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“We have, and I’m thrilled to offer the position to you.”

“Oh.” My stomach knotted. I should be ecstatic, but a chasm of panic opened in my chest. I chanced a glance at Camden, but he wouldn’t look at me. “That’s amazing. I—I’ll have to—um— Can I get back to you in a couple of days with my decision?”

A short silence, and her tone grew clipped. “Okay. Yes. We can extend a week’s grace period for you to decide.”

“Thank you. I will call as soon as I can.”

“Alright, thanks. Goodbye.”

She hung up before I could reply. Yikes. Did I just mess that up?

“So?” Cam asked, gaze sliding to me.

I hugged myself, battling a surge of pure overwhelm. “I got the job.”

He smiled brightly, though his eyes dimmed. “Congratulations.”

“This is a lot,” I admitted after a moment.

“You’ve got some choices to make,” he said with an affectionate nudge of my chin. “But you’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “Maybe.”

Forty-Nine

By Thursday, I’d created entire spreadsheets of pros and cons, weighing each job option on a scale like stacks of gold. The walls of my temporary bedroom were papered with every gritty detail, but I was no closer to a decision. Shadows stained the skin beneath my eyes, and stress had knotted the muscles in my neck.

I regretted resisting Cam’s attempts to lure me back to his place. He’d taken it in stride—gazing at me with affectionate patience each time I slithered away for job research, but now I wondered what I’d been thinking. At the time, it had seemed wise not to waste time in bed when I was on a decision deadline, but maybe I could have used the release.

Was time with Cam ever time wasted?

“Honeycutt?” Cam asked from his office doorway that afternoon.

I looked up from my computer to find his wintry eyes sparkling in my direction.

He motioned his head toward the inside of his office. “You got a second?”

For no reason at all, warmth surged from my neck upward—something I tried to play off with a demure nod. “Of course.”

As I stepped inside, the scent of him enveloped me. He’d left papers strewn across his desk, and panels of gold slanted across them from the windows behind.

He shut the door. “I have to leave a little early today. Have an errand to run.”

“Oh.” My shoulders fell. I’d been hoping to sneak some time in after work.

He crowded into my space, gripping my waist. “I need my goodbye kiss early.”

I ran a thumb over his lower lip. “Maybe I can see you tonight?”

“Do you want to see me tonight?” he asked, all cocky. “Finally starting to miss me?”

I stiffened my spine. “Don’t be needy, Shepherd.”

His lips dipped at once to my exposed neck. “You missed me,” he said, certain now.

My body went boneless like I was one of those old collapsible animal toys. Just push the button and watch it melt!

Cam knew all my buttons, and it occurred to me now how much he’d been holding back this week. This man wanted me. Holding most of my weight, he fetched us up against his desk, plopping me right atop the papers. I briefly checked to make sure he’d locked the door, then pulled him down for a proper kiss.