But a few times now, he’d gotten her to laugh.
Last night, he was able to help her out with Mike.
In the long run, though, he couldn’t offer her anything she didn’t already have.
And good God, now he was thinking like Mike!
“Callie is now my sister.”
“Sister-in-law.”
“Same thing to me, so that makes you...”
Brows lifting, she waited.
Given how badly he wanted her, he had to search for the right word. “Important.”
Deadpan, she said, “Well, I’m glad I’m not in the sister category.”
“Or even the cousin category.” He leaned closer. “Not with the way I’ve kissed you.”
“There is that.”
“And the way I want to kiss you again.”
She looked at his mouth.
Time to regroup and fast, before he accepted her innocent invitation. “So what did you do with Mike? How’d you get away from him?”
“I agreed that I’d had fun—but I made it clear that it wasonly in a very casual way, that I wasn’t thinking about more, and he shouldn’t be thinking about it, either.”
“And?”
“Because he seemed strangely volatile, I nicely asked him to let me go. He gave me a smug smile and told me he could be patient. When he stopped squeezing my hand, I made sure he couldn’t get a hold of me again. I kept us in the middle of the crowd, and I made a beeline for my car.”
She’d been truly spooked; Kam could see it in her eyes—in how she held herself now. “Guess he didn’t get the message.”
She shook her head. “Since then, he’s called or texted me a dozen times. It’s like I can’t shake him.”
“Have you been outright rude to him?”
“You heard me in the parking lot! I told him it had been three dates. Only three. I’ve turned him down ever since—or I’ve ignored his calls or texts. The last time I spoke to him, I said I was moving, I’d been assigned a new job, and I wasn’t interested in any involvement at all.”
“Then he showed up here.”
Storm clouds gathered in her eyes. “I hadn’t told him where I was.”
Needing her to know, he said, “I wasn’t doubting you, but he still found out.”
“I can’t believe Tina told him, but then, I’d never told her what a pain he’s been because he was her friend. I figured I’d just leave and never see him again.”
“I hate to say it, I really do, but the guy sounds deranged.”
Worry lifted her shoulders and amplified her uncertainty. “I know.”
“Do you think he messed with our tires?”
“No idea—and that’s the truth. All in all, I don’t even know him that well.”
