Love Me if You Dare Read online

  And even more so when he pulled her close enough that she felt his erection again—this time pressing against her in front. She bit her lip, weakened by the fresh bolt of desire racing through her, and their eyes met.

  “Oh, I want you,” he said, his voice coming out a little raspier than she’d ever heard it. “Believe me, I want you like crazy. I want to make you pant and moan and scream. And I’m pretty sure from the look on your face that you can feel how much I want you.”

  “Uh huh,” she murmured, definitely feeling it. Feeling it very much.

  “But . . .” he said quietly.

  Oh hell. But again? “But . . . ?”

  He shut his eyes, reopened them, and sighed. “I’m just not sure, Tink. I . . . don’t want to get caught up in the heat of the moment.”

  She narrowed her gaze on him accusingly. “I think you just did.”

  “You’re right,” he told her, “but I mean . . . more than that. I don’t want to take things further and then regret it. I . . . need some time to think.”

  Part of Cami was pissed off. That he’d take things as far as they’d gone and then call it to a screeching halt. She wanted to say, Hey, maybe you should have thought of that before you got intimate with me just now.

  But she supposed women the world over felt justified taking things to a certain point and then calling it quits. And that was okay. The rule was—it was okay because it had to be.

  And she supposed one reason she felt miffed—besides a little embarrassment—was that what they’d done had gotten her . . . emotionally invested. In thinking this was on now, happening, that they were on the same page. “You know, if I were down on one knee with a diamond ring in my hand, I might understand you needing time to think,” she told him frankly. “But since I’m not, maybe you’re over worrying this.”

  It surprised the hell out of her when he leaned his head back and laughed out loud. Then said, “My God, woman, you crack me up and I’m kinda crazy about you.”

  Oh. Well. Maybe that changed things. It definitely made her happier. Not to mention restoring her confidence. “You should be,” she told him with a cool smile. “I’m actually pretty great. Once you get to know me.”

  He gave her a grin in reply. “I’m glad I’ve gotten to know you. Because you’re right—you are.”

  Which left her a little more reassured. And she’d just decided she was going to kiss him when—“Hey, what’s up over here? No canoodling when we’re supposed to be looking at fish.” They both glanced over to see Mike Romo flashing a teasing smile. The wind had shifted and the boat had drifted from between them and the other two couples. “Rachel and I keep seeing a big bright blue and yellow fish and she’s wondering what it is.”

  “Few different things it could be—maybe a queen angelfish,” Reece called easily. Then he looked to the woman in his embrace and said, “Come on, let’s go snorkel.”

  And even though she appeared a little uncertain as she said, “Um, okay,” Reece had made the split-second decision that it was the right thing to do. Even if she might be thinking he’d ended their conversation prematurely.

  “Here, let’s get your mask back into place,” he said, helping her make sure it formed a tight seal around the edges to keep water from leaking in, and then he pulled his own mask back on, too. “Tell you what, Tink—why don’t you just hold on to the bottom of my trunks and kick your fins a little, but I’ll do most of the swimming and can point things out to you in the coral.”

  And within another moment or two, they were heading toward the small reef, rejoining the rest of the group. Once they reached the coral, he explained to Cami not to let her feet or legs touch it, both for its safety and for hers. Then he helped her practice breathing through her snorkel tube until she got the hang of it—after which they went fish-watching.

  And that seemed a whole lot easier to Reece than dealing with whether or not he should get more physically involved with her. Of course, even now, as he swam with her at his side, his groin ached and he stayed uncomfortably hard.

  She was way different than she’d seemed in the beginning. There was another whole side of her hidden beneath that red suit and those high heels he’d first seen her in. And turned out he kept liking this other side more and more. Maybe too much.

  Too much because the first side still existed. And the first side still wanted to buy his motel. And just now she’d told him that if he didn’t sell, it could put her job at risk? That was big—huge. He wasn’t even sure she realized what a big thing that was to put out there between them, to make him feel he held in his hands. But the one thing it made clear was exactly how important it was to her to get what she’d come here for. A thought that was far from comforting at the moment.

  And how did a woman possess two such very different sides? Was it even possible for her to be the tough, take-charge woman he’d first met and the sweeter, friendlier—even if still determined—woman who was afraid of his iguana and could look so innocent at moments that it made him want to kiss it right out of her? Or . . . did it mean one side wasn’t real? And if so, which side?

  Big questions. Big fucking questions. That was for sure.

  So just snorkel. Just focus on the moment, on the coral formations below you right now. Focus on being here with the nicer Cami, and with your friends, and the things you love. Reece truly loved this place—he loved showing people not only the charm of the town but also the whole other world that existed under the water here. So just concentrating on stuff he enjoyed seemed like a good solution at the moment. It had carried him through harder things—harder times—than this, so doing it now should be easy.

  Spotting a small cherubfish peeking from a clump of gray coral, he pointed it out to Cami, its vibrant blue fins whipping away through the formations a moment later. And he was pleased when a small school of glasseye snappers went swimming smoothly past, glistening orange and looking nearly electric.

  When Cami pointed enthusiastically toward a queen triggerfish, the pale blue of its lower side nearly seeming to glow, it gratified Reece that she’d gotten over her initial discomfort in the water to enjoy this. Of course, she’d gotten over her initial discomfort enough to enjoy some other things, too, so maybe he shouldn’t be surprised.

  They’d swum into a part of the coral where the water was deeper and the ocean floor much farther below them than before, and Reece spotted a small, harmless nurse shark probably four or five fathoms down, a distance of twenty-five or thirty feet. It was too far away to make out any detail, but he knew it by shape and the regularity of seeing them in the area. As with all the other sea life they’d spotted, he stretched out his arm, pointing it out for her to see.

  After which she yanked on his wrist and thrust her head up out of the water. When he followed suit, she blurted, “What the hell is that?” her eyes enormously wide through the wet lens of the mask.

  “Just a little nurse shark,” he began—but he didn’t get to say any more because she bounded toward him, tackling him in the water and nearly drowning him before he could tell her, “Relax, Tink, relax. It’s okay, not a big deal—I promise. Calm down.”

  Her arms were around his shoulders again—clutching him desperately now—and his circled her waist as he looked into her eyes to whisper, “Cami, you know the worst thing you can do when a shark is around?”

  “What?” Her voice was quiet, too, but still panicky.

  “Thrash around and draw attention to yourself.”

  Finally she went completely still in his loose embrace. Good. Sheesh, for a tough woman she could be antsy.

  “Just so you know that as a general rule of thumb,” he told her. “That little nurse shark won’t hurt us, promise—but in general, if you see a shark, just act normal and swim away without panicking. Got it?”

  She gave a nod, seeming calmer now, at least a little. “Got it.”

  And as they resumed snorkeling—heading back into the more shallow area around the reef since that suddenly seemed th
e safer choice with a new snorkeler—he decided he’d just given her some good advice. Don’t panic. And that he would heed that same advice himself here, with her.

  If there was one thing Reece knew, it was that whatever happened, life went on and things mellowed out. He didn’t always know the reasons things happened the way they did, but most things—not all maybe, but most—worked themselves out if you didn’t panic about it.

  So just think this thing with her through. Could it be like she said? Could they fool around, have fun together—in bed and elsewhere—and keep it a separate thing from her job? Maybe. After all, he was holding her right now, wanting her right now, and that mutual attraction moving between them had nothing to do with the reason she’d come here.

  And what about the no-strings-attached part? He’d always done it that way—at least since his mid-twenties, about ten years ago, when some big things had changed in his life—so surely he could do it now, too. Surely.

  So just think it over. Just see where it leads you.

  It was like he’d just told her. There’s no reason to panic—no reason at all.

  SNORKELING had been a new and interesting experience for Cami—but all in all, she was kind of relieved to return to the boat.

  Of course, a lot had changed since she’d left the boat—she’d swum in the vast, open ocean waters, she’d seen a shark in the wild, and she’d been stroked to orgasm by Reece Donovan when she’d least expected it. She’d had no idea snorkeling would be so . . . world-changing.

  And she still didn’t know where they stood, which irked her. Especially the part of her that liked to have control over things. But she was trying to be calm and cool about that. If nothing else, her entire association with Reece was teaching her the art of patience—whether she liked it or not.

  Back on the catamaran, they all ditched their snorkel gear in the big netted area in the bow so that it would dry in the warm air, then they broke out coolers of drinks along with sandwiches Christy had offered to make, and bags of chips, as well as apples, bananas, and grapes Rachel and Mike had picked up for the excursion.

  They made a leisurely meal of it, talking as a group about the things they’d seen snorkeling, but then the guys split off when a conversation about the boat started up, technical stuff that didn’t interest any of the girls but entailed Reece showing some things to Jack and Mike.

  Cami found she liked the easy rhythm of it all—the other two couples were clearly in love, clearly in comfortable, settled relationships she couldn’t help envying a little. But at the same time, all were clearly cool with spending a little time apart as well.

  “You and Reece seem close,” Cami observed to Christy. She’d seen the two having a private conversation earlier, and even through the course of their light dinner, she’d observed exchanges between them that implied they knew each other well and shared some inside jokes.

  “I guess we are,” Christy replied. “I guess because he and I have kind of a big thing in common.”

  “Oh, what’s that?” Cami asked.

  “My parents died in an accident a few years ago, when I was in my early twenties—just like Reece’s did.”

  . . . something as dark as night had come.

  J. M. Barrie, Peter and Wendy

  Chapter 12

  CAMI BLINKED. And her stomach dropped. “Reece’s parents died? Suddenly?”

  And Christy’s jaw dropped as her eyes opened wide. “Oh God, you didn’t know. I’m such a bigmouth. I can’t believe I said that.” Now the younger woman was crushing her eyes shut and clenching her teeth over what she’d blurted out.

  “It’s okay,” Cami said, still trying to absorb the news. And she wasn’t sure if it was really okay or not—nothing about it sounded okay to her—but she followed the urge to try to put Christy at ease.

  Now Christy was shaking her head, and still making the face of someone who felt she’d screwed up. “I didn’t realize you didn’t know or I wouldn’t have mentioned it. He’s kind of private, so now I feel bad.”

  “I won’t tell him I know,” Cami promised. Because it was the only decent thing to do.

  “I guess I just thought you guys seemed so . . . in sync or something.” Christy was back to shaking her head. “So I somehow just assumed he’d told you.”

  Still sitting next to Christy on the same towel, Cami bit her lower lip thoughtfully. “In some ways we’re in sync. In other ways not.”

  And Christy nodded knowingly. “I suppose you can only get so in sync with someone whose business you’re trying to buy when they don’t want to sell.”

  Cami pursed her lips, taking that in, along with everything else she was still trying to process. “He told you about that, huh?”

  “Today, when we were chatting earlier.”

  “Do you have any idea why he won’t? Sell?” She realized as the question left her that she was asking as much from a personal perspective as a professional one. The more she got to know him, the more she truly wanted to understand him.

  “Yes,” Christy replied. “But . . . I’ve already said too much.”

  Cami nodded. “That’s okay, I get it. And I don’t mean to pry. I care in a way that’s . . . about more than business.”

  “If he wants to tell you, he will,” she said. “And I hope he does. It . . . it would make you understand. It would make you not want to press him on it anymore.”

  One more thing to wrap her head around: Was that possible? That whatever his reason, it would truly make her ready to throw in the towel for the first time ever and go trotting back to Phil telling him Windchime needed to let this one go? It was difficult to fathom. What reason could be that powerful?

  And then it hit her that she’d been so shocked to hear about Reece’s parents that she’d completely ignored Christy’s own loss. “I’m sorry—about your mom and dad,” she said.

  But Christy offered up a small, tight smile. The smile of someone who’d struggled a lot to be able to do that and was maybe still struggling. But it also struck Cami as strong. “Thank you. As time passes, it gets better. And having Jack helps a lot. He’s my family now. We’re getting married in the fall!” she added, now breaking out into a real smile that lifted Cami’s heart. Her joy felt a little contagious.

  “Really? How wonderful!”

  “It’ll be a small wedding, on the beach. But I’d love for you to come.”

  The kind invitation caught Cami off guard—and warmed her soul. She barely knew this girl, and yet Christy acted like they were old friends. She’d never experienced anything like that before.

  Of course, the particular bit of her life she’d lived the past few days here in Coral Cove was . . . fleeting at best, and at worst seemed almost . . . not even real, imaginary. “I wish I could,” she explained, “but I live in Atlanta and I’m only here temporarily.” I’ll be long gone by then. Back in my real life.

  Which suddenly felt a little cold and empty to her, for the first time ever. It was a good life, after all. Wasn’t it? Good job, good income, townhouse in Buckhead. Of course it was good—great, in fact. Far better than she’d once even been able to dream.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Christy replied, sounding sincere. And it made Cami feel . . . valued. Just for her company. Not for her job skills or her wardrobe or her address or anything else—just as a person. Do I not usually feel valued that way? Yikes, what a scary thought.

  “A beach wedding sounds lovely. And I’m sure you two will be very happy.”

  Christy nodded, smiled. “I’m sure of that, too. I’m very lucky that way.”

  And Cami did think Christy was lucky. Did she even envy her a little? For having a dependable love, dependable friends, for seeming so happy and content? She wasn’t used to that feeling—she wasn’t used to yearning, at all, for anything she didn’t have. She’d thought she had everything she wanted; she’d thought she’d figured that out a long time ago and had gone out and made it happen.

  But as the catamaran named The H
appy Crab started back toward the shore, she had no choice but to acknowledge that maybe there was a little more to a happy life than she’d chosen to recognize up to now.

  SHE stayed aware of Reece the whole ride back, even though they didn’t talk. Music played on the boat, and the sun set on the horizon in dazzling slashes of orange and pink. Sipping on a glass of pinot grigio from a bottle someone opened, she exchanged casual conversation with others in the group.

  After a little discussion about Mike and Rachel’s baby, Rachel announced that she considered herself a horrible mother. “Oh my God, this is so embarrassing, but last week I found her on the kitchen floor trying to eat cat food! Which is bad enough on its own, but she’s lucky Shakespeare—that’s our cat—didn’t take a swipe at her for that.” Rachel pressed her hand to her chest, clearly reliving the horror of it.

  Yet Cami instantly said, “Things happen. But that doesn’t mean you’re a bad mom. You seem like a great mom!”

  And Rachel seemed sincerely touched by the sentiment.

  “I don’t care if she eats a little cat food,” Mike chimed in to say. “Just as long as she never grows up and never wants to go on a date. Ever.”

  Rachel just shook her head and informed them all, “Someone has some overprotective tendencies that he’s going to have to get under control pretty soon.”

  “I’ve heard about that from Anna,” Christy said. Cami had gathered that Anna was Mike’s sister and a friend of Christy’s from Destiny, the small town in Ohio where Mike and Rachel still lived and Christy had been raised. “And if I know Anna, she won’t let Mike be too controlling of his little girl.”

  “I’m counting on that,” Rachel said. “Hopefully between the both of us we can teach him not to be so overbearing. Or we can at least hold him down long enough to muzzle him when boys start coming around.”

  “Boys,” Mike groused, rolling his eyes. “I know boys. I was boys. Boys are no good.”

  Reece had told Cami that Christy made jewelry for a living, so she inquired about that, learning that Christy consigned her work—repurposed vintage costume jewelry—at various boutiques and resorts and was making a healthy living at it. Jack, she found out, was also a successful entrepreneur, providing online investment advisory services. She told Christy she’d love to see some of her jewelry and they agreed to get together tomorrow at Christy and Jack’s cottage on Sea Shell Lane.