AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Pulling her in, I draw a deep breath of the vanilla shampoo I like so much. Her arms come around my waist and she relaxes against me.
“Thank you, Rux. I needed that.”
Maybe I did too. That’s the thing about being with Cammy—she gives me things I didn’t even realize I needed. Things that soothe a place inside me I do my best to forget—the one it’s too late to fix.
I’ve got a lot of shortcomings and I wouldn’t wish me as a husband on my worst enemy, but when it comes to being Cammy’s friend, I’m rocking it. In this, I’ll never let her down.
Running a hand over her back, I peer down at the spill of blonde curls against my shirt.
“And I need food, Sunshine. What do you say we get out of here and grab some.”
She laughs into my chest, and damn if that isn’t the best feeling in the world.
“Yeah, let’s get out of here.”
I let Cammy pick the restaurant and we end up at this divey noodle joint we’ve been to a couple of times before. They don’t take reservations and couldn’t care less about me being a Slayer, so we always have to wait, packed into the alcove by the door with everyone else—but the food is totally worth it.
We eat and talk and joke. She shows me the pattern for the Lego Masters apron Matty asked her to make him. We haggle over what we’re gonna watch tonight, I wantThe Curse of Oak Islandand she wantsBlacklist, which always kills me, considering how many romance novels she’s got loaded on her phone. But when it comes to TV, she’s all about the action and intrigue. That or rockumentaries.
Chances are good we’ll watch hers, but it’s fun to negotiate whose pick is first.
By the time I’ve polished off the Thai Basil Chicken Cammy couldn’t finish and the check is paid, I’m feeling pretty good about the smile on my girl’s face. We head back to the alcove, weaving through bodies to where the coats hang by the door. I help her with her coat and she wraps the blue scarf I got her for Christmas into some kind of elaborate knot while I shrug into my jacket.
Suddenly I feel her hand in mine. My eyes come up because while we’re pretty touchy-feely with the hugs and me just kind of liking to be close to her, hand-holding hasn’t really been our thing. But then that delicate hand delivers a crushing grip that has me wondering if I’ll be able to hold my stick for tomorrow’s game.
“Damn, woman, what—?”
“Do it again,” she whispers through a kind of scary smile.
Do what again? I helped her with her coat. Bumped at least four people because it’s a tight fit and I’m a big guy. But Iapologized. Still, if she thinks I need to do it better—I start to turn to the guy behind me but stop when she delivers another bone-grinding squeeze.
“What?” Look, I’m a pretty quick guy, I don’t miss a lot. It’s what makes me good at what I do. Right now though? I have no idea what this woman wants from me. But based on that freaky intense stare she’s giving me, whatever it is, she wants it bad.
“Kiss me. Now,” she demands through teeth that don’t move. “He’s here!”
And it clicks. “The Blip?”
I start to turn but for being a pretty little thing, Cammy’s surprisingly strong and snaps me back with a hissed, “Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look.”
I try to wipe the smile off my face, because, come on.
“What? You were mad when I kissed you two weeks ago. Now you want another?”
That pissy huff. “No, I do notwantanother, Ruxton. But I’d rather have it than have The Blip think you just gave me some pity kiss or worse”—her face morphs into this tragic mask of horror that has me wanting to pull her into my arms without even knowing whatworseis—“apity lay.”
Choking on a strangled laugh, I pat her hand while carefully extracting mine.
“Whoa. No one thinks that, Sunshine.”
“Think about what he said to me. He thinks I’m desperate. That I have no options. He thinks I’m the kind of woman who would make easy pickins for a player like you.”
“Easy pickins?” Christ, she’s adorable. “Can’t have that.”
“I’ve got my pride, Rux.”
Maybe, but her confidence could sure use a bump.
“Okay, so our situation is this. You don’t really want my kiss—which is crazy because it’s amazing—but you need it so The Blip knows you aren’t desperate. Yeah?”
