Hot Commodity (Banks / Kincaid Family #1)(51)

He had family, and she could tell there was a lot of love between them. So she experimented. It took her nearly an hour to finish her first page. She went through every idea book she’d bought until she found the perfect layout. Then she mimicked it, putting her and Cameron’s wedding pictures in the open slots.

What she created had her sitting back and blinking in awe. It was perfect. And she and Cam looked like a normal, happy couple together. Seeing the two of them arm in arm and grinning goofily at the camera caused a twinge in her stomach. She missed their time in Vegas. That night had been so perfect and fun, she could almost understand the lure alcohol had on him.

Maybe she should join her husband’s drinking club. That way she could forget the fact she’d fallen for the man she’d accidentally married.

*

Olivia sat snuggled on the couch in the front room watching a cooking show when Cameron made it home from work.

She had pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth in concentration, furiously jotting down notes, when his voice asked, "Planning another disaster?"

She yelped, and the pen she was using jumped from her hand. When she whirled around, she found him grinning from the doorway where he leaned with his hands slipped loosely in his pockets.

"Cameron," she gasped, uncrossing her legs and coming to her feet. "I didn’t realize you were home."

He shrugged, watching the television as he drew near. "Learning anything from Emeril there?"

Suddenly bashful, she answered, "I just thought since I’m going to be on my own now, I should, you know, learn how to cook."

For a moment, he didn’t answer. Instead, his eyes drifted down her body. Feeling a spark of excitement at his hot gaze, she turned away and tried to concentrate on her cooking lessons, but she couldn’t get past the fact that he was just standing there, staring at her.

"I like your outfit," he finally said.

"Thanks. It’s new." She automatically lifted her hands and turned in a slow circle to model for him. It reminded her of the first night she’d met him and how she done this same move in her cat suit. "You like?" she asked huskily. "I bought it today with your credit card."

His eyes dipped down and back up again. "I’d say it was money well spent," he murmured before pushing from the doorway and strolling toward her.

Olivia laughed, even though her stomach tightened and every nerve ending running up the insides of her thighs tingled. "You might not sing the same tune once you get the bill."

Instead of responding, he caught her chin in his hand and lifted her face. Confused by his odd move, Olivia’s brows wrinkled in confusion as she caught his gaze. Her mouth opened to say something, but when their eyes met, she didn’t speak. A swell of emotion passed between them.

*

Feeling this strange urge to start talking, to tell her about his day, his life, his hopeless pain, Cameron kept his mouth shut and just stared. He hadn’t expected that air-headed pop tart in Vegas to move him this way. Then again, he’d never expected to see her again after their one-nighter

either.

Life had a funny way of turning out.

He couldn’t keep her. He knew that. She was leaving soon so he should take his hands off her. It’d only be that much harder to let her go when the time came. But he didn’t want to stay away. He wanted to pull her close and cherish every last moment they had left.

So he did.

Lowering his face, he touched his lips to hers and closed his eyes as he drank softly from her lips. She moaned. Or maybe that was him. When he lifted his head a minute later, he was surprised to see that his simple little kiss had turned the features of her face into pure rapture. Her long lashes lifted and she looked at him as if he were her everything.

Growling out a sound of need, he dipped again. This time, he wasn’t so soft or sweet. This time, he wanted her with every breath in his body. Though he wanted to race and hurry, Cameron took his time, unbuttoning each button on her new blouse with leisurely, unhurried strokes, making sure his knuckles grazed warm skin frequently. Without saying a word, Olivia reached up and pulled him back down, kissing him as he continued to undo the buttons on her shirt.

"All this talk about food," he murmured, "has made me suddenly ravenous."

Olivia chuckled. "Has it now?"

With her face tipped up, her dewy lips slightly parted and her eyes closed, she looked like a woman in love with the man touching her. It caused a ripple of pleasure and then a jolt of fear to pass through him. He wasn’t going to try the love thing again. He hated himself for failing Sienna in the end. For not saving her. He didn’t want to go through that again.

He knew he should stop. He should pull Olivia’s blouse together and explain this thing between them wasn’t going to go any further than sex. It couldn’t. But he didn’t want to stop. He wanted to bury himself inside her and forget the past. Just for a couple of hours.

Wrapping his hands around her hips, he picked her up and carried her to the couch. As soon as he sat her down, he lowered himself to his knees on the carpet in front of her and pushed up her skirt. Peeling away her panties next, he stripped them down her legs and turned the the brief piece of silk into a slingshot, snapping them into the air, not even bothering to watch where they landed.

Grinning, he wrapped his hands around her ankles and studied the strappy high-heeled sandals she wore. He was about to take them off when it struck him that it’d be a lot kinkier if she left them on. So, he lifted her thighs and draped them over his shoulders.