Her Forever Hero (Unexpected Heroes #3)(38)
His tone may have been joking, but she heard the underlying pain.
“I’m sorry, Cam. I always forget that your life didn’t start out as well as it’s ended up.” She turned to him and held his arm for a moment.
“My life is great, Grace. But it doesn’t matter how good it is now or how good it’s been for the past twenty years. There are some things that will never be forgotten.”
“You know, Cam, you can talk to me about it anytime you want.” Grace was almost surprised when those words popped out of her mouth.
“I might take you up on that offer, Grace. But I’m far more worried about what’s going on in your life right now.”
He walked from the closet and moved toward another door. When he opened it, she had a hard time holding in her gasp. The bathroom was the size of her last bedroom, which she’d considered pretty dang roomy. A soaking tub sat in the middle of gray granite, and the double vanity was a woman’s wet dream come true. The shower looked big enough to fit ten people, with multiple spray heads and smooth granite walls.
“Wow. I’ve never had a chance to see your bathroom. I can’t imagine what it looks like if this is the guest one,” she said, unable to keep the awe from her tone. Maybe she had been a little too hasty in building such a small home.
No. This was more than any person needed. Her new house certainly wasn’t too small. It was more than enough space for a single person. She hated cleaning, and couldn’t imagine how long it would take to clean this house. Not that a guy like him would clean it himself.
“I’ll show you my bathroom right now,” Cam said, holding out a hand.
“I think I’ll pass. It’s been an eventful day. I’m going to shower and go to sleep.” She turned away from him, not wanting to be tempted once again that day.
“Grace, it’s early yet—only six thirty—and before we drove out here, you said you were hungry. Take your shower and come downstairs. I promise not to attack . . . for tonight, at least.”
He didn’t try to cajole her any further, just turned around and walked from the room, leaving the decision to her. She appreciated that more than anything else at the moment. Even if she had just half an hour to gather herself together after having so much thrown at her in one day, she might begin to feel a little more human again.
Grabbing a pair of her most unsexy flannel pajamas, she went into the bathroom. She took a little more than half an hour, though, because after the heavenly shower, she couldn’t resist soaking in the giant tub, and to get out before sitting there for an hour would be a waste of good water.
She wasn’t going to admit even to herself that she was putting off the inevitable. Cam was downstairs waiting for her, and her resistance was zilch. Would they finish what they’d begun that very morning?
When Grace was all out of thoughts about how to avoid him, she sat up in the tub, an evil idea taking place in her mind. He’d left her reeling this morning. Wasn’t payback a bitch?
Cam sat on the couch trying to read a legal thriller he’d had lying around for the past four months, but he just couldn’t get into the story. Was Grace ever going to come back down, or hide out in her room? He knew she had to be hungry, and although his meal of sandwiches and chips wasn’t the best dinner ever, it was still food and it was sitting on the coffee table, waiting.
He would have had his cook, Mrs. Bateman, come out and fix up some meals, but he’d been in and out so much that he’d given her a few days off. Bad timing.
Cam finally tossed the book aside. Why even pretend to read? He leaned back and tried to listen for the sound of Grace’s footsteps.
He shouldn’t care if she didn’t come down tonight. They would talk tomorrow. Well, they would if she climbed out of bed before he went in to the office. He had meetings and couldn’t play hooky all day—although he’d like nothing better than to lie around with Grace, eating his meals off her delectable body.
The first creak of the staircase had him sitting up straight. He shouldn’t be this anxious around a woman, but after this morning, his body was still hurting. What in hell had possessed him? Why had he tried to get more from her than just the pleasure of the moment? She’d wanted him, and he’d been a fool to want more.
And now he was paying.
When she came in, Cam felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the living room. “Grace?” His voice was little more than a croak as he watched her saunter toward him.
“Yes, Cam?” she asked with far too much innocence.
“What are you doing?”
She smiled the smile of a woman who knew who she was, and knew exactly what she wanted, and what she was going to get. Her long, dark hair hung down her back; her eyes—so dark, so exotic—were bright and enchanting. Hell, even her toes were turning him on as she moved closer and closer.
She stopped a few feet from him, her short silky robe held together only by a slim belt that looked a little too loose. Yes, he’d seen her naked—that very morning, in fact—but her peaked nipples poked tantalizingly through the thin fabric and were making him pant like a dog.
Raising her arms, she ran her hands through her hair; her head fell back, and she sighed. Cam couldn’t have spoken if his life had depended on it. She had him in a trance, and if this was the show, he prayed it would never end. Maybe he’d really just fallen asleep and this was his fantasy invading his dreams.