“That should do it.”
Braddock froze. CJ bit her lip to hold back a whimper. She blinked. Tried to catch her breath. Her entire body pulsed.
“Help me out here,” Cooper called down to Braddock.
He scrambled from under the quilt, climbed up to take the camera.
CJ scooted off the mattress. Grabbed her blouse and pulled it back on. Her body was still strumming with pleasure. She was so close to ...
“I need some air.” Braddock stormed out of the cabin.
Cooper dropped down onto the bed. She shook her head. “Men. They just can’t take the heat.”
CJ managed a shaky smile. At the moment, she wasn’t exactly taking it too well either. She rammed her fingers through her hair. Straightened her clothes.
Cooper prepared to copy her camerawork onto a videotape and ensure it was good to go.
As soon as the images flashed on the small television screen, CJ was out of there.
“I’ll make a fresh pot of coffee,” she mumbled.
“You might want to put some ice in that,” Cooper called behind her. “I think you both need to cool off.”
Chapter Forty
9:45 p.m.
Cooper took her equipment and files and left.
Braddock stared out the window long after she’d driven away in the Monster.
He was avoiding eye contact and conversation with CJ.
If he looked at her now, even exchanged a single word with her, he wasn’t sure he could control his baser urges.
“Hey.”
He flinched at the sound of her voice. Soft, tentative. He glanced over his shoulder to confirm that she’d gotten a call on her cell.
Most likely Abbott.
Braddock needed a walk.
The last one hadn’t been nearly long enough.
He hurried out the door. Walked to the narrow road that cut through the trees past the small cabins, making a long circle through the park. He didn’t go far enough to lose a visual on their cabin, kept his pace brisk and steady. Still, the walk, the night air did nothing to calm him down.
Giving up, he turned back to the cabin. Knew he couldn’t stay out here too long. She would sense that something was wrong. Sure enough, she peered out the window as if he’d telegraphed that last thought straight through the walls.
Just get it over with. Go inside and be cool.
When he opened the door she was waiting for him.
“That was Edward calling. He was worried.”
Of course he was. “You told him you were okay?”
She nodded. “He couldn’t believe what Juanita and Carter had done to Shelley.” She shivered, hugged her arms around herself. “I still can’t believe it.”
