“Gawd, I’m going to have to start calling you butter fingers.” Apparently she didn’t feel like he was paying attention, or maybe she simply wanted to get a reaction from him.
All Adam knew for certain was that one moment he was standing there lost in thought, drying a bowl, the next minute he was covered in hot soapy water. It dripped from his dark brown hair onto his sweater. Bubbles hung on the end of his nose. There was water pooling at his feet. “Really?” He asked, brushing away bubbles and pushing his hair back from his face. “Really? Because two can play that game.” As he finished that thought, he was scooping water and bubbles with the bowl from his hand and splashing her with it.
“Hey!” She began with a giggle. “This isn’t a wet t-shirt contest.”
Even as she said it, his eyes were drawn to her chest. It was the perfect size, a nice handful, full and round. Her nipples were peeking through the wet pink shirt. Cammie looked incredibly attractive, seriously sexy, and he felt the blood drain from his face and head south of his equator until he was hard as hell. He turned away in embarrassment.
“Where do you think you’re going?” She asked teasing him. “I’m the one with her boobs all exposed in a wet shirt.”
“Yeah, and I’m just the guy standing here trying to hide his raging hard on because you’re standing there in a wet shirt!” He had no idea why he had said that out loud. He was almost afraid to look at her after that admission.
“Well, let’s go then,” she said and headed out of the kitchen. She paused when she realized he wasn’t behind her. “Are you coming?”
“Where are we going?” He asked weakly.
“The guest room. We both have some stuff we need to work out.” She started out of the room once more and disappeared completely. A moment later, she leaned around the doorway. “Are you coming or not? One way or another, I’m will be.” She winked at him.
That spurred Adam to action and soon enough he was scampering through the door, chasing after her like some inexperienced school boy. “But you said we weren’t going to sleep together. You said no sex…” He prepared to come up with several more explanations but she had already walked into the guest room and peeled off her shirt.
“Are you trying to talk me out of it?” She asked, seriously. “Honestly, I don’t need your help with this. I can absolutely do it myself. I just thought it’d be more fun with you, since you are here, since we are both consenting adults, since there’s little chance that you will misinterpret this as being anything other than what it is.” She turned as she kicked off her shoes and tore off her socks, then she unhooked the button, lowered the zipper, and eased the jeans off her hips. “In or out, dude.”
For some reason, even though they were completely alone, he closed the door behind him. Turning to face her, he said, “Okay. Let’s do this.” He was down to his blue boxer briefs in a matter of seconds when it suddenly occurred to him that he had no idea what ‘this’ was. “So what is this?”
“This…is biology. I’m horny. You’re definitely horny,” she said as she stroked the length of him through the soft cotton. “I haven’t done this for a while and you have plenty of experience. Figured I might as well take advantage of the situation.” She let go of him long enough to unhook her bra and let it slide down her arms to expose those creamy firm peach tipped breasts that started this entire experience.
He should thank them. He was still uncertain, but now he was in a situation he was far more comfortable with. He grabbed for the back of her head and pulled her close, but she put a hand over his mouth to stop him.
“Didn’t you see Pretty Woman?” She shook her head. “No kissing on the mouth.”
There was so much he wanted to say to that. Of course, he had seen that movie. Was she truly comparing herself to a hooker? With who was she worried about getting emotionally involved? In an instant, he knew if either of them was going to have a problem when this…relationship…took its natural course, it would be he. He swallowed hard and avoided looking at her eyes before he bent his head and slowly licked and sucked on her beautiful breasts.
He woke up alone in the guest bedroom just before six o’clock. His first thought was sheer shock at not finding Cammie in bed with him, followed by a startling disappointment due to that absence, and finally, his stomach was growling. He had burned a lot of calories. If he had wondered previously if they would be as steamy and compatible in bed as they were in the kitchen, he finally had his answer. They were even hotter in the bedroom.
Yes, his little bundle of contradictions was a keeper. For someone. He had never been the keeping type. And now, even as he knew that he wanted that to change, wanted to meet someone and have what Sam and Haley had, he always knew that Cammie made it perfectly clear that she was not interested in him.
He folded his arms behind his head. But damn, she sure had felt like she was interested. She went down on him, without begging, without using that as a way to initiate sex, without pleading for him to reciprocate…without any of that. She took control. She showed him what she liked. She directed him. Deeper…was a personal favorite. He loved plunging as far inside as their bodies would allow. He loved the way it felt every way they did it. At the moment, he was convinced they had tried ways that would make the author of the Kama Sutra blush. Yet he was lying here alone. There was little chance of a repeat performance. He needed fluids to replenish as soon as humanly possible. The rest had helped immensely.
After reluctantly throwing back the covers, he maneuvered his feet to hit the floor and finally managed to stand. His clothes were in a pile near the nightstand. Dressing quickly, he headed out to the kitchen. He knew instinctively that was where he’d find Cammie. What he didn’t know was how to react when he saw her. This chick had a way of throwing him off balance all the damn time.
She turned just as he entered the room. “Well, if it isn’t sleeping beauty,” she said with a smirk. “Did I wear you out?”
Instantly his face grew hotter and he knew that he must be blushing…yet again. “Hey, after that, you’re lucky I ever woke up.” He tried to joke and act cool, but it was nearly impossible at the moment. Though he wanted nothing more than to walk up to her and enfold her in his arms, he could tell that the gesture wouldn’t be welcome. So, he stood there, trying to act casual while he processed what was happening. She was cooking. In a bathrobe.
“I took the liberty of making dinner,” she began seriously. “After our time in the guest room, I figured you could use all the iron you could get. At the same time, I wanted something simple. We’re having a roast.”
He smiled. “I love meat. I don’t understand vegetarians. Vegans are even worse. It’s like being handed this huge gift…food in every form imaginable, and snubbing it.” He shook his head. “Damn rude.”
“Oh, I forgot and you just reminded me. We need to get invitations emailed tomorrow first thing so people have time to respond for Friday. It will be down to the wire. I’ll make much more than necessary and we may be eating leftovers for a few days, but I doubt you’ll mind. I do, however, need to know if there are any special diets I should plan for or any food allergies that I need to be made aware of.”
Just like that, they were back to business. Just like that, it was as if the afternoon had never happened. Though Adam watched her admiringly, he couldn’t help but wonder how it was she managed to compartmentalize so well. It was a rare gift to find a woman that could do that. Maybe over dinner and a glass of wine he’d ask her.
With that, he remembered one of the few party preparation plans he had been entrusted with. “I’m going down to the wine cellar. You can join me if you want. Otherwise, I’ll take inventory and report back. We’ll figure out what we need to order for Friday. I mean, you have this habit of running out of liquor and I would hate for another party to be ruined because of it.” He smirked at her and ducked out of the room just as she launched a potato at him. He laughed as it ricocheted off the wall right where he had been standing. He leaned back
in the room. “That would have hurt.” With that last comment, he caught her smile and it bolstered him as he walked down the cellar stairs.
The questions began as soon as the wine was uncorked. “What made you change your mind?” He asked as he poured her glass.
“What do you mean?” She looked completely confused.
“The sex. What made you change your mind? You seemed to have a pretty firm stance on it the other night. And then today…bam! It was on.” He shook his head and smiled at the memory. “I just wondered what had changed. I mean, it was awesome and if I want a repeat performance, I should discover the secret, right?” He winked at her as he sat down in his chair.
“There is no secret. My stance…as you put it…hasn’t changed. We both had a need. That’s all.” She shrugged as she daintily ate a forkful of pot roast and carrot. “Wine.”
“Wine is the secret?” He tried to dazzle her with the smile that would imply there was no shortage of wine for him to get her back into bed. Maybe another bed this time. He hadn’t had sex in the bunk beds for years and he had never had sex in the master bedroom or Sam’s room. He rubbed his hands together with glee.
She sighed loudly and snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Come on back, big boy. Don’t make me sorry that I shared my body for our mutual pleasure. The wine was about my need to get a wine count so we can plan for the cocktail party.”
His smile faded. “You are all business one minute, all pleasure the next. I have trouble keeping up.”
“I told you. Even that was business. We were just taking care of a need…together. That’s all. Don’t make it something it’s not. I know of at least 117 women that would claim you never had these mushy feelings after sex. Yet here you are, hassling me.” She frowned. “I’m going to think long and hard before I ever get you…long and hard again.”
With that, they wore their business faces. They ate dinner amicably, while Adam missed the warmth that might have been between them. After dinner, he washed, deciding to do all the clean up, rather than suffer from her presence in the room. Cammie had simply shrugged and said she had work to do before exiting the kitchen. He hadn’t seen her since.
Apparently she went to her room for the night and he went to his. Not his parents’ former room, but to the room he grew up in. This room hid many of his secrets. There was something special about coming back to a place that had meant so much. This house really did. This was the home of his first summer romance. This was the place that he had lost his mother. It was in this place that he realized he would probably never find love. Now, just in case he forgot, he had Cammie the ice queen to remind him. Love was stupid. It was a weak and wasted emotion. Thank God, he’d never had to worry about it.
The house was entirely too quiet. Cammie had tried to go to sleep. She had sucked down two glasses of wine with dinner, but the truth was that she was still wound up from the sex she told him they were never going to have. He really had been quite the dream lover. He had been giving. He listened to her directions. He was enthusiastic. And most of all, he made her feel like a woman, a desirable, sexy woman. She hadn’t felt that way in a long time. She prayed this wasn’t some horrible deep seeded need to get even…to make him pay, to show Cin up, to repair her own bruised ego.
Ten years ago, she and her sister had made a dumb bet. Adam Davenport was the most eligible bachelor in town. Every woman wanted him. He was only too happy to oblige them…for a night. Though they were well aware of his reputation, that he was out of their league, they were also intrigued. They had these new barely legal bodies to try out. They were both wildly attractive in their own way. It was hard to believe they were sisters until the entire family came together. Then it was obvious who took after whom. Oh, but Cin swore she could have him, swore that he would want her, too. There may have even been assertions that she would one day be Mrs. Adam Davenport.
Cammie had laughed. She retorted about blondes having more fun and how much she was going to enjoy rubbing Cin’s nose in it. They were young and dumb, attractive and competitive. In the end…Cin won. Yet as Cammie passed her bedroom the next few days, she would have cause to ponder whether it had been worth it for her sister. She had never appeared to be so depressed and dejected in all her life. Finally after the third day, Cammie had ventured in to ask that all-important question…how was it? She thought that might cheer her up, bring her back from wherever it was she had been all this time.
Instead it was worse, far worse. She heard how he had slept with Cin, sent her home in a cab, and told her he’d call…even as she knew he wouldn’t. She remembered how he dressed after, wouldn’t be seen with her, and had even overheard Adam make some joke about having trouble finding good help. He was the worst kind of guy. He wasn’t even a man.
From that moment, Cammie had distanced herself at all the parties. He had called her out, complained that she had the right amount of bitter to be someone he slept with, but he never would have guessed that she wasn’t the sister he had wronged. Through the years, various scenarios had played out in her head. They all involved trickery, lies, and deceit. Quite frankly, she was no good at any of that. No, Cammie was honest and open. Her mother applauded it. Her father called it a hindrance to success. Cin simply thought she was a showoff…little miss perfect. All she wanted was to build her own catering business and surround herself with people she chose to work with, but didn’t feel compelled to be around because they shared the same bloodline.
That was when her dreams of her very own catering business began. That was when everything changed with Cin. See, although he was supposed to be a conquest of the body…Cammie had only ever wanted his heart. Her approach had been different. That was why for every party that promised to have Adam Davenport, she would request a costume, face paint, a mask. Clearly they had caught on, figured out the common thread. She hadn’t ended up in that pink bustier by accident. In truth, the sex hadn’t been an accident either. She was curious. He was willing and interested. It made for a lovely way to pass the afternoon. Hell yeah, she’d do it again. Only next time, she would take her time. She wouldn’t have these years of pent up feelings to cloud her abilities. With that final thought, she fell asleep wearing something unusual for her…a smile.
He had tossed and turned for hours. He had tried out the top bunk, the bottom bunk, and Sam’s bed before breaking down and traipsing back to the other wing. It wasn’t that the beds were uncomfortable. It was that he was too far away. He couldn’t hear her breathe or move or anything. He hated not knowing. So he finally walked out of Sam’s room, crossed the wide-open empty great room, and headed down the hall towards the master bedroom. Taking a moment to lean on the door and listen intently, he discovered that somehow Cammie had managed to fall asleep. How could she when he was struggling so? He peered in at her. Her long blond hair was fanned out around her head. Her eyes were shut and the moonlight made her skin appear even paler than before. It was those eyelashes fluttering slightly as she dreamed that made the biggest impact.
Though he hadn’t managed to wake up with her from their afternoon delight, he would make certain that soon, he would. After a meager four hours of sleep, he climbed out of his parents’ bed, took a long hot shower, dressed, and headed into the kitchen. While he had secretly hoped she would be up and waiting for him there, she had unknowingly disappointed him once again. To discover her car was gone when he glanced out the window only added further injury to his ego.
With little else left to do, he moped out to the great room, stretched out on the couch, and fell back to sleep. Adam, who was always calm, confident, and self-assured, was now simply shaken. His ego had done nothing but take a beating since that woman walked into his life.
Soon he awakened to the sound of her laughing. “How is it possible that you are still sleeping? Get up. We have work to do. I brought food…”
That was enough to urge him from his rest: Cammie’s presence and the chance to spend time with her. A smile spread across his face as she p
oked him. “I’m up!” He argued half-heartedly with a chuckle.
“Oh, no. See by definition, you are the exact opposite of up. It’s called lying down for a reason.” She prepared to stomp off, but he rolled over and caught her.
Without warning, he had hauled her onto him and had captured her legs with his own. “Oh, see now we’re both lying down. What do you have to say about that?” He playfully bit at her neck and rubbed his stubbly face against her smooth soft cheek. He loved the scent of her and kept burrowing closer while trying to play off how much it meant to him.
“Let me go,” she protested even as she smiled and squirmed.
Slowly, gradually, by degree, he released her. Though he expected her to leap from the couch and rush off, she didn’t. He smiled. “It must be exhausting to be so tense all the time.”
She frowned. “It is.” Then with a sigh, she said seriously once more, “Can we get to work now?”
He reached up and brushed a few wisps of blond hair from her face. He studied her for a moment; her eyes were shyly closed, looking down, desperate to avoid his face. He could see how important all of this was to her. He couldn’t make her suffer. “Of course,” he replied. “Right now even.” She had climbed off him and was now standing quietly just out of arm’s reach. “Help me up.” She looked at him suspiciously. “Come on. Trust.”
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