I screamed and screamed and screamed until my drunken neighbor stumbled out of his own trailer. How I’d gotten away before he could completely damage me. How my mom had become my biggest champion. I’d never seen fire fly from someone’s eyes, but I was certain that day, my mom had somehow managed it. “Damn it,” I gasped in the shower, my tears mixing with the water as it pooled and swirled down the drain. “You’re okay. You got out. He didn’t hurt you.” Not too much, anyway. To this day, Evan was still locked up in a jail cell, behind bars where he belonged. I wasn’t the first young girl he’d tried to rape…I was just the first to get away without him finishing. “You’re safe,” I whispered, trying to pull to the front of my mind all the coping techniques I’d learned from years of therapy. “He can’t hurt you and you’re safe.” I mumbled them repeatedly while the hot water burned my skin. I closed my eyes, remembering my lists, remembering the way Dr. Gryle always taught me to make three columns. What’s the worst that could happen? What’s the best? What’s the most likely? He had taught me to trust. He had taught me to hope, in whatever shape I could. He had taught me how to claim my victory, to celebrate how I’d fought and survived, and he had taught me that I could move on from that horrific day. Twenty minutes that had seemed to last a lifetime, and over sixteen years later, I still struggled to believe him. When the nightmares took hold, they sometimes took days to shake away, sending me spiraling straight back to the aftermath, when I’d chopped my hair above my shoulders because I couldn’t bear to have anyone touch it again. When I’d started wearing sports bras and sweatshirts to hide my changing my body. It had taken me through most of high school to have the courage to let my hair grow back out and wear clothes that weren’t loose. It took four years of counseling

for me to understand that by changing who I was, I was still allowing that monster to maintain some control over me. Never again. I had promised. Never again would I put myself in that position. It had taken almost six months for me to even admit I was attracted to David. It had taken a night to succumb to temptation, to admit the way my body wanted his touch. It had taken a day for him to somehow get me to begin trusting him. And it had taken one look, one moment, for him to burn that trust to ashes. I’d let him in because I was riding high on the idea that I needed to do something more than just survive in life, that I needed to be brave, and I needed to figure out a way to get my slice of happiness. I should have known better. I should have known that when girls like me, when people like me, reached outside their comfort zone, we got burned. It had happened enough times; why would David be any different? Because he’s different. Somewhere inside me, I had trusted that given the chance, David would make life way more exciting than anything I’d ever experienced. What a bunch of bullshit. I forced the weekend and my nightmare to the back of my mind. In the shower, I took off my soaking wet underclothes and turned the water down to a more reasonable temperature. I washed quickly and dried off, wrapping my hair in a towel. The clock on my nightstand caught my attention, and I stared at it. Six o’clock? I’d slept for over four hours, and it felt like it had been minutes. My body was still slow, my eyes still dry and my head foggy. I wanted nothing more than to crawl back under the covers, hide, and pretend that life could be rewound. Forcing myself to my closet, I threw on clean clothes instead and went back to the bathroom. As I saw my pile of hair ties, a shiver rolled down my spine. A rainbow of colors on David’s wrist sparked to my mind’s eye. He’d broken through every barrier I had without even realizing it. Gingerly, I reached out and ran my hand around the circled bands as if they could grow mouths and bite me. For a moment, I debated. Wear them or not? Move forward or backward? Heaving a sigh, I unwrapped the towel from my hair and picked up a band. Moving forward could wait. I’d survived for over sixteen years by being careful. It worked for me. And when my world had just exploded more quickly than I’d ever thought possible… there were two things I needed. My coping techniques…and my mom’s cookies.

Chapter 15 Camden When you grow up in a life where you scavenge for change when payday is still too many days away and you desperately need a gallon of milk, luxuries are unheard of. I grew up not knowing the taste of cake until I was ten and invited to Suzanne’s birthday party. My first party, my first slice of chocolate cake with a hot-pink buttercream frosting, and polka-dotted paper birthday hats we’d been too old to think were still cool but young enough to pretend. It was the best party I’d ever seen. As delicious as that cake was, though, to me, nothing ever beat the taste of my mom’s homemade chocolate chip cookies. I could practically taste them as I pulled my car into her tiny dirt driveway. The nightmare still close to the front of my mind, I stared at the spot where I’d screamed. Tremors started in my fingertips and spread up my arms. As much as I’d admired my mom and loved the way she’d fought for me afterward, I’d despised the fact that we hadn’t been able to move. Every time I came home, which wasn’t often since I’d gone to college and didn’t have to be there, the memories flickered far more brightly. I hated it. Swallowing down the taste of bile in my throat, feeling it down deep in my gut, I turned off my car engine and pulled out the keys. Next to our trailer, Johnny Jacobs was long gone. The man who had helped save me that day had died a few years ago. He’d never kicked his alcohol addiction, but next to my mom, he’d always be my hero. He’d seen a scared-out-of-her-mind, shrieking and bleeding kid and had barreled into our trailer, somehow knowing exactly what had been going on. I never saw Evan again, but based on the thumps and grunts and shouts coming from inside my trailer, and the way Johnny’s knuckles had been bloodied when he’d walked out, stumbling from exertion and drunkenness, I knew he’d beaten the shit out of Evan. He didn’t say a word to me. He stood close to me, but not too close, and stayed between me and my trailer where Evan still lay, until cops and then my mom had arrived. Movement caught my attention in my peripheral vision, and I swiped my eyes toward it. My mom stood on the tiny front porch, stairs crooked from age and wear and lack of upkeep, staring at me. Her chin wobbled, as if she knew what I was remembering, and her hands tightened around the railing. Seeing her get emotional made me move and I scrambled out of my car, hurrying to her. “What’s going on?” she asked, light green eyes just like mine looking me over quickly, scanning me like she’d done that day. “What happened?”

I lost what little hold I had on my emotions and threw my arms around her, shoulders shaking. “I just needed my mom and cookies.” She sniffed through sudden tears and held me tight, laughing softly despite the heaviness I knew she felt seeping from me. “You’re in luck.” She pulled back and tenderly wiped tears from my cheeks I didn’t realize were falling. “I just made a fresh batch.” Of course she did. It was Sunday night and the only night she never worked. Because it was our night for cookies and hot dogs, a step up from bologna sandwiches, and even once I’d moved out, she still did the same thing. She let me stay silent while I followed her into the house, but I knew she flinched when I cringed at the living room floor. Hurrying to the kitchen, she piled cookies onto a plate and slid them in front of me at the small kitchen counter. It was still a sickly green color straight out of the seventies, and cracked and chipped at the edges. I dropped my purse on the counter next to them and slid onto a stool. We didn’t speak while she puttered around, filling glasses of milk, moving skittishly. I watched every one of her movements, afraid to lose my connection to her. Years and hard work had aged her too quickly and even though she had me when she was seventeen, with her graying hair, deep wrinkles, and lack of meat on her bones, she looked much older than her forty-five years. I ate three cookies before she pulled a stool to the other side of the counter and took a bite of her own cookie. “So,” she asked, nonchalant as possible. “Want to talk about it?” I picked at the cookie I was eating and shoved a tiny piece into my mouth. It wasn’t up for debate. I needed her wisdom and her kindness and to know that she hadn’t been hiding anything from me all these months. “I met this guy,” I started. Her green eyes lit, and her lips tipped up. “And?” I thought of David and his smiles and his touches and his laughter and the way he’d pulled me back from the ledge when he knew I was terrified, but how he’d pushed me to snorkel with him. I thought of the way I felt next to him in bed, telling him about my childhood. Then I thought about the pier and the collapsed man, and David’s cold look when I figured out he’d been lying to me flashed last but brightest. I scowled. “And he’s a liar, like every other man.” “Oh, sweetie.” She reached out, covering my hand with her small but toughened one, and squeezed. “They’re not all bad. You know that.” “Not all of them,” I admitted, muttering. I took a swig of milk and thought of Tyson and Declan and Aidan and Jackson…how good they all were. How nice they were. How well they treated their women. “But the ones we find sure do suck.” Because there were still Jack and Dan and Trenton…all men I’d tried to have relationships with. One had cheated, one just quit returning phone calls, and Trenton, whom I’d spent over a year with, one day simply walked out, saying he couldn’t handle the fact that I hadn’t been able to tell him I loved him yet. None of the men I had ever dated were patient or kind or

protective. My mom’s soft laugh grabbed my attention, and I glared at her. “What?” “Sounds to me like my girl has had her first heartbreak. Tell me what happened.” “David. David happened.” Before I knew it, I spilled everything. From the first night he walked into Fireside, to the first night he flirted, to his continued flirtation and my finally succumbing in Jamaica. I told her all of it. The laughter, the way I felt with him, how free I felt and how happy, for maybe the first time. Being with David was like being swept in the clouds of adventure and excitement, and what a bunch of crap it had proven to be. Because then I told her about the pier and discovering that he’d been lying to me. That Trina had known the truth and hadn’t told me. That he hadn’t even tried to stop me from leaving, just watched me walk away, knowing how hurt I was…knowing he was the cause of that hurt. “But he did come after you,” my mom said when I was done ranting and raving and eating my weight in cookies. “He was at your place this morning.” How he’d done that was still a mystery I hadn’t yet solved. I had caught the last flight off the island and as far as I knew, there weren’t any direct flights from Jamaica to Detroit. “Yeah, probably to tell me more lies.” “Why would he do that?” “Why would he do it the first time?” “I don’t know.” My mom shrugged. “Perhaps you should have let him explain.” I gaped at her smirk and her scolding tone. “What? This man has lied to me for months, and you think I should have just listened to whatever he had to say now?” “I’m saying that you’re not exactly an open book, either.” I flinched, shoulders tightening. “Wow.” She sighed and leaned forward. She turned her coffee cup in circles in her palm, staring at the milk inside as if it held answers. “What happened to you when you were young…that was horrific. Life altering. But while you’ve done so well in many, many ways, and I don’t want you to think I don’t see that…” She trailed off and took a sip of her milk. I could see her figuring out what to say behind tortured green eyes. “Well, you also closed a large part of yourself off to people. I mean, Trenton was a really nice boy and he really liked you, and that boy tried for a year to get you to open up to him and finally left because you couldn’t.” “Yeah…he left me,” I said, irritation prickling at my spine. Dating him right after college and I first got my job at the accounting firm where I still worked made sense. He was just a couple of years older than me, and had talked to me for three months before ever asking me out. A year later, he’d kissed me goodbye and walked away. “Yeah, because you wouldn’t let yourself love him and he got tired of trying. But even then, when he left, you weren’t nearly as upset with him as you are over this guy. So how’s he different?” David’s smile and his warm hand, the way he’d patiently stood by while I gathered my courage to jump off that rocky ledge, flashed in my mind. He’d pursued me for months. He’d never gotten upset with my rejections, instead using them to try harder. And somehow…he’d beaten me back to Latham Hills in order to talk to me. But more than all of that…there was one thing that stood out about David from all the

other men I’d tried to date. Forcing down a thickness in my throat, I whispered, “He made me feel safe.” Silence filled the space between us, and my mom eventually turned, grabbed a new mug, and filled it with coffee. “You know, after everything that happened, I didn’t trust myself to date for a long time. You were in college before I ever went out on a date again, and even then, I kept every single man at arm’s length.” “You dated?” My eyes widened. I hadn’t seen her with a man since that day and had honestly never given it any thought. Tears filled her eyes, and her hands began to shake. She set down her coffee and wiped a finger around the rim of the mug before she met my eyes again. “Bringing that man into our home, knowing what he tried to do to you, learning the way he’d looked at you and wanted you…God, Camden. Can you understand the guilt that I carried for putting you in that position?” “Mom.” Both of us were crying now and I could barely speak. This wasn’t the visit I’d wanted. I came here for comfort and cookies, not to face a past better left buried. “You have no idea what that does to a mom, Camden. To me…when I’d struggled every day to give you a decent life and knew you deserved better, knew I wanted better for you, and then to have that happen…” “You were a good mom.” “Maybe.” She sniffed and swiped her eyes clean. “But it wasn’t exactly like I trusted myself for a long time, either, or my ability to choose a decent man. I had to get over that. I had to force myself to see the good in people, not push them away when they were innocent. I hate that I see you doing the same thing. We can’t put the past behind us until we move on from it, honey. Running and avoiding isn’t the same thing as moving on.” Warm tears trailed down my cheeks and I looked away. My gaze locked on the living room floor. Where Evan had thrown me to the ground, where he’d climbed on top of me. Where, in his fumbling to remove his belt, I’d been able to knee him in the balls hard enough to get him off me. I’d gotten free with only a stab wound. My thigh burned at the memory and I wiped my leg to remove the sting. My chin shook. “The problem is that with David, I thought I had, and in the end he’d been the one lying to me.” “But if you haven’t told him all about your past yet, then why would you expect him to tell you his?” Her words stung like a punch to the gut. “I see your point.” After that, we ate our cookies and gossiped about everything we could think of before I knew it was time for me to go home. Then she timidly mentioned Jim, the new guy she’d been dating for the last three months. He was a mechanic, owned his own shop, and when she said his name, her green eyes sparkled like the dew on grass. I’d left her house smiling. At least one of us was getting her shit together. —

When I got home, I pulled my car into the garage and shut the door. Entering my house, I glanced at the chair David had been in only hours earlier. It felt like days. And I hated the sting of disappointment that I felt when he wasn’t in my home. When I realized he hadn’t invaded my life again to get me to listen to him. I had work in the morning and still needed to think. A weekend in Jamaica had somehow shifted everything inside of me. I needed time to right myself again, figure out exactly what…or who…I wanted, and when I felt more settled, then I’d begin to deal with the fallout. Heading to the bathroom, I dug my phone out of my purse and saw that it was still off. I’d turned it off after I’d called Chelsea to let her know I’d gotten a flight out and forgotten all about it. After I washed my face and changed into pajamas, I slid between my sheets and turned the phone on. It immediately lit up with text messages and missed calls. Two from Suzanne. Three from Chelsea and two from Trina. The familiar anger I was feeling toward Trina began to prickle. I hadn’t known her longer than a year, but I still thought we were friends. Please let me explain. At least call to tell us you’re okay. Please? I scrolled past those and hit Chelsea’s text. We’re home. Where are you? Safe? Okay? CALL ME. It was already ten o’clock, and Chelsea and I both had work in the morning. If they’d just gotten home an hour ago, she had to be exhausted. Still, she’d want to know how I was doing. Home safe, I typed. We’ll talk soon. Wine at my place! I smiled at her text. Chocolate cookies with my mom and wine with Chelsea had to heal every wound possible. I typed out a response, telling her we’d do it soon, and then I switched off the light. I’d deal with everything later.

Chapter 16 Camden I used to love my job. I worked for a small accounting firm, and the majority of my job entailed being a third-party administrator to small businesses. I handled their taxes and payroll, and even though a life of numbers and constant calculations and spreadsheets would bore most people to death, I found solace in knowing that when it came to numbers, every problem had a solution. There was the added benefit of knowing I was doing something to help small local businesses succeed. In Latham Hills, we didn’t have a lot of chain department stores and restaurants. The majority of the businesses were mom-and-pop shops, like Declan’s Fireside Grill, where owners struggled to provide a great service at a decent price while keeping their businesses in the black. It was my job to see that it happened. Unfortunately, last spring, the president of our company had promoted the largest sleazeball I’d ever met in my entire life, and that was saying a lot considering I’d known my fair share of assholes. Gordon Branzen was the president’s nephew. Nepotism at its finest. He couldn’t count even with the aid of a decent calculator, used a half bottle of gel in his hair daily, and smelled like he lived on a pig farm. His suits didn’t fit correctly and he slouched when he walked. When he talked to me, I had to pull away from the stench of his breath. I hated him. He’d made my life a living hell for the last three months, when accounts he was supposed to be managing continued to have missing monies from the businesses’ general ledgers and profit-and-loss statements. I had spent the entire day answering questions from clients who weren’t technically mine and becoming more and more frustrated, considering he was messing everything up for them and wasn’t being held accountable for it. And because I was his manager, his disastrous attempts were falling on my shoulders. It didn’t help that my own concentration had turned to shit. I’d slept fitfully last night, waking up every couple of hours, and twice I’d caught myself reaching for David next to me. Somehow, spending two nights with the man in Jamaica had programmed me to roll toward the heat of his strong body. I’d groaned, reminded myself that he’d been the one lying to me, and forced myself to go back to sleep. When I woke up, my eyes were still dry and red, my head pounded from a stress headache, and then I had to come to work and deal with this crap all day. If I were more daring, braver, I’d quit. I’d been conservative with my income, saving religiously, and even in a bad economy, I still had enough in savings where I could live comfortably for months without having to cut back on anything. When Gordon strolled up to my desk right as I returned from a lunch where I’d barely been

able to stomach eating anything, a file in hand, his crooked smile showing his yellowed teeth, I quickly debated the merits of that thought. “What’s this?” I asked when he held out the file. “I need you to fix this for me.” I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth to swallow an unprofessional retort. “What is it?” His brown eyes narrowed. “A file. A client.” He waved it at me, and then tossed it to my desk. “Just fix it.” Rage bubbled in my chest. “Gordon, I’m your manager. Perhaps you should treat me with a bit more respect?” He leered at me, grinning in a way that made me cringe. “I’ll treat you good, Cammie— you’ll see.” No one called me Cammie. I hated it. Hated him. Hated this job I used to love. Hated everything about the last forty-eight hours. I was losing control, anger beginning to sizzle and spark. “And I could have you reported for sexual harassment with that comment, Gordon. I suggest you be careful.” He laughed and stepped back. “Just fix it. And good luck with that. Like Jameson is going to do anything to me. You report me and you’ll be the one out on your ass.” He walked away, his slouch a bit less pronounced. I fought the urge to fling the file on the floor and walk out. He was right, though. Jameson Peters was blind when it came to the wasted space of his nephew in our company. And for whatever reason, he protected Gordon, who was Peters’s only nephew. But if he thought he’d be training Gordon to take over the business one day, as the only heir Peters had, then there wouldn’t be a company to work for much longer. After Gordon turned the corner and disappeared, I picked up the file he’d carelessly tossed onto my desk and went to work. It was just like the situation with all the other clients he handled. Missing money. Incorrectly input figures. Nothing made sense. By the time the workday ended and I got in my car to drive home, I was exhausted and stressed, and all I wanted to do was curl up on my couch with a beer and a blanket and a good book and forget about my life for one more day. That turned out to be impossible when I reached my driveway and saw the black Escalade sitting at my curb. My pulse ratcheted as I pulled into my garage and exited my dependable Malibu. As soon as I walked to the back, David was rounding the back bumper of his SUV. Figured. I should have known months ago when I’d seen him in his fancy Escalade leaving Fireside that he wasn’t just some bartender. Despite my mom’s warnings the night before, despite her encouragement, I still crossed my arms over my chest and scowled. “What are you doing here?” He walked up the driveway, hands in his pockets, as nonchalant and chilled as always. He was missing the light shining in his sexy blue eyes, although I took no joy in noticing it. “I

came to talk.” “Did you ever think of calling first?” He stopped a few feet from me and tilted his head. “Would you have answered?” Fair point. “I still would have liked the choice as to when I see you again.” We were in a standoff, my stubbornness versus his. Yet as the seconds ticked by, I began softening. I knew I came across as rude and uptight, but I didn’t necessarily enjoy being that way. I was just about to cave when a friendly voice shouted from across my front lawn. “Everything okay over there, Miss Reed?” I turned and forced myself to smile at Sal Lorenz. He returned the smile from over the row of his perfectly pruned rosebushes, only losing the happy look when he glanced at David. We must have looked like we were arguing, which wasn’t off the mark, because his expression changed to one of concern. “I’m fine, Mr. Lorenz,” I called back to him. “Just talking to a friend of mine.” Sal Lorenz was a kind old man, often stopping by to check on me. He claimed it was because he was worried about me and didn’t like the idea of a woman living alone without a strong man to protect and care for her. I suspected it was because he’d lost his wife of fortyfive years to brain cancer two years earlier, and he simply didn’t know what to do with all the time he spent by himself. I’d taken up a rather interesting friendship with the old gentleman, who had to be going on two hundred years old based on his wrinkles and hunched back alone, even though he claimed to be only eighty-six. He shot another look toward David and clipped the air with his pruning shears. “Okay, then, you let me know if you need anything. Made some banana bread today. I can bring it by later for some cribbage. See if you can finally beat me.” I struggled not to laugh at his protectiveness. And simultaneously fought the urge not to blush. Because wasn’t that what all twenty-nine-year-olds did? Played cribbage with their elderly neighbor? Next to me, David failed to muffle his laughter. I glared at him. “You can come inside or leave, but you should decide quick before Sal decides to use those shears.” “Inside,” David choked out through his poorly hidden laughter. “I choose inside.” “Figures.” I turned back to Mr. Lorenz and waved. “Maybe some other night, Mr. Lorenz. Okay?” “Take care of yourself, young lady.” “Come on,” I said to David, and walked toward my front door. We needed to talk, anyway. Might as well get it over with. “Your neighbor seems nice.” David stood close to me while we walked, his hands still in his pockets. But he was too close, his voice too deep. It sent a shiver down my spine that wasn’t entirely unpleasant. “Protective. I like that you have that.” I didn’t say anything until we were inside my house. My entryway was narrow and I had to press myself against my door for David to enter. Despite his caring tone, I debated letting it

shut in his face. But I generally tried not to be immature. He brushed against me, grinning down at me as he caught my quick intake of breath. I hated that he affected me this way. Hated that I’d let myself become so affected by him so quickly. “Do you want a drink?” I dropped my keys in my purse and headed toward the kitchen. I’d barely eaten anything all day, but I needed a drink if I was going to have to talk to David. As he followed me quietly, I felt him scanning my small house. Close to Fireside Grill, I was also only a couple of blocks away from Trina and Blue. The three of us didn’t get together as often as I liked since we were all busy with our jobs, but on nights when I didn’t run with Chelsea, I tried to get one of the other women to go for a short walk with me. Tomorrow, I had to get back to training for my last 10K run of the season, but tonight I was throwing my training diet out the window. Beer. Lots of it. And a heck of a lot of food. Preferably ice cream. “I could have a beer,” David replied, still behind me when I entered my kitchen and skipped past the refrigerator. His confusion was almost a palpable feeling when I opened the door to my basement and waved him through. “Going to kill me down here and stuff me in a freezer?” He smirked as he reached me. I glared, but it lacked heat. “Tempting.” Waving for him to go first, I then headed down the narrow staircase, ducking when I reached the bottom. “Holy shit.” David exhaled and stared at the line of fridges on the far side of my basement wall. “You rob a liquor store? Host the prohibition?” “No. I just like wine and beer, I guess.” My cheeks warmed and I walked toward the fridges. “Help yourself. I have something in here from almost everywhere in the world.” “Dang.” His voice still held a large amount of awe. “Had I known about this months ago, I would have tried harder.” He was teasing. The words still stung. “Would it have made you honest?” He looked at me, lost the humor, and stated, “No.” I pressed my lips together and turned back to the fridges in front of us. Scanning them, I grinned when I saw a beer I hadn’t yet tried. “Arrogant Bastard Ale?” David asked when he saw my selection. “Seems appropriate.” I arched a brow, challenging him to deny it, but he didn’t. Instead, he stepped toward me and lowered his voice. “I told you, Camden. No more lies between us. I won’t stand here and go back on that now.” Before I could respond, he reached for his own beer, a German stout I’d had before and enjoyed. I didn’t tell him how good it was. Without waiting for him, I turned and headed back up the stairs, the thud of his footsteps following me close behind. After opening my beer, I left the bottle opener on the counter and made my way to my living room. By the time he entered the room, I was curled in a protective ball at the edge of the couch, knees to my chest, wrapped in a blanket, beer held in both my hands. I hated confrontation. I

hated being hurt even more. It had been so long since I’d experienced either that I was unsure if I should start asking questions or wait for him to begin explaining, but as the silence stretched, the tension thickened.

Chapter 17 David From the moment I’d handed my credit card to a private charter company, waking up the pilot from a middle-of-the-night deep sleep and begging him to get me off the island, I had planned every word I wanted to say to Camden when I saw her again. Once we hit Miami at the private plane terminal, I’d done the same thing to another pilot. It took a lot of money— thousands of dollars—but it had been worth it. It had given me time to put all my thoughts in order, everything I thought she’d need to hear to forgive me. Seeing the visible pain I’d inflicted on her yesterday made me hate the way I’d handled all of it. Intellectually, I knew I’d been running from the last five months through no fault of my own. How exactly did you explain to someone who always seemed so strong and confident that you walked away from your lifelong dream because you were too big of a pussy to deal with it? As I sat in Camden’s living room, feeling her irritation from across the room, hating that she was balled up like she needed to protect herself from me, I knew I had to start. And the only way to do that was to go back to the beginning. “I told you my dad died when I was in college.” I took a large swallow of my beer and cringed at the heavy flavor. Camden watched me, smiling slightly at my reaction and then looking at me. “Yes, you told me.” Fuck. I hated this. Hated reliving any of it. I would, for her, but already I was feeling pulled apart at the seams. “I didn’t tell you that I was the one who found him.” Her lips parted on a gasp, forming a perfectly shaped O. “What?” “I was interning at his office that summer, filing and handling mail. He’d always wanted me to follow in his footsteps, but insisted I worked from the bottom up and learn everything about the company like he’d had to do.” “David—” I shook my head and stopped her. Whatever she wanted to say, she needed to hear the rest first. “I was supposed to meet him for lunch and his assistant was expecting me, so she didn’t even buzz into his office or let him know I was there. She waved me through, and when I walked in, I saw him collapsed on the floor, still holding onto the phone he’d been using just minutes before. “My mind transported back to being young and excited, looking forward to being a part of something my dad had always loved. I loved that the McGregor dynasty was going to be

passed on to me someday, had grown up hearing about it. Then I walked into the office to find my dad—a man I’d always respected and admired, had looked up to and wanted to be like —collapsed, unconscious, and I could do nothing to help. “He was still warm,” I said, not even realizing where I was, but lost in memories. “EMTs came in, swarmed him. Security had to pull me off him, and someone called my mom. But I didn’t need anyone to tell me he was already gone.” I squeezed my eyes closed and focused on Camden. Her pale skin, paler from the shock of my story, tears streaking her cheeks. “I rode to work with him that morning like I’d done every morning that entire summer and then I watched, stood there helplessly while they wheeled him out on a stretcher, zipped in a plastic bag.” My throat burned and I drained the rest of my beer in a swallow. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and cleared my throat. “After that, I walked away from the family business. The day of his funeral, I swore to myself that I would never feel that helpless again. That I would never, ever let anyone feel what I had felt and I’d do anything I could to stop it.” She sniffed and wiped her nose. With a wobbly voice, she concluded, “So you became a doctor.” I nodded. “So I did.” She pressed her lips together and I waited, tried to figure out how to explain everything else, when she said, “I don’t understand. Being a doctor—that takes a hell of a lot of work, and money and time and commitment. Why would you hide it? Why would you lie about it?” Her auburn brows furrowed. I wanted to jump across the room, smooth out all the tension in her features. I wanted to run my hand through her hair that was tied back like it had been every other time I’d seen her until Jamaica. Pulled back tight. Like she couldn’t stand the thought of a single strand touching her. Seeing her buttoned up in her suit and in heels, all that tightly wrapped and primly dressed sexy-as-hell woman, I’d had to force myself to keep my hands in my pockets so I didn’t ruffle her up as soon as she’d slid out of her car. God, I loved how she’d been so wild and free on the island. Seeing her like this, like I’d been the one to rush her back behind walls, made me want to punch something. “It’s not that simple.” I pulled in a breath and tried to get to the point. “Have you ever done something in your life, lived your life in such a way that you start to wonder if there’s any point in it at all? Or you forget why you began it in the first place?” Her lips pushed together. “No. Not really.” I laughed softly. “Yeah, somehow I have a feeling you’ve always planned everything for a reason.” She flinched. I hadn’t meant it as an insult. “I know exactly why I’ve always lived the way I do. It doesn’t mean my choice was any better than yours.” Her voice was soft, tender. Almost pulled from her against her will, like she was now the one admitting something she didn’t want to talk about. We’d get to her later. Because just as I was hiding and running, I knew she was doing the same thing. Forcing myself to face all my bullshit only made me want to help her, too. Licking my lips, I leaned forward and pressed my elbows to my thighs. “So, I became a

doctor. I studied and I learned. I worked really fucking hard and I’m really fucking good at it.” My hands balled into fists and I forced them to relax. When I met her gaze, I asked, “But what happens when you realize that the whole reason you became a doctor in the first place isn’t possible? What happens the day that you realize it was killing you from the inside out, that there were more losses than wins, that you didn’t have the passion or the ego necessary to deal with all the death you saw surrounding you and that every time you somehow miraculously saved a life, you lost five more?” Gavin Merryfield’s face when I told him about his wife dying, the fact that I hadn’t been able to save her, flashed in my mind and I cringed, fell back into my chair. I pressed my hands into my pockets and shuddered, unable to stop my reaction. I had never seen a man so completely fucking destroyed by news I’d had to deliver before. “Did…did something happen?” Camden asked hesitantly. “Something specific?” When I opened my eyes, Camden was no longer in her protective ball. Her blanket was at her feet and she was leaning forward, as if the mere sight of me fucking losing it in front of her made her feel safer with me. I hated that, too. “Lost a woman,” I coughed out. Hell. I needed another beer. Water. Something to wet my throat to get the rest out. “I worked downtown at Chicago General in their emergency room. Twenty-four-hour shifts. Drug deals, pimps, drive-bys, gang shootings. I saw the worst of the worst, and this one patient—” I stopped and focused. She wasn’t just a patient. She’d been a woman. A mother. A wife. Someone’s soul mate. I had no use left for clinical descriptions. “A woman. Her name was Ella Merryfield. Beautiful. A few years older than us. But hell, she was pretty, and she had this daughter brought in. Ten years old, spitting image of her mom, and all I could see was blood staining their blond hair. There was so much it was red.” “David—” She choked my name out, but I was gone. Back to that night, to the brightness of the ER. To the shouts and the explanations and the bleeping machines that I still heard ringing in my ears, late at night when everything else was quiet. “You don’t have to—” “I do.” I hadn’t talked about it at all yet, and even I knew the best doctors had to unload that shit on someone. Either that or it all ended up drowned in a bottle of alcohol, and I didn’t want to be that guy, either. I had just thought moving back to Latham Hills, being there for Aidan after he lost Derrick, would help me refocus all of it. I’d hoped helping Aidan and Declan after Derrick died would be my redemption. “Thirty-two years old, her little girl was ten, and they were minding their own business, leaving Chicago after a night out at The Lion King for her daughter’s tenth birthday, and they were carjacked. Either by a gang member or a druggie looking for a fix.” “God, that’s horrific.” Camden’s chin wobbled and she blinked rapidly. “And the husband…God, I’d never seen anyone like that. When I had to tell him that his wife didn’t make it, that I couldn’t save her, it was like he died right in front of me.” I squeezed my eyes closed and Camden gave me a moment of silence. I didn’t particularly want it, but I needed it before she asked, “The daughter?” “She’ll walk again someday.” I gritted my teeth so hard to main control of my emotions, I thought they might crack

when I turned back to her and let her see how tortured the memory made me. “I became a doctor, Camden, so no one would ever have to go through what I went through when I saw my dad.” Tears burned my eyes, and fuck if I could hold them back any longer. I didn’t give a shit if she thought I was a pussy. I was crumbling and I didn’t have the self-respect to hide it any longer. “What in the fuck was I supposed to say to that man, or to his little girl, when it was my fault I couldn’t save their mom and wife? When at the end of the day, it was my hands that couldn’t stop her from dying? I was the one who filled them with the same pain I didn’t want anyone to feel.” “Oh…David…” She rushed from the couch, scrambled around the coffee table between us. As she reached me, her arms outstretched, I pulled her into my lap and wrapped my arms around her waist. Her arms went to my neck and I squeezed her harshly, shoving my head into her shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault; it was the man’s fault who shot the gun.” “Everything happened hours after I got the call about Derrick,” I muttered, admitting the truth for the first time. “I shouldn’t have even been fucking doing the surgery. I wasn’t focused; I was shaky and not ready.” “Oh, no,” Camden whispered, holding me tight. “That can’t be true, David. You just said you were a really good doctor. I’m sure you did everything you could.” It hadn’t been enough. If I hadn’t been distracted, wanting to get the hell out of the ER and take time off for the funeral. If I hadn’t been reeling at the news about Derrick…would it have been different? “We’ll never know, will we,” I said, “but it doesn’t change the fact that she still died at my hands and I wasn’t focused like I should have been.” “I’m so sorry.” She hugged me tighter and I let her. It had been little over a day, but it felt like weeks since she’d been in my arms. I hadn’t even told her why I’d held all that back from her, and there was still more truth to reveal. But I waited. I waited until my breathing slowed and the stampede in my chest calmed to a trot. I inhaled the scent of her hair; and when I was beginning to think I could continue, I raised my hands at her back, untwisted the fucking tie in her hair, and slid it onto my wrist. She pulled back and rolled her eyes. “You okay?” I shook my head. “I have more to say, and you might not like the rest, either.”

Chapter 18 Camden I pulled back from David, the humor of his untying my hair and sliding the band on his wrist evaporating at his words. “What is it?” He cleared his throat and looked away. It felt like a punch to the gut that he wouldn’t look me in the eye after everything he’d already shared. God, how did he live with the guilt he carried? But I also understood it in some way. “If-onlys” could kill his being able to move past anything. I would know. I was the poster child for them. If only I hadn’t dressed a certain way, if only my mom had better taste in men, if only I hadn’t smiled so much… I pushed the thoughts out of my head. “Are we going to need more alcohol for this?” David laughed softly, but coldly. “You might.” I raised my brow, but his quiet laugh told me it couldn’t be all that bad. I pressed my hand to his cheek. “Thank you for sharing all of that with me. I’m sorry you’ve gone through that. But can we get to the other stuff—can you tell me why you hid it from me?” He blinked rapidly, several times, suddenly looking uncertain. “Because I’m not sure if I ever want to go back and practice medicine. And until I figure that out, what’s the point?” I opened my mouth to argue that it’s still a part of who he is, or was, and he hid it from me, when he said, “And to be honest, I’ve been running from all of it. I don’t want to think about it, that night or the ones before it when I delivered similar news to hurting families. I wanted to be able to avoid it for as long as possible. I haven’t even told the guys yet.” “But Trina knew.” “Only because she twisted her ankle in Chicago and Declan had me check her out. When I got to town, I went to their house first and made it pretty clear I didn’t want to discuss it.” It made sense. If I thought back to the comments she made, she always stopped herself from saying anything more. “I thought she was purposely hiding something from me.” He shook his head. His hand went to the back of my neck and then pushed through my hair. He pulled me toward him until our foreheads pressed together. “Only because she knew I didn’t want to talk about it. I never told her to keep it from you.” I stared into his blue eyes, still rimmed with red from unshed tears and exhaustion, and believed him. “Okay.” I pushed off him and he let me go, seemingly reluctantly. “I’ll go get us some drinks and you can tell me the rest.” “Super.” I rolled my eyes at his sarcasm. “Would you like another of the same or something

different?” “Surprise me,” he called out after I’d already turned the door to the kitchen. — “Before I start, can I ask you a question?” He’d moved to the center cushion while I went downstairs and then back to the kitchen, where I cut up cheese and crackers and lunch meats to snack on. One drink on an empty stomach was okay, but two would get me tipsy, and I wanted to be fully alert for whatever was about to come next. I was facing him, one of his arms draped over the back of my couch. His fingers played with my hair in a way I never thought I would have liked before. At his question, my shoulders bunched together. It was only fair, after he’d shared so much. “What is it?” He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, then let it go. “What makes you so hesitant to date a guy who’s a bartender? They can make a lot of money.” “It’s not about the money. Not entirely, anyway.” I looked at the fireplace behind him. The familiar prickle of irritation buzzed in my veins. Diving into my past wasn’t easy. It was best done in the safety of my therapist’s office. Bringing it up when I wasn’t prepared still made me panic. My pulse increased and I forced myself to meet David’s eyes, so blue and clear, and focused directly on me and my hesitation. “I need security and safety. Someone who can leave at any moment, who can walk away or who doesn’t care about those things, frightens me.” The constant jingle of coins that I still heard every time someone dug through a glass jar where they saved quarters and pennies…I couldn’t handle the sound. I wasn’t prepared to tell him that yet. He wiped his hand over his mouth like he didn’t believe me but didn’t want to argue or push, and who could blame him. Sometimes I wanted to kick my own butt for being such a coward. Setting his hand back at the end of the couch, he asked, “When you hear the name McGregor, what does it make you think of?” “Irishmen and whiskey,” I said instantly. I didn’t even know why it made me think of whiskey, but I’d seen David drink it often. He grinned. “Cute. Think bigger, more local, and with more steel than leprechauns.” I frowned, not understanding for a moment until his implication hit me. As if he knew I’d jump, his hand settled on my shoulder and he held me in place. “Don’t run.” “You’re—” “Yes.” I shook my head. He had to be kidding. I scrambled out of his light hold and pushed myself back on the couch, just out of his reach. “You’re a McGregor. Those McGregors.”

“McGregor Motors.” Holy crap. One of the largest automobile manufacturing companies in the world. They had a long history of local philanthropy and somehow had been able to survive the automobile crash during the economic collapse. I hadn’t even considered he might be part of that family. My hands shook and I set down my beer bottle, unable to stomach more. “You said your dad worked an office job and wore a stuffy suit.” “That was true. I just didn’t mention that he happened to wear the suit while sitting behind the desk as president of McGregor Motors.” “President…” My tongue went numb as I said the word. I gaped at him, my mind swirling with questions. “And you interned there to learn the family business. To what…take over someday?” Shock coursed through my system and I jumped from the couch. He followed me, slower and with hands facing palms out. “I get your not flaunting it, I do,” I assured him, my pulse racing. “But you’re telling me this because you feel like you were hiding it. Aren’t you?” “I don’t want there to be secrets between us. I told you yesterday, no more lies.” I shook my head. I knew what people thought of me. It made me a hypocrite, but I pushed forward when I didn’t want him to demand the same of me. “You hid it from me. Why?” He licked his lips and stepped around the coffee table toward me. I backed up. “Camden.” “Why, David?” He huffed a heavy breath and scrubbed a hand over his mouth. I was beginning to recognize the gesture. He did it when he didn’t want to have to say what he was about to say. Heaving another breath, his chest moving with the force of it, he said, “I spent my life growing up with people who tried to use my family for money. I dated girls, almost got engaged to a woman once, who wanted the McGregor name and money but never really wanted me.” His insinuation stung like arrows to my chest and I reeled back from the force of them. “And that’s me, right?” I couldn’t hide the snideness in my tone. “I won’t date a bartender, so I must only be after a man with money, right? I’m uptight and judgmental, so I have to be a gold-digger, too?” Anger suffused my blood to the boiling point. It was the bed I’d made, but it still stung to have the reality of it so clearly thrust into my face. “It wasn’t that.” “No?” “Not after the first twenty minutes, no.” His lips twitched into a smirk, and I couldn’t help myself. My self-righteous indignation began seeping through my pores. “You got me, Camden. I admit it. And the first time I saw you at Aidan’s house after Derrick’s funeral, when I asked Declan who you were, he told me to stay far away. So yeah, I listened to that. And when you made that comment about not dating a bartender to Trina, I heard that. So don’t fault me for wanting to protect myself, just like you wear those tightly buttoned-up clothes and your hair pulled back all the time to protect yourself. So, I’ve been honest with why I did it…why do you?”

I scrunched my nose. “We’re not talking about me.” “No.” He stepped forward, closing the space between us with two long strides, and placed his hand against my palm. “We’re not talking about you, but someday we will.” I leaned in to his touch, instinctively, as if I had no other choice. When it came to him, I was weak. “David,” I murmured. He’d shared so much, been so honest, laid himself bare for me, and I felt the pull to do the same. “I’m not ready yet.” “Finally.” He bent forward, brushed his lips against mine, and moved back toward my ear. “We’re being honest. Forgive me for hurting you, Camden. I was going to tell you; I just needed more time, too.” His honesty wrecked me. How he could so easily lay everything out for me? And I knew, by the thick tenor of his voice, that he meant every word. He would have told me everything, when he was ready. I wasn’t certain I could say the same. He was a better person than I was, but as his hands wrapped around my lower back and he pulled me flush against the firmness of his chest, his heart beating against my cheek and his lips pressed against the top of my head, I wanted to do that for him. Even if I didn’t know how. “David,” I whispered, sliding my hands up the planes of his stomach to his chest until I clung to his shirt. “I’m sorry, too.” His hands went to my hair, slid to the back of my neck, and he tilted my head. “Forgiven.” He kissed me, and I melted into him. I pushed back the doubts I had, the fears still swarming inside me at a rapid rate, and I made a decision. To move forward. To try to be the person I’d always wanted to be. One not confined by my past and my fears and my lists and the baggage I carried that could fill a 747 airline jet. Three quick raps on my front door grabbed my attention, and I pulled back from David, the haze of his kiss and my resolve making me smile. “Hey.” He grinned. The sexiness of it made me want to melt into a puddle at his feet. Another knock hit the door and David tipped his head in that direction. “You should get that.” “Okay.” My hands slid down his chest and I released him. When I checked the side window at the front door, a genuine grin broke through. “Hello, Mr. Lorenz,” I said, opening the door. My elderly neighbor peered over my shoulder and smiled. “I brought some banana bread and my cribbage board. Hoping you’d change your mind about that game.” A bark of laughter from behind startled me, and I whipped around to see David, choking down more laughter. “I should probably leave you to it, then.” I spoke my apologies with a look, but we both seemed to understand Mr. Lorenz only came over to check on me. I turned back to Sal and waved him in. “Of course, come on in. I’ll be just a moment while you set up the game.” A warm hand pressed against my hip, and David’s voice vibrated against my ear, sending shivers to all the right places. “Walk me out,” he whispered and held out a hand to Sal. “David McGregor.” “Sal Lorenz,” he replied, shaking David’s hand. “Hope I wasn’t interrupting anything.” His gaze flickered to me and back to David. “You seemed upset earlier.”

I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. Who knew the man who had lived next to me for years would be so overprotective? “Things are good, Sal, I promise. I’ll be right back.” As Mr. Lorenz stepped through the entryway, his gaze caught on the beer bottles left on the coffee table. “Ah, the Weihenstephaner.” He winked at me. “Man has good taste.” Swallowing down another laugh, I nodded and gestured for David to follow me out the door. The door had barely shut behind us when David pushed me back against it. His lips descended slowly, his intent clear with the way his eyes locked on mine, and my breath caught. “Did you mean it?” I asked, when his lips were almost touching mine. “Mean what?” “Time. Can I have time to tell you? To get to know you?” He smiled softly, the edges of his lips tipping up into an adorable grin that made me want to erase the question I’d just asked. His hand was at my neck, his hips pressed against mine, and I felt him everywhere even though we were barely touching. “I’d like that.” Shuffling, I looked down and cursed my awkwardness. His hand pressed against my cheek and he pulled my face up until we were eye-to-eye again. “Don’t hide from me. What is it?” “Can we…well…can we date? Slowly?” God. How embarrassing! “I liked what we did in Jamaica, but now…I just need to back up. Move at more my speed, I guess.” “And that’s slower?” “Slower.” He leaned forward again. This time, I didn’t move back. Goosebumps flared down my arms when his breath hit my ear and he whispered, “I can go slow, Camden. We can do that.” I couldn’t hide my shiver and when he turned my face to his, his lips pressed against mine. He kissed me gently. He kissed me as if I were made of the most fragile glass. As if pressure could cause me to shatter, and when he pulled back, I was just as breathless as if he’d devoured me fiercely. “David,” I whispered, not another thought in my mind. “We’ll date, Camden. Friday.” He stepped back off my front stoop and lifted a hand to wave goodbye. “ ’Bye.” I watched him go until he was in his Escalade, taillights disappearing at the end of my street. Then I turned back inside. I had cribbage to play, banana bread to eat, and questions from an elderly neighbor to answer.

Chapter 19 Camden After I got home from work, I couldn’t stop thinking about the client files I’d gone through all day long. It wasn’t that the general ledgers of our client’s companies had been handled incorrectly; money was legitimately missing. Taken. It had been stolen, right from beneath our noses. I had one idea who was responsible, no evidence to prove it, and a president who I knew would never hear it. I’d brought home stacks of files, paper records I’d kept of everything. I had a nasty habit of printing everything out after I’d updated the computer files. Coworkers had laughed at my paper accounting for years, but now I hoped like hell it would pay off. Otherwise, I was going to be blamed for stealing thousands of dollars from clients I’d respected for years. Exhausted and frustrated, I had planned on skipping girls’ night out for the first time since we’d started it. It wasn’t just my job I was upset with, either. I understood David’s excuses that he’d given me earlier in the week for hiding things from me, but I hadn’t yet gotten over Trina doing the same thing. Chelsea, Suzanne, Paige, and I had been friends since college. Our tight group of four went through everything together—Suzanne’s and Paige’s weddings and marriages, Chelsea’s divorce along with her infertility struggle, and then welcoming Blue and Trina into our group when they’d come to town. It had been seamless and easy. They belonged with us from the moment we pulled up chairs at our margarita nights and invited them to join us. We were with Trina when we learned about her abusive husband, when she was scared to stay yet felt unable move on. I’d been there for her when she struggled with her feelings for Declan, and then when she was attacked in the alley outside Fireside Grill when her husband finally found her. We held her when her evil husband died and helped her cope, helped her move forward from that. I didn’t trust easily. My trust had to be earned, but once you had it, I was loyal to the death. Trina hadn’t earned it…I had trusted her and loved her from the moment we’d met. For one of the few times in my life, I’d simply handed over my trust and my respect and my loyalty. To know that she’d held something like the truth about David back from me, that she’d judged me for my feelings without ever truly trying to understand why I had them… That stung like a bitch, and I wasn’t quite ready to move past it. Tossing back margaritas with her at the table seemed to be an impossible task. Unfortunately, I’d promised Chelsea we’d get together; and as much as I wanted to avoid Trina, I needed my friends. Since David had left my house on Monday, we’d talked on the phone. He’d called and checked in on my day, but the conversations were short and sweet, lacking intimacy but friendly. He was moving slowly, like I’d asked.

He was building a friendship, which I’d also asked for. The problem was every time I heard his voice and his laughter through the phone, I wanted him next to me. I wanted his arms around me and the heat of his body surrounding me while I was in my bed. I wanted his touch and his kisses. My body wanted him while my head screamed at me to slow down. For the first time in my life, I truly wanted to follow my instincts and desires instead of the rational part of me. David showing up, chasing me down, sharing the truth about himself, and trying to respect my wishes only made me like him more. Being around him at Fireside Grill, watching him work behind the bar, could drive me insane. I still had one more day until our first official date, and the anticipation was already driving me crazy. I went to my closet and debated. Wear the suit and skirt I’d worn to work and stay looking nice for girls’ night? Or get more comfortable? “Comfort,” I whispered, reaching around to the zipper at the back of my skirt. “Tonight is definitely for comfort.” I kicked off my heels and stripped out of my clothes, tossing the suit into my dry-cleaning bag, and placed my heels on the shoe rack at the back of the closet. Scanning my closet, I had the sudden, overwhelming urge to dishevel every perfectly hung article of clothing. It was full of clothes, perfectly separated on hangers, all hung by season and color-coded in the order of the rainbow, with white and black at either end, perfectly arranged. What would happen if suddenly, my long sleeves were next to my short sleeves, my reds next to my purples instead of oranges? What was the worst that could happen if it took me thirty seconds longer to find a shirt or matching skirt? Had I really become what my mom suggested? Someone so tightly closed off that I couldn’t handle any form of mess? Had the lists and order my therapist suggested for moving on and regaining control in my life become a crutch and a curtain to hide behind instead of a coping mechanism to help me heal? I didn’t have the time to consider it. I had even less inclination to stand in front of my closet, debating everything I’d learned during the last sixteen years. Besides, making a mess would mean cleaning. As much as I liked order, I despised the cleaning it took to keep it that way. Resisting the strange urge, I grabbed a simple pair of dark gray yoga pants and a longsleeved purple shirt and headed to the bathroom. Once I had retouched my makeup and changed clothes, I undid the clip holding my hair back and let it fall to my waist. Crinkled with messy waves from the twist and the teeth of the clip I’d worn all day, I did nothing else to fix it except run my fingers through it and left the bathroom. Small steps. Hair down today…messy closet tomorrow. Proud of myself for whatever the heck I’d just accomplished and what I was beginning to

realize, I jumped when a knock hit my front door at the same time my phone in my purse began to ring. I went to the door first and when I saw Trina through the window, I hesitated to open it. Then I saw her phone at her ear, her eyes dark with worry as my phone continued ringing in my purse. I wasn’t getting out of this, either. Perhaps I’d try forgiving two people this week. Dr. Gryle would be so proud. I unlocked and opened the door, taking Trina by surprise with the forceful pull of the door. “You want to come in?” I asked, stepping back. There was no point in asking why she was here. Nervousness was evident in her worried eyes and the way she chewed her bottom lip. Trina was pretty, with blond hair and blue eyes, and she had a soft southern accent. I’d seen her terrified and timid. I’d seen her afraid and filled with of joy. I liked the joy more than I liked the nerves making her movements jumpy as she entered my house. “Thanks,” she said. “I was afraid you wouldn’t let me talk to you.” I attempted a smile and failed. For once in my life, I wasn’t going to make someone work for what I knew the person needed. “Let me guess,” I started, and stepped back into my living room. “You feel bad because you knew David was a doctor and then you heard me say I’d never date a bartender, so instead of telling us all the truth, you decided you’d make assumptions that may or may not be true, and now you’re here to explain so I’m not mad at you.” Her eyes widened and her tanned skin paled with every word I spoke. I leaned in and grabbed her hand, and held it between us. “It’s okay, Trina. I understand. Can we let it go?” “But—” “I really want to make this easy on you—can you let me?” Her smile shook and her hand in mine trembled before squeezing me tightly. “He’s a good guy, Camden. As good as Declan, and I didn’t like that you blew him off so easily.” “I know.” I nodded. Choosing to be honest with myself, and my friends, I pushed forward despite the pain it seared in my throat to do so. “I was born to a single mom, a mom who got knocked up as a teenager and got kicked out of her house. My dad took off only days after I was born, and from then on, my mom struggled every single waking moment trying to provide a life for me. I have a lot of issues, a lot of drama that follows me, and I took that out on David.” Her eyes grew wet with unshed tears. I hated seeing them. I knew the drama Trina had recovered from. I knew the problems she’d had in her life and they were so much more recent than mine. My eyes matched hers, and she went blurry before me. “How do you do it, Trina? How do you stay so strong?” She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I’m not strong, Camden. I lean on people when I need to and they hold me up. It gets me through another day.” Squeezing my eyes closed, I blocked out the pain her words caused me. “I need security. I have to have it. It doesn’t have to do with the size of a man’s wallet, Trina—I swear it. And

besides”—I winked, my vision beginning to clear— “I hear David’s loaded anyway.” Her eyes jumped open in surprise before a bark of laughter escaped her. “Yeah…Declan told me.” “Come here,” I said and pulled her toward me. I wrapped my arms around her and whispered, “I’m trying to get over my past, and it’s not pretty and it’s not easy. I’m going to need all the friends I’ve got to help me.” “You’ve got me.” She pulled back and smiled, holding up her keys and shaking them. “You’ve also got a ride to Fireside if you want it.”

Chapter 20 David Coming clean to Camden the other night hadn’t exactly been the cleansing experience I was hoping it would be. It wasn’t easy to bare everything to her, knowing she was holding back from me. She pushed me to open up and yet hid herself. The dichotomy was as frustrating as it was enticing. I was drawn to her because I knew that, in a way, we were similar. I was also drawn to her because when I got close, I couldn’t withstand the lure of her silky, auburn hair and her creamy, pale skin, and her delicious scent that always smelled soft and sexy. I went to Aidan first, choosing not to throw my shit at the guys I’d known since college all at once. If fists were thrown because they were pissed at me, I could take them one-on-one, with the exception of Declan. No one could handle that beast. I figured Aidan would be the hardest, though, like ripping a Band-Aid off the hairiest parts of your body. His son, Derrick, had died only six months ago. We talked about him infrequently, mostly because the pain was still too fresh for all of us. The first time I saw Aidan, I was throwing a football around with Declan and Tyson. Sorority girls were at our feet, sunning themselves on blankets. Music blared from nearby speakers, and on a Friday afternoon, it seemed like barely any of the students were actually headed to class. Then there’d been Aidan. Backpack draped over his shoulders, diaper bag slung over the handles of a stroller as he pushed his son through the middle of campus, looking at us with a longing so deep I felt it in my gut. That night, the four of us had hung out at his place in family housing, ordered pizza, drunk a few beers, and for the first time in my life, I learned how to change a diaper. We were inseparable after that. Through all of it, all the years, and helping him raise Derrick, I’d never seen Aidan look at me like I was the biggest pile of shit he’d ever stepped on, the way he was doing now. Over a couple of beers and burgers, I told Aidan everything I’d told Camden the night before and when I was done, he lowered his beer to the table between us. “You’re an asshole —you know that, right?” I resisted the childish urge to proclaim it takes one to know one. “Yeah, I know.” “Derrick would hate that, David. He’d hate thinking that you blamed yourself for something out of your control. Even you admit that it was a long shot you could have saved her. How do you know, had you been on your game one thousand percent like always, that you wouldn’t have still lost that patient?” “I don’t know,” I snapped, the anger of that night still igniting in my veins. “That’s the problem. I don’t know, and I can’t know.”

I hated the way he looked at me. Despised the pity in his eyes, the grief still evident so many months later. “Shoulda-coulda-wouldas will kill you.” He pulled his gaze from mine and settled it behind my shoulder. I knew where he was looking. The laughter had started getting louder, which meant Camden and Chelsea and the rest of the girls minus Blue, who was still on her honeymoon, had just ordered margarita pitcher number two. I saw the way merely looking at Chelsea affected him, softened him and lightened the grief that still clung so heavily to him. My best friend had lost his son. I’d lost a patient. To blame my distraction on Derrick’s death was guilt none of us needed. “Aidan.” He turned to me, flinching as if surprised he wasn’t alone. “I’m sorry. Sorry I hung on to this bullshit for so long and didn’t come to you. It was so soon, and we were all worried about you—” “Yeah.” He grabbed his bottle and brought it to his mouth. “But we were worried about you, too. And while I might not have been in the right mindset to listen or help or give a shit then, we’ve all always stood by each other. Remember that next time you think about being a massive dick.” He slid out of the booth and stood, clamping his hand down on my shoulder, and shook me. “Word of advice?” I twisted and looked up, stunned by the seriousness of his expression. “Of course.” “Life is fucking short,” he said, leaning down and lowering his voice. “Do whatever the hell you want, as long as it makes you happy. Enjoy every moment. Derrick, if anything, has to have taught us that. Take the boards in Michigan and practice medicine again, sling drinks behind the bar, or go take over the legacy you were supposed to years ago. Who gives a shit what it is…just figure it out and do it.” The familiar burn started in my throat and traveled to the backs of my eyes. He kept our gazes locked until I nodded. “Of course. I get it.” “Good.” “I should go talk to Declan.” Another round of laughter pulled my attention from the doors leading to the kitchen and Declan working furiously behind it. “Deal with the rest of the guys later. Declan’s busy,” Aidan said, smiling at Chelsea. Her head thrown back in laughter, Camden was next to her, shaking her shoulder gently. Her hair was down, untied and rippling as she shook her friend. With her large, easy smile, she’d never looked more beautiful. “Right. Later,” I muttered, unable to take my eyes off her. As if she sensed my presence, she turned and looked my way. Smiling softly, she blinked, and pink bloomed on her cheeks. The innocence of her expression shot to my groin, where my jeans grew tight. I’d promised her I’d go slow. I’d give it a week. Aidan’s voice snapped me back to the present. “I’m getting another drink at the bar and then crashing their girls’ night out. Wanna join me?” Sit with Camden on one of the few nights she loses control and lets loose while she slings back tequila?

I grinned and stood up. “Hell yeah, I do.” — She fell against my chest, laughing as we said goodbye to Suzanne and Paige at the curb. Suzanne’s belly seemed to grow larger every day and now that she was seven months pregnant, she had a nice waddle to her step. It had made Camden’s giggle turn to full-on belly laughter as Suzanne took longer than normal to get into her car. “You are drunk,” I said, smiling down at her. The tightness around Camden’s eyes that was usually there, even if you had to look close to see it, was gone. Tonight, I’d seen her kick back in a way I hadn’t yet and it had been thrilling to watch. When Aidan and I had walked up to their table and asked if we could join them, Paige had jumped out of her chair quicker than humanly possible and pulled up two stools for us before we could grab our own. “Of course,” she’d chirped. “Tell us all about Jamaica since Suzanne and I couldn’t be there. We’ve heard about the wedding, but what we haven’t heard about,” she paused and her gaze had flicked between Camden and me, “is what happened to you two…after the sex in the closet during the wedding reception.” “Oh God,” Camden had choked, dropping her head into her hands. I draped my arm over her shoulder and pulled her to my side, feeling the heat of her embarrassment flaring off her. I didn’t have to see her face to know she was a deep scarlet from her cheeks to her chest. To assuage Paige’s curiosity, I winked. “It was the best weekend I’ve ever had.” It had all been true. The girls swooned, playfully putting hearts over their chest. With her head still buried in her hands, Camden snorted. I’d laughed harder and from that moment until it was time to leave, the laughter had only increased, and the drinks grew stronger and drained more quickly. Pressed against me as I maneuvered us to my Escalade, Camden’s laughter quieted. Her hand pressed to my stomach and she sighed. “David?” “Right here, Cam.” I dug my keys out of my back pocket. “What is it?” “Tonight was fun,” she said. “Every night with you is fun. Why is that?” I wished I had an answer for her. I’d wondered the same thing. Why was it that we were so different and yet so similar, and that somehow, every night I spent with Camden would rank high in my best-day-ever list had I ever bothered to take the time to write anything down? “I like you,” she said, her weight growing heavier against me. “I like you too much.” I groaned as she tripped. “Camden?” “David?” Her voice slurred and slowed and I looked down, tried to get her to look back at me, but all I saw was her eyelids flutter closed. “I’m sleepy.” I bent down and scooped her up, one of my hands behind her back, the other beneath her knees. “Then let’s get you home, baby.” She lost consciousness as soon as I opened the door to my SUV. I buckled her in, ran my fingers through her hair like I always did, and pressed my lips against the top of her head.

I hadn’t expected her forgiveness to be so easy. I’d expected to have to fight for her, to prove I liked her, to prove that I was the man I’d claimed to be, not the man she’d seen me as. I wasn’t going to argue with it, though; I was going to roll with it. And while I promised her slow…I was also planning on pushing the limits of what that meant to her. I drove the short distance back to her house and parked my SUV in the driveway. Digging through her purse, I quickly found her keys and climbed out. When I opened the door on her side of the Escalade, she fell into my arms before I could grab her but didn’t wake up. Without hesitating, I scooped her up and carried her inside. She made soft noises as we walked, little whispers and gasps. Her eyes flickered repeatedly, like she was already dreaming. She whimpered, snuggling close to my chest after I closed and locked her door. The noise and the feel of her brought to my mind all the times she’d been wrapped around my body in a much different way. In a way that I wanted to see her again. I carried her up to her bedroom, guessing the door at the end of the hallway was hers, careful to avoid slamming her ankles into the walls in the narrow hallway. I got her settled in bed, leaving her dressed. If she’d been sober, if I could have had a moment alone with her, I would have told her the yoga pants hugged her luscious ass much better than any pencil skirt I’d seen wrapped around her yet. I covered her gently, brushed her hair off her face, and bent to kiss her cheek. I stepped back and her hand reached around my wrist, holding me close to her. “Don’t go,” she whispered. Her eyelids fluttered again before closing and she tugged on my hand. “Stay.” “I was planning on it,” I said, and was greeted by complete, sleepy silence. I divested myself of my shoes, socks, and jeans and tore off the shirt I’d been wearing. Then I climbed into bed with Camden. I pulled her to my chest and tried like hell to keep my erection under control when she pressed back against me, snuggling into sleep and completely relaxing.

Chapter 21 Camden Familiar warmth surrounded me when I woke up the next morning. It took a moment for me to clear the sleep from my foggy, pounding head—courtesy of Cuervo—and remember the night before. Laughing with the girls. Giggling with David. Leaning against him, tears in my eyes from side-splitting laughter, and the exhaustion that had slammed down against me on the short walk to his Escalade. I didn’t remember inviting him into my house, nor did I remember inviting him into my bed. With his chest against my back, the heat of his body encasing mine and his arms wrapped around me, holding me tight to him like he was afraid I’d run if he didn’t hug me so hard, I was glad he was there. I wanted him there. Stretching, I tried to slowly roll out of from his arms, needing to use the bathroom and brush my teeth. His arms slowly let me go and I climbed out of bed. I was halfway to the bathroom when his groggy voice said, “Don’t take too long. I want you back here when you’re done.” My footsteps froze and I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. I had twenty minutes until I had to get ready for work and I was going to need a longer shower. “I have to work today,” I replied, looking at him over my shoulder. “Not all of us can sleep all day.” I was teasing. And then wished I hadn’t when he frowned. “I see.” “I was kidding, David.” I twisted back around. Forgetting my mission, I climbed back into bed with him. It was where I wanted to be, anyway. He’d rolled to his back and had both hands clasped behind his head. I threw a leg over his waist, straddling him, and pressed my hands to his chest. “I really was teasing you.” He grinned. His arms moved so quickly, his body bucked so fiercely, I was flipped to my back and he was on top of me before I knew it, his mouth hovering just over mine when he said, “I know. I just really…really wanted you next to me and beneath me again.” I surrendered to his kiss as soon as our lips met. The instant his tongue slid against my mouth, I opened to him, drank him in. He swallowed my groans and I did the same to his. He gave me his weight, his hips pressing into me. I felt him everywhere, and I regretted that I hadn’t removed my clothes before he’d climbed on top of me. Urgency sparked deep inside me. I pushed up, pressed my hips against his, and felt his

hardness through his boxers. His hands moved along my side, brushing the edge of my breasts and making me shiver. “Too many clothes,” I gasped, pulling back, needing breath and his touch. How did he do this? Seduce me with a touch and a look and set me on fire for only him? His chuckle was low and rough. “I think we can make do.” He pulled back, and my hands went to his hips, to the waistband of his boxers and then to the front, where his hair settled below his navel. He stopped my exploration and covered my hand with his. Shaking his head, he moved my hand to my side at the bed. “No. I want to touch you.” “I want to touch you.” He leaned over me and kissed me. “Later.” I wanted to argue, but his hand slid beneath the waistband of my yoga pants and my breath caught in my throat. He slid his fingers against my clit, spreading my wetness around, and I whimpered, arching into him. “David.” “I like this,” he murmured, his eyes on me while he slowly drew circles and spread heat throughout my body. “I like the way your cheeks flush when you’re turned on. I like knowing that I do it to you.” I swallowed, unable to speak. The only sounds I could make were quiet gasps of pleasure as he continued pressing, circling, sliding his fingers though my folds and inside of me. I jumped at the pressure, the slowness of his ministrations. “Please,” I breathed, my abs tightening and my inner thighs beginning to burn. “So close.” His blue eyes darkened with his own desire and arousal as I bucked against him, hips arching into him, needing more…faster…needing him inside of me. “Close…” I was able to moan the word before I felt the sensation spreading, heating. He built it slowly, but my orgasm still took me by surprise as it came quickly, and I bucked wildly beneath him, my fingers digging into the sheets and then moving to his hips, where he still settled himself on top of me. “David,” I whispered, breathless and panting as my climax receded. “I want you.” “I like hearing that.” He bent down, brushed his chest against mine, and settled his mouth at the edge of my lips. “I want you, too.” His erection pressed against my thigh and I rubbed against him. “Later.” He repeated what he’d said earlier and pushed himself up with a torturous groan. “After all, you’re the one who wanted slower. Remember?” I was an idiot. I didn’t need slow. I needed him inside me. At his laughter, I frowned. “What?” He smirked, slid off me, and lay down at my side. His hand trailed up my stomach, over my shirt. The soft cotton and the pressure of his hand tickled my sensitive and flushed skin and made me shiver. Cupping my cheek, his fingers lazily brushed against my skin. “We have a date tonight, and I want to make sure you enjoy every single second of it. That means you have to get to work so you’re not late.”

The mention of work was like a bucket of ice, chilling my skin and my mood. I groaned and sat up, brushing my hair off my face. “Work not going well?” he asked, sitting up next to me. “No.” I flung my feet over the edge of the bed and stood up. “Work sucks right now.” “What’s going on?” I thought of the stacked files on my kitchen table that I hadn’t gotten around to looking into last night. Missing…no, stolen money from clients I’d taken care of and helped become more prosperous. I shook my head and muttered, “If you want me to enjoy the date tonight, I suggest we not talk about my work.” I walked toward the bathroom and when I was in the doorway, David called my name. I turned around, but unlike earlier, his smile wasn’t playful and he wasn’t relaxing on my bed. He was on his feet, lines edging his eyes and his arms crossed over his chest. “What?” “At some point,” he said, his voice more warning than inviting, “you’ll have to start opening up to me, too.” It was a shot to the chest, to the fact that he knew me so well, and I swore the scar on my hip tingled at the implication. “I know, David. I know.” — I gaped at my boss, disbelief rushing through me as she sat on the other side of her desk. Shelly Mannus had always been kind and fair, but right now, I wanted to slap some sense into her. “You have got to be kidding,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m afraid not, Camden. Mr. Peters is insisting you take a leave of absence while we investigate.” Leave of absence. Investigate. It wasn’t the first time she’d said the words since she’d called me into her office twenty minutes earlier, shortly after I’d arrived at work, but it was the first time they clicked inside my muddled brain. “I can’t believe this!” I leaned forward, anger rushing through me, fueling me to do something stupid. Like rush up to the CEO’s office and declare how it was his nephew of all people stealing money and hiding it, that it wasn’t me. I’d worked there for seven years and had never done anything less than the moral and honorable thing. “It’s Gordon, Shelly. How can this be pinned on me?” She smiled sadly. She knew. We all did. But your hands were tied when you discovered your CEO was a misogynist prick of a man. She still needed to keep her job. I understood her looking out for herself, but when she reached across her desk and wrapped her hand around my wrist, I didn’t hold much respect for her. Shelly had hired me when I was fresh out of college, looking for my first job. Back then, our office was smaller and she wasn’t only the vice president, she was in charge of all Human Resources, including hiring. Now, there was a small staff for that; and instead of ten employees under her, there were forty. Six under me.

I cursed the day Gordon Branzen walked into our office, his slick smile plastered on his nasty face while he hugged his uncle and thanked him for the opportunity. “We’ll figure it out, Camden, I promise. But for now, don’t make waves. Trust me.” She squeezed my wrist and I yanked it back. “This is ridiculous. How long?” Her lips twisted into a frown and made a weight settle deep in my stomach. “How long, Shelly?” Her shrug was apologetic. “Until we can convince Mr. Peters that his nephew is a liar and a thief.” She was on my side and believed me. The realization didn’t help much. A lot of people in my life had known truths and not stood up for me when it mattered. “I see.” I stood from my chair and moved toward the door of her office. I made a decision in an instant. Hoped like hell I wouldn’t come to regret it. So much for lists and safety. I threw it out the window. “You’ll have my resignation emailed to you by the end of the day.” “What?…Camden—” I held up a hand and stopped her. Kind and fair she might have been, but this wasn’t right. Even if I was cleared, how could I come back and work under the condition that I could be used like this? I’d been nothing but moral and ethical and committed to my job since the day I was hired. If they wanted a scapegoat, they weren’t using me. “You heard me, Shelly. I quit.” “Don’t do this…” “And what would you have me do, Shelly? Return when the dust settles, knowing every single day I sit behind my desk that something like this could happen again?” She was silent for moments, too many before she finally nodded. “I see.” I barely managed to hide my scowl before I said goodbye and walked out of her office. I closed the door harder than necessary, hearing it crash closed behind me. When I reached my desk, Stan from Human Resources was leaning casually against it. He was young, hired two years prior, fresh out of Michigan State University. I didn’t know him well, but he always wore a smile that made him seem even younger than twenty-three years old. Today was the first day I’d ever seen him not smiling. “Hey, Stan,” I muttered, and grabbed my purse out of the drawer where I’d locked it earlier. “Sorry, Camden,” he replied. “I was told I had to be here.” “I know. And don’t worry—I have everything I need.” I handed over the security badge that got me into the building. My chin wobbled as he slid the badge from my trembling fingertips, the reality of what was happening finally sliding into my veins. He escorted me out of the building, not saying a word to me, but I felt his pity seeping off him. I managed to make it to my car before the tears fell. What in the hell had I just done? —

I had nothing to do after I got home from work except go for a run. I tended to run with Chelsea most days when she got done with school, but seeing as how I was home before ten o’clock, there was no way I was waiting around for someone to go running with me. Feet pounding the pavement and five miles into the run, I was feeling the strain in my thighs and calf muscles, not to mention the burn in my lungs. That could have been partially attributed to the fury still rolling through me, though, not necessarily the run. Too much had changed, too much had gone wrong in such a short amount of time, that I couldn’t even mentally create the lists that kept me on firm footing. At my house, I had a stack of evidence I knew would lead to proving Gordon was guilty of what they were accusing me of, but did that matter? If seven years of working with a company could turn into such a disaster and they assumed my guilt while allowing him to stay in the office, did I even want to go back? It only made it worse that Shelly had admitted they weren’t even hiring a third-party investigator to scan the files. They didn’t want to risk word of an investigation of freaking money laundering going public, so Peters was seeing to everything personally. The company being “his baby” and all. Which meant, regardless of findings, regardless of truth, I was royally…completely screwed. Gordon would get a slap on the wrist and probably a promotion after a stern talkingto at a family gathering to clean up his act and return the money. I could call the cops. If Tyson and Blue weren’t still on their honeymoon, I could talk to Tyson and see what he’d suggest, but what good would it do? A public investigation of criminal activities would cast a dark pall over our entire company and would hurt a lot more people than just me. I’d be known as the whistle-blower, and good luck finding a job then with the way that could be spun in the media. What other choice did I have but to walk away? At least then I could get a decent recommendation in hand and the hope of finding another job without suspicion covering me like a thick blanket. Quitting had been my only option, and they’d forced me into it. At that thought, I pulled to a sudden stop and gasped for breath. My eyes went blurry as I scanned the edges of the park where I’d been running. Barely anyone was out, the weather getting too chilly in mid-October for a lazy Friday afternoon spent hanging out in one of Latham Hills’ public parks. There were only a few moms with children near the playground equipment and chasing soccer balls through the middle of the fields. My chest heaved and my shoulders shook as everything I’d realized began crashing down on me, a weight hitting my shoulders that seemed to want to force me to my knees. I hadn’t done anything wrong, and yet I was still screwed. Still forced to now think of a way to move on and get over this damn hurdle. It might have been small compared to other difficulties I’d faced… But when in the hell would life turn easy for me? I left the park, trudging along the path where I’d just run, and ripped my earbuds out of my ears. The fast-speed hip-hop playlist I ran to was suddenly no match for my mood.

With tears streaking down my cheeks, I didn’t bother brushing them away as I reached the main drag and headed for home. I had new plans to make, lists to create, and it wouldn’t do me well to waste a moment of time feeling sorry for myself. A loud honk from behind startled me and I jumped, turning to look at the car that had made the noise. “Shit,” I muttered as I saw David behind the wheel of his Escalade. He pulled up to a stop right next to me, and I lost the thin strand of thought I’d been grasping. “What happened? Why aren’t you at work?” he shouted over the roar of his engine through the passenger-side window. He must have seen the tears on my face because he leaned over and threw open the door, making me jump back to avoid it smacking me in the face. “Get inside, Camden.” I shook my head and swiped across my cheeks. “I need to walk.” “Camden.” His eyes narrowed. “Get in the car. Or I’m following you home and all the cars behind me will be pissed.” I looked behind him. There were only three, but the woman in a red MINI Cooper seemed to be two seconds away from blaring on her little car’s horn. “I’d really like to walk.” “You’re crying and in no condition to be alone. I’d really like you to get into my fucking car before I throw you into it.” It was a three-mile walk back home and I was exhausted. I wanted the air, but I really, really didn’t want to cause a scene. “Fine,” I grumbled and climbed in. When I pulled the door shut and buckled my seatbelt, David pulled back into the street.

Chapter 22 David “Talk.” I should have known the command wouldn’t work on Camden. She huffed in response and glared out the window like I’d somehow been the one to piss her off and make her cry within the span of a few hours since I’d seen her last. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she muttered. A low boil started in my gut, that same sensation I had felt this morning when she didn’t want to talk about work. I knew not to shove her over the edge of a cliff to get her over her fears, but I was past the point of guiding gently. I’d give her time to talk about the things she struggled with, but I’d had to share my past and my regrets with her. At some point, she was going to have to start showing me she had some small amount of trust in me. “Why aren’t you at work, Camden?” My jaw hurt from clenching my teeth. Sensing my frustration, which felt like a living, breathing animal in my SUV, she huffed another breath. “I got fired today.” She crossed her arms over her chest. I jolted from the shock and had to fight not to slam on the brakes in the middle of the road. “What? Why?” Her chin wobbled as I looked at her. I gave her a moment to compose herself and turned down the street to her place. I’d been on my way to Fireside to help Declan out with the lunch rush, but I would call him to let him know I wasn’t going to make it. Business had started picking up, and fall was a busy time, but he’d still forgive me. Plus, his bartender Jeremiah was almost as good as me. “Why, Camden?” I softened the question, forcing myself to take a calming breath. I pulled into her driveway. She jumped out of her seat the moment I stopped. “Not fired,” she said, “I guess. I was put on a leave of absence, so I quit and walked out.” She headed for the front door, and I didn’t waste any time. I followed her inside her house, pressing close to her back. No way was I giving her the space to tell me she didn’t want to talk about it again. “You okay?” I wrapped my arm around her stomach and squeezed as she maneuvered the door and removed her key from the lock. “No.” She tilted her head back. The tears and pain in her eyes were my kryptonite. Before she could explain, I spun her around and wrapped my arms around her back. She was hot, her shirt clung to her back from her run, and sweat beaded her hairline. I resisted the urge to undo her hair from her ponytail and take the band. My hand slid to the back of

her head and I pressed her to my shoulder. “It’s okay,” I crooned, as she fell apart in my hold. Her shoulders violently shook and her breath caught, making a gasping sound. “It’ll be okay, Camden.” “You know what sucks?” she cried, pulling back from me and wiping her tears. “It’s that I didn’t actually do anything wrong. Someone else did, and for some damn stupid reason, I’m going to be the one taking the fall for it. It’s so unfair, but there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it, and I hate it. I hate it, and I’m so fucking tired of life being unfair. That people who go about life minding their own business, keeping their head down, and just doing the right thing…that we’re the ones who are punished. That we’re the scapegoats and the victims, and all the evil people, all the predators and assholes, they get away with whatever they want because they can.” Shocked at her outburst and the venom in her voice, I stayed rooted to my spot while she paced her living room. “It’s not right, David. It’s not fair, and it’s not okay, and I’m so sick and tired of all the bullshit falling on my shoulders. How much more do I have to bear? How much more do I have to take?” “Hey,” I called, forcing my steps to carry me forward. I reached for her but she jumped back, like a wild animal too skittish and scared to be touched. “Talk to me, Cam. You can tell me anything.” She shook her head, tugging on her ponytail. With a violent heave of breath, her shoulders fell and like a miracle…her expression shuttered. What the hell? When she spoke again, her voice was robotic. It scared the shit out of me. “I’ll be fine. I’m always fine, you know? And this will be no different. Not really.” “Camden—” She stepped away and toward the kitchen. I followed her without hesitating. What in the hell was going on? When she reached the kitchen table, she placed her hand on a stack of files. I’d seen them this morning when she left for work. Now she scowled at them as if the use of trees to create so much paper infuriated her. “Someone’s been stealing money from my company. Unfortunately, that someone is the CEO’s nephew and a huge pain in my ass.” Shit. “Even more unfortunately, they tried to place me on leave while they investigate. Most of the clients who have claimed money missing have been mine.” “Fuck.” “Yep.” “How do you know it’s this nephew?” “Because I know him. He’s greasy and smelly and he’s been completely useless.” “That’s quite the accusation.” Her glare speared me to my spot. I raised my hands in surrender. “I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m saying it’s a huge accusation without proof.”

“I have it.” She tapped the files. “I always print out monthly statements and general ledgers. Everyone makes fun of me for keeping a paper trail, but I have the accounts and I have the records. And I have the electronic files that show when my clients’ accounts were accessed, and what was moved. That wasn’t from me.” “Can’t you just show him the proof, then? Be vindicated?” “Right, David.” She rolled her eyes. “Because the CEO doesn’t want this public, he’s investigating it himself. He’s looking into it. But if I’m the one being accused of it, and it’s his nephew doing it, who’s going to be the one in trouble here?” I opened my mouth to tell her that maybe the CEO was a stand-up guy and would do the right thing but quickly shut my mouth. I didn’t know the man. She needed me on her side right now. “What are you going to do?” She dropped her gaze from mine to the files. Then she looked out the window above her kitchen sink and shrugged. “I quit. It’s done. I’ll keep this in case it backfires on me somehow, but my guess is now that I’m no longer in the picture, Jameson Peters will cover up the mess somehow and everyone will move on.” “What will you do about a job?” She shrugged and tugged on the tip of her ponytail. God, I wanted her close to me. In my arms so I could soothe away her pain. “Find a new one. I have some savings. I’ll be good for a few months without having to cut back on anything.” “Wouldn’t it be easier to prove your innocence and go back to work?” So much for being on her side. The look she shot me skewered me in my chest. “Let’s say they find out it’s Gordon, the nephew, and apologize for thinking it was really me. How do I go back and work in a place that would do that? That would treat me so unfairly, judge me so quickly?” She shivered visibly and turned back to me. “Why is it that just because I come from a trashy area and a trashy home, people are always so quick to assume that I am trash?” It was a dig at me. For judging her initially, too. But it went deeper than that, and the pain I saw slice across her face was more visible than anything I’d ever seen on anyone’s face before. “Camden.” I closed the space between us in two long strides and pulled her to my chest. She shivered in my arms. “What do you need? And what can I do?” As she melted into my arms, I took her weight until I picked her up and sat down, pulling her into my lap. “How can I help you, Camden?” Her forehead brushed back and forth on my shoulder and slowly, as if she’d been trying to resist but finally caved, her arms slid around my back and squeezed me tightly to her. She didn’t answer for several moments, and when she finally spoke again, she’d lost the freaky robotic, emotionless voice. “I need to take some time to figure out what I’m going to do. Then I need to shower all the sweat off me.” She tilted her head back and flashed me a shaky smile. I knew that years from

now, this would be the moment I knew I was falling in love with her. And what she said next shocked me to my core, and I knew I’d never get over Camden. I’d never want to get over Camden. “Then I need you to take me out like we planned and help me forget this mess, even if it’s just for the night.” The perfect idea came to mind. She’d always thought people were too quick to judge her and make assumptions. I wanted her to be around people who were the exact opposite. “Go shower,” I murmured, and gave her a quick kiss on her lips. “Take the time you need. I’ll hang out and wait for you here.” At least then she’d get the space I knew she wanted, too. “Don’t you have anything to do today?” “Nothing more important than being here for you.” Her chin quivered and more tears filled her eyes. I kissed her again before she could argue, before she could lose the tight thread I knew she was grasping to keep from losing it in front of me. She kissed me back. I tasted her tears on her lips before sweeping my tongue inside. I tasted every inch of her mouth, until her body relaxed and went pliable in my lap before pulling back. I wanted to be the one to kiss away the stress of her life, every day. “Go,” I said, sliding my hands to her hips and slowly pushing her off my lap. “Go get ready.” I held on to her until I knew she was steady. She shot me a softened smile that burned my chest. God, when Camden let down her walls, when she was vulnerable and not hiding, she was the most spectacularly beautiful woman I’d ever seen. “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice hoarse and weak. “Go.” I tilted my head in the direction of the stairs. “Take all the time you need. I’ve got some calls to make anyway.” She stepped back and turned to head upstairs. Before she walked away, she twisted back around and leaned over me. Her lips hit mine in a hot, searing kiss. It was fast and over too quickly, before I could take control and show her what I wanted to do and how I felt about her. “Camden,” I groaned when she pulled back. “Thank you, David, for being here.” She stepped back and her smile wobbled. “Thank you for being you.” She dashed out of the hallway and around the corner. I sat back in the kitchen chair and pulled out my phone, grinning. She liked me too. A lot. I made two calls while Camden was upstairs showering and changing her clothes. Like I suspected, Declan didn’t mind that I wasn’t going to be able to make it in. As I also suspected, when my mom heard I was bringing someone over to her Friday night family dinner that I avoided more than attended, she was ecstatic.

Chapter 23 Camden I made several decisions throughout the course of the day. While I showered and cleaned up after my run, I thought of David downstairs. David, who was patient and kind and yet never hesitated in sharing how much he wanted me. His openness, especially now that I knew who he really was, only made the kind of guy he was more obvious. I wanted him. I wanted him in the deepest parts of me, and most of all, I wanted him to be proud of me. Instead of the way I’d normally react, I forced myself to not think about my job, or what would await me on Monday. For now, I chose to follow what I’d done in Jamaica…enjoy myself, enjoy my life, have fun with David. I would let life happen the way it was supposed to instead of feeling the clawing need to write out a list of possibilities. I’d deal with whatever happened like a normal person—when it happened and when I had to face it. It wasn’t easy. Several times while blow-drying my hair I had to force my eyes off the notepad on my nightstand that screamed for its attention, for the scribble of ink on paper and the satisfaction of a well-thought-out decision. I chose to trust David. I chose to believe he could do what he seemed to be so good at doing—getting my attention focused on nothing but him. I rethought all of it as he drove me through a neighborhood in Brookhaven, just west of Detroit and thirty minutes away from Latham Hills. He’d told me we were going for dinner and to dress casually. Knowing he was in jeans, black dress shoes, and a short-sleeved polo shirt that stretched over his curved chest, I had thrown on a navy-blue wrap dress and nude heels. It was nothing fancy, just a step up from wearing jeans myself. “We’re not going to a restaurant in this neighborhood, are we?” I asked, my eyes wide open and my jaw slack. The homes I saw out my window weren’t homes but mansions. The size of a small hotel, with gated entrances and pine trees lining the roads for privacy. Homes were set so far back, I could only glimpse them as David drove slowly down the street. I was in a neighborhood fancier than any I’d ever seen, and my pulse ratcheted up a thousand notches when he had to announce himself at a security gate. I reached out and covered his wrist, not dragging my shocked gaze off the window. “David. Where are you taking me?” He chuckled.

I was going to punch him. He wasn’t taking me out. He was taking me home. “Relax, Camden. Have I ever steered you wrong before?” “Just forcing me off a cliff and swimming with sharks. No biggie.” His laugh grew louder, and he moved his hand where I held his wrist until our palms pressed together. The heat of his skin did nothing to calm the riot inside me. “And you survived. You’ll survive this, too.” “Dinner with your mother?” I turned to him so fast I felt the sting of my hair whipping across my cheeks. “That’s where you’re taking me? On our first real date?” He held up a finger right before he pulled into a driveway. “Hold that thought.” Rolling down his window, he punched in a series of numbers on a keypad and the gate in front of us groaned open. “You’re shitting me. You live in a castle behind a security guard and a gate and I’m supposed to stay calm? Did you leave your brain back at your place?” His shoulders shook with poorly concealed laughter. His hand in mine tightened. “I’m going to kill you,” I muttered, glaring at him. My pulse pounded. His mother. He took me to his mom’s house. On a date? It was too soon. He was insane. Worse than me. That had to be it. “You keep threatening,” he said, grinning. “Yet it hasn’t happened.” “It will,” I assured him. “Holy shit.” I leaned forward and peered out the windshield as the castle he called a home came into view. Peaks and gables and brick and turrets. He had turrets. At his house. My brain couldn’t compute such a possibility. “Now, as you were saying, for one, this isn’t our first date.” I twisted and stared at him. He was making fun of me. Of this. I was meeting his mom and he was trying to give me a heart attack first. Murderous thoughts ran through my mind. “You—” “And, you’re not having dinner with my mom.” He opened his door and jumped out, his smile widening. “You’re having dinner with my entire crazy and wacky family.” My jaw fell to the console between us and I stared at him as he hurried around the front of his Escalade. He was at my door before I remembered how to speak. Opening my door before I could think. Unbuckling my belt and plucking me out of my seat before I could blink. “You’re insane,” I muttered, finally finding my voice. “I can’t believe you. I can’t believe you’d do this to me. That I wouldn’t have notice and been able to prepare myself and, oh my God, I can’t breathe.” My hand pressed to my chest as panic overwhelmed me. I staggered back, unsteady on my heels, all the while he held onto my hips, moving with me until his body pressed against mine. “Calm down,” he whispered, his smile still showing me a whole lot of bright, white teeth.

“You said you’re tired of being judged and having life be hard. Trust me, those messed-up people in there will be the least judgmental people you’ve ever met, and all they’ll give us tonight is easy. And…” His face scrunched up in an adorable way. The urge to smack him began to evaporate. “Who knows? You might even get to see some embarrassing photos of me, or hear stories.” “Do embarrassing photos of you even exist?” “If they do, Lindsay knows exactly where to find them. But I’m warning you now, I wasn’t always the charming, sexy stud you see standing here in front of you.” I got lost in the moment. Lost in the feel of him against me with his winning smile and disarming gaze. My shoulders relaxed, and for the first time since I’d walked away from him this morning before heading to work, I smiled. “You’re crazy,” I whispered. “And I’m learning you go a bit neurotic when you get freaked.” He winked and tapped my nose, making me squirm. “But I’m also learning that, like everything else about you, I like it.” He backed up and grabbed my hand, tugging me toward the front door of his castle. “I still can’t believe this is your house.” “My mom’s, not mine.” “Yeah, but you grew up here, didn’t you?” “It’s just a building, Cam. Bricks and mortar, drywall and beams. It’s the people inside that make the home.” With that stunningly wise proclamation, he pushed open the door and shouted, “Leia! Grant! Your favorite uncle in the whole wide world is here!”

Chapter 24 Camden A herd of a thousand elephants rumbled through the house, coupled with shrieks that made me want to cover my ears. A blur of movement rushed around the corner. David was yanked out of my grasp as two little people crashed into his legs and clung to him. “Oomph,” he grunted, moving back a step. My eyes wide, I couldn’t decide where to focus first. On David’s smile, lit up like a thousand-watt bulb, or the little hands clamoring at his waist and shouting, “Uncle David! Uncle David! Mom! Uncle David’s here!” “Yay!” the littler one, who I assumed was Grant Jr., shouted. “What you bing me? What you bing me?” David laughed and stooped low, wrapping his arms around their shoulders. “Hey guys. Miss me?” The immediate love pouring off David as he ruffled his niece’s and nephew’s hair stunned me. In Jamaica he’d talked about his family. I had seen the way his eyes lit up. Experiencing it in person was a completely different, enthralling experience. “Children,” a feminine voice called out. Heels clicked on the tiled floor and one of the most stunning women I’d ever seen came into view. “You’ll have to excuse the kids,” she said, walking up to me with a warm smile. “My grandkids are animals. They get it from their uncle, I’m certain.” She winked. She was in a light-colored blue and white dress that flared out at her hips and went to her calves, and her brown hair bounced on her shoulders, wisps of gray at her temples. David’s mother was beautiful, with eyes as blue as his and a smile that could beat him in a happiness competition. “Camden Reed,” I said, holding out my hand for her. She ignored it and embraced me with a hug. “So lovely to meet you.” I inhaled a quick scent of raspberries before she pulled back, her hands on my shoulders. “Please, call me Betty, and in this house, we hug.” “Hello,” I said through nervous laughter. David’s arm wrapped around my waist and he tugged me to him. “Uncle David! Uncle David! Who is she?” The two little kids were still at his feet, bouncing on their toes, clamoring for his attention. I turned to him and he winked. “Grant, Leia,” he said, looking at the children. “Tonight, all I brought for you is my friend, Camden. Can you say hello?” “Hi!” the little girl chirped. “I’m Leia and I’m five. I’m in kindergarten this year but I hate it.” Her little mouth pursed into a pout.

I couldn’t resist her. “Why do you hate it?” She rolled her eyes as if it were obvious. “Rules.” She groaned and flounced away, long blond curls flipping every which way. A woman, a taller mirror image of the cute girl, came around the corner, wiping her hands on a towel. “Don’t mind her. She takes after her father.” “I heard that!” a masculine shout echoed from the other room. “I’m Lindsay,” she said. Before I could say hello, she enfolded me in a hug that mirrored her mom’s and whispered, “Actually, that’s a lie, but I was going to wait to start embarrassing David until dessert. Nice to meet you, Camden. Mom said you were coming.” She was still talking as she pulled back and pointed a finger down at her son. “Now you and Leia need to go get washed up, and tell your father to stop swiping his fingers on the frosting!” Her voice rose with every word, and my eyes widened. Did the woman have eyes in the back of her head? She turned back to us. “Cupcakes for the kids for dessert. Pie for the adults.” Her brow wrinkled in an adorable way. “I’m not exactly sure yet which category my husband fits into.” “Child,” David muttered. I snickered. She grinned. And all the crap of the day evaporated in an instant. “Damn, woman,” a man grumbled, walking around the corner. “It’s delicious.” Lindsay’s blond hair swayed back and forth as she shook her head. “That man. Train them early, Camden, or you’ll be fighting them forever.” “Yeah,” said Grant. He was still sucking frosting from a finger. His grin was as kind as those of the rest of the people swarming the large entry area. With a build that was bulky and large, almost as large as Declan—who looked like he could take down Hulk Hogan with a onehanded push—Grant’s smile was more disarming than menacing as he placed one hand at his wife’s back and held his other hand out for me. The hand he’d just licked with his mouth. “Um…” I nodded, heat creeping up my neck. I didn’t want to be rude, but ew. “Camden Reed. Nice to meet you.” He winked and shoved his hand into his denim pocket. “That was pretty nasty, sorry.” “Animals,” Lindsay muttered. Her gaze slid to David. “All of them.” “Don’t bring me into this. I didn’t do anything except show up.” His mom stepped in and clapped. “And it’s about time you did, young man. It’s been so long I was starting to forget what you looked like.” “Mom—” It was a warning, but one that lacked heat. He sounded too happy. My eyes continued jumping from one happy person to the next, not knowing where to settle and focus. Lindsay was beautiful, tall and thin, with curves that said she’d had a couple of kids but wasn’t trying to hide how that affected her body. Everyone besides Betty was casual in jeans, Lindsay wearing skinny jeans and a lightweight maroon sweater that set off her blond locks and light-blue eyes, which almost mirrored David’s in both look and mischief. Even the kids were wearing lightweight sweatpants and T-shirts with sugar sprinkled all over

them, telling me they’d been helping someone make the frosting their dad had repeatedly pilfered. Everyone except Betty and I was barefoot and comfortable, relaxed and trying to make me feel the same with their witty banter. It was working until I realized that, besides Betty, I was the only one in a dress. My navy wrap might have been simple and casual, but I was still overdressed, and clearly the odd one out with my dark auburn hair. It was one of those “which of these things does not belong” pictures, and the arrow was pointed directly at me. Perhaps noticing the way my shoulders tensed at the thought, or the heat on my cheeks that began spreading to the tips of my ears and down my throat, David hugged me to his side. “Can we stop freaking Camden out?” If I could have kicked him, I would have. The last thing I wanted was to be more of a spectacle. “They’re not—” “We are,” Lindsay said. She flashed me an apologetic smile and took her kids’ hands into hers. “And we’re sorry. We’re a lot to handle, but something tells me you’ll be fitting in just fine soon.” “And in order to give you space,” Betty interrupted, hooking her arm through my free one and pulling me next to her, “let’s go to the kitchen, get the men some drinks, and get this food served before Lindsay yells at Grant anymore today. I don’t know who taught my daughter manners or politeness, but she didn’t get it from me, heaven forbid. I’ve been telling her her whole life that men don’t like a nag, but I gotta say, she can rip into that man like no one I’ve ever seen, and he must love her to the moon and back, because he puts up with all of it with a charming little grin.” I was stunned as she rattled on, pulling me through a formal dining room that looked like a showcase in a museum with relics and vases and more silver than could possibly be found anywhere outside the Smithsonian. But the love and lightness in her voice calmed me and helped make me feel more comfortable. This was her family, and it was clear that she loved them, even if they drove her crazy like she claimed. Among all of it, what I wasn’t feeling at all was a lingering grief from her husband passing away much too soon. Even if it had been years ago, this family was tight knit. That much was clear. They also had to be strong, with an inner strength I wasn’t ever quite so sure I had. But the more time I was with David, I longed to find it. — Lindsay hadn’t been kidding. They were a lot to handle, and the craziness that had greeted me in the entryway only increased through dinner. Somewhere along the way, through a glass of wine while I sat on a stool at the most enormous white-and-gray marble kitchen island I’d ever seen, I realized Lindsay had almost been right. So had David.

His family welcomed me into their gigantic house with warm and strong arms and even bigger smiles, and didn’t seem to be in any hurry to let me go. While sipping the wine, I’d told Betty about my job at the accounting firm, keeping it vague and trying not to think about everything that had happened earlier. Betty caught on quickly because she switched the questions and conversation to talk of Fireside Grill. She shared her obvious adoration for Declan and Trina, whom I wasn’t aware she’d met. It was easy to talk to her. Easy to feel at home in her vast, open white space that surprisingly felt warm and inviting rather than clinical and sterile. During our conversation, the kids had been ushered into a playroom somewhere, the men had moved off to the living room to watch a hockey game, and Lindsay had stayed relatively quiet, helping her mom set the family table in the eating area of the kitchen, finish cooking the vegetables, and make a salad while they insisted I do nothing except relax. When Lindsay asked about my parents, I hesitated and the room went quiet. For some strange reason, honesty poured out of me. I stared at the glass of wine they’d given me and wondered for a moment if they’d dosed it with truth serum. I never talked about my family, but they’d been so open, so inviting, I couldn’t hold it back. “My mom got pregnant with me when she was still a teenager. Her parents kicked her out, so she and the guy she was dating at the time moved into a trailer.” I shrugged it off at Lindsay’s quiet but surprised gasp. “He left before I ever came home from the hospital and it’s just been me and her ever since. We don’t…” I couldn’t help but stare around the large space. The doorways all led to even bigger rooms with fancier and more elegant decor. Thank God we weren’t eating in the formal dining room. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. “We never had a lot growing up.” “That must have been tough on your mom,” Betty said, stopping what she was doing and walking over to me. “She must have worked really hard to take care of you.” “Mostly odd jobs. She waitressed a lot and worked at a few banks as a teller.” “She must be strong,” Lindsay said. She set her glass of wine down next to me, abandoning her half-made salad. My mom was a survivor, but I wouldn’t necessarily call her strong. As much as I loved her, she was too flighty and lost too many jobs to be considered that. I faced Lindsay, frowning. “Pardon?” “I’ve always thought people who work in customer service or serving others all day long, and teachers, are the strongest people in the world. They have to be nice to everyone they meet even if they’re having a shitacular day.” “Lindsay.” Betty’s tone was a warning. For the statement or for swearing, I didn’t know. “It’s true, though.” She grinned and picked up her glass of wine. “Your mom must be incredible. Single mom, no parents, no family to help out, working every day smiling and helping others when she probably hated all of it, and she made you, and you seem pretty okay.” I laughed despite myself. I had never been called pretty okay before. “Thanks, I think. I guess I’d never thought of her like that.” “Sometimes it takes a different perspective.” Betty turned back to the oven and removed

the roast she’d cooked for dinner. The aroma made my mouth water. It smelled delicious and brought to mind memories of family dinners at Suzanne’s house. As an only child, her parents had always been close and they did family dinners every night. Going to her house was such a different experience from mine, where I learned from a young age how to boil water for macaroni and cheese or slap together a bologna sandwich. I had a feeling David’s family had been much the same as Suzanne’s, only with more people and more laughter. “What do you mean?” I asked Betty. She slid me a sad smile, one that traveled to her eyes and made them water. “When I lost their father, everything inside of me broke. For months, I barely managed to climb out of bed. My kids were grown and gone; Lindsay was already married. They had their own lives and I was alone in this house.” “Mom—” Betty raised a hand and silenced Lindsay’s caring, soft voice. “But one day, I was crying over photo albums, looking through family vacations we’d taken, and I was struck by the happiness that always, always shined in Geoffrey’s eyes and all over his face when we were together. There was nothing he loved more than his family. Nothing he loved more than this.” She spread her arms out wide. “Family, friends, grandkids running through the house…he would have loved to have all this, and that day, it became my mission to ensure that I had it… because he’d want it for me. I couldn’t do that sitting around, feeling sorry for myself.” She sniffed, the sound echoed by Lindsay and myself. “We had money, lots of it. We have more money than we’ll ever be able to spend no matter how much we give away and donate. It’s the truth of our life, what we continued creating after Geoffrey’s family started McGregor Motors. But do you know what, Camden?” she asked. She was stripping me of my walls with her words and her tears. I didn’t know how much more I could take. “What?” I asked, despite my fear, choking the word out. “We could lose it all tomorrow. We could lose the house or the money or the trust funds or whatever else, and all I know is that Geoffrey never would have cared. As long as we had this family, these people who love us, the rest is all…just stuff…regardless of how pretty and fancy it’s packaged.” God, she was killing me. “I have a feeling your mom believed the same thing. Regardless of all the hard times everyone faces in their lives, I have a feeling your mom and I have a similar perspective.” “What’s that?” “That as long as we wake up in the morning, as long as we get to see another sunset, it’s one more day to live. One more opportunity to share our life with someone else, one more day to work to give the ones we love everything we possibly can.” Tears dripped down my cheeks faster than I could wash them away. Everything Betty said made me remember how ferociously my mom had fought for me after Evan. How she’d stood outside lawyers’ offices, begging someone to take our case so we could lock him up. In those

weeks and months and even years after he attacked me, my mom was a warrior. It was something I tended to forget when I was feeling sorry for myself and lost in my lists and the haze of the past that shrouded every decision I made. “What the hell did you say to her?” David’s booming, furious voice made me jump and I spun on my stool. He hurried over to me, setting his beer bottle so harshly on the counter I was surprised it didn’t shatter. His arms wrapped around my shoulders. He barely scanned my face, swiping my tears before he scowled at Lindsay and his mom. “Why in the hell would you upset her like this?”

Chapter 25 David Camden giggled as I whipped around to look at my sister and mom. Fucking hell. The last thing I’d expected when I left her alone with them was to have her end up crying. I wanted her to see how fantastic my mom and sister were, to see that they were insane, and maybe incredibly wealthy, but still down-to-earth, normal human beings who wouldn’t judge her because of where she came from. Seeing tears running down her cheeks made me burn deep inside my chest. “I’m fine, David. We’re all fine.” Like hell she was. “You’re crying.” She chortled. “We were having a girl moment. It’s fine, really.” She lifted her hand and pressed it to my forearm. Her soft touch caused an entirely different kind of burn to ignite and buzz from my arm straight to my chest. “You sure?” Lindsay punched me in the shoulder. “Cowboy, down, you alpha protective Neanderthal. We were talking about dad, and life, and we just got stupid for a second.” I laughed as Lindsay sniffed and then made a face like she’d smelled something sour. “Damn emotions. I hate it when they get the better of me.” “Dad?” I turned to face my mom. She had that sad look in her eyes she got whenever she thought of him or talked about him, but her lips were tilted up at the corners, and a soft glow filled her face. Her gaze flickered back and forth between Camden and me. “We’re fine, David. Honest. We didn’t upset Camden.” A line dipped between her brows and she looked at Camden. “We didn’t, did we? I’m so sorry—” “No.” Camden shook her head and lifted a hand. “You didn’t. In fact, you might have sort of helped me figure some things out.” “What’s that?” I asked. The vulnerability that she rarely showed shone on her tear-streaked face, but that wasn’t what made me suck in a breath. It was the look she gave me as she wiped her eyes. Determination and joy, two things she showed more rarely than openness. God, she was pretty. When I first walked into the kitchen and saw her crying, it felt like a piece of my chest had been ripped through my flesh and bone. What was she doing to me? I didn’t care. I wanted more of it. More of the insanity. More of the overwhelming need to protect her. More of the feel of her along my body everywhere. I wanted the smiles I had to fight for, each one feeling like a Super Bowl victory. “Nothing we can talk about now; it’s just…I’m learning maybe…” She paused and her bottom lip got stuck between her teeth. She worried it for a moment before letting it pop free. “That maybe I need to start living differently. Better.”

I scowled, not understanding, but then her hand slid farther up my arm before dropping to my hip. Her fingertips squeezed me above my hip bone, above the waistband of my jeans, and sent fire flaring through my veins. “It’s okay, David, really. We can talk more later, okay?” I scanned her gaze for truth and found nothing but that in her eyes and the softness in her cheeks. Turning to my sister, I muttered, “Sorry for yelling at you.” Her expression said it all as she replied, “No problem, loser.” Her blue eyes softened in that older-sister, knowing, and bossy way. She knew I was a goner. “Okay.” My mom clapped her hands together, getting all of our attention. “Dinner’s ready, so enough with the heavy talk for a while. Lindsay, go wrestle your crew to the table, and David, please refill our wine and grab some more drinks for everyone. We’ll eat as soon as we’re all gathered. Camden? Would you mind helping me get the food to the table?” “You sure you’re okay?” I asked Camden, sliding my hand from her shoulder to her cheek. Goosebumps pebbled her skin in the wake of my hand gliding over her skin and I smiled knowingly. I loved that I so obviously affected her. She nodded quickly and gave me another squeeze before sliding off her stool. “I’m good, I promise. You?” Not caring that I could feel my mom’s and sister’s eyes on me, watching our interaction, watching how close we stood and how intimately we touched each other, I leaned forward and brushed her cheek with my lips, whispering in her ear, “Never better, Cam. Never better.” She sighed softly, resting against me, and we stayed close until my mother cleared her throat. The sound made Camden blush. I wiped my thumb over her pinkened skin before I stepped back. When Betty McGregor gave a task in her kind but no-nonsense fashion, you jumped to get the work done, or you’d be sorry. Like from not being allowed to have raspberry pie at dessert time. And while we ate dinner, laughing at Leia and Grant, who were more of a handful than Lindsay and I ever were, as Grant Sr. talked about what was going on at McGregor Motors, I sat back quietly, wondering why in the hell I’d ever thought that turning my back on my family to go do my own thing, even if it was a good thing, had been the best idea for me at the time. And why no one had ever tried to talk me out of it when I brought it up. — After dinner, as Grant and I helped hand-dry all the pots and pans while Lindsay and Camden and my mom cleaned up the rest of the kitchen, I quit wondering about what-ifs. Camden slid up next to me and my arm fell to her waist. I settled her to my side like it was the most natural thing in the world to do. She fit perfectly, right there in my arm, next to me. I held back the desire to tell her that, right then and there, only for fear of ruining what had been a peaceful and hilarious night with my family, most things considered.

Kissing the top of her head as she rested against me, a glass of water in one hand and a drying towel in the other, I briefly questioned if it was the right time, or the right night. What the hell. “You mind if I go talk to Grant for a minute, babe?” I whispered it low so no one else could hear. She tipped her head back, a smile shining so bright on her face it erased all the worry I’d had earlier when she’d been crying. Other than after she jumped off a cliff and snorkeled with me, I didn’t know if I’d ever seen her smile so large. I liked that she did it around me. Around my family. “Of course not.” Her brows pulled in as if she’d thought of something. “Everything okay?” “It will be.” I kissed her cheek and turned to Grant. “Hey, man…mind if we go talk in the office for a minute?” His head jerked back, and the bottle of beer he was drinking from froze on his bottom lip. “Yeah, sure. Things good?” I chuckled. Why did my wanting to talk make everyone so concerned? “No business at Friday family dinner,” my mom warned, pointing a finger at me. “It’s not business,” I replied, lying. It was totally business related. “It’ll just take a few minutes.” She huffed playfully. “Fine. I suppose us women will just get first dibs on the pie, then.” I gasped, a hand flying to my chest. “You wouldn’t.” “If you’re not back in ten, I most definitely will. I’ve been smelling it all afternoon and it might be my best one yet.” Camden must have sensed my sudden hesitation because her hip bumped against mine, pushing me away. “Go. I’ll hold them off until you get back.” “You think you can take her?” She smiled again and laughed, a sweet, sweet melody I wanted to hear every day. Damn. I had it bad for her. “Yeah, David. I think I can handle her.” I flashed her wide eyes, flickering my eyes to my mom playfully before moving back to Camden. “Okay…if you’re sure.” The sting of her towel hitting my arm smacked me before I saw it coming. “Hey!” “Go!” She waved the towel in the air, and Grant set his hand on my shoulder. “Best come with me,” he muttered. “I don’t think you want to get on that girl’s bad side. She’s got bite.” “I like her bite,” I teased, grinning at the red hue that immediately shaded her cheeks. “And she doesn’t have a bad side.” “My God, you’re like a little puppy,” my sister chimed in. “So freaking adorable when you’re all cutesy-lovey-dovey.” “Back off, woman. Or I’ll tell Grant all your secrets.” She rolled her eyes. “We’ve been married too long to have any secrets.” She had a point. Still, I bet there were things she hadn’t mentioned. “Yeah? You remember when we were in France on vacation—” “Get out!” she shrieked. “Go…go now…go do your manly things you must discuss.”

“France?” Grant asked, his shoulders shaking with laughter. “What’s this?” “There was this beach—” I started. Lindsay rushed to the other side of the counter and glared at me. “And we went swimming. End of story.” I stepped back, out of my sister’s reach. She could go crazy with the snap of her fingers, but I couldn’t stop myself. Glancing at Grant, I nodded toward the direction of the office and pushed him out the door. “You see, Grant, there was this beach and we went swimming—” “I’m going to kill you! I will share all your embarrassing stories with Camden if you don’t shut up!” I laughed harder. “And she was naked—” “I thought it was a nude beach!” Grant’s shoulders shook as hard as mine. “Except it was a family vacation spot, so why she thought that—” “Hey Camden,” I heard, right as Grant and I turned the corner. “Did you ever hear of the time David went streaking at the high school football game?” Her laughter rang out, vibrating along the walls through my mom’s house until Grant and I were in the office. “She will kill you for that, you know.” “Who cares. She can tell Cam anything she wants about me—I’m an open book.” I was now, at least. There were no more lies and no more secrets, at least not from me. “Your sister stripped at a beach thinking it was a nude one—are you shitting me?” “No.” I shook my head. “She was also like, twelve, so it’s not that big of a deal, but I’d never heard my dad shout so loud when she came out of the ocean without her swimsuit on.” Grant laughed, crossed his arms over his chest, and shook his head back and forth. “Your sister has always been a bit nutty.” “And you married her.” He shrugged it off. “Normal is boring. I like her brand of crazy.” I made a face and lifted a hand. “Say no more, please…say no more.” “I wasn’t going to.” All joking vanished from his features and he dropped his hands to his side. “So, what do you want to talk about? Make it quick, because your mom’s pie is the best, and that frosting on those cupcakes really is the shit.”

Chapter 26 Camden I had a sneaking suspicion of what David wanted to talk to Grant about when the two headed off. Even though I knew he’d tried to lighten the mood before he left—for my sake most likely, and so his mom and sister wouldn’t worry about him—I didn’t miss the glances they shot each other when they thought I wasn’t looking. Like he’d promised, though, they both walked back into the kitchen ten minutes later. A serious expression on Grant’s face, a thoughtful one on David’s, I had no doubt in my mind that David had been in there not only talking about what had happened in Chicago, but what he was going to do now. I didn’t push for answers to my unasked questions while we ate pie and then hung out until it was time for Lindsay and Grant to get their kids home and to bed. Instead, I enjoyed the next couple of hours, while the laughter of children filled the room along with their occasional bickering. I didn’t spend much time around small children growing up and while they seemed loud, and David called them wild, by the time his sister and brother-in-law left with two sleepy kids in tow, my heart clenched a bit when Leia wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a firm squeeze. “ ’Bye, Camden. I like you.” I chuckled at her honesty, the way she gave so freely. Before I let her go, I said a quick, silent prayer that she never lost it. “I like you, too, Leia.” “Will you play with me next time?” I glanced up and saw David smiling at me, knowingly, easily…like he was already planning on me being at the next family dinner. “Of course I will,” I assured her. At my promise, Leia let me go, and her softly padding feet carried her to her dad’s outstretched arms. “Come on, buttercup. Time to get you to bed.” She yawned loudly, not covering her mouth, as Grant carried her out the front door. “I’m not sleepy.” “Sure you’re not.” His laughter muted when he pressed his lips against his daughter’s hair. I didn’t watch them leave, because I was pulled into Betty’s arms and given a hug that was even tighter and warmer than when I’d arrived only hours earlier. “You are welcome here anytime, Camden. I’m thrilled you came tonight.” “It was great meeting you,” I whispered, feeling that rumble of emotions this woman brought out in me so easily. She was just too kind…too good…too sweet. She dropped her arms from me and pulled David into a hug, too, kissing his cheeks. She had to roll to her toes to do so and I smiled at her small, curvy stature reaching up to press a

hand to David’s cheek. “And you…stop running from us.” “Mom—” She waved him away as if she hadn’t just pointed out a truth I knew she’d been waiting for months to say. “No explanations necessary, you know that. But now’s the time to stop, you hear me?” “I hear you.” He bent down and kissed her cheek. “Sleep tight, Mom. No worries.” “When it comes to you, I have none. Never have. You have a good head on your shoulders… You’re too much like your dad to cause me anything to worry about.” The admission rocked David back to his heels. “Mom.” “Go.” She smiled, but her chin wobbled. “Go enjoy the rest of your night. We’ll talk soon.” He hugged her again, and even though I was just a bystander to a conversation only they understood, I recognized their obvious love for each other in the two-story entryway, warming me from the inside out. Damn. David wasn’t only sexy, but he came from the most beautiful woman, the most perfect family, I’d ever dreamed of. Yet there wasn’t a speck of jealousy inside me knowing he had that and I hadn’t. I’d realized earlier that I’d had it darn good, even if it was hard. “Come on,” David said, once he finally said goodbye to his mom. He took my hand in his hands, a place I was deciding it was so natural for my hand to belong, and led me out to his car. “I have one more place for us to go tonight.” “Where’s that?” He responded with a grin that shot fire straight to my toes, up my legs, and made desire pool in my lower belly. “My place, where I’m not letting you go until morning.” — We got stuck in traffic on I-75 leaving Detroit proper. Conversation had flowed easily. We talked about the night, laughing about Leia and Grant Jr., sometimes laughing at Lindsay and her husband, but with each passing moment, my curiosity grew. I desperately wanted to know what he’d talked to Grant about, but not only that, to know him and understand him in a deeper way. My own failings wanted to keep me from prying. If I started, would he follow with questions about me? I took the risk. “What’d you talk to Grant about tonight?” I dragged my eyes off the window at my side to look at David. His jaw tensed, and his fingers tightened on the steering wheel. For a moment, I thought he wouldn’t speak. “Talked to him about a job.” “You what?” “A job.” He flashed me a hesitant grin before watching the traffic’s steady crawl. “He’s VP of Operations at McGregor right now. True to what my dad always wanted, he’s working his way up, learning everything he can and proving himself along the way. Since I walked away and

went to med school, he’s possibly the last family member to run the company until little Grant grows up.” “He’s not a McGregor, though,” I pointed out and cringed. What a horrible thought to have. “Sorry. I just mean…” “I know what you meant, Cam.” One of his hands fell to my thigh. His fingers ran along the bare skin at my inner thigh just above my knee. It was meant to be comforting. It was a thousand times more powerful than simple comfort, though, and goosebumps pebbled my skin, making me shiver. “He’s family in all the ways that matter, though.” “I know that.” “It still doesn’t mean a McGregor shouldn’t be running the place.” My head whipped to face him so quickly I almost gave him whiplash. “What? You mean… you?” “I don’t know yet.” He shrugged. His lips pulled into a frown. “I wasn’t exactly a business major.” All my life, all I’d wanted was a man who cared about me who could give me safety. David had that in buckets, regardless of his job, I’d realized. This was still a huge change. I reached for his hand and turned it over, until our palms and fingertips aligned. That electric rush that always flared between us sparked and ignited, though this time it felt calmer and deeper. “Is it what you want?” I traced his fingertips with mine, running my fingers along the outer edges of his. His hands saved lives. He’d lost several, but there was no denying that in the firmness of his strong hands, all those that could be helped were safe. He was safe, regardless of occupation and bank account. “I have no idea, but I figured it was a good idea to talk to Grant, see what he had to say.” He was silent for a moment, eyes softening, lips lifting into a smile. “And?” He laughed softly once and turned to me. Arching a brow, he stated, “As Grant reminded me, I’m the great-grandson of the founder, Michael McGregor. There’s always a place for me.” “That sounds…like a lot of responsibility.” Hand on the steering wheel, the skin and leather made a squeaking sound as he gripped it tighter, knuckles whitening. “Yes.” “And Fireside? Would you quit?” He laughed again, the softness and humor turning to ice. “Declan hasn’t needed me to work there for months now. Possibly ever. He and Trina are doing a great job now bringing in new business with Trina’s marketing efforts, and they’ve got a full staff, plus they’re in the black. He’s never paid me and I’ve always given my tips right back to him. I think the only reason he keeps letting me sling drinks there is because he knows it gives me something to do.” “Helping you while you’re helping him. Good friends you’ve got there,” I teased, trying to lighten the moment. “Although it’s hard to imagine you wearing suits or scrubs to work.”

“Yeah? You like watching me work in jeans and Fireside polo shirts?” Yeah, I did. The jeans hugged his ass and thighs perfectly. I’d looked. Lots. Now that I could do it without hiding my attraction to him, I did it again. Sweeping my gaze down the length of his body, even folded into the driver’s seat he was still one of the sexiest men I’d ever met. Ever seen. My pulse kicked up and desire began swirling, a weight pooling deep inside. He pulled his hand from mine and the teasing, light banter evaporated. He lifted his hand and slowly twisted his wrist, as if examining every line, every vein, every inch of it. “When do you know?” He turned to me. “When do you know when it’s time to say goodbye to your dreams…or your fears…or your past? And what happens when you don’t know what you’re supposed to be doing?” He dropped his hand back to my thigh, but the warmth was gone. Each question chilled me further until ice ran in my veins. He was pushing without intending to, possibly without realizing. Every question he asked was one I’d asked myself a hundred times since I stepped off that plane in Jamaica. “We’re here,” he said, pulling up to a new complex just outside Latham Hills. I recognized the building immediately. Blue had rented an apartment here, and then Trina was going to move in before she decided she’d rather live with Declan. “This? This is where you’ve been staying?” I asked, unable to keep the laughter out of my voice. I’d been inside Blue’s old apartment. Decorated in a shabby-chic palette, with pastel colors and all things unique and feminine, it was the last place I could imagine David living. “How did I not know this?” “Don’t know why they didn’t tell you,” he said, reaching out and running his thumb along my smiling lips. The hint of pleasure danced along my skin, sending shocks to the tops of my thighs. “Maybe Blue didn’t think it was that big of a deal. But I’ve made a few changes. I was subleasing it until her lease ran out in August and then I took it over. Finally got rid of my place in Chicago and moved a few things in. The rest went into storage.” He slid out of his Escalade, and I opened my door, meeting him outside mine as I shut it. “Well then, by all means.” I grinned up at him. “Show me what you’ve done.”

Chapter 27 David The desire to show her a dozen things, mostly naked and in bed, or on my couch, or on my kitchen table, spurred my feet to move quicker. Giggling behind me at whatever look I must have shown her, Camden followed me, our hands held together, stretched between us. I hated distance with her. Next to me in the car, unable to pull her close until her head rested on my shoulder, was too far away for me. When I’d gone in to talk to Grant earlier about working at McGregor Motors, I hadn’t expected his response. To hear him tell me he’d been waiting for the moment I pulled my head out of my ass and returned hit me harder than any punch to the stomach I’d ever taken. I didn’t want to run the company, but if I stepped through those doors, dressed in the designer suit Camden had just teased me about, that’s exactly what would happen. As the vice president of Operations, Grant had spent the last fourteen years, ever since he’d married Lindsay, in preparation for the day when he knew my dad would hand over the company to me and Grant would be at my side. He’d met Lindsay in high school; and while my dad never pushed him toward that decision, it was something Grant claimed he wanted, to be involved in the family business that had become as much a part of him as Lindsay had. What I didn’t realize was that he was still hoping someday I’d stand at his side, with him teaching me everything he knew. The hope he’d had when I asked him, when he told me there’d always be a place for me at McGregor Motors, made me stumble backward until my ass hit the chair. “What?” “You heard me.” He poured a glass of whiskey, something my mom kept on hand only for Grant’s and my periodic visits. “This is your family, David. Your legacy. What did you think would happen? You’d walk in here someday, ask me that exact same question, and I’d tell you, ‘Hell no. There’s nothing for you’?” I hadn’t known what to expect. His revelation had still shocked me. “Why would you expect this?” “Because it’s your family, and you’re a McGregor, and nobody does family like a McGregor.” I laughed at that, then took the glass of whiskey he offered and drained it. The burn slid smoothly down my throat and warmed my stomach. “I still need to think about it. I’m still deciding, I guess.” “Okay, David.” He chuckled, as if the decision was made and I was the only one unaware of that. “Just let me know. In the meantime, I’ll have someone from maintenance come up and start on that name for your office door.”

I chuckled along with him, shaking my head. Grant was quiet and calm, the opposite of Lindsay. Yet he was just as headstrong and stubborn, in a subdued way, whereas my sister steamrolled over you with her pretty smile and coaxing ways. I snapped out of the thought, my unfailing memory of the certainty of Grant’s reaction, when we reached the door to my apartment. It was smaller than what I wanted; less permanent, too. I had thought about starting to look for homes to buy after the upcoming holidays when the market always picked up, but now I wasn’t going anywhere. Not until I knew if Camden would consider going with me. She shifted the weight on her feet. “You okay?” “Yeah,” she whispered, grinning. “Why wouldn’t I be? I mean, this isn’t weird, right? We’re going to one of my friends’ apartments to…” Blush stained her cheeks. She was becoming so much more comfortable with me, I was seeing it less and less. My thumb ran along her cheekbone as the color receded. I wanted to coax it back. “To do what?” Her eyelids fluttered closed. “You know.” “I was going to suggest a drink and a movie.” I leaned forward, blocking her body against the door to the apartment. One arm bent and above her head, my forearm pressing against the door, I settled my other hand low on her hip. “Was there something else you wanted?” Her tongue slid along the seam of her lips. “I don’t…” “Can’t think straight? Have a hard time speaking when I’m this close to you? When my breath tickles your ear and your body is burning for something more than alcohol?” She whimpered, arching her hips toward me. God, she was so obviously sexy, so needy. “I promised you I’d go slow. Just this morning we discussed this.” “I don’t want slow.” Her voice was breathy. She shook her head and reached out, yanking my hips to hers. Her fingers slid through the belt loops and she tugged, pulling me until I was flush against her center, and rubbed herself along the friction of my denim. Smoky, cloudy green eyes focused on mine. “I don’t want slow, David. I want you.” I brushed my lips across hers, breathing in the scent of her and her inhale, the taste of her, and pulled back before the kiss deepened and I took her in the hallway where neighbors could see us. I pulled her against my side with one arm wrapped around her lower back and unlocked the door, taking her mouth with mine as I shoved her inside. “It’s a good thing you have me, then, isn’t it?” She mumbled an incoherent response. Her body warm and melded to mine, I decided the night of a drink and movie could wait. “You’ve seen the place, right? So there’s no need for a tour?” She hummed. I took that as an answer. This was the part of her I loved. The soft parts of her only I got to see. It had nothing to do with her curves or her flesh; it was her expression and the way she gave herself to me so easily, so readily, even when I’d almost broken that.

“Upstairs,” I murmured, sliding my lips to the crook of her neck. “It’s my favorite room anyway.” — She stood in front of me, flushed with desire, fidgeting with nerves. Her eyes scanned the room and her lips parted as her chest rose and fell in tight, quickened breaths. “You okay?” I pressed my fingers to her cheeks before sliding them back to her hair and down the length of it. I wanted her hair fisted in my hand when she was beneath me. Her entire body quivered as my fingers glided through the length of her hair, tugging it gently when I reached the ends. Her eyes popped open. “I’m good.” “You look nervous.” She shook her head, a timid smile tilting her lips. “I’m not, but I want to make sure I always please you.” Silly girl. She had no idea how much she already did. My hand fell from her hair to her hip and I pulled her against me. Too many clothes separated us, something I’d rectify soon. But I wanted her pliant and excited, not nervous and intimidated. I looked down at her, trying to let everything I felt for her, the fact that I was falling in love with her—had been falling in love with her for months, ever since I first saw her—shine in my eyes. I hoped like hell she saw it in the darkened bedroom. She lifted her hand and pressed her palm to my cheek, urging me down to her. She let out a shuddering breath right before she rose to her toes and pressed her lips to mine. I was done for. Gone. Lost in the sea of complication that was everything Camden with the taste of her trembling lips pressing against mine. I took over, moved my other hand to her neck and held her against me, sliding my tongue into her mouth. Her body tightened and shook, showing me her physical desire, and I could no longer wait to feel all of her again. Explore her body with a patience I hadn’t shown in Jamaica, but hoped I had now. She’d wanted slow, and I’d promised I could give it to her. Tonight would be hours of slowness, hours of me taking my time…bringing her over the edge over and over again. I stepped back reluctantly, licking my lips to absorb every drop of her, and my hands went to the loosely tied belt at her waist. “Ready?” “More than I ever thought possible.” I laughed softly as I quickly undid the cotton belt and let it fall to the ground. My hands went to her abdomen, where a button had been hidden by the belt, and I undid it quickly. I stilled my hands, forced myself to not rush through any moment. The fabric of her dress was soft against my palms as I caressed her shoulders, but nothing could beat the softness of her skin when I began pushing the dress down her arms, reveling in every inch of her. It fell to the ground, pooling like a pile of feathers at her feet.

Damn…“You’re beautiful,” I whispered, my voice husky and thick. “Everywhere. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you.” Her hands went to my hips, her fingers sliding to the front of my jeans, but I stopped her. “We’ll get to me. You first.” “I had that this morning.” “And you’ll have it again.” Always, I thought. I tried to bite back the word out of fear of scaring her, but what the hell. I was all in and she needed to know that. “You’ll always come first with me, Camden.” She inhaled a gasp at my serious tone and my eyes reluctantly pulled off her flat stomach and the curve of her breasts, grazed over her flushed collarbones and throat, and met her gaze. “I mean that. You know that, right?” She nibbled her bottom lip before popping it free. “I’m beginning to believe it.” God, she slayed me to the core. When I first saw Camden, I never would have thought she carried an ounce of insecurity inside her. Always so poised, so perfectly dressed and made up, I never could have guessed the depth of her. “Believe it,” I whispered, hovering my lips over hers. “And then get on the bed. I seriously, very badly, need to taste you.” I kissed her quickly and smiled. “Everywhere.” A quiet laugh fell from her lips, but she moved backward until she was sitting on the bed. As she scooted back, she unhooked her bra, then shimmied her silvery lace panties down her long, toned, and tanned legs. I followed her movements with my eyes and undressed. Her eyes drank me in with a hungry stare as I reached behind my neck and tugged off my shirt. I dropped it to the floor with her dress and divested myself of my shoes and jeans, leaving on my boxer briefs for now. If I freed my cock, I’d grow too impatient to keep my promise to her. I leaned over the edge of the bed and took her ankles in my hands, then brought them up to my mouth and slid my lips over them, alternating legs and grazing every inch of her like I’d promised with my kisses and my tongue. She laughed softly when I kissed the area behind her knee. Her skin pebbled with pleasured bumps as I relentlessly covered her body with my kisses. My cock demanded attention and my balls grew heavy with need until I climbed onto the bed and spread her legs. My hands slid along her thighs, my lips following. My self-control broke when I reached her center. “David!” she cried out, arching into me as I licked through her slickened core. Her fingers dug into my shoulders, spurring me on, and I didn’t stop. I feasted on her, my fingers working her clit, alternating teasing circles with my tongue and my hands. I slid my hands up to her breasts, tugging and playing with her nipples while her body bucked beneath me, more wildly, more fiercely, and more freely than I’d seen her move. It was delicious. It was mind-boggling, inspiring to know that the Camden everyone else saw let herself go when she was beneath me, under my touch. Her thighs quivered, trembling with the need for release, and I gave it to her. Sinking fingers deep into her wet sex, I pressed against her with my tongue.

Her body convulsed as she cried out my name, chanted she was coming, over and over again, while I took her over the edge. I slowed with the rhythm of her body, using a free hand to shove down my boxer briefs. As her orgasm left her, I pulled my body off hers for only a moment so I could dig out a condom from the bedside table. I ripped it open and rolled it on and met her back on the bed. “I was going to go slow, was going to take hours with you,” I whispered, kissing her neck and tasting the salt from her sweat. “I can’t.” Her hands fell to my hips, slid around to my backside, and cupped my ass, tugging me against her. “Don’t. Please don’t go slow.” I groaned. The feel of my dick sliding through her heated folds was almost too much, but I needed her in a different way. “Roll over,” I commanded, my voice rough. I wasn’t bossy in bed, didn’t tend to be, anyway. But I needed to be deep inside her, holding her hair, driving her crazy, more than I could remember ever needing anything before. I rose to my knees as she moved and when she was on her hands and knees in front of me, I slid my hand down the length of her back. Wrapping my other hand around my dick, I slid it through her crease. She shivered, gasped, and moaned. What a beautiful sound. It was that moment I knew— that sound, that need coming from her unbidden and unable to be hidden, was a sound I wanted to hear every day, forever. “David,” she whimpered as I teased her. “Please. Now.” “You got it, honey.” I sank deep inside her, her walls tightening around me. Heat exploded around my sheathed dick and I groaned. “Fuck, you feel good. I can’t wait to have you bare, feel the inside of your walls rub against my dick, Camden.” I seated myself balls deep. Slow was forgotten. Desperate need and desire clawed through my veins, inflaming my skin. My balls pulled tight as I began to move. I thrust against her without an ounce of control. I lost myself in her, lost myself in the feel of her, in the pleasured and desperate cries she made as I slammed against her, repeatedly, until I couldn’t hold anything back. Leaning forward, I wrapped my hand around her hair, tugging her backward until she was on her knees, her back pressed to my chest. My other hand slid to her front and ran over her clit. “Kiss me,” I growled, pulling on her hair fisted around my hand until she turned to me. “Kiss me and give me everything.” She whimpered and my mouth hit hers. And as she came, I released everything I had deep inside of her, swallowing her groans and her cries while I gave her mine.

Chapter 28 Camden Sunlight pouring in through a window and a warm body pressed beneath me reminded me exactly where I was when I woke up. Not that I could ever forget the night before. After David had taken me rough and fast, we’d cleaned up and climbed back into his bed where he’d put on a movie, snuggling me up to his side. We were twenty minutes into a playful comedy before I shifted my legs, slid one of my thighs over his, and grew restless. I couldn’t help myself around him. I didn’t want to help myself around David. He was proving himself to be everything I’d ever wanted in a man. His preppy pretty-boy looks attracted me to him. His character, the way he cared for his friends and his family and even the patients that he’d lost, sold me on the kind of guy he was. Rough and strong and intelligent, but also compassionate and full of heart and loyalty. With David by my side, I would never have anything to fear again. Opening my eyes, I saw his beautiful chest beneath my cheek. Sparse, coarse hair sprinkled over his chest and down the center of his abs to where it disappeared at his waist, hidden by the sheets pulled up to his navel. I trailed my fingertips over every edge of his chest and stomach, reveling in the way his abs tightened as I freely explored his body. He flinched when I ran a finger over his side. A quick laugh burst from his lips, and I lifted my head to see David smiling at me, sleepy and amused. “Are you ticklish?” I asked, dragging my finger over his side again. “Yes.” His abs tightened as he laughed the word. “Only there, though. You found my sweet spot.” I could think of more sweet spots he had, other areas I wanted to get my hands and my lips around. “Good morning,” I whispered, moving my hand away from his side so I didn’t tickle him again. His hand slid up my back and cupped the back of my head. He pulled me toward him and brushed his lips against mine. I barely had time to open my mouth before his tongue slid inside. Morning breath be damned, he always tasted masculine, and even the morning scent of him turned me on. I pulled back, my body already warming from a simple taste of him. “I want to play with you,” I said. He smirked. “Then by all means, go for it. My body is your playground.” I chuckled, fighting down the apprehension and forcing myself to be confident, to be sexy, to be uninhibited

Before I could second-guess myself, before I could talk myself out of it, I pushed the sheets off his waist and climbed on top of him, straddling him at the hips, and felt his already hardened cock press against my backside. My eyes rolled, pleasure sparking in ways that continued to surprise me. With my hands on his chest, I leaned down, my hair falling in thick waves, blanketing us in so all we saw was each other. “I want to taste you, like you did to me. Everywhere.” His hand came up and threaded through my hair, making me shiver. “I’m not stopping you, Cam. Every part of me is yours.” It was a declaration, one he’d started making last night. I also knew it was true. He was giving me everything and, God, I wanted to return that. I would. Soon. I made a silent promise to force myself to do it, to step out of the fear that always kept me boxed in and do it. After I pleased him like he did me. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his, inhaling another taste of him and his scent before I slid down his body. My hands led the way, dancing over his skin in soft brushes. My lips followed until I was at his hips, my hand around his cock and my mouth at his tip. I took him into my mouth and slid my tongue around his tip. He pushed himself farther into my mouth as his hands pushed back my hair. I pleasured him, sucked him and tasted him. Keeping my eyes on him, every move he made, every groan that fell from his lips, spurred me on. His glazed eyes never left mine even as his lips parted and his breath quickened. “Fuck, Cam. That’s so good.” I hummed around him, taking him as deep as I could, and dropped a hand to his balls, playing with the tightened, sensitive flesh. The first time I’d given him a blow job, I’d been scared and nervous. I’d been embarrassed at my inexperience, and he didn’t let me finish. As my saliva slickened his cock so he slid easily into my mouth, I wanted to draw him over the edge, slowly…passionately…the way he always did for me. I gave myself over to him, to his tightly controlled thrusts, to the taste of him and the feel of him and the growing desire, when he suddenly pressed his hands to my shoulders, stilling me. “Stop,” he groaned, need heavy in his voice. I pulled off him slowly, pumping him with my hand. “I want to finish.” He grinned. “And I want your pussy on my mouth when I finish in yours.” Oh. God. Yes. Desire at the thought pooled deep inside me and I moved before he had to ask me again. When I was centered over him, his hands on my thighs, he pulled me to him. To his mouth. “Oh!” I gasped as he slid his tongue through my slit. “Suck me, Cam. Hurry.” I forced myself to focus on his hard cock jutting in the air and lowered myself. “That’s it,” he encouraged me, his voice gruff and needy. “Take me as deep as you can, and be prepared for it to go quick.”

I didn’t have to give him the same reminder. As I bent over him, licking his shaft and taking him deep like he’d demanded, my thighs were always burning with the need to release. I whimpered around his shaft, hard and thick and veined in my mouth, while he ate me out in the beautiful way only David could do to me. And as my orgasm spiraled down my back, to my inner thighs and my center, I whimpered around him, wrapped a hand around his cock, and pumped him faster while he took me there quicker than I would have thought possible. I moaned and my eyes squeezed closed, the pleasure too much. And when he pressed his fingers into me, I was done…falling over the edge and soaring to the highest heights I’d ever dreamed possible. He groaned against me and his cock flared in my mouth. I swallowed him deep as he came, releasing into me while continuing to draw out every tremor of my orgasm. It was beautiful. It was free. Tears sprang to my eyes as I drank him down, releasing him when he stopped twitching in my mouth, and then I climbed back over him, my smile lazy and my eyes still wet. I grinned before he could be concerned about my tears. “Wow…you’re really good at that.” He pulled me to him, his chest vibrating and his laughter ringing in my ears. When we caught our breath, I pushed my hair off my face and propped my elbows onto his chest. “I want to do something today. Something wild and crazy.” “I thought what we just did was wild and crazy. But what did you have in mind?” I frowned. “Do you have to work today?” “Nope. Already called Declan this morning and told him I wouldn’t be available all weekend.” “You were awake already?” He’d been beneath me when I woke up. I’d assumed I woke him. He slid a finger along my cheekbone to my jaw. His eyes followed his every movement and I watched him, unable to pull my eyes away. “I’m used to not getting much sleep. I was up early, but after I called Declan and made coffee, you were still sleeping, so I climbed back into bed with you.” “And just…held me?” “Is that weird?” He arched a brow. “No…it’s nice. I like it.” His returning grin was brilliant. “And I like you. Plus, you think I can give you wild and crazy, which is even better.” I saw something spark in his eyes, something that shined excitement and ideas. I pushed down the fear. I’d asked for this. I wanted it. “I think you give great wild and crazy, and based on that sexy little smirk on your face, you know just the place.” — All the blood rushed to my toes. Through the thick suit, heavy straps holding me close and pressed to David’s chest, I longed to be able to feel him.

“I said wild and crazy, not deadly and stupid!” I shouted through the rush of the wind pummeling my cheeks. As the door opened before us, I resisted the undeniable urge to look down. Don’t look down. Don’t do it. I squeezed my eyes closed. Behind me, David nudged my head with his chin. “You got past your fear of heights on the cliff.” “Forty feet’s a lot different than three thousand.” “Yeah, but now you have a parachute…and me, strapped to your back.” Skydiving. When he’d grinned, sated from an orgasm and all relaxed beneath me, and I suggested we do something crazy, skydiving had never entered my mind. Apparently David had taken my willingness to jump off a cliff to mean I wanted to kill myself. Yet somehow I’d gone through the preliminary classes, spent almost an hour jumping off padded walls in the plane’s hangar and learning how to roll to the ground. I had squeezed his hand so harshly while the instructor went over jumping and landing techniques, I’d almost feared I’d broken his hand. Then I learned that David loved to skydive. He did it several times a year, claiming that the rush of free-falling through the sky at thirty-five hundred feet in the air could put life into perspective when it felt like it was running away from him faster than a speeding train. He’d done it so much, he was actually capable of jumping with me instead of an instructor like the other jumpers in the plane. It was official. David was crazy. My hands wrapped around the straps at my chest and I tugged to ensure they were as tight as possible. The taste of vomit bubbled in my throat and I choked it back. “Oh my God,” I whispered on a chant. With each rush of my breath, I chanted faster, my heart rate skyrocketing inside me and making my veins boil. We were next in line; the tandem pair in front of us had already flung themselves out of the door and opened their parachute. Behind me, David nudged me forward. I focused on looking straight out, at only skyline and thin, hazy clouds. I concentrated on the weight of him behind me, the way one of his hands had been holding onto my hip since we stood for our turn. “Ready?” he asked, but there wasn’t really time to answer. “On three!” the instructor called to us. I closed my eyes, loosened my limbs. There was no backing out now. I’d become as insane as David. I’d surrendered to this craziness hours ago when I agreed to it. He’d barely had to coax me. Just cupped my cheek and whispered and smiled that stupid, sexy grin and promised, “I would never let anything hurt you.” Through the ringing in my ears, I heard the instructor call out, “One!” David inched me forward until my toes were at the edge of the plane. I extended my arms and held on to the edges of the doorway like I’d been taught.

“Two!” “I’ve got you,” David promised. My grip tightened to the doorway. My other hand clung to my harness. “Three!” “Jump!” I barely felt the movement. I bent my knees, let go of the doorway, and the weight at my back propelled me forward. David launched me out of the plane. Screams shattered my ears, and it took me moments to realize they were my own. The ground rushed up; browns and greens and black circles I knew were ponds seemed to move at lightning speed. My arms flung out and my legs were straight behind us, bent like they were supposed to be. “Hold on!” David shouted near my ear. “We need to pull the cord in five.” He counted down, his voice ringing in my ear. I prayed the chute would open and moved my hand to the handle on my chest straps. “Ready?” he asked. “Yes!” I hoped like hell I was. Please open. Please open. Please— “Now!” I tugged the cord, yanked it as hard as I could, and we were suddenly jerked to what felt like an immediate stop. “Holy crap!” “It’s amazing!” David’s voice rang in my ears but I barely heard him. There was too much to see, too much to feel as we floated at a slower pace. Everything around me was serene and completely quiet, and I finally managed to scan the horizon, to look below us to the ground that was climbing closer to us with every breath I took. “Wow.” I breathed out the word on a sigh, expelling all the breath that had felt clamped inside of me. “This is incredible.” It was. Absolutely. The ponds turned from black to blue. The browns turned green. The sky turned a brighter blue as the clouds disappeared and through it all, I couldn’t believe I was doing this. Skydiving, hooked to a parachute and to the man who held not only my safety…but my heart.

Chapter 29 David If perfect weekends could be designed, I couldn’t have thought up a better one. Before skydiving that Saturday, we’d swung by Camden’s house, where I’d told her to pack a bag for the weekend. At her insistence, she’d gone next door to check on Sal Lorenz. The stocky elderly man had given me a disapproving glare when she’d shown up, overnight bag in hand, to let him know she was going to be gone. He was sweet and harmless, though, and obviously desired to protect her and care for her. While Camden might not admit she felt the same, I liked that she had him looking out for her. It had been three weeks now and we’d spent the rest of the time together, at my place or hers, mostly mine because I wanted to take her on every surface. The couch, the kitchen table, the counter…the floor. I’d had her everywhere, and even in that moment, with her curled up next to me on the couch, dressed only in my T-shirt with nothing underneath, I still wanted more of her. I wanted to know the secrets I knew she still held behind a veil I felt thinning every day. I wanted to know she felt the same about me as I did about her. I wanted everything. I ran my hand through her hair and down to her shoulder. I liked that every time she was close to me, she didn’t keep any distance between us, at least not physically. She never hesitated to rest against me, or drape her arm over my stomach and slide her hand beneath my shirt, so we were pressed close, skin-to-skin, even when clothed. “Doing anything tomorrow?” “I have a few more interviews this week.” I hated that she hadn’t found anything yet, but the market was picking up and she’d been busy interviewing. Plus, it had only been a few weeks. Once she quit, she received a glowing recommendation letter from Shelly, her former boss. I’d thought her being forced out of a job was a pussy move. Camden was trying to put it behind her. “You?” she asked. I relaxed back into the couch and held her closer. “I have that meeting with Grant tomorrow.” We’d talked weeks ago. It had taken me fourteen days to gather my courage to consider stepping back into McGregor Motors. Grant’s words still rang clear in my mind. There’s always a place for you. What if I went to the office, spent the day with Grant and the board and whoever the hell else he wanted me to talk to, and then decided I still didn’t want it? The uncertainty had been building for days. Weeks. Months, if I was willing to be honest.

“To tour the company? See your new office?” The lilt in her voice was teasing. The way I tensed beneath her wasn’t. “I don’t know, Cam.” My lips brushed against the top of her head. “I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do. Any advice?” Some days, I missed the scrubs and I missed the victories that came from a successful surgery. But could I handle being burdened by the losses? Some doctors—probably most—had an ego the size of Texas. They didn’t just act like they were God in a surgical room, they believed they were God. I’d never felt that kind of certainty. But did I want to sit behind a desk all day? Eventually, behind the desk where my father had breathed his last breath? Slinging drinks and living off a trust fund seemed like a hell of a good time. Work, laugh, talk, and leave it all when the lights turned off. But that wasn’t me, either. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. My other hand fell from her shoulder to her waist and settled on her hip. I knew I’d touched the scar when she flinched before relaxing. That damn scar. I wanted to ask her about it every time I touched it or kissed it or saw it and she tried to hide it from me. “I’m not the best person to give anyone advice.” The reluctance in her voice sent a pain to my chest. “Why is that?” She shook her head, buried her face into my chest, and shuddered. Sitting back and waiting for her to open up stopped being important. I wanted to rip down the veil, tear down her walls. I wanted her to be as honest with me as I’d been with her, and it hurt that she wouldn’t. “Don’t hide from me,” I whispered, and held her tight to me. “Don’t you know that I want to know everything about you? That I want all of you?” “I’m giving you all I have.” Even she didn’t sound like she believed the lie. “How’d you get the scar, Camden?” She jerked in my hold like I’d been the one to give it to her, but I squeezed her tighter against me, held her in place with my hand on her hip and her scar, silently begging her to give me everything she had. “I told you.” Pain laced her strained voice. “It was an accident.” “What kind of accident? And how could it be so bad that you won’t tell me?” Her hands hit my chest and she shoved herself up, launching off my body and out of my grasp. Jumping to my feet, I followed her, standing close by while she paced. She forced her hands through her hair and stared at me, and her tormented expression made me want to stop. I couldn’t. I loved her too much to allow her to be in so much pain, even when I was currently the one causing it. “Why are you doing this?” “Doing what?” I asked innocently. “Trying to get to know you?”

“You know me better than anyone.” “Not anyone.” I stepped forward slowly. My chest ached when she jumped two steps back. Away from me. “The person who knows where you got that scar and how you got it knows you more.” Her face crumpled and she shook her head violently. Her hands began trembling as she wrapped them around her waist. “Why? Why are you doing this?” She repeated the question, dazed. Her eyes barely focused on me as she built her walls back up, brick by brick. “Why won’t you tell me?” My words were a hammer, pummeling through her walls as she tried to erect them. “Stop!” She buried her face in her hands as she cried. Her shoulders shook as she fought through the pain, or succumbed to it. “I don’t understand. You said you’d be patient. It was an accident, and I don’t like talking about it. Can’t you see that?” I saw it clearly. Throwing myself on the altar, knowing I was about to get burned, I did it anyway. I closed the distance between us, three quick strides, until she’d backed herself against a wall. My hands settled next to her head, boxing her in. “It’s difficult to be patient when the woman I love is in so much pain, Camden.” Her chest heaved and her eyes snapped up to mine. “What?” “You heard me.” I licked my lips, leaned forward, and brushed my mouth over her cheek to her ear. I’d revel in the way her body shivered at my touch another time. In the fact that even when hiding from me, she was still so easily affected by me. “I love you.”

Chapter 30 Camden “I love you.” The quiet, glittering echo of his words rang through me like a resounding gong. Banging and crashing. My jaw fell open and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He gave me everything so easily. I was falling for him. I cared about him more than any man I’d ever been with before. More than I ever thought possible. “Your scar. What happened to you?” He snapped me back to the present like the flick of a rubber band. “I can’t…” “You don’t want to.” “Why are you making me? Why are you doing this? We were doing so well…” “Because I love you,” he repeated. “And I know you feel it, too. And I want all of you.” And damn it, he was right. About all of it. “I can’t be in this alone,” he said, his voice thick with pain I knew I was causing and didn’t seem able to stop. “When you pushed me, I caved. Why can’t you do this for me?” “I…” Three simple words. They lodged in my throat and I rubbed the burn with my hand on my neck. I wanted to say them. I felt them. I knew I did. I had stronger feelings for David than I had ever felt for anyone. Fear froze me, slammed down between us like a clear sheet of glass. You couldn’t see it, but as his hopeful expression turned to pain, it was thick and obvious between us. “You don’t have to say it back.” I couldn’t. Would I ever be able to? In my panic, I saw Trenton all over again, walking away because I couldn’t do what he needed me to, couldn’t open up. “I…” Why couldn’t I speak? A whirlwind rushed around me, sucking me into a vortex. In front of me, David stepped back. A foot that felt like a mile as his hands fell to his sides. He’d pursued me steadfastly, given me time, and I could see it in his expression as he took another step back: everything was in my court now. I hated the distance but couldn’t reach out to pull him back. “I’m sorry…I have to go,” I said. “Don’t.” “I have to, I’m sorry.” “Cam, this doesn’t change things. I scared you, but all you have to do is know I love you. I didn’t say it to hear it back; I said it because I felt it.”

My trembling hand swiped across my mouth. Kiss by kiss, he’d torn down my walls. Panicked breath by panicked breath, they were going up again without my being able to stop it. “Why does this scare you?” He reached for me, and I let him. I let him place tender hands around my shoulders, curve along my biceps, and grip me tightly but gently at the same time. “What aren’t you telling me?” Everything. Nothing. I had given him as much as I could, and it still wasn’t enough. Tears burned my eyes and the back of my throat, making it hard to breathe, hard to see him. I was hopeless. This…this inability to truly be free. It paralyzed me and killed me, and I couldn’t stop it. “Goodbye, David.” He scowled, fingers digging into my flesh like a warning. “You mean good night.” I didn’t. I’d seen this moment before. I’d lived it before, yet it hadn’t caused the intense pain that went straight into my ribs when it happened before. It didn’t matter. This was the beginning of the end. When I didn’t answer, his hands went to the back of his head and he groaned. “Wow. I can’t believe you’re doing this.” Tears burned the backs of my eyes and filled them, making it difficult to see him, but I’d gone too far to go back now. I should have known. All my bullshit ideas about moving on stalled with a simple question. With my head bowed to hide my tears, I scurried past him and to the bedroom, where I’d left my clothes and purse. I quickly gathered everything, tossing the clothes into the bag I’d brought for the weekend. A weekend that had been perfect and beautiful and full of sex and freedom and laughter and the hope of a future I’d always wanted but was never brave enough to reach for. David had given me all of that, though. Every single moment, and then he’d crushed it with three little words and the realization of my own inadequacies. I zipped my bag and turned to leave, only to immediately freeze in my tracks when David was at the doorway, blocking my exit. God. Why wouldn’t he let me go? Why did he keep trying to fight a losing battle? His hands gripped the edges of the doorframe, white-knuckling the wood like he was resisting the urge to pummel something. Or someone. Who could blame him? He’d bared his soul and I’d slammed down a wall. “Please let me leave,” I said, still frozen to my spot. “Tell me what happened. Tell me why you don’t want to talk about it. Tell me something real, Camden. Then I’ll let you leave.” “I’ve told you real.” “You’ve told me half-truths and avoided anything that’s truly real, that deep, burningfeeling-in-your-gut kind of real. You hide it from everyone. You close yourself off, and yet you

let me in. I want to know: why me? And why are you shutting me out now?” I hitched my bag higher on my shoulder and forced my feet to push me forward. “Let me go.” “Tell me.” “No.” He jerked back. His hold on the door, unyielding, snapped him back. “No?” “I can’t.” “You don’t want to. You’ve buried so much truth for so long you don’t know how to begin, but you can give it to me. You can trust me with it.” “Why are you pushing this?” “I’ve told you. Because I love you and I want you to be free from whatever clings to you. That’s what people do for the people they love—they help them live free.” My skin itched. Blood surged through my veins in indignation. My teeth ground together so hard I thought I might snap them all. “Move.” “Talk to me.” “No!” I shouted so loudly it rang in my ears. God, I was dying. He was killing me and he was unrelenting. Why did he waste so much time on me? He leaned forward and bellowed, “Tell me!” “I was almost raped!” The words flew from my throat, scratchy and rough and in a voice so unrecognizable, I snapped my head around, searching for who had shouted my truth for me. Blood drained from David’s face and his hands fell from the door. “What?” Oh my God. What had I done? Squeezing my eyes closed, my body quaked with the realization that voice had been mine. And I’d shouted it. I’d revealed my shame. “What?” he asked again and stepped toward me, slowly, calmly, his blue eyes cloudy with shock. I shook my head and took a trembling step backward. My knees shook so violently, I kept moving until I collapsed at the edge of the bed, unable to hold myself up. As David moved closer, I threw up my hands and stopped him. “Don’t.” “Camden…” I heard the pity, saw it in his eyes. I’d never wanted him to know. Had never wanted him to see that side of me. “Talk to me, sweetheart.” I looked away, tears coming so thick and heavy they fell to my lap, and I didn’t bother wiping them away. “Why are you making me do this?” “Because it hurts now, but the only way to get better is to talk about it.” “I don’t want to.” I swiped a hand across my face. He reached out for me and I flinched, shoulders tightening to my ears, and pulled away. “Will you let me hold you?” I said nothing. God, I wanted it. And I didn’t. I wanted to be alone.

Memories rushed back to me. The box I’d kept them so deeply buried in burst open with the admission I’d shouted and now nothing could stop them. The pain, the fear, the terror and the blood and the running and the screaming…all of it made me quake, and I barely recognized it when the weight of him dipped the bed next to me. His arms folded me to his chest as I sobbed violently, tears soaking both of us, and I lost the energy to pull away. I lost the energy to fight. Finally, after sixteen years of running and hiding and fighting everything that day brought forth in me, I surrendered. — The room was dark when I peeled my eyes open. I blinked harshly, trying to wet my eyes and erase the sandpaper feeling, and rolled over. I was in David’s bed, in his bedroom, and I was alone. On top of me, a soft blanket I’d seen draped over a chair in the corner of the room covered my body, tucked tightly around me. I must have fallen asleep on top of the covers. I couldn’t remember falling asleep. I could only remember thinking of everything about that day when Evan had forced himself on top of me. All of it had flown through my mind, but while I’d been completely devastated, sobbing with despair and the pain of admitting what had happened to me, what had irrevocably changed me, David had held me. Eventually, he had lain on the bed next to me, pulling me down with him, and I didn’t have the energy to fight it. I pushed myself to sitting and looked around the room. The sight of David sitting in that corner chair made me gasp and jerk back in shock. “You’re awake,” he said. Elbows propped on splayed knees, his hands fell between them. “How do you feel?” I cleared my throat. “Rough.” “I’m sorry I pushed you that hard. I shouldn’t have…I should have respected your need for privacy.” He was apologizing to me? I shook my head to clear it. I opened my mouth to tell him his apologies were pointless. Pressing my hand to my throat, I rubbed it, warmed it so I could tell him. Everything. He looked out the window, refusing to look at me again. A chill spread through my body, and I knew. It was too much for him. My past too heavy to hold, to take on. “I’ll leave you alone. It’s late, but whenever you’re ready, I’ll take you back home.” “What?” “I’m sorry I was a dick, Cam. You don’t need that. I just—shit, I’m so sorry. I knew it was big, but I couldn’t have guessed that, and no one deserves to be pushed into talking about that unless they want to.” He stood, pushing his hands down his jeans, and groaned. “I’ll be downstairs when you’re

ready. Or I can call you a cab.” As he turned his back on me, I couldn’t let him feel like that. None of that had been his fault. Not really. I’d been the one hiding secrets when I forced him to tell me his. The truth wouldn’t come no matter how hard I tried to speak. Then I was left with the back of David’s body, his slow but sure strides taking him away from me. And everything I’d thought I’d been feeling tilted and crashed to the ground.

David I’d pushed too hard. I’d pushed too fast. And when she shattered, losing herself in her grief and her past, I could only think of one person. Gavin Merryfield. I’d destroyed him with words and my inability to heal his wife. I’d just done the same to Camden. I hadn’t used a scalpel but I’d dug just as deep, and when she woke up after wearing herself out with body-racking sobs, she’d looked skittish and full of shame and full of destruction. I’d forced her to face it. To relive it. But I had the choice to not continue hurting her. I wasn’t walking away. Only stepping away. At some point, she had to decide whether I was the worth the risk. It would kill me to take her home, to give her that choice, but I’d been selfish and needy. I was still being selfish…I was thinking about me. I needed to know she felt the same about me. But she had to do it in her own way, in her own time, without my pushing and shoving.

Chapter 31 Camden I’d turned into a woman I didn’t recognize. I’d turned into a woman with strong emotions, and every day without David made them spin out of control. Somehow along the way, I’d fallen so hard and so deep for him, I’d become Paige, where I actually imagined happily ever afters for people like me. I’d started believing that love conquers all bullshit and that hope comes in the morning. I started to hope Paige’s whispers of princes that bring princesses back to life with a kiss could be a reality…that David could be my prince and rescue me from the evil monster lurking in my shadows. It was bullshit. The only thing falling in love did was rattle me and leave me on uncertain footing. It shook me to my core, made my throat hurt and my eyes puffy. It meant using eye drops to hide the sandpaper feeling left by too many tears. A heart shouldn’t hurt so much just because of someone else. It was unnatural. I’d do anything to fix it except be honest. He’d walked away and dropped me off a week ago and I hadn’t heard a word from him, except for his quiet parting shot that made me question everything. “I love you, Camden. Whatever else you think right now, know that. And when you’re ready, come to me. I’ll be here.” Even in the distance, he was being patient. Waiting. At night I imagined David in his bed, his cheek resting on a pillow next to him and inhaling a whiff of the scent of my shampoo. I imagined him longing. Then I woke up, screaming from nightmares that should have been vanquished a decade ago, and it was all hopeless. Running became a chore, no longer my solace, no longer a goal to meet, and when race day had come last week, I’d punked out and didn’t go. Everything I loved seemed darker when David wasn’t around to make me laugh. I didn’t know how much I’d come to love the softness of his touch running through my hair, how much that rainbow of colors on his wrist from stolen hair ties made me smile, until I woke up without that visual reminder close by. I didn’t want to live without him… But when was I ever going to be able to flay myself wide open and let him see the ugliest parts of me? And how long would he wait for me to get to that place? — I spun a slow circle, jaw-dropping beauty everywhere around me. Chelsea’s new home, to

which Aidan had given her keys last week, was majestic and everything she’d always wanted. “I still can’t believe he built a house for you.” She nudged my shoulder with a soft smile. “Us. He built us a house. Bigger than we’ll ever probably need, but I’ll take it anyway because it comes with Aidan.” Tears sprang to my eyes and I tried fruitlessly to shake them away. “How do you do it? How do you go through all the hard things you’ve faced and still smile?” “Silly girl.” She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me in tight. Other than Suzanne, Chelsea was the best friend I’d ever had. She put up with my neurotic lists and plans and my doom-and-gloom personality with a smile and tinkling laughter. The last few months had been hard on her after she watched Aidan’s son die and then watched Derrick’s best friend spiral downward, but somehow she’d survived with smiles and hugs for everyone, while helping Aidan past the worst of it, just by being herself—full of goodness and kindness and undying hope at every turn. “You do it because there’s too much life has to offer. I do it because I’ve always hoped that someday I’ll be given everything I ever wanted.” Her chin wobbled as she spoke, and we both knew what she was thinking about. The four bedrooms upstairs. She and Aidan were moving in immediately, and both of their houses were for sale. Once they sold, they’d claim the largest bedroom with the most gorgeous soaking tub I’d ever seen. The other three bedrooms would most likely remain empty, since Chelsea knew the possibility of her ever having children was a stretch. How she maintained hope, I had no idea, and even now, with her chin shaking and tears pooling, she was still smiling. “Have I ever told you you’re the strongest person I’ve ever met?” I asked. “Have I ever told you that I think you’re stronger than any of us?” I spun on my heels and looked out the windows through her dining area. Large, open windows with a view of rolling land and trees in the distance. It was all the land she’d always wanted, with the kind of guy she’d always dreamed of. And somehow, she still held on to some damn kernel of hope that all the bedrooms upstairs would be filled. How could I possibly be stronger when I was still running? “I understand why you hold yourself back, you know.” Stunned at her words, my back pulled tight and I twisted back around to face her. “What?” She shot me a look full of chagrin and remorse. “Sophomore year of college, we were all out at a bar, and you were back at the dorms, studying. I don’t remember why, but that night it bothered us that we were partying and having fun and you always refused to join us.” “I had a scholarship to maintain.” “I know.” She shrugged and stepped closer. A step filled with caution that sent warning flares to my nerves. “But it still bothered us, and well, Suzanne was drunk. Really drunk. She told us what happened to you and then swore us to secrecy.” Blood rushed from my face and I stepped backward, away from my friend. Away from Chelsea, who had known about Evan for years and never said a word? Or Paige? How could Suzanne say something and then not tell me? How could none of them say anything?

“I…” I couldn’t speak. Betrayal and anger suffused my veins and made that warning flare burn bright. “It was so long ago,” Chelsea explained, staying far away from me. “And I’m so sorry, but you never talked about it. For years, I had hoped you would, that you’d trust us enough with all the parts that made you you. After Cory left me, I finally realized that it wasn’t about trust with you; it was just you never wanting to admit it.” “I can’t believe this.” “I get it,” she said. “I do, in a way that many others might not, because I feel my own shame. It was the hardest thing to do to admit I might not be able to give a man a family someday, that in the end, that was really why Cory left, because I was just half a woman and he wanted a whole, working one.” “Chelsea—” Cory was an asshole. He left because he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. He didn’t deserve Chelsea in the first place. She kept speaking like I hadn’t tried to stop her. “But you’re forgetting something, the most important part of everything you’ve experienced.” At my silence, she walked to me quickly, moving in front of me before I could skitter backward, away from her kindness and her compassion and everything else I admired but that was making my skin itch. “You’re forgetting that you survived,” she stated, and curled her hands around my shoulders. “You’re forgetting that in all of your embarrassment in thinking that you had done something to gain Evan’s attention, that you did something to make him think you wanted him in that way when you couldn’t have because you were just a child, you’re forgetting that you survived. You fought and you made it and you were free, and because of you…because of your willingness to help the police, he’s never been able to hurt another person.” “Stop.” Every word lashed through my already broken heart. It had been another week since I hadn’t talked to David. Another week where I fell asleep every night wishing I could be the woman he needed, a woman who could return everything to him that he gave so freely. Every time Chelsea spoke, my chest ached until it felt like my heart could launch right out of me. “Don’t you get it, Camden? You have nothing to feel ashamed about. That man was a predator and you were a child, and when you could have surrendered to him, you not only fought back, you won.” My body trembled. “I didn’t.” “You didn’t?” Her hands squeezed. She shook me like she was trying to knock sense into me. “You didn’t stab a man who tried to rape you? You didn’t call for help and tell the police everything? You didn’t meet with lawyers afterward, several times, in order to ID Evan and then sit there reliving every moment you went through in order to put him behind bars?” “My mom—” “No. Don’t you get it? You did it. You survived and you fought and yet somehow, you refuse to see how absolutely amazing you are. How strong you are, how you come from a shitty, shitty trailer and what some people would think was no hope for a future, and you’ve carved

it yourself, with blood and sweat and determination, and you’ve surrounded yourself with a group of friends who love you more than you can possibly imagine, and it’s in part because we see you. All of you. After we learned what happened to you even if we weren’t supposed to know, and every day since then…we’ve been honored to call you a friend.” My body turned to ice and I stood there, unable to speak. Chelsea didn’t give me the chance, anyway. “Don’t you see? David sees everything, absolutely everything in you, and him knowing the truth and all your fears will only make him love you more.” “You suck,” I sobbed, wiping tears from my cheeks, but grinning. “Yeah, well, you didn’t let me feel sorry for myself, and I’m done watching you do the same. You’re better than this.” Sweet love to tough love. She pulled me to her chest and hugged me tight, wrapped warmth around my body and it seeped deep inside, warming me in all the places I’d long since thought were dead and buried. “I hate you,” I muttered, my voice muffled by her hair and the strength of her embrace. “Yeah, but you love me a little bit, too, so I’ll think about that part first.” She pulled back and smiled. “Now, tomorrow we’re having Suzanne’s bridal shower at my place, so I expect to see you there and I expect you to show up happy and smiling and moving on.” “I will. Thanks, Chelsea. If I had known you knew…You’re right, it wasn’t about trust.” She shushed me. “I know. But now you know that there’s nothing left to hide. Not from me, from Paige…or from David.” “He’ll be there.” The shower was a couples shower. I was certain the men would mostly sit out on the back deck, grilling and drinking beers, while we sipped on punch and showered Suzanne with enough gifts to fill her house with piles of baby paraphernalia. “And he’s looking forward to seeing you. Trust me, he’s a hot mess, too.” My heart hurt at her words, knowing I was hurting him when I’d never wanted to. For the last two weeks, I’d been a zombie. I hadn’t found comfort in Sal’s cribbage games or banana bread. I hadn’t found a new job yet. Learning David was just as miserable didn’t make me happy; it made me ache. When I climbed into bed that night, I pulled a pillow close to me, inhaling the scent of his cologne, and for the first night in weeks, I didn’t fall asleep with tears in my eyes, but with hope blossoming deep in my heart.

Chapter 32 David One eye on the grill, another on the front door, I was barely paying attention to the company around me. Fall was hitting hard and fast. The heat from the grill was barely enough to warm our bones as I sat outside Chelsea’s small house with Lucas, Jackson, Aidan, Tyson, and Declan. We were all there against our wishes, but I gave Jackson credit for actually acting excited about being at the baby shower for his wife. She’d insisted he see the presents when she opened them instead of unloading them from her car afterward. Based on the size of the growing pile in Chelsea’s living room, I figured the reason the shower was co-ed was that the women knew all of us would help haul that crap into a vehicle and into Suzanne and Jackson’s house afterward. There was way more shit than would fit into Suzanne’s Camry. Camden hadn’t arrived yet, although every other woman was inside, sipping fruit punch or mimosas. My eye on the door was a laser, waiting for a glimpse of her. Starving for it. I’d hardly slept in days, maybe weeks, since I dropped her off at her house. But I needed to know she would come to me, that she’d trust me. I couldn’t be the only one fighting for a relationship, even though I still felt like an asshole for pushing her so hard. “I was almost raped!” That word. Fury still built like a tremor inside my bones, slamming into me like a tidal wave every time I saw the anguished expression, the way her face had crumpled quickly followed by collapsing knees when she’d shouted it. “You looking like you want to strangle someone isn’t going to make Camden come to you, you know.” I ground my teeth at Declan’s words and faced him. Whoever had hurt her, I wanted to kill him. I’d been trained to save lives. Bring people back from the dead. I wanted to slam a scalpel into whoever had hurt her, whoever had damaged her. Then I wanted to save him, heal him…and hurt him all over again. I’d thought of a thousand ways to hurt the bastard who’d tried to rape her. “She’s not even here.” “She will be,” Aidan said, sliding into a metal lawn chair across from me. “Chelsea said she promised she’d be here.” Movement inside grabbed my attention and, like the starving man that I was, I leaped from my chair as Camden appeared. Auburn hair curled and flowing over her shoulders. Creamy sweater that went past her hips

to her thighs. A long, heavy necklace that settled into the space between her full breasts. Navy leggings tucked into heeled boots that came almost to her knees. Everything about her, I noticed in a moment. The bags she lugged in, two in her hands, one under arm. Help her. Stay. Mine. Wait. I gripped the beer bottle tighter in my hand. My other hand curled into a fist and flexed. Contradiction was a bitch. The need to go to her, comfort her, apologize. Tuck my nose into the hollow of her throat and inhale her scent. Wait for her to come to me. Tension pulsed hot and heavy inside me, rolling out in waves until I knew the moment she knew I was watching her. Long lashes on alabaster skin fluttered and her gaze met mine. Shiny pink lips parted and I was done for. I loved her, loved everything about her. From the way she tucked her hair behind her ear, as if she still wasn’t comfortable with it brushing her skin. The way she easily smiled at Chelsea, wrapped her in a tight embrace after Chelsea took her gifts from her hands. How she tossed her head back and laughed at something Paige had said. The way every time she moved a step farther inside the house…closer to me and too damn far away…her eyes met mine with each fleeting glance she tried to hide from me. I saw all of her. From every wounded, scared piece of her that was all bubble wrapped for her protection to the love she shined on everyone else she met. She had so much love to give, yet was so reluctant to receive it. Her mysteries had drawn me to her. Her vulnerability set me on fire for her. I swallowed audibly. Forgot the men who were around me. Watching me? Who gave a crap? She turned me inside out, into a creepy stalker, scowling as a blush crept up her cheeks at something Chelsea whispered in her ear. About me? Please…yes…let that heated skin be for me. All for me. I was going crazy. A hand clamped to my shoulder and I was jerked back. Aidan laughed, loud and boisterous, when he saw my expression. One of pain? One of love? One of what the fuck have I done by insisting she come to me? “Holy shit,” he exclaimed, his hand shaking me, knocking things loose. Putting things back together. I no longer knew anything but that I was a mess without her. “You’ve got it so fucking bad. Welcome to the club, man.” My nose twitched as I breathed heavily. I just wanted a taste, needed to see how she was. After the party. I wouldn’t ruin this for Suzanne or Jackson, who, when I looked at him, was watching me with intensity. Guarding me, testing me…examining to see if I was good enough. I wasn’t. Camden and I were a freaking mess apart. Individually, we had a lot of shit to figure out. Together, I knew we’d conquer anything. If I hadn’t screwed everything up. If she could handle being with the man who would someday run McGregor Motors. Because I’d done it. I’d gone to the office last week, stepped inside Grant’s office, toured the building, clapped hands with men who had known me since I played pee-wee football. And I’d felt at home. Back to exactly where I’d known I belonged since the first time I

walked into that building, holding my mom’s hand, my dad’s face beaming with pride when we’d surprised him for lunch on a day off from school. Everything settled into my chest that day and soon, I’d return. The prodigal son. The lost sheep. Who gave a fuck about labels? None of it meant shit if I didn’t have Camden to come home to after a day of work. If I didn’t have her silky skin next to me, behind me, beneath me… Hell. I was getting hard just thinking of the possibilities. The things I still wanted to do to her. A door sliding open jarred my attention and I jerked to it…hoping. Deflategate had nothing on me when all I saw was Paige. “Boys…present time.” She sang the words, excitement ringing loud and clear in her lyrical voice. Like pigs to a slaughter, every one of us groaned as we walked single file to our doom. To diapers and tiny outfits and swings and breast pumps. I shuddered and followed the rest of the men, hanging back when they went to their women. I searched for Camden first, unable to help myself, for another glance of her. Her eyes met mine when I entered the room. Her hands went to her hair, brushing it off her shoulders. Exposing her neck, and I wanted my lips on that neck again. A faint pink crept up her neck to her cheeks. I followed the wave of heat on her skin knowing it was me, from so far away, making her feel that. Her lips parted. No sound came out. A simple hi mouthed in my direction. A flicker of a finger wave just above her waist. She might as well have told me she loved me. Two little letters. One simple word. A fucking declaration of love if I’d ever heard one. I pressed for more, scrubbed a hand down my scruffy face, and wished I would have shaved. She liked my smoothed cheeks. I miss you, I mouthed back. Her lashes fluttered, long and thick. She nodded, like she’d known that anyway, and stepped back, turning to Chelsea. Metal fork on glass tinkled through the air and Chelsea raised a glass of champagne. “Let’s get this baby party started!” — It was hell. So close and yet so far away. I clung to her timid hi like it was a lifeline and tried to enjoy myself, but who was I kidding? Sitting next to Declan and Trina on a couch while all the women oohed and ahhed and cooed over every tiny, pale-blue and -green outfit along with every crazy baby-rearing device to known to man was a certain hell no man should suffer. Where had we gone so wrong? Every time Camden shifted, I noticed. Every push of hair behind her ear, ankle crossing and recrossing, every laugh she made, and every clap of her hands and squeal of excitement cemented one thing. I wanted her knocked up. Mine. In a home we bought for us and with the largest rock I

could find on her finger. She had made me crazy. I didn’t care. As the shower finally came to an end, she bent down and began scooping up wrapping paper. Wadded it into balls and tossed it in garbage bags while Chelsea, sweet and good and kind Chelsea, turned into a sergeant, barking orders at everyone with a dick. She directed us with precision, and by the time the last present was loaded, the living room was spotless. “You taking off?” I asked Jackson, shaking his hand as he met me at the door. “Yeah, man. Thanks for all this. Suzanne can’t wait to get home and start putting it all away.” Lindsay had gone a bit ballistic when she was pregnant, too. I was still in school, too young to understand, but I knew bridezillas had nothing on an expectant, nesting mom. “Good luck.” I slapped him on the shoulder. “And congratulations, again.” He accepted my thanks and met Suzanne at her car. He opened the door and waited while she slid into the seat, her belly hitting the steering wheel. But that smile he shot her, the way he laughed with her as she probably moaned about the size of her belly, then reached out and tenderly rubbed her swollen midsection… Damn, I wanted that. I hung back longer than I should have, pretending to wait for Tyson and Blue to leave, but really I was stalling. Waiting for a moment alone, when she walked into the kitchen. By herself. I stopped in the entryway, not to give her space, but to appreciate the most spectacular view of her ass, curved and tight in those leggings, her sweater riding up a bit as she bent over, putting away leftover food in the fridge. She closed the door and turned, jumping back when she saw me. I raised my eyes to meet hers, but it was clear where I’d been looking. “Hey,” she said. She cleared her throat and wiped her hand down her side. “Hi, David.” I crossed my arms over my chest for no other reason than that I had to hold onto something, and it couldn’t be her. “How are you?” Her tongue swiped across her bottom lip, making it glisten. My dick pressed against the zipper of my jeans like I was a sex addict. “Okay.” She blinked harshly and nibbled on her cheek. I thought it was going to be all she said and the whisper of defeat, of loss, slithered into my skin. “Okay.” I stepped back. Maybe she needed more time. Or maybe by not fighting hard enough, I’d pushed her away. I went to turn when she said my name, broken and hoarse like it pained her to call for me. I stopped and looked at her over my shoulder. Waited. One breath. Then two. It felt endless. Her fingers, long and slim, their nails tipped with a deep red color, tapped mindlessly against her legs. The tips of her fingers brushed down her leggings, right along the length where I knew her scar was. A silent song played while she took a step forward. Toward me. Yes. Please. Closer.

“I was twelve and he was my mom’s boyfriend.” “Where’s your sense of adventure?” “I lost it when I was twelve. “How’d you get your scar?” “Accident when I was twelve.” I had already figured that out, but the fury slammed into my chest again. “I want to kill him.” “Hard to do,” she said, almost a smile tugging her lips, “when he’s in prison for another twenty years.” She blinked again, looking over my shoulder. “I wasn’t the first.” “You fought.” Because she was a fighter. A hider, a runner, a list-maker, and a friend, but most of all, a fighter. “I survived,” she said. I deduced the rest. “But you stopped living.” Fingertips tapped on the marble counter and a smile finally stretched her lips. It was sad but there, and I’d take it. Remember it forever. That one smile, the opening she was giving me now. It was everything I needed. I closed the space, walked around the counter and couldn’t even remember moving but I was in front of her, close enough to touch. I didn’t. We were in someone else’s house. Once I started, I didn’t think I could stop. Wouldn’t want to stop. Vaguely, voices rang in the distance, soft and muted as if they were whispering, or hiding from us. I didn’t care. Let them. “I guess I didn’t realize I’d done that, but yeah.” “I still want to kill him. Have thought of a thousand ways to hurt the man who hurt you.” Her throat bobbed and she nodded. Like she’d thought the same thing but was too kind to admit it. “I like order,” she said. “I like my lists and plans, and it’s the only way…” She inhaled a breath and, damn, I wanted her in my arms. I wanted to comfort her while she settled and calmed. “Afterward, it was the only way I knew how to move on, by planning everything and staying safe and guarded.” She laughed, shaking her head. It was beautiful and tortured and I wanted to stop her, but I needed her to continue more than I needed my next breath. “And you, you push. You throw me into oceans and off cliffs and out of planes, and you take all my plans and lists and crumple them into balls and light them on fire, making them vanish.” “I didn’t mean to.” Not really. I wanted her open and honest, not to throw away years of therapy. She reached for me. My skin burned as painted red fingertips slid down my forearm. The first touch from her in weeks, and it wasn’t nearly enough. A groan fell from my throat and I stared at her hand on my skin. “I loved it that you did.” My eyes snapped to hers, green eyes misty with tears, and her nose crinkled as she tried to force them back. “I needed it and didn’t realize it. God, this is hard, David. So hard for me. I hate reliving it, hate thinking about it.” She squeezed my arm, nails digging into skin. And yes, I liked the pain. She shushed me as my mouth fell open, but what could I say other than the words that had scared her before? “Evan, that’s his name. He was a bartender.”

Click. A piece snapped into place. “Camden.” I lifted my hand and brushed it across her cheek. She rubbed against it. My thumb wiped away a tear. “I get it now.” Most of it; the rest we had time for. “Let me finish or I might lose my nerve.” “Here?” I wanted privacy. But behind me, the voices that had been whispering were now silenced. Either they’d left or were listening. She nodded. “He showed up at our trailer when my mom was at work. Said he loved my hair, said the way I’d smiled at him told him I wanted it.” Click, click, click. The remaining pieces, all of them. Her hair and her demeanor… everything fell into place perfectly, and the resulting picture was more complex than I could have imagined. I growled, the sound low and guttural. She placed her hand on my chest, but it didn’t soothe anything. “I fought him, and got free when he loosened his belt…just enough to give me time to reach the kitchen. And we fought for the knife. He was so large and strong and angry, but I was scared, and that was more powerful, I guess, because even though he got it from my hand and caught my leg and cut me deep and I screamed, somehow I ended up getting it into his stomach.” Too bad she didn’t kill him. Or maybe that would be worse for her, taking a life. I knew the responsibility of that weight. She hiccupped and I pulled her to my chest. With her cheek against it, my shirt grew wet immediately as her shoulders shook and I wrapped her in my arms. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered, forcing myself to be calm and comforting when all I wanted to do was hit fist to skin. Evan’s skin. “I know.” I held her, breathed out onto the top of her head. What was left to say? “You pushed me past all of it.” Her voice was muffled against my chest. Still the most beautiful sound. “My hair, my lists, my fears…you pushed, but you gave me so much more. For the first time in my life, I had hope.” Fuck. Yes. She pulled back then, wiping a trail of mascara from her cheek, and sniffled. “I loved you for that.” “Cam—” She shook her head. “I love you for it.” My hands slid to her jaw, tilting her head back. “I love you.” “I know. I love you, too.” “God…you’re killing me.” “Funny.” She sniffed again, lips shaking before pulling into a smile. “I feel like you’ve brought me back to life. But I want to give you everything, everything I have and everything I think, because you’ve given that to me.”

I couldn’t hold back. Not anymore. My lips slammed to hers in a crushing kiss and she met me, responded, and gave just as much as she took. “I love you,” she whispered again, against my lips, the most glorious thing I’d ever tasted. “I love you.” We kissed for minutes, for hours, we kissed for what felt like forever, until a throat cleared in the background. I pulled away from Camden and brushed more tears off her cheeks, smiling more broadly than I could remember doing. “You guys okay, I take it?” I turned to Chelsea, sliding my arm over Camden’s shoulder and pulling her against me. “We’re good.” Behind Chelsea, Aidan tipped his chin up. “Good. Then get out.” Camden laughed, shaking her head. “We will.” She looked up at me. “I told my mom I’d come have dinner with her tonight. Do you want to join me?” I’d go anywhere with her. Any time. Any place. This was her…giving me everything she had, and I knew what that took for her. I would hold it like diamonds in the palm of my hand, treasuring it forever. “I’d love to.”

Epilogue Camden My tiny house was cramped. Between presents and a much-too-large Christmas tree David had insisted on, plus Grant and Lindsay and Grant Jr. and Leia and our two moms, there was hardly space to walk around without stepping on someone. Or something. My grin couldn’t get larger if I forced it. Christmas morning at our house. David had moved in a week ago and we’d barely unpacked his things, moving some of them into storage. The FOR SALE sign would go up outside my house in March. Then we’d find something new. Something larger. Something that was grand enough to house the future president of McGregor Motors. He’d gone back to work and was currently learning everything he needed to know from Grant. I’d gotten a job working in their accounting and finance department. Not by using his name…but by my own résumé and merit. Most people knew we were together, but we spent most of the day on separate floors of the building and rarely saw each other. His hand settled on my lower back, fingers pressed into the dip just above my backside, and my whole body fluttered. I’d spent months with him, and every morning I woke up thinking thank you and more and forever. How I got so lucky to find a good man like David, I didn’t know. I didn’t ask. I took my hope and clung to it in tightly made fists so I would never be afraid again. Only good things ahead. The best. His lips brushed against the top of my head and he handed me a glass of orange juice. “Merry Christmas.” I smiled and tilted my head up to him. “You’ve already said that today.” A thousand times. I wanted to hear it a million more times. “Think the kids are ready to open presents?” They’d come over early for breakfast. Lindsay had insisted we do Christmas here…our first Christmas together in our first home together. She said it was tradition and important. I learned from that first meeting not to argue with her. We were all still in pajamas because I’d insisted. If they wanted to do Christmas at our place, it would be done naturally. No makeup and dresses and fanciness, just us…messy and bedraggled and happy. We gorged on eggs and bacon as soon as they arrived. The smell of grease and coffee and fresh fruit brought tears to my eyes. I never imagined a life like this. Never imagined I could have someone like this. I wasn’t giving any of it back. Ever.

My mom walked into the room, her hands now devoid of the dishrag she’d been using because she’d insisted on washing plates before everything congealed on them. Jim followed her. Wearing jeans and a flannel shirt, he was the only one who’d gotten dressed. He had a slight beer gut, a receding hairline, and crooked teeth, the bottom ones stained from years of smoking. He wasn’t attractive, but damn, he was happy and nice. He treated my mom like a queen and I loved him for it. They’d been dating for months, something my mom didn’t share with me until I’d made things right with David. Now they lived together, in a small townhouse not far from David’s old apartment. I’d wanted to burn the trailer when she moved out. She’d been responsible and sold it. Then she gave me all the proceeds, and said Jim would take care of her. Of everything. I donated the meager amount to a volunteer organization for survivors of sexual abuse. “Papa Jim! Papa Jim! What’d you git me?” Grant Jr.’s voice made everyone smile. The kid had two volumes…sleeping and shouting. And every time he called Jim “Papa,” my mom and I got teary-eyed. They called my mom Grandma, something that made her cry harder. If they wanted an extra grandma and grandpa, who were we to argue? Grant’s parents lived in Texas and they weren’t close. Papa Jim was the only grandpa the kids knew, and so far, he’d exceeded all expectations. “How about we dish out the presents and take turns, and then you can find out for yourself?” Jim’s voice was booming and happy. He kissed my mom on the top of her head and then guided her to a clean spot on the floor, at his feet. When she sat down in front of him, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Everyone needed a protector like the kind she’d found. As wrapping paper began flying, the kids shouted, and Lindsay and Betty tried fruitlessly to get them to use indoor voices, I turned and smiled at David through my tears. “I love you. More every day, forever.” “I’m so glad you said that,” he said. A small box, wrapped in red and green and topped with a gold bow, slid into his hands. I turned wide eyes to Grant, who stepped back and pulled Lindsay to her feet. “Because it means, then, that I’m pretty certain I know the answer to my question.” Oh God. He was doing this. With family in flannel pajamas and strips of messy paper at our feet. I tore off the paper, dropped the bow, and popped open the box. Who knew I was so impatient? So desperate to be his? “Yes,” I sobbed. His sure hands covered my shaking fingers. “I haven’t even asked yet.” “It doesn’t matter.” His gleaming smile met mine. “My answer for you is always yes.” His hands slid to my neck and he kissed me, long and passionately, until my body heated and Grant Jr. made a barfing sound. Shouts rang throughout the room and I was pulled in different directions, arms enfolding me everywhere while I laughed myself silly. “Wait,” I said, after Leia tossed a present to her mom. Everyone stopped and stared at me. Behind me, my mom placed a box in my hand. Larger than the one David had given me.

Wrapped in matching paper. A silver bow for him. Too much tape, because I’d been shaking and trembling when I wrapped it early yesterday morning. I could have told him in private, but the entire family would know as soon as David did, anyway. He was going to be too happy to keep it to himself. “I have this for you.” His blue eyes sparkled as he laughed at me and my seriousness. “What is it?” “Open it and see.” He unwrapped the paper more slowly than I had, taking his time like it was already his favorite present. And yes, I hoped it was. It was insane. Too soon. Too crazy. I didn’t care. It was us. He flipped open the box and grinned. “Wow.” His eyes flickered to mine. “I love it.” He was going to love it more in a minute. Sliding the watch out of the case, I reached for it as he clasped it closed. The jangle of metal was my new favorite sound. “Read the date.” I pointed to it. It had taken me hours to set. Too many curse words. His brow furrowed. “August twenty-third?” He shook his head. Lindsay gasped along with my mom. “Eight months from now, almost.” “Eight months…” A head shake. Three rapid blinks as it registered with his mom. She gasped and rushed me, flinging me into her arms and away from him. His gaze danced across the room and it was almost hysterical. Confused men, crying women…it could only mean one thing. Click. “You’re…” Another head shake. More rapid blinks. I put him out of his misery. “I’m pregnant. Six weeks.” His eyes jumped open and he yanked me from his mom. Shouts echoed, vibrating in the small living room…the very room where we’d created this baby. “A baby.” He was still stunned. I smiled so wide my cheeks ached. “And a wedding.” His hand fell to my stomach. “It’s going to be a busy year.” I covered his hand with mine and squeezed. “It’s going to be a beautiful life.”

To my husband. Through all the ups and downs, Our love story is still my favorite.

Acknowledgments What an incredibly fun series this has been to write! It’s so hard to say goodbye to the Fireside Grill crew, but I hope you have loved everyone you’ve met as much as I have. To the Random House and Loveswept team, I’ve absolutely loved working with you. Your kindness and professionalism and encouragement are so appreciated. This publishing experience has been beyond my wildest dreams and I’m so thankful I’ve been able to do it with all of you. Thank you to every single reader who has ever given me a chance, who has sent me messages and comments and emails saying how much my words have touched you. Thank you for every review you’ve left. I’ve read them all. To all the friends I’ve met along the way, from readers and bloggers to other authors, our writing community is a wonderful place full of support and encouragement, and I adore every one of you. You’ve taught me and held my hand and boosted me up when I needed it. And last but not least, to my family. To my kids for not burning the house down when Mom’s hidden away and working, and my husband, who always makes me laugh and gives me hope and believes in me more than I do myself. Thank you for being my safe place, my warm place, my everything.

BY STACEY LYNN Fireside His to Love His to Protect His to Cherish His to Seduce

Just One Just One Song Just One Week Just One Regret Just One Moment

The Nordic Lords MC Point of Return Point of Redemption Point of Freedom Point of Surrender

Standalones Dirty Player Don’t Lie to Me

STACEY LY NN was raised in the Midwest. Over the long, frigid winters, she would read every book she could get her hands on, from John Grisham and Danielle Steel to Ann M. Martin and C. S. Lewis. She began writing poems and short stories long before she reached high school, and now, as a wife and mother to four children, she finds solace from the craziness of her life by creating steamy, sexy stories. After publishing her first book, what began as a hobby has now turned into an unending passion. staceylynnbooks.com Facebook.com/​staceylynnbooks @staceylynnbooks

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Love, Always and Forever by Alexis Morgan

Available from Loveswept

Chapter 1 Mikhail Wanjek was awake. The only question was why, when for damn sure he didn’t want to be. After two failed attempts, he finally located his cellphone on the bedside table and pried one eye open long enough to check the time. Ten o’clock. Really? It had been less than two hours since he’d crawled into bed after working the shift from hell. On their last call, the house had already been fully engulfed in flames by the time his crew had arrived on scene. The only positive outcome was that the family had made it out before the fire reduced their home to little more than a blackened skeleton. The stunned grief in their eyes as the hungry flames destroyed everything they owned would haunt him for days to come. Just one more nightmare in his already extensive collection. When he’d finally dragged himself home, he’d been too tired to do more than strip naked and fall facedown on the mattress. Sleep had overtaken him seconds after his head hit the pillow. No way he should be conscious yet. After tossing the phone on the table, he burrowed back under the covers. But before he could dive deep into blessed oblivion, the same racket that had jarred him awake in the first place started up again, this time with a vengeance. Okay, he was going to kill somebody just as soon as he figured out who was responsible. Well, not really, even if the idea was really tempting. He rolled over to the other side of the bed and lifted the blinds just far enough to peek out the window. The small slice of sunshine stabbed his eyes like a jagged knife, which set off a throbbing pain in his head and added to his anger. Exactly as he’d feared, someone was standing just out of sight on the far side of the porch. He couldn’t see who it was, but Mikhail wanted nothing more than to ignore his uninvited guest and stay right where he was. Unfortunately, the intruder had other ideas. This time the chime of the doorbell was followed by the sound of a fist knocking on the door. Mikhail surrendered to the inevitable and crawled out of bed. Pausing only long enough to yank on yesterday’s jeans, he stumbled down the hall toward the front door. His two brothers were the only people who ever dropped by without calling first, but they both knew he’d pulled a long shift at the fire department and would be sleeping. If they had decided to bother him anyway, he would take great pleasure in kicking their inconsiderate asses for them. Even half-dead and this damn tired, he could still lay them out flat. They knew it, too. The doorbell chimed again just as Mikhail unfastened the dead bolt. He yanked the door open, already rehearsing the stream of curse words he planned to unleash on his favorite relatives. Except that it wasn’t Jack or Tino standing on his front porch. Instead, it was a leggy brunette he knew for damn sure he’d never seen before. Despite the fatigue fogging up his head, he was sure that much was true. He wouldn’t have forgotten a face like that. At least he managed to cut off the obscenity that had been his planned greeting and

substitute a mumbled, “What?” Judging from the way the woman retreated half a step, the single word had come out a lot more unfriendly than he’d intended. Before he could fall back and regroup, the woman started talking a mile a minute. “Hi, I’m your new neighbor, Amy Short. I hope you like brownies.” She offered him a bright smile as she shoved a plate into his hands. “I’ve been meaning to introduce myself since I moved in early last week, but this is the first time I’ve caught you at home.” She paused and gave him an expectant look. His brain finally caught up with her rapid-fire words. “I do. Like brownies, that is.” She evidently expected more in the way of a response, because she continued to stare at him. Her gaze briefly dropped down to his bare chest before her dark eyes once again locked onto his. He replayed her last words in his head. Oh, right. Introductions were in order. “Mikhail Wanjek. I just got off work.” What else? When nothing brilliant came to mind, he added, “Welcome to my neighborhood.” He hadn’t meant it to be funny, but evidently he’d come off sounding like Mr. Rogers. Amy’s laughter rang out brighter than the sunshine beating down from overhead. Ordinarily he would’ve enjoyed listening to her slightly husky voice, but right now it was all he could do to stay vertical. He leaned against the doorjamb for support. “Was there something you needed? Otherwise, I’d really like to go back to bed.” It was a testament to how tired he was that he wasn’t even tempted to try to take her there with him. Her smile dimmed. “I’m sorry I woke you up. It didn’t occur to me that you might work nights.” “It’s okay. Thanks again for the brownies.” Mikhail started to close the door, hoping they were done. But even if he was, she clearly wasn’t. Amy put her hand on the door to keep it from closing completely. “Look, I won’t keep you, but I need to talk to you about our common boundary line.” As she spoke, Amy pointed toward the rickety cedar fence that separated his yard from hers. Mikhail gave it a brief glance. “What about it?” “I’m getting a dog soon, which means I need to fence my backyard. Since the stretch between our houses is in such poor shape, I would like to replace it at the same time as I do the back and the far side of my yard. I wanted to make sure it was okay with you.” He was well aware that his fence was in poor condition, but so far it had ranked pretty low on his own to-do list. Since moving in three months back, he’d been concentrating on making the interior more livable. “Can’t this discussion wait a bit? I can’t think straight right now.” At least until he had a few more hours of sleep under his belt. He realized that she was talking again, and he’d missed half of what she’d said. “…the cost since I’d like to get it done soon. I just thought I should let you know first. Now, I’d better let you get back to sleep.” Considering the other repairs that he’d already started on his own place, he’d have to crunch some numbers before committing to the project. But before Mikhail could ask again if they could talk about it more later in the day, she’d already walked away. Damn, he had a

feeling that hadn’t gone well. Holding the door open just a crack, he stared at her retreating back, enjoying the view. Those jeans fit her slim hips like a second skin, and he liked the way her ponytail bounced as she moved. He could be wrong, but he was pretty sure Amy was the most attractive woman he’d met in a long time. Certainly since he’d left the Marine Corps behind to move back home to the Pacific Northwest. It would be a damn shame if his fried brain had screwed up any chance of friendship with his pretty new neighbor. He’d have to try to make a better impression the next time their paths crossed. Meanwhile, it was long past time to hit the sack again. He carried the brownies into the kitchen for later, but at the last second he snagged a couple to eat on his way back into bed. Mmmm, extra fudgy with big chunks of walnuts, just the way he liked them. They ranked right up there with his mother’s, which was saying something. Later, he’d return Amy’s plate as an excuse to talk to her again and let her know how much he’d enjoyed her thoughtful gesture. Maybe a bottle of wine or a bouquet of flowers from his mother’s garden would go a long way toward smoothing any ruffled feathers. Something else to think about later. For now, he followed the siren call of his bed. He tossed his jeans back on the floor and sighed contentedly as the soft cotton sheets settled against his bare skin. For the second time that morning, he was asleep within seconds. — Amy wandered around the backyard, letting her imagination run wild about how the place would look six months or even a year from now. She’d been living in the house for only a week, so there was a lot left to do just getting settled in. But when she tired of unpacking her extensive book collection or arranging the kitchen cabinets, she came out here to enjoy both the fresh air and the possibilities. She couldn’t wait to start marking out flower beds and haunting the local nurseries for just the right plants. But all of that would have to wait until she could get the fence situation resolved. She’d gotten two estimates for the cost of installing a six-foot-high cedar fence around the entire backyard. A third contractor said he could come out next week, but he’d already told her that the two estimates she’d gotten weren’t out of line with the current costs of materials and labor. She had no reason to doubt his word, but she’d really been hoping he would come up with a bottom line that wouldn’t give her sticker shock. At least all three contractors had told her that she could save a little bit if she tore down the old fence herself. With only one side of the yard fenced right now, how hard could it be? That’s why she’d approached her neighbor about the matter. She found her gaze drawn toward Mikhail Wanjek’s house for about the twentieth time since leaving his front porch three hours ago. The real estate agent who’d sold her the house hadn’t been able to tell her much about her new neighbors, only that the house on that side had sold a few months before to someone moving in from out of state. Amy wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but Mikhail wasn’t it. Thanks to her own family, she was used to being around tall men who made her feel petite even at five foot eight. However, she was sure Mikhail had a couple of inches on even Will,

the tallest of the lot. Add in the rumpled blond hair, icy blue eyes, and a well-sculpted bare chest, and the man was sex on a stick. Too bad he’d been a bit of a grump. To be fair, she’d obviously dragged him out of a sound sleep. Besides, after growing up with four older brothers, it would take more than a fierce frown to scare her off. At least he’d agreed that the fence needed to come down, a job she was about to tackle. After talking to Mikhail, she’d gone grocery shopping and then made a quick stop at the neighborhood hardware store to pick up leather gloves to protect her hands from splinters and a crowbar to pry the boards apart. These days, her energy level had vastly improved, but she didn’t want to risk overdoing things. It wasn’t as if she was on a specific timetable. If she did one section a day, she’d have the fence down within the week. She spread a plastic tarp to help keep all the debris corralled in one spot. One last trip back inside to get a bottle of cold water, and she was all set. Getting started was harder than she’d expected, but she finally managed to work the end of the pry bar between the railing on her side of the fence and the first board. She threw all of her weight and strength into it and finally succeeded in opening up a gap. One more try resulted in success, even if the nails made an awful screech as they pulled free of the wood. The second board came off with far less effort, but the third one split down the middle with a loud crack. She winced, for the first time thinking about the man next door who might still be sleeping. No one had ever told her that demolishing a fence would be such a noisy proposition. After she finished removing this one last board, she would abandon her efforts until later in the day. Using a pair of pliers, she tried to work the nail free from the railing, but it had to be all stubborn about staying right where it was. She released her grip on the pliers long enough to flex her hand before trying again. Still no luck. Frustrated, she tossed the pliers on the ground and squeezed through the hole she’d opened up in the fence. Maybe pulling on the board from the other side might loosen it up a bit. She got a good grip on both sides of the wood and gave it a hard yank. When it broke free, Amy went stumbling backward, fighting hard to regain her balance. To her surprise, instead of hitting the ground, she landed hard against a solid wall of irate male. She had years of experience dealing with that particular species, the only difference being that the ones she was most familiar with were all related to her. At least Mikhail made sure she was steady on her feet before ripping into her. “Want to tell me what the hell you think you’re doing?” She would’ve thought the answer to that question was obvious, but maybe he was still suffering from lack of sleep. “I’m tearing down the fence.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I can see that. Let me rephrase my question. Why are you out here trying your best to hurt yourself?” Okay, enough was enough. “I can handle tearing down a few boards.” Those piercing blue eyes made it abundantly clear that he seriously doubted that, but at least he didn’t say it out loud. “Have you ever done any demolition work before?” “Well, no.”

He bent down to pick up the board she’d dropped and handed it to her. “Then why are you doing it now?” She tossed the broken piece of wood back through the gap in the fence with a little more effort than was really needed. “Because the contractors both said I could save a little money by tearing out the old fence myself.” Mikhail folded his arms across his broad chest and stared down at her. “I thought we’d agreed that we’d talk more about the fence later. You never said that you were going ahead without discussing the cost or a specific time frame.” “That’s not how I remember it. I told you I wanted to replace this section at the same time I fenced the rest of my yard. I distinctly said I’d pick up the entire cost because I was the one getting a dog and needed the fence done soon.” When he started to shake his head, she wanted to stomp her foot in frustration. However, she’d also learned from dealing with her brothers that he’d likely see that as a sign of feminine weakness on her part. “Look, I’m sorry if you misunderstood the situation, but I really do need to get started on the fence. And as I said, I’m paying for it.” “How much?” Again, the answer should be obvious. “The whole amount.” He shot her a disgusted look before bending down to stick his head through the gap in the fence to look at her backyard. When he straightened back up, he said, “That’s not what I meant. I’m assuming you have written estimates from the contractors you talked to. How much are they going to charge you?” She told him even though it wasn’t really any of his business since she’d be the one writing the check. “Of course, the bill will be a little less than the original quote since I’m doing the demolition myself.” “How soon does it have to be done?” “I can bring my puppy home in two weeks, although the breeder said they’d keep him an extra week if I needed a little more time.” Mikhail nodded but didn’t say anything for several seconds as he continued to stare at the damage she’d done to the fence. His lips moved as if he were doing some mental calculations. While she waited impatiently for him to finish whatever he was doing, Amy studied her new neighbor. He was certainly handsome enough with those sculpted cheekbones and silverblond hair, but there was a definite edge to him. Something about the lines bracketing his mouth or the way he held himself as if he were hyperaware of his surroundings. And as proof of that, she’d just been caught staring at him. The twinkle in his vivid blue eyes had her blushing. At least he was gentleman enough to not say anything. “Here’s the deal. It’s obvious that my whole fence is in the same condition as this stretch and needs to be replaced. I was planning on doing it eventually, but there’s no reason I can’t do it now. I’d rather it all match, which it won’t if it gets done piecemeal. My brother does this kind of work all the time. Let me get him over here to give us both a quote for the work. I guarantee the price will be better than what you’ve been given so far, especially on the labor since I’ll be doing most of the work myself.” “Are you sure?”

It was obvious he was strong enough to haul lumber and set fence posts, but that didn’t necessarily mean he knew how. It wouldn’t make for a good long-term relationship between neighbors if his efforts turned out to be substandard. Maybe she had somehow broadcast her doubts because he suddenly grinned at her, the big smile shaving years off his apparent age. She would’ve guessed he was well into his thirties, but now she figured him for at least five years younger than that. Meanwhile, Mikhail grabbed the top rail of the fence and gave it a sharp tug, maybe to see how rickety it actually was. He glanced back at her, that smile still firmly in place. “Did I forget to mention that my brothers and I used to spend summers working for our father’s construction company? My older brother took over the family business when Dad died a while back, but I was building fences like this long before I graduated from high school.” She put her hands on her hips and gave him a cocky look. “Next time you offer to build a girl’s fence for her, you might want to lead with that fact. I’m just saying.” “Noted.” “So what’s our next step?” “I call Jack and tell him to haul ass over here. If he’s already out on a job, I’ll find out when he can come. It won’t take long for him to measure it all out and then give us some hard numbers to work with.” “Sounds like a plan.” She’d removed her gloves while they were talking, because they were hot. Pulling them back on, she asked, “Can I get back to work now?” Her new best buddy sighed heavily. “Yeah, if you insist. This will go faster with two of us working. Can I bring you a beer or something cold to drink?” “I’m good, but thanks.” “Back in a sec.” She watched as he loped back toward his house. “Hey, Mikhail?” He stopped just short of his porch to look back in her direction. “Yeah?” “You might want to put on a shirt and shoes, too, while you’re at it.” His laughter rang out across the yard. “Also noted.” Then he disappeared inside, leaving her counting the seconds until he returned. She suddenly realized that she was staring at his door like a teenage girl in the throes of her first crush. The analogy was an apt one. She’d spent her teen years in and out of hospitals, her health a constant source of worry for her entire family. Mikhail was the first man she’d met in a long time who knew nothing of her past. She might not have much dating experience, but she was perfectly capable of telling when a man was interested in more than her ability to rip down a half-rotted board. Amy deliberately turned her attention to the fence and attacked the rest of the broken board to show that she wasn’t some helpless female dependent on a man to do all the work. And if that gave her handsome neighbor an excellent view of her backside on his way to rejoin her, well, that was just bonus points.

Love stories you’ll never forget By authors you’ll always remember eOriginal Romance from Random House randomhousebooks.com

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