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Blake tipped her chin up. His eyes caressed her face in a way that made her want to live in his arms. “But I never meant to makeyoufeel that way. I don’t want to change you, but Idowant you to change.”
“There’s no difference, it’s the same thing.” Her lip trembled before she cut the gesture off. “Why-why aren’t I good enough?” She shook his hand off. Rolling her shoulders to disperse the warmth that had settled there and braced for the truth. She hadn’t meant to sound like a baby begging for his attention, but she wanted an answer.
“Cameron, I wanted the real you.” He snapped the band of his skimpy swimsuit. “Thisis the Cameron I knew was in there—Crazy, ballsy, fun, and silly. It took a lot of creative genius to pull one over on me. Even if it was a little mean.”
She laughed up at him. “So, you saw everything I packed.”
His eyes narrowed to slits, but the gold glimmer of a smile sparkled in them. “I did. What the hell is the thong for? If you wanted to see my ass, you know you’re more than welcome.”
Heat flooded her face. She hadn’t planned for the thong. She’d just wanted to unsettle him, but since he was damn near a nudist…
“I guess you’ll have to wait and see.” She gave a sexy hair flip over her shoulder. At least she hoped it was sexy, or at least bold. Yeah,bold, not sexy.
“Hmm, and what else do you have planned for this week? I can’t believe you made me take a week off for this. What is this place, anyway? When I pulled up, I thought it must be a mistake. We’re in the middle of nowhere. The Wi-Fi is optional, and you didn’t opt in. They told me you specifically requested a no Wi-Fi cabin. You know how much work I need to do.”
“I know you need a vacation withnothingto do.” His lips flattened. Blake Scott did not take time off work. She was one of the few people who knew that he worked harder than he played. He didn’t miss a single day of working on a project. His mind was always going. “It would do you good to shut the company down for a week.”
“You shut Scott Electronics down for a week? The whole damn company!”
“Just you. But you’re the company.”
“So, what do you have in mind?”
“My friend Georgia is the activities director, and she’s always telling me how much fun it is here.” She took a deep breath and exhaled. “So, nothing major, swimming.”
He looked down.
“Yes, swimsuits are required. Hiking, dining, canoeing, and, of course, our dancing lessons.”
“No, absolutely not. You know I don’t dance. Never.”
Her nose wrinkled together. “I always wondered, why not?”
“When I was fourteen, my mother thought dancing lessons would be a good way to help me grow out of my awkward stage. I was always kind of clumsy, but it got worse when my body shot from five-nine to six-two in one summer. I was like a colt, trying to make my legs work for the first time.”
“Aww, so precious. I bet you were cute as hell.”
“No, not really. It was embarrassing to fall over yourself every time you navigated down the hallway. Kids can be cruel. They called meBlerd, the Nerd. The hallways became gauntlets.”
“That’s why you turn down reunion invitations.”
“The people I want to reunite with are still in my life.”
“Yet, you still send grant money to them and other high schools around the country.”
“For science and tech, I always thought it was a damn shame that science programs and teachers don’t get the same funding as sports. A school might spend fifty thousand on the football team but will barely spend five hundred for a science decathlon.”
Cameron nodded. “That’s how it was in my school.” Her nose scrunched again. “But it still doesn’t explain. Why no dancing?”
“Let’s just say I made a complete fool of myself over my beautiful Latin instructor. Marisela was the first woman I’d ever held in my arms, and I was a teen boy. Wishful thinking.”
His lips took on that spoiled pouty lip, and she dropped it. Kind of.
“Fine, but you made a fool of yourself walking down the hallway, too, and you didn’t stop walking. We’re going dancing, and you won’t have anything to be embarrassed about. You’d never make a fool of yourself over me.”
“The way I remember it, I already have. Haven’t I?”
Her breath hitched, and the elephant appeared in the room again. It lurked about most days, but she’d figured out how to ignore it. But now and then, it would return and sit so arrogantly between them that they couldn’t overlook it.
