Slow Summer Burn: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance (10 page)

When they’d gotten the big table together, she stretched her arms out. That huge wooden tabletop was heavy!

Glancing around, she saw all the Grayson men and their significant others working together. This was what they did—helped each other build their dreams. A twinge of envy lodged in her chest. She’d built her stores herself, with no help from her immediate family and only minimal help from Uncle Nigel. Those lonely nights she’d spent getting everything ready were a far cry from tonight, where everyone was pitching in. Though it was a reminder of everything she didn’t have, it was still inspiring. Val was the one who had held his whole family together when it could just as easily have fallen apart.

She blinked and brought herself back to the present. “What’s next?” she asked.

“A couple of utility racks for the kitchen.”

“All right. Now where did my toolbox go?” She glanced around, realizing it was probably buried under some of the packing material.

Just as she uncovered her box, Cameron felt a familiar presence by her side. She looked up, and there he was, watching her.

“Hey,” Val said, staring into her eyes.

“Hey,” she responded.

“Theo,” Val said, not breaking their gaze, “why don’t you help Cole put up the sign? I can help Cameron with the utility shelves.”

Theo looked back and forth between the two of them. “Sure thing, bro. I’ll get on that.” Cameron gave him a little smile. “I can do them myself,” she said, testing him.

“Nope. You’re with me.”

Good
. She inclined her head slightly. “Lead the way.”

He did, back into the kitchen. “Here they are,” he said, lifting two long boxes off the kitchen counter and placing them on the floor.

Without waiting for him, Cameron pulled out her pocketknife and sliced open the tape holding the first box shut. Then she flipped it open to examine the contents. “We should do this in here. We’ll need a Phillips head bit, and that’s about it. No mess.” She looked up at him, and found he was staring at her again. “What?”

His face was close to hers, those delicious little brackets forming around his mouth again. “Nothing. I’ll get the bit.”

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll get the other box opened up.”

They had the utility shelves done in no time, and after they finished, they walked back to the main room. Cameron sat down on one of the completed chairs. Without meaning to, she yawned. “Sorry,” she said to Val. “I didn’t realize how tired I was until we stopped.”

“I should get you home,” he said.

“What time is it?”

“Close to midnight.”

“If you need me to stay, I will. Anna’s opening up the store tomorrow and I don’t plan to get there until noon.” Her reward for a tough week.

Seb had come over to check on their progress. “No. You’ve done more than enough. You should go home and get some rest. But I’d be honored if you came on Saturday for opening night.” He gave her a warm smile.

Lexie came up and slipped her arm around Seb. “Oh, yes, please do, Cameron.”

“I’d love to. Thank you for the invitation.”

“All right,” Val said. “Time to go.”

She waved goodbye, then Val drove her home. The truck bed windows were open, the scent of pine and leaves and earth wafting up as they went through the woods.

“It was really nice of Seb to invite me to the opening.”

“It’s the least he can do after all your help.”

“I just put together a few pieces of furniture.”

“First of all, it would’ve taken us hours to do what you did in minutes. And second, it wasn’t just that. You also ate pizza, and you helped out my family.”

Cameron shrugged. “I don’t know why you’re so hung up on the pizza. It wasn’t a big deal. And if working at Seb’s restaurant tonight was important to my friends, it was important to me, too.”

They were back in front of her cottage now, the almost-full moon shining down on the little clearing. The water crashed on the surf, then trickled back into the sound, flowing and ebbing in a pattern as old as time. It had cooled off a bit from the morning, but it was still warm. Mixed aromas of wisteria and salt water spun around her in the sultry air.

Val undid his seat belt, turned to her, and threw his arm over the seatback. “Cam, it
was
a big deal. A very big deal.”

“It wasn’t.” She frowned. “I don’t know why you keep saying that.”

“Because women like you typically don’t know how to put together furniture and chow down with the guys.”

“Women like me?” she said slowly. “I’m not sure what that even means.”

“Aw, c’mon, Cam,” he said, fingering the collar of her jacket. “You know what you are.”
You, with the salon hair and the diamond stud earrings and the thousand-dollar shoes
. But she was more than that. Much more. And she wanted him to acknowledge it.

With two fingers, she took his hand and removed it from her collar. “I am
awfully
tired about hearing what ‘women like me’ should and shouldn’t do. I’m supposed to act a certain way, be a certain way. Everything’s so tidy and safe and reasonable and boxed in.” She started to tick off the list on her fingers. “ ‘Cameron, don’t open your own business. It simply isn’t done,’ ” she said, sounding so much like Clarissa it almost made her cringe. “ ‘And don’t miss the charity event next week—remember, you promised to join the committee. Oh, don’t travel alone to Star Harbor, dear, and definitely don’t rent a place there. What will people
think
? Don’t own power tools. Don’t eat pizza. Don’t wear jeans.’ What’s next? Don’t hang out in a truck with a man who doesn’t play racquetball?” She was painfully aware of her loss of temper, of her chest rapidly rising and falling with her breathing.

“I play racquetball,” he said, his lip curling up. “Sometimes.” She frowned at him and he got serious, fast. “Cam, I wasn’t telling you what to do. All I’m saying is that you’re a surprise.
A
good
surprise.”

She was still furious, her breath coming in sharp bursts, and she watched him watching her, this hot-as-hell man with the ocean eyes. He wasn’t safe. He was the farthest thing from safe. And she was so tired of being safe. So she did the only thing that made any sense. She slid across the seat, threw her arms around his neck, and pressed her lips to his.

Chapter 9

His society princess was kissing him, and damn, it felt good. She was going to kiss him and tell him to leave—he was sure of it—but instead of stopping, she just opened her mouth to let him in and kissed him deeper, her tongue dancing around his.
Just one more minute, just one more taste
, he told himself, but when her clean, fresh scent hit him and her little hand reached out to grab his forearm, all his good intentions flew right out the window.

Before he realized it, he’d wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. She moaned, so he took the opportunity to taste, delving inside her warmth. She tasted sweet again, and rich. So rich. He wanted more. She was still gripping his forearm with one hand, and the other—God, her other hand was on his thigh, the warm pressure from her fingers driving him mad.

He covered her hand with his, then did what he’d been dying to do all night—slowly ran his palm up her bare arm. It was warm and soft. How could he have expected otherwise? And so very right against his hardened skin. There was strength under her softness, a steel core that he liked a whole lot. Then he cupped the back of her head with his hand to draw her closer. When she gripped his thigh harder, he stopped thinking and refocused on her greedy mouth and the gentle curve of her waist, and the smooth strip of skin he uncovered when he slid his other hand up the back of her shirt. It was just as soft as her arm. Softer, maybe. And the prospect of uncovering all of that smooth, perfumed skin sent his body into overdrive.

He tore his mouth away from hers, only to nibble along her jaw and down her neck. She tipped her head back, allowing him access. When he pressed his lips into the base of her throat to feel her fluttering pulse, the pressure on his leg increased. He inhaled, trying to drink every ounce of her in. They were veering into dangerous territory now, and both of them knew it. The hand on his thigh slid to his chest and gave a gentle push.

Drawing back slightly, he took in only two things: her lips, swollen from his mouth on hers, and the look of surprise in her bottomless eyes. Before he could blink, her surprised look was gone, replaced by one of satisfaction.

Without warning, she went in for the kill, licking her way from his neck up his jaw, until she was back at his mouth, one hand snaking its way into the waistband of his pants.

He put his palm over the back of her hand, stopping her from going any farther.

“We go down that path, Cam, I—I don’t know how nice I can be anymore,” he growled. “You understand what I’m saying?”

“I don’t want nice,” she whispered. “
Please
don’t be nice.” Then she leaned in and kissed him. Hard.

And then it was as if all the floodgates opened. Val pushed her back onto the seat. Her body was as welcoming as her mouth, one leg bent up against the seat and one wrapped around his back, pressing him down, right into her. He obliged her, his hard bulge settling between her legs, one foot on the floor for some kind of purchase.

With zero finesse, he shoved up her shirt, pulled down the cup of her bra, and wrapped his lips around a beautifully taut nipple. Her response was amazing—moaning while those hips rubbed against his in the most erotic way. He yanked down the other side of her bra and feasted, while he kept his hands busy. She was panting now, grinding her body into his. He drew her breast into his mouth for one long suck, when she stiffened and gasped.

“Oh, my God,” she breathed.

He glanced up. Had she just—

“Sorry,” she whispered. Even in the dark he could see her flush.

“Sorry? Oh, Cam!” He threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, baby, don’t be sorry.” The absurdity of nearly losing his control in the front seat of his truck—stopped only by a luscious former debutante losing hers—made him feel seventeen again, full of hormones and hubris. And he’d thought the power tools were a surprise. He got off her and pulled her up to a sitting position.

“Lucky,” he said. “I don’t have protection with me.”

“I do,” she said. “Inside.”

He kissed her long, and deep. “So,” he said. “You gonna invite me in?”

She slipped her arm around his neck. “Are you kidding?”

They barely made it out of the truck and up to her cottage. Once inside, she pushed him against the wall to get what she wanted—his mouth on hers. He groaned her name, cupped her rear, and before she knew what was happening, he lifted her up against him, her legs wrapped around his waist.

“Bedroom,” he managed to get out in between kisses, and she pointed the way.

Once inside, as her legs dropped, Val pulled off her top and threw it to the floor. She kicked off her sandals as he made quick work of her pants. Within moments, his clothes were off, too—all except his boxer briefs. His body was a work of art—all corded muscle and sinew. Her gaze skittered over the impressive bulge between his legs. She’d appreciated the male form before, but never as much as this.

“You’re beautiful,” she said, her mouth almost watering at the sight of him alone.

“So are you,” he responded, pulling her close, the sensation of flesh upon flesh making her shudder. “God, you’re so responsive. All I have to do is touch.” He skimmed his hand down her arm and she shivered again. Then he repeated the gesture with his tongue, licking his way from her shoulder to her fingertip. This time, her shivering was uncontrollable, and her nipples hardened even further, pressing against the material of her bra.

He covered both breasts with his hands. And then, before she could even react, he was thumbing one nipple and suckling the other, right through her bra.

She gasped, and then, with a speed at which she could only marvel, her bra and panties were slipped from her body and she was on her bed, flat on her back, as he repeated what he’d just done, only this time with no barriers between them. He knew exactly how much to bear down and when to back off. The pressure between her legs grew until it was almost too much to handle.

“Val, come on,” she demanded.

“You didn’t give me a chance to show my stuff before. Now I get to play.”

And play he did, all over her sensitized skin, keeping her on the razor’s edge of sanity. Just when she thought she would die if she couldn’t ease the heat, he swept a long finger through her folds.

“God damn, Cam.”

“Please, Val,” she begged, too far gone to be embarrassed about anything. “I need you to touch me so badly.”

Gently, he circled her swollen flesh with his fingertip and mouthed a wet nipple. It took all of fifteen seconds for her to have another orgasm. She cried out and dug her hands into the comforter.

He didn’t give her time to recover. Just started in again on her already sensitive nipples,
rubbing and flicking until she was about to go crazy. When he reached down between her legs, she was sure she’d go off again, but he did something magical to smooth away the edge, keeping her high but not allowing her to peak. He slipped a long finger inside of her … then two, widening her as he ratcheted up the stakes higher and higher. As she got closer and closer, her thighs started to shake.

It only took a second for him to take off his shorts and get on a condom she’d pulled out from the night table. And then he was between her legs, drawing up and spreading her knees. Pressing his tip to her entrance, he paused to bracket her head with his forearms. Cameron kept her eyes open as he began to ease his way inside.

God, he was huge! She could hardly breathe.

“Val—” she started.

“So damned tight,” he muttered. “Shhh—stay with me. It’ll be better in a second. Hang on.” He moved just a fraction more, and he was right. It did feel better.
So much better
. And when he captured a nipple between his teeth and slid in a fraction more, it felt even better. When he flicked her other nipple and kissed her mouth, that was the best yet. When he was buried to the hilt inside her, he paused and raised his lips from hers.