by Eve Gaddy
“Let me save you some trouble,” he interrupted. “Nothing’s going on. And nothing’s going to go on. So you can forget about it.”
She scrubbed on another pan, her dark hair falling forward to shield her face. “Why not?”
“What do you mean why not? It’s obvious.”
“Not to me. Why not?” she repeated, tilting her head to look at him. “Mark thinks you have the hots for her. And it’s pretty clear she doesn’t dislike you. So, what’s the problem?”
He ground his teeth. Damn his nosy family. “Mark needs to keep his mouth shut. And you need to butt out.”
Cat looked at him and laughed. “Oh, yeah, that’s going to happen. Come on, Cam. Tell me the problem.”
He put the dish down on the drain board. “Cat, she’s fifteen years younger than me.”
“Really?” She stopped scrubbing and looked at him. “She sure doesn’t seem that young.”
“Yeah, well, she is.” But Cat was right, she seemed older. She was a woman, not a girl.
“I still don’t get it. What’s the big deal about you being older than her?” When he didn’t answer she continued, “Is this about Janine?”
“No, it’s not about Janine.” His ex-fiancée had absolutely nothing to do with his feelings about Delilah. Damn it, now he was having to admit he did have feelings about her. But he wouldn’t admit it to Cat.
“Good. Because it’s really time you got over that. She is so not worth it.”
“I am over it. One has nothing to do with the other.” He set a pot down and sighed. “Delilah is living with me and working for me. Nothing’s going to happen.” Because once he had Delilah, he wasn’t so sure he could walk away, like he did with other women. And he didn’t do any other kind of relationship.
“I still don’t see why you—”
He interrupted her, throwing his towel down on the counter. “Damn it, Cat, drop it. Nothing is going to happen between Delilah and me. Got it?”
“I think we all got it,” Mark said. He was standing in the doorway with Delilah just behind him.
“Well, shit,” Cam muttered. What had started out a nice evening was going downhill fast.
“I HAD A GREAT TIME,” Delilah said on the way home. “I really liked your sister and brother-in-law.” She’d almost forgotten what it was like to go out, Avery had prevented that for so long. She shook her head, determined not to think about him tonight.
“They liked you, too. Which reminds me, why wouldn’t you let Cat lend you some books? If you’re really interested in accounting, she could help you out.”
“It was sweet of her to offer. But there’s not much point in it. I can’t afford to go back to school right now.” If she could have afforded it…if she could know that she’d be around to enroll… But she couldn’t be sure of either of those things.
“You should check into it before you say that. Some of the community colleges are surprisingly affordable.”
“I can’t even afford rent yet. How am I supposed to go to school?”
“Would you quit worrying about rent? Have I asked you to pay me rent?”
“No, but you should.”
“Why?” They reached the restaurant and he put the truck in park and turned in his seat to look at her. “I don’t need the money. And you do.”
“Why are you being so nice to me? At first I thought you might—” She broke off, unwilling to say what she’d thought. Besides, seduction clearly hadn’t been on his agenda. She should be glad about that, and she was. Still, she was feminine enough to feel a little irritation that he was so adamant about not getting involved with her.
Cam finished the sentence for her. “You thought I’d let you stay with me so I could make a move on you.”
She looked down at her clasped hands. “Yes.”
“Delilah, look at me.” He waited until she did to continue. “You know I wouldn’t do that, don’t you?”
“If I didn’t, you made it clear tonight in your sister’s kitchen.” Again, she felt that spurt of annoyance. Maybe he didn’t find her attractive.
“I told you, my sister is nosy. I was just setting her straight.”
He got out of the truck and so did she. She waited until they went upstairs to the apartment before she spoke again. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure. What?”
“Why are you so sure nothing’s going to happen between you and me?”
He halted in the act of removing his jacket and looked at her. “What?”
“Why is nothing going to happen between us?”
He finished taking off his jacket and hung it on the coatrack. “You know why.”
“Because you’re not attracted to me.” She should shut up, now, but her mouth took on a life of its own.
“I didn’t say that.” He swore beneath his breath. “You’re my employee and you’re living here. Not to mention, I’m fifteen years older than you. The two of us getting involved wouldn’t be a good idea. I figured you agreed with me about that. Don’t you?”
She looked away, then nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry I—I’m sorry. Forget I said anything.”
What was wrong with her? She had no right thinking about Cam in any other way than friendship.
But he wasn’t indifferent to her.
And she sure as hell wasn’t indifferent to him.
CHAPTER SEVEN
CAM WAS HAVING a damned hard time keeping his hands to himself and off Delilah. Since that night at Cat’s, it had been getting harder. She’d agreed they were better off not becoming involved. He knew she’d been tempted. Why else would she have asked him what she had? But Delilah was young and vulnerable. He couldn’t take advantage of her. That didn’t stop him from thinking about her, though.
He stumbled to the shower one morning and stopped as Delilah came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her. Her smooth, shapely shoulders gleamed above the white terry cloth. Her dark hair was wet and slicked back from her face. His gaze fell from her face to her chest and he saw drops of moisture disappearing into her cleavage. He wanted to trace the moisture with his tongue, flick open that towel and see her beautiful body, touch and caress every inch of her soft, creamy, fragrant skin.
He raised his gaze and met her eyes. She smiled and said something but he couldn’t hear it over the roar of blood rushing to his head. Not to mention the blood rushing to other places. He mumbled a curse, pushed past her and closed the bathroom door, sucked in a deep breath, thinking he was safe.
The room was warm, steamy. It smelled like Delilah, like the scent of roses from the body wash she used. Then he saw her underwear, red thong panties, hanging over the shower rod. He reached for them, to move them so they wouldn’t get wetter. Held them in his hands and thought about sliding them down her legs, inch by luscious inch. Closing his eyes, he gritted his teeth and thought about banging his head against the wall, but he didn’t believe it would do any good.
He needed a woman.
The frigid shower he took only made him cold. It didn’t do a thing to take care of his other problem. He’d known it almost from the first. Living with Delilah and not having her was going to kill him.
Twenty minutes later, he’d managed to get himself under control. So what if he was irritable as hell? He’d live through it. He was reading the paper when he heard a knock on his kitchen door. He got up to let Maggie in, wondering what she wanted. Her hair was loose and fell to her shoulders in rich cinnamon waves. He often forgot how pretty it was because she usually wore it scraped back in a ponytail.
“Hey, Maggie. What’s going on?”
“Not much. I just thought I’d stop by before you open up for lunch. Hadn’t talked to you in a while. Got any more coffee?”
“Sure.” He got a mug down, filled it and gave it to her. He thought her explanation a little odd, since he’d seen her a few days before, but he didn’t say anything.
“Where’s your new friend?” she said, after taking a sip of coffee.
“Down in the restaurant, setting up. Why?”
“No reason.” She took a drink of her coffee and sighed with pleasure. “You always did make great coffee.”
She seemed funny. Different, somehow. He couldn’t put his finger on it, then realized what it was. “You’re wearing makeup.”
“Yeah. So?”
“And you’re dressed up.” She was wearing slacks and a nice shirt—one that clung to the curves he usually forgot she had—instead of her usual jeans and T-shirt. “I get it. Hot date later?”
She flushed and he knew he was on to something. “Can’t a woman wear something decent once in a while without having a date?”
“Sure, but you never do.”
“I felt like wearing something different, okay? Is that a damn crime?”
He spread his hands in a peacemaking gesture. “Hey, just an observation. No need to bite my head off.”
She hunched a shoulder and fell silent. By now she’d really gotten his curiosity up, but he knew better than to rush her. Maggie would get to her point when she was good and ready, not before. He went back to reading the paper, secure that she’d eventually say what was on her mind.
“You’ve really got the town buzzing.”
He glanced up. “Why is that?”
“Come on, Cam.” She lifted an eyebrow. “Delilah, of course. You can’t let a woman that pretty live with you and expect people not to talk. Especially when you haven’t ever had a woman living with you before.”
“Who I let live with me is my business.”
“Doesn’t stop people from talking.”
He grunted and looked away. He couldn’t have said why it bothered him, except it irritated him that people were gossiping about something that wasn’t even happening.
Maybe it irritated him so much because there was nothing happening.
“So, are you serious about this girl?”
He stared at her, wondering where she was coming from. But since it was Maggie and he’d been friends with her for a long time, he answered. “Hell, no, I’m not serious. I’m not even sleeping with her. I’m just helping her out.”
“If you say so.”
He gave a snort and got up to refill his coffee mug.
“Can you get off work early tonight?”
He turned around and looked at her. “I don’t know. Depends on Martha. Why?”
“I’ve got the night off. I thought maybe you could come over and we could…hang out. I can make burgers or something.”
“You’re offering to cook for me? Now I know something weird is going on.” Maggie didn’t cook. She survived on her mother’s cooking, restaurant or fast food and, in a pinch, rice.
She got up and walked over to him. Ran her hand lightly up his arm. “I don’t have to cook. We could do…other things.”
She said it with a smile that looked—wow, if he hadn’t known better he’d have thought she was coming on to him.
“Like what?”
“Use your imagination,” she told him, sliding her hand over to his shoulder.
Okay, that smile was definitely seductive. This was getting weirder and weirder. And making him…nervous, for God’s sake. This wasn’t the Maggie he was used to.
“What’s going on, Maggie?”
She laughed. “Sometimes you’re really dense, Cam.” She leaned in and kissed him. And not a friendly peck like they gave each other once in a while. No, this was the real deal, tongues and all. She kissed him like she hadn’t kissed him in twelve years. It shocked the hell out of him, to the point that he just stood there, his mind blank.
She finally drew back and smiled at him.
He stared at her a long moment before he found his voice. “What was that?”
Her smile faded. “I’d say that’s pretty obvious.”
“But you—but we—we decided a long time ago we were better friends than lovers.”
“No, Cam, you decided that. You were so busted up over Janine you didn’t ask me what I wanted.”
He shoved a hand through his hair and paced away from her. “You’d just broken up with someone. You wouldn’t tell me his name, but you told me that. You didn’t know what you were doing any more than I did.” He’d felt bad about it, and a little guilty, because he’d always felt like he’d taken advantage of her. Which was one of the reasons their fling hadn’t lasted long.
“I knew exactly what I was doing. I wanted you then. And I want you now. But you’ve made it pretty clear you don’t feel the same.”
He didn’t want to hurt her. And she was hurting, that was plain. But it didn’t make sense. “Why now? Why not five years ago, when you moved back to town? What happened to make you decide you wanted us to get together again?” Because he didn’t believe she’d been mooning over him for the last twelve years.
She scowled at him, then shrugged. “I’m tired of being alone, all right? I’m sick and tired of going to bed alone, night after night. I wanted to be with someone, to be close to a man again.”
“Are you telling me you haven’t had sex since we—”
“Of course I have,” she said, interrupting him. “But it’s been a long time. And I—I trust you, Cam.”
At least she hadn’t said she loved him. She was lonely, that was all. He went to her, grasped her arms, rubbed his hands gently up and down them. “You know I care about you, Maggie. But I can’t. It wouldn’t be right. You deserve someone who loves you. Not just a good time in the sack with a friend.”
“I don’t see anybody lining up for the job.”
“You will.” He touched her cheek and smiled. “You’re an awesome woman, Maggie.”
“Right. If I’m so great why won’t you go to bed with me? You don’t seem to have a problem bedding other women.” Unsmiling, she searched his eyes. “It’s because of her, isn’t it? You turned me down because of Delilah.”
Oh, crap. His hand fell away from her face. It was true, he realized. At least partially. “I told you I wasn’t sleeping with her.”
“But you want to.”
He didn’t deny it. What was the point? “This has nothing to do with Delilah. It’s between you and me. I’m not going to let you do something you’d regret five minutes after it happened.”
“Well, well. Aren’t you all fine and noble,” she drawled.
“I’m not being noble. I’m trying to make sure you don’t get hurt. Maggie—” He grabbed her arm again as she started to move away.
“Oh, save it.”
“Cam, Rachel called—” Delilah halted in the doorway. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you had company.”
“Perfect,” Maggie said with disgust and jerked away from him. Propping her hands on her hips, she aimed a look at him that made him feel like the lowest slime alive. “I’ll tell you what, Cam. You can take all your precious nobility and stuff it where the sun don’t shine.” She strode to the back door, yanked it open and slammed it behind her.
“Ouch,” Delilah said.
He swore, a single word he didn’t normally say around a woman. “How much of that did you hear?” he asked Delilah.
“Just her parting shot. She looked really pissed.”
“No kidding.”
“Want to talk about it?” she asked sympathetically.
Cam laughed shortly. “No.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. There wasn’t anything he could do. Either Maggie would get over it or she wouldn’t. “What did you want?” he asked Delilah.
“Rachel called and said she’d be late. Something about a project that’s due.”
“Great. She’d better not be lying or I swear I’m going to fire her.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Don’t count on it.” The mood he was in now, he could do it in a heartbeat.
“It’s not her fault your shorts are in a twist over whatever happened with you and Maggie.”
He opened his mouth to say something rude, then shut it. She had a point. And it wasn’t Delilah’s fault either. Not ab
out Maggie and not about the fact that he couldn’t have what he wanted. Who he wanted.
The knowledge of that didn’t improve his temper. So he left the room before he said, or did, something he’d regret later.
“THE LAUNDRY CALLED and said their delivery truck was broken,” Delilah told him a few days later.
He looked up at her and frowned. Not wanting a repeat of the shower scene—the one that had been replaying in his head nearly every moment of the last few days—Cam had gotten up early, showered, and gone down to his office to get some hated paperwork done.
“We don’t have enough linens for the lunch crowd. Do you want to go get it?”
No. He had a number of other things he needed to do and picking up laundry was nowhere on his list. “This is the sixth time this month their truck has broken down. I should find a new laundry.”
“Why don’t you?”
Reasonable question. He knew what would be best for his business, unfortunately it wouldn’t be best for the laundry. “I would if dropping them wouldn’t put them out of business. I’ve known the owner my entire life. That’s the problem with little towns.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Can you drive a stick shift?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Take my truck and go pick it up. A-1 Laundry. It’s on Redbird Lane, just off Main Street. You can’t miss it.” She didn’t say anything, she just stared at him. “What? You’re not a bad driver, are you?”
“No, I’m a good driver. It’s just— You’re trusting me to take your truck?”
“Shouldn’t I? You’re not going to wreck it, are you?” He didn’t stop to analyze why he was trusting her when he didn’t normally—okay, ever—let anyone drive his truck. Especially women.
“Not on purpose,” she said. “But accidents happen.”
“Just be careful. And hurry up. The lunch crowd will be here before long.”
And there was the added bonus that once Delilah left, he would be able to get some work done instead of staring at her and thinking about what would have happened if he’d taken that damn towel off her.
DELILAH HAD MADE IT to the laundry, picked up the restaurant’s order and was headed back when she heard the sound of a siren coming up behind her. She glanced in the rearview mirror and saw flashing red and blue lights. Cops. Wonderful. She pulled over and waited. She hated getting pulled over. It made her feel sixteen, helpless, and stupid, all over again.
