by Stacey Lynn
“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 men
tion 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 talking-to 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.
