Camden's Redemption (Gloves Off #4)(5)

Once in the elevator, it quickly lifted me up to the top floor and opened to a sprawling hallway. It was ritzy with elegant light fixtures, plush carpeting, and expensive paintings adorning the walls. Not exactly the type of place I would choose to live, but I had no choice. My small, three bedroom house was out in the middle of nowhere and I loved it. I didn’t like being in the heart of the city. Maybe that was why I was good at undercover work; I was good at hiding.

The second door on the right turned out to be all the way at the end of the hallway. Taking a deep breath, I leaned my forehead against the door and smiled when I could hear Jason’s music from within. Slowly, I opened the door and quietly snuck in, eyes going wide at the sight before me. I didn’t care about the size of the condo or that it was filled with top of the line furnishings. The view of downtown, however, was absolutely breathtaking.

A set of hands came down on my shoulders and I leaned in, smiling. “It’s beautiful isn’t it?” he asked.

Smile fading, I jerked out of his hold. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Blake lifted his hands in the air and stepped back. Out of the four months I’d been gone, he hadn’t changed much. His light brown hair was a little longer and gelled in messy spikes and his eyes were still the same mysterious gray as before. I knew what he was up to, wearing the shirt I bought him for his birthday and my favorite pair of jeans. He must really think I’m stupid.

“B, you’re here,” my brother called out hesitantly.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I glared at Blake and then at my brother when he came into view. “Yeah, unfortunately I wasn’t expecting douchenozzle to be here.”

Jason sighed and grabbed my elbow, pulling me over to the window. He was two years older than me with dark brown hair like our father but with green eyes just like me and Braylen. Bray and I had always been accused of being twins since we looked so much alike, but I was seventeen months older than her.

Jason blocked my view of Blake. “I know you don’t want to see him, but he wanted to come. Just talk to him, B. You’re going to be working with him again, so it’s best you talk it out now, even if we both want to kill him.” He took my car keys out of my hand and backed up. “I’ll go get your stuff so you two can talk privately.”

“Gee, thanks,” I huffed. “It’s good to see you too.”

Chuckling, he turned and started for the door. “We have plenty of time to catch up. All of us are going out tonight.”

As soon as the door shut, I glared at Blake. “And by us, that better not be including you.”

“Are you really going to stay pissed at me this long? It’s been six months, Brooke. At the time, I didn’t think you were coming back to me. You wouldn’t let me touch you.”

“I was grieving,” I shouted. “And I was . . .” Wide-eyed, I bit my tongue and turned away; I couldn’t let him know the truth. Being home brought back all my insecurities. He was right though. I hadn’t let him touch me. All I wanted was time, but if he really cared, he would’ve been patient. I didn’t want anyone to see what the accident did to my body.

Blake tried to turn my face toward him, but I slapped his hand.

“What were you going to say, B?”

“Other than f*ck you? Not much else.”

“Brooke, I’m sorry for what I did. It was a mistake.”

“No, the mistake was getting involved in the first place. I should’ve known better.”

His jaw clenched. “So what are we going to do? You can’t run away from me forever.”

I scoffed and walked past him into the kitchen, but he followed too closely behind me. “I don’t know what you’re going to do, but I’m going to pretend like none of this ever happened and go on with my life. Our time together doesn’t exist to me anymore. It’s just a bad memory I’m going to forget.”

There was a bottle of wine in the refrigerator. I pulled it out and poured a liberal amount into a glass. Tossing it back, the warmth spread through my veins. I poured another. Blake stared at me with narrowed eyes. Keeping my focus on him, I swallowed the rest of my wine and set the glass down. His body brushed up against mine and I moved back, only to come in contact with the wall. Well, isn’t this fun?

“Something’s different about you, Brooke. I don’t know what it is, but I do know I missed you.”

“And I think you need to back up,” I hissed. “I’m different because I know what I want, and more importantly, what I don’t want. What happened between us isn’t going to happen again. I can promise you that.”

He grasped my chin between his fingers and I jerked out of his hold. “We’ll see,” he murmured. “See you tonight.”

Before I could reply, Jason burst through the door with my two large suitcases. “Damn, B. What all did you pack?”

Blake smiled and stepped back, winking at me before hurrying to the door to help my brother. “I’ll be back at seven,” he said.

Jason gawked at Blake’s retreating form and then back at me. “Did I miss something?”

“Just the part where he’s gonna be a major pain in my ass. Can I shoot him?”

Chuckling, he joined me in the kitchen. “I wish you could. I’m sure he’ll lose interest once he finds someone else to f*ck.”