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“Cam?”

“Do not say my name right now. Not in that voice. Not when I’m concentrating,” he said.

“Concentrating on what?” I asked in exasperation.

“I can’t walk out of here like this,” he said, gesturing toward his crotch.

My phone rang again, and I quickly silenced it. “I should probably…go? Find Zoey?” I said, hooking a questioning thumb over my shoulder.

Cam was still scowling at his nether regions.

I took one step away but turned back again. “Quick question. Was this like a heat-of-the-moment thing? Or a gigantic mistake? Or did you think I needed more research? Because don’t get me wrong, it was awesome. You’re really,reallygood at kissing. So I’m definitely not complaining. But I’m just a little…confused?”

He finally looked at me. The heat coming off those gorgeous green eyes of his almost had me shimmying out of my shorts.“Why’s everything got to be so complicated? I liked kissing you, so I did it again.”

I nodded. “Sure. Of course. Makes sense. Follow-up question. Do you plan to kiss me again?”

“I’ll let you know.”

“Cool. Great. Awesome. I’m just going to go then,” I said, firing finger guns at him.

Oh, God. Save me from myself.

“Hazel,” Cam called.

I stopped and turned around. “Yeah?” I sounded breathy and hopeful and desperately horny.

“Your face is blue.”

“Damn it, Cam!”

Using the inside of my tank to scrub at the paint, I scurried out from under the bleachers just as my phone rang again.

I found Zoey waiting for me near the parking lot.

“Hey. I was just catching up with some…townsfolk.” I sounded completely unnatural.

“Some townsfolk? What are you writing? A historical? And why is your face blue?” Zoey asked.

I gave my chin another scrub. “I must have…rubbed up against wet paint. Hey, do you want to grab some dinner?”

“Dinner sounds good,” she said as I headed toward my bike. “Is that a blue handprint on your ass?”

“What? No,” I scoffed, wiping at the seat of my pants. “I just…fell.”

“Face and ass first into fresh blue paint?”

“How about pizza?”

26

A RUDE AWAKENING

CAMPBELL

I fucked up.

Kissing Hazel during our little fake date had been stupid. Kissing her again in public just because I felt like it was epically stupid. I wasn’t in the market for a relationship, and there was no way a romance novelist was looking for an easy, meaningless fling.