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Courtney watched her, compassion filling her eyes. She sighed heavily.
“Don’t tell me what happened, or I’ll have to tell Ian. I can’t hide that from him, because I’m as bound by the club rules as he is. But anything else, that stays between us. ”
“Anyone who knows Cam, even years ago, knew he always kept his word. Whether it was a promise or a threat. ”
“His reputation still stands, then. ” Courtney nodded.
“He swore he’d kill any man who hurt me,” she whispered. “He made it a warning and a vow, Courtney. And there will be nothing I can do to stop him if he decides it’s deserved. I won’t be responsible for it. This isn’t his fight. ”
“Have you ever told anyone what happened?” she asked.
Jaci’s laugh was bitter. “The first month, someone I believed was a friend came very close to knowing. I found out he was a very close friend of the Robertses. And he believed everything they said about me. ” She shrugged. “They beat me to the punch. Their lies came before I could ever tell the truth. Now I would look like a liar, covering my own ass, and Cam would do something incredibly male and incredibly stupid because he made a promise. I won’t allow that. ”
“And his need to share you with Chase?” Courtney asked. “That’s not why you’re fighting a relationship with him, is it Jaci?”
She shook her head. “I came here determined to do this job, to face the Robertses and win. Then I was going to find Cam. But I can’t deal with both issues at once. I won’t deal with it. After the job is finished, after the Robertses realize that striking out at me is a wasted effort, maybe then I can see where this can go. ”
Courtney shook her head at that. “Cam won’t wait on that, Jaci. ”
She finished her wine and sat the glass on the table before turning back to her friend. “He doesn’t have a choice. ”
And to that, Courtney smiled. A slow, amused, sympathetic smile. “I think you’re going to learn, my friend, that it’s you who won’t have a choice. Once a club member has chosen his woman, they rarely go back on that vow. Ian knows of only one, in the entire history of the club, to do so, and I promise you, he’s regretting it each second of his life. Cam won’t wait. And I don’t think you want him to. ”
Her friend’s eyes twinkled. “And some men do have some interesting ways of making certain that the word ‘no’ never passes a lady’s lips again. ”
She was not going to ask. She was not going to ask. She didn’t want to know what those ways were, or why Courtney looked so deliciously lost in thought over them.
“How did I know this job was going to make me insane?” She leaned forward, lifted her glass from the table, and held it out to Courtney once again. A refill. Just a little bit more false courage. “Anytime you’re near, everything goes crazy. ”
“I know. ” Courtney smiled with smug satisfaction. “That’s why I’m so much fun to be around. ”
“We might need another bottle after that comment. ”
Courtney laughed softly. “So, you’ll be at the party tonight?” she asked, pouring Jaci another small measure of the fruity wine.
At that question, Jaci smiled. This time, it was her smile that caused concern to flicker in Courtney’s eyes.
“I’ll be there,” she drawled.
“With Cam?”
“Only if he arrives at the same time I do. ” She toasted her friend with her glass. “And I wouldn’t bet on that happening, Courtney. I really wouldn’t. ”
She may have no choice but to attend the party, but Cam was going to find out that she didn’t do orders very well at all. If he had claimed her, well, he could just learn what claiming her very well meant.
One of her greatest fears was being overwhelmed by his dominance and his sexuality. She had always feared she couldn’t stand up to him, couldn’t deny him. She was going to have to prove to herself and to him that she could. And she was going to have it do it at the same time that she was battling her nemesis.
Damn, why hadn’t she just called Cam to begin with five years ago and let him wipe the floor with Roberts and have it done with? At that time, Cam might have restrained himself to beating the hell out of the other man, rather than killing him.
But she was afraid, very afraid, that after all this time, after all they had done to attempt to destroy her, Cam just might kill him after all.
Getting a woman’s body and getting her heart are two different things. And gaining her trust is another problem entirely.
Cam wasn’t exactly inept when it came to women, but for years, gaining their trust hadn’t been one of his primary concerns. At least, no more than it had taken to get into their beds. That was an entirely different sort of trust, and he knew it.
And he didn’t have Jaci’s complete trust.
It was a startling realization, the knowledge that the woman he had claimed as his own didn’t trust him enough to allow him to protect her.
