Slipping the keycard into the hotel door, I push it open and then fall backwards onto one of the two queen beds. I’ve been awake for twenty-seven hours now and I need some damn sleep. My jet is scheduled to leave at seven in the morning, which gives me five hours of shut eye if I skip the shower I’m badly in need of.
I pull a pillow over my face as Duff empties his pocket on the night table between us. Change rattles and then there’s the clunk of his phone. Then the bathroom door clicks shut and the shower kicks on, the rush of water pounding against the bathtub floor. That’s good. Good water pressure is hard to find and I’m wondering why the hell I’m thinking about water pressure as I sink further into the abyss of sleep.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
Shit.
I pull the pillow harder down on my face and try to ignore the sound of Duff’s phone. It stops ringing, then starts again.
Holy hell.
The harder I try to ignore it, the louder it becomes. Then it stops and two seconds later, the phone in my pocket begins to ring. Only it isn’t my normal ringtone; it’s for Skype. I throw the pillow against the wall and pull the device out to see who in the hell it is.
Unknown.
Before I can answer, the ringing stops and a message appears. “It’s Camille, please answer.” Duff’s phone dings with what I imagine is a similar message from his sister.
Still lying on the bed, I open the app and accept the request, then hit the video chat icon by accident. Dammit. I curse my fat thumbs and start to close the video call when Camille’s beautiful face appears on my screen. Only now, her face is pink and her eyes are red, one of them darkening with purple beneath it. Her short blonde hair is sticking out in several different directions.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re there,” she says in a rush as I sit up, worried now. “Where’s Link? Have you seen him?”
“What’s wrong?” I ask her, my balls tightening in concern. “You look like hell.”
She scowls at me through the small screen. “You’d look like hell too if you’d just been mugged in a foreign country and every damn thing you owned was taken.”
“Where are you? Are you hurt?”
Her fingers move up to touch her eye and I can see that they are still shaking. “I’m in Medellin. I’m in the hotel computer center. I skyped Link’s home computer first and Grace answered and told me you two were in Rio for a last minute security thing.”
“Yes, we just got in. He’s in the shower. Are you hurt?” It pisses me off that I have to ask her again, but I keep my voice calm, the words measured.
“No, I’m okay. Just a little roughed up. We were lucky. We got away and brought back security. The bad guys ran away before they could do more.”
She licks her lips and turns her eyes away from the screen. She’s lying. I hate that. But I don’t press her for the truth right now. That will come later.
“You said ‘we.’ Who was with you?”
She swallows. “My assistant, Janine.”
That’s it? Two women, one of them exceedingly wealthy out exploring God knows where. “What about your security team?”
Her eyes flick back to mine, then away again. “They won’t be here until tomorrow.”
I could strangle her. “Camille, we’ve gone over all the security measures you’re supposed to take.”
She holds up a hand. “No lectures, Tate. I screwed up, okay. Happy to hear me admit it?”
“No. I’d be happy to hear that you value your life better than this. Your brother is going to lose his shit when he finds out how careless you were being.”
She puffs out some air. “I’m thirty-one years old. I’m not some silly teenager running around in the jungle thinking I’m invincible. We were on the gondolas checking out the area. I wanted to visit a park.” She leans closer to the camera. “A very touristy area of the city I might add. An area in the safe zone. A child approached us and offered us a tour. I didn’t feel threatened in the least.”
I grit my teeth. “And what happened next?”
Her face falls. “The park was closed for maintenance.”
“So you were lured?”
“Lured? No. It was just bad…” She trails off, meeting my eyes through the screen. “You think we were set up by that little boy?”
I nod. “I’m betting maintenance day is a very lucrative day for that group.”
She touches her eye again and winces before running her fingers through her long bangs and doing something that sweeps them across her forehead, covering her bruise. My balls tighten, but not in concern this time. This time, I want to reach out to her, pull her close and sink so deep inside her that the worry on her face transforms into a pleasure so complete those bright blue eyes roll back in her head.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she says.
“Like what?” I school my face back into a carefully controlled mask.
“Like I’m a little girl you want to spank because I’ve been naughty.”
I lean closer to my phone’s screen, feeling the blood flow into my cock at the thought. “I do want to spank you, but—”
A dark haired woman’s face appears next to Camille, so close the two of them are cheek to cheek. “Hi, I’m Janine. Are you going to help us or not?” The woman’s arm curves possessively around Camille, and I watch Cam’s face flicker with annoyance.
Her assistant. Right.
In the bathroom, the shower turns off. “Your brother will be here in a minute,” I say and grit my teeth as Janine strokes Camille’s hair, the dark haired woman smirking at me through the camera. “What all did the robbers take?”
“All the camera equipment we had with us. My purse, wallet, credit cards, checkbook. All my money. My laptop. iPad. Everything. That’s why I’m trying to reach Link. I was hoping he’d wire me some—”
The bathroom door opens and Duff makes his way out, wearing a t-shirt and boxers, his prosthetic leg in his hand. He sees me awake and on the phone and lifts an eyebrow. I turn my phone until he can see the screen and a smile splits open his face. “Hey, Cam.” Then he frowns. “What’s wrong?”
Camille immediately bursts into tears.
I turn the screen back to me and scowl as I watch Janine comforting Camille, that same sly smile on her face as she watches me watch her. I toss the phone on the bed and fill Duff in on the situation while Camille sniffles in the background.
Duff picks up the phone. “Where’s your security team?”
I can no longer see Camille, but I can hear her huff out a breath. “Not you too. Tate’s already given me the ‘bad girl’ lecture.”
“Can you access your room tonight? It’s what…” he looks at the clock, “ten-thirty there?”
“Yes, the clerk remembered us and gave us new sets of keys.”
‘Sets’ as in plural. So they have separate rooms. Interesting. Does that mean they aren’t a couple? And why the fuck do I care?
I concentrate on Duff again. He looks at me. “Think we can stop in Medellin on the way out tomorrow?”
I nod. I’d already anticipated the question and pulled out my iPad to message my pilot. “We have runway clearance at seven. I’ll have him change the flight plan. How long do you want to stay there?”
“Seven for us is four a.m. for them and flight time is over six hours, so we’d get there around ten local time.” He picks up the phone and speaks to Camille. “What time is your security team supposed to be there tomorrow?”
“Late afternoon. Around five, I think.”
Duff growls and looks at me. I nod, reading his mind. Yes, we can stay until her team arrives. Yes, we’ll take her damn shopping for new equipment. It’s one of the advantages of owning my own company. I can usually set my own schedule.
“We’ll be there early,” he tells her and jots down her hotel information as she rattles it off.
I reach out a hand, asking for the phone. Duff passes it to me and I’m once again looking at Camille’s pretty face, the brunette still cling
ing to her side. “I’ll have Deakins expedite your new driver’s license and passport. Message me the details for you both and I’ll have it taken care of.”
Camille smiles and dimples appear on both cheeks. “Thanks, Tate. I really appreciate this. More than you know.” The look turns sexy. “I did take your advice on something…”
“Really? I’m shocked.” I really was. “Which bit of advice was that?”
“I made copies of all my cards and IDs and they’re in the secure cloud you set up for me. I can message them to you.”
I type in secure email into the Skype message bar. “Message it here. I’ll make sure it’s taken care of.”
Her eyes grow soft. “Thank you.” She pulls away from the woman, who had started nuzzling the side of her face. “It will be good to see you again. It’s been a long time. Too long.”
Duff falls back on his bed, his hands plastered over his face and groans.
I ignore him and ignore the brunette scowling into the camera. “I thought you hated my guts.”
She shakes her head and her bangs fall over her eyes. She tucks them behind her ear and I notice the diamond earrings she always wears are gone too. The earrings she’d received from her beloved Gran before she died. Her lobes are still red from where someone jerked them out.
“Life’s too short to stay pissed for long, especially when we’re on the same continent.” Her voice grows softer, deeper with each word.
There’s a huff and a scrape of a chair, then the sound of shoes stomping away. “I don’t think your girlfriend likes me very much,” I tell her. “Too bad, the three of us could have some fun.”
I duck the pillow Duff throws at me.
Camille giggles and my cock swells with the sound. “Janine has a no-dick zone a mile wide, but she might let you watch.”
Duff curses. “Dammit, you two. Take that shit somewhere else.”
I grin at him and take the phone to the bathroom while Camille yells, “I love you, baby bro” with a big grin on her face. She loves to emotionally torment her brother with details of her love life. It’s the only time the former Delta Force operator turns squeamish.
“She’s not my girlfriend, by the way,” she says as I sit down on the closed lid of the toilet. “I should never have gotten involved with someone I work with.”
It clicks. “So that was why you were flirting with me? To piss her off and make her go away?”
Camille frowns and she shakes her head, but her eyes flick away from the camera. She’s lying, and it pisses me off that she so often avoids the truth. From what I’ve known of her, it’s her only flaw.
And a deal breaker for me.
In my experience, women are all lying little game players who try to emotionally manipulate men and think they can lead us around by our dicks. I learned that lesson early in life and learned it well. And while I enjoy women, I don’t trust them. Not an inch.
The first time a woman says ‘I’m fine’ when she clearly isn’t, I’m out the fucking door. I’m not going to jump through their hoops. I’m not going to cater to their whims. I’m not going to kiss their ass in order to get a little ass in return. I crave sex as much as the next guy, but my fist works just fine in a pinch.
“I really do want to see you,” she says, “but you’re right, I also wanted her to get off me.”
“Then tell her to get off you.”
She rolls her eyes. “Tate, it’s not that simple.”
“Sure it is.”
“It’s not!” she snaps, then takes a deep breath. “I work with her. I shouldn’t have started anything with her. I don’t want to hurt her feelings and make her mad enough to…”
“To what?” I prompt when she trails off.
She presses her hand to her forehead. “Sue me. Go to the press. Do what everyone else does.” She looks at me. “Sorry. That was pitiful. Ignore me. I’m just emotional right now.” Her fingers move to her earlobe, where her precious Gran’s diamond should be and her nose turns pink again, her eyes glistening with the sorrow she thinks no one will ever understand.
I feel myself softening toward her and wish I was close. She looks so sad and alone sitting in that hotel computer center and processing her loss. She’s also feeling foolish and naïve. And her pride is pricked because she had to ask for our help.
“Cam…”
I wait until she looks at me with those clear blue eyes. She sniffs and wipes at a tear.
“I’m glad you’re okay and I’m sorry I yelled at you. I was worried, but we’ll be there early to help however we can.”
Her face crumples and she’s going to cry again.
“Hey, it’s okay. You wanted to trust that kid, I get it. You were in a safe zone, I get it. You had a right to feel safe there. So stop beating yourself up. Lesson learned. Move on with a little more world wisdom at your back. Don’t let this stop you from what you’re so good at. I saw your spread in World Geographic. It was … stunning.”
She smiles a little. “You saw it?”
“Yeah.”
Silence lengthens between us and my cock stirs again. She’s really beautiful. So small and perfect. Flawless skin that feels like velvet to the touch.
“I miss you,” she says, so low I barely hear the words.
“You mean you miss my dick?” I ask, teasing her, trying to break the seriousness coming between us.
She smiles bigger and wiggles in her seat, pushing her bangs behind her ear again. “Well, considering you usually act like a giant dick, I guess I miss all of you.”
I laugh, the bark of sound echoing in the small room.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Why not? It’s the truth. I like it when you tell the truth.”
She looks at me again. “I know, but not everything is so black and white.”
I lean away from the screen, the moment broken. I’m tired and I don’t want to fight with her about political correctness and how being PC is ripping the fabric of humanity into tiny shreds. Camille and I don’t agree. We’ll never agree which means there will be nothing but occasional hook ups in our future. I don’t fault her for her way of thinking. If that’s how she wants to live, it’s her choice. It doesn’t have to be mine. It wouldn’t be mine. It couldn’t be mine.
Integrity is all I have to offer.
“Why don’t you take a long bath and get some sleep,” I tell her. “We’ll be knocking on the door in a few hours.”
Her perfect white teeth sink into her lower lip. “I wish we had more time together.”
I tell her the truth. “Me too. We’ll have to make it happen soon.”
She laughs. “We always say that, then it never happens.”
“I know. We’ll have to try harder.”
We stare at each other until the moment becomes uncomfortable with words neither of us are willing to say. Finally, she whispers, “Goodnight, Tate. Thanks for your help.”
“Anytime. Get some rest. If you’re hungry, charge it to your room and I’ll take care of it tomorrow. If they need a credit card on the account, call me back and I’ll give them mine.”
Her blue eyes shine. “You’d do that?”
She’s so cute. “Of course. Just because I want to ring your neck doesn’t mean I don’t care about you.”
She leans closer. “I want you inside me.”
Mmmm … blood flows and I’m hard in an instant. “Your legs wrapped around my waist, your heels in my ass.”
“Yes,” she whispers. “Pounding into me hard, until it feels like you’re breaking me in two. Your weight making it hard to breathe.”
“Rough.”
Her eyes dilate. “Yes. Then soft.”
I laugh. We’ve had this discussion before. I don’t do romantic shit. “That’s asking for a great deal, Miss Camille. You know I don’t swing that way.”
She wiggles her eyebrows. “I know, but a girl can always hope.”
I open my mouth to respond, but a woman’
s voice calls to Camille. “You coming up?” Janine asks her from off screen.
Camille’s mouth tightens, but I watch her recover quickly, turning and smiling at the woman. “In a bit. You go on and have a good night.”
There’s a pause, then the other woman says, “But I was hoping…”
Her voice trails off when Camille shakes her head. “Not tonight,” she says softly to her. “I need some time alone, okay?”
The other woman doesn’t answer, but I hear the sound of her footsteps as she walks away. Camille blows out a breath and lets her face fall into her hands. “I’m so stupid.”
“Nope, you just proved my point. All that soft shit is a trap. Fuck and run, and you avoid all this awkward crap.”
She rolls her eyes. “I hate to admit it, but you’re probably right.”
“Damn right I’m right.”
Camille sighs a long, drawn out breath. “If we’re both single when we’re seventy, will you marry me so I don’t have to sit on my front porch all by myself?” She’s joking, but I see the undercurrent of sincerity, and worry, beneath the surface.
“Sure. We’ll drink coffee and clean each other’s false teeth. Sound fun?”
She laughs. “Sounds perfect. Just don’t tell me my ass looks fat in my muumuu.”
It’s my turn to laugh. “Lesson learned. I’ll keep my ‘don’t horizontal stripes make everyone look wider?’ comments to myself in the future.”
She narrows her eyes. “Good idea.”
“Good night, Cam. I know it’s been a suck ass day for you. Eat. Soak in a tub. Sleep while you can. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Good night, Tate. And thanks again.”
And with a click of a button, she’s gone.
Chapter Four – Camille
After hanging up with Tate, I sit in the computer center awhile longer, still trying to process all that happened today. I touch my ear. I can’t believe Gran’s heirloom diamonds are gone. I was so stupid. Stupid and trusting. I’d walked right into their trap like a rat is led to cheese.
I shiver, remembering the look in the men’s eyes as they looked at me and Janine. How one of them had patted me down, taking the money from my pocket, his fingers lingering between my legs. How the shortest guy had hit me in the face. Just like that. A quick swing and I was on the ground. Janine had screamed and somehow managed to pull away. They had laughed, totally unconcerned when she had outrun the big guy.
Badass: Jungle Fever (Complete): A Billionaire Military Romance Page 3
