Instant Attraction

Chapter 18

Cam came back to Wilder after a long two-day trip and went straight up to the offices to check in with Stone.

Okay, lie. He went straight up to the offices to catch a glimpse of Katie.

Because he’d been wrong about the whole being able to breathe after sex with her. Very wrong. He hadn’t taken a good deep breath since the last time he’d seen her. He had no idea what exactly to do with that information. None. He only knew that he had to see her again.

“Looking for something?” Stone asked when he came out of his office and caught Cam staring at Katie’s empty chair.

“The mail.”

“Mail’s on my desk. Why don’t you ask me what you really want to know.”

“All right.” Cam searched his brain. “Where’s the schedule?”

Stone just looked at him. It was the same look he’d perfected years ago, the older brother what-have-you-done-and-what’s-it-going-to-cost-me-to-bail-you-out look. “Is it that hard to admit you’re attached to something, someone?”

“Okay. You’re right. I missed you.” Cam stepped close and hugged him, slapping him extra hard on the back. “Whew. Glad to get that off my chest.”

“You didn’t miss me.” Stone shoved him away with a laugh. “You know who you missed. You missed the pretty temp.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Cam turned to look at Katie’s desk.

“So you don’t care that she left a week early.”

“What? What the fuck-” He whirled back to Stone in time to see his brother’s wide-ass grin. “That’s just mean.”

Stone just kept grinning but was wise enough to back up out of arm’s length. “She’s at the bank.”

“If you sent her on the snowmobile by herself, I’ll-”

“Car. Christ, you’ve got it bad. And-” he said quickly, holding up his hands when Cam growled. “There’s nothing wrong with that. Nothing. Which is why, maybe, you should ask her to stay instead of leaving next week.”

“Are you crazy? Why would I ask her to do that?”

“Oh gee, I don’t know. Maybe because you’re going nuts at the thought of her going?”

“I am not. I don’t care.” At Stone’s long look, he turned away again. “And she wouldn’t stay. She’s got plans. Adventures.”

“Then no one is more equipped to take her on than you.”

“So, what, I should up and leave again?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want you to. But the alternative is to walk away from her.”

“She’s walking. She’s the one walking.”

“Come on, Cam.”

“What?”

“You know what.”

“You think I’m walking? Again? Quitting, again?”

“Yeah, I do.”

Cam’s chest hurt, like he was having a heart attack. But it was a ball of anxiety and he knew it. He wanted to turn around and walk. Hell, he wanted to run. And keep running, until his chest didn’t hurt anymore. “You keep throwing that at me.”

“And maybe one of these days it’ll stick. You’ll stick.”

“Jesus, what do you want from me?”

Annie came up the stairs, took in the sight of them standing so close, steaming with temper, and quickly stepped between them, a hand on each of their chests. “What? What are you fighting about?”

Stone eyed Cam over Annie’s head. “I’m just reminding Cam he’s good at quitting.”

Annie’s hand was like steel against Cam’s chest when he pushed at her in response. “And I was just going to remind Stone what his face would look like with my fist in it,” he said through his teeth.

“Okay, back off, both of you.” Annie added a shove to the directive. “You want to fight and get out all this stupid tension, fine. I’ll even join you and beat the hell out of the both of you just for fun. But we do it outside. I like the furniture in here.”

Stone made a sound of disgust in his throat and turned away, and Cam’s chest hurt worse for it, because he knew.

Stone was right.

He strode to the stairs, needing some damn place to be alone.

“Where are you going?” Annie asked.

“He’s running,” Stone said.

“Shut up, Stone.”

“If you’re running off,” Annie said to Cam, “then run into town to get my damn pies.”

Cam sighed. “Tell Nick to do it.”

“I’m not talking to him.”

Code for Nick had been an idiot for some reason or another. “Maybe you could not talk to me either.”

“No such luck for you. Two cherry, two apple, and don’t eat one on your way back.”

Stone snorted.

“One time,” Cam said. “That happened one time.” He took the stairs, grimly satisfied to see Annie smack Stone upside the head.

With frustration still fueling him, he drove into town, unable to ease any tension on the semislicked roads. By the time he drove into Wishful, he was even more tense than when he’d left the lodge.

But Katie’s car was parked out front of the bakery, interestingly enough with a pair of pliers sticking out of her tire. He walked inside and caught sight of her, and then…Then all the seething, churning, shitaceous crap inside of his gut eased. Inexplicably.

Irrevocably.

She was laughing, sincerely laughing in the way only she could, with her eyes, her face, her entire body, while Serena and Harley stood one on either side of her looking at her as if maybe she had a screw loose.

Which was entirely possible, but Cam liked her exactly as she was, and if either of them had been rude to her, he’d-

What? He’d what? He staggered to a halt, stunned by the overwhelming, gut-wrenching emotion churning inside of him. Protectiveness? And even more shocking, possessiveness-two emotions he’d never had any use for when it came to women. Hell, he never had any use for them when it came to anything-not his home, his business, nothing.

But shockingly, he realized she mattered, and he stared at her, feeling like he’d been hit by a Mack truck.

She glanced over, and though she stopped laughing, her smile didn’t fade. If anything, it warmed. Something came into her eyes too. Something that said, I’ve held you in my hands and watched you come.

Shit.

She pulled off her glasses and wiped them on the hem of her sweater, and he wondered if he’d fogged them again.

And was he the only man to do that to her?

Serena sighed, walked over to him, and gently tapped on his chin, reminding him to shut his mouth. “You didn’t have to come rescue your little girlfriend. We’re doing just fine.”

“Annie wants pies. Two apple, two cherry.”

“Aw, and you came to me? How sweet.”

“You’re the only pie in town.”

She sighed again. “Okay, one of these days I’m going to get through, Cam. One of these days.”

Katie was clutching a bag in one hand, with a cookie in the other, and if he wasn’t mistaken, there were more than a few chocolate crumbs on the left corner of her mouth. “Saw the pliers,” he said.

“Yeah. Only me, right?” She shook her head and licked the crumbs off her lips. She also took the last bite of the cookie, then stuck her thumb into her mouth and sucked the crumbs off of that, and he found himself hungrily watching the motion of her tongue. “Harley’s going to fix it.”

“After I take a test.” Harley smiled in greeting and moved close for a hug.

They’d gone to high school together and had spent many, many, many days together in detention. “You getting close to that degree yet?” he asked, affectionately rubbing the spot of grease on her chin.

“Very close. So…” She hesitated. “How’s T.J.?”

She and T.J. had spent considerable time together too. Not in detention. “Still in Alaska.”

“Freezing his balls off, I hope,” she said sweetly.

Thankful he wasn’t T.J. at the moment, he reached for the pies Serena had bagged up and eyed Katie. “So you’re stuck in town.”

“A little bit, yes.”

“Want a ride?”

“Please.” She slid off the stool. “Do you have the snow-mobile?” she asked hopefully.

“Sorry, no.” Up at Tenneman Falls he’d promised himself that he wouldn’t take advantage of her for the week she had left. If there was a move to make, she’d have to make it, and he’d just be there for her.

Yeah.

That’s what he’d promised himself. But now, with her right here in front of him, he wanted to grab her, toss her over his shoulder and into his truck, where he’d get her naked in two point zero seconds flat.

Instead, he opened the bakery door for her. Outside, she lightly kicked her tire. “Probably I should have wished for grace and poise on that falling star.”

He thought she had grace and poise in abundance, just not the traditional kind.

“But actually, I’m glad about the wish I did make.” Her smile went just a little bit naughty. “Very glad.”

He got hard. Shaking his head at himself-that wasn’t her making a move, he told himself-he opened the passenger door of his truck for her and managed to lean in for a sniff of her hair. Fucking pathetic, he told himself as he came around to the driver’s side and started the engine. He pulled into the street and relaxed marginally at the silence, because maybe she wasn’t going to talk. That worked for him.

“What’s the matter?”

So much for that. “Nothing.”

“Nothing’s making you tense enough to shatter?”

He silently pleaded the Fifth.

“How about a kiss? If you don’t want to talk,” she said when he slid her a look. “Kind of like a hello-after-two-days thing.”

“I’m driving.”

“You could have kissed me before, when you first saw me.”

“I promised myself you had to make the first move.”

“What?”

“Never mind. Listen, I’m clearly having a problem communicating today across the board. Maybe we could not talk.”

“Pull over, Cam.”

“You’re right. That was rude. I-”

“Pull over right now, please.”

He did, then reached for her so that she couldn’t escape, because that’s what he figured she would do. She’d slam the door on him, then go off and pout like all the women in his life ever had. Or maybe she wanted to throw something at his head. At least she didn’t have her own car, so he was fairly certain she didn’t plan on trying to run him over, which was a small comfort because he didn’t want her to leave his truck at all.

But apparently this woman was not done defying his expectations or surprising him, because it wasn’t the door she reached for, but him. She reached for him at the same moment he reached for her. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, to make her stay, but then her mouth was on his. She bumped his nose with hers and dislodged her glasses, which she yanked off with an annoyed little sound; then she kissed him again.

At the connection of their two bodies, his went on immediate overdrive. Before he knew it, he’d dove right into the kiss as if he hadn’t just been silently apologizing for all the others. He had one hand holding her head for his plunging tongue, the other inside her jacket, beneath her sweater, gliding his thumb over her breast, thrilling to the low, desperately hungry noises she made in the back of her throat. God. Her hands were just as busy, in his hair, on his chest, heading south, playing with the button fly of his jeans-

“How was that for a first move?” she murmured, pulling back.

He let out a breath. “I thought you were trying to get away from me.”

“Did that feel like I was trying to get away from you? Really?”

He looked into her glossy eyes, at her cheeks that were bright with color, at the mouth he could never get enough of, the one still wet from his, and felt boggled.

“If you can’t remember,” she murmured. “Maybe I’d better kiss you again.”

“Maybe you’d better.”

But she was looking around them, staring at the windows, which were completely steamed up, cocooning them in their own world. “How long were we at it?”

“I have no idea.” But he was going to need a minute before going back to the lodge.

Maybe two. He had to laugh at himself. At her. And then she was laughing too. Their eyes met, the laughter faded, and in the next beat they dove at each other again, hands fighting to get inside clothing-

At the knock on his window, Cam nearly bashed his head on the roof. “Jesus.”

“Who-”

“No idea-” Through the fogged windows he caught the tall outline of Stone.

Katie was working frantically in the opposite direction now, trying to straighten her clothes instead of getting out of them. Cam waited until she gave a nod, then turned the key and hit the button for the window, and met Stone’s cynical expression.

“You don’t care, huh?” Stone’s steady gaze flicked to Katie. Cam turned to look at her too. She hadn’t gotten her jacket zipped back up, revealing the fact that she’d misbuttoned her sweater. She looked like he’d cared all over her.

Stone chewed on his tongue a moment. “I got the call about your tire, Katie. I went to go check on you, to give you a ride back.”

“Thanks, but, uh, Cam found me.”

Stone’s gaze once again slid toward Cam, whose hair was probably as messy as Katie’s. His shirt was rumpled, and let’s not forget the boner he was sporting.

He looked like someone who cared a whole helluva lot.

Stone merely patted the door, gave Cam one last long look, then walked back to his truck.

“What did he mean?” Katie asked him.

“Did I ever tell you Stone’s got a drug problem? I keep telling him crack kills but…”

She laughed. “Cam.”

“Okay, he’s got early signs of Alzheimer’s.”

“Or…” she said, smile fading. “Shut up, Katie. Is that right?”

Or that.

“So this is like all the other times then?” she asked quietly. “Where I get too close and you need your distance?”

“I-” Christ, he felt like he was spinning. “Maybe. Look, honestly? I’m an ass.”

“I appreciate you realizing that.” She sighed. “But actually, this is my fault. I need to remember we’re just…What are we exactly?”

At the look that crossed his face, she put up a hand. “You know what? Never mind.”

Kicking his own ass, he started the truck and drove them back to the lodge. Katie started to get out, then turned to him, and he braced himself.

“I’ve made it pretty clear how I feel,” she told him. “I’ve told you I’m attracted to you. I’ve showed you I’m attracted to you. I’ve assured you that I’m not looking for a white picket fence and a diamond ring. At least not this winter, and not from you.”

He met her gaze, which was steely and determined and filled with frustrated affection.

Affection for him.

“I’ve told you all that,” she said with that inner strength he admired so much shining there. “And yet still you hold back. Why is that, Cam?”

He wished he knew.

And when he didn’t answer, couldn’t answer, she sighed softly, shut the door, and walked away. Wanting him but not needing him.

And the hell of it was, the stupid crux…it was him who needed her.

Katie kept herself busy. She rented out the snowmobiles when a group came by. She helped Nick get another group ready for a snowshoe hike. She arranged for a family reunion to take place up on Alpine Ridge. She worked on the books. And after all that, she was still stirred up, both sexually and temperamentally.

Cam had wanted her to make the first move. Well, she’d made all the first moves.

But she was done. If there was another move to be made before she left, he’d have to make it.

“Mail.” Annie tossed it down to her desk. She was back in her baggy clothes. Today’s apron read:

IF YOU DON’T LIKE MY

COOKING, LOWER YOUR STANDARDS.

Katie sighed. “What happened?”

“Nothing. Nothing happened. Which is my point. Why shave my damn legs and wear uncomfortable clothes if nothing is going to happen?”

Exactly. “He didn’t notice you?”

“He yelled at me because he said I ruined his painting.”

“Did you?”

“Sort of.” She grimaced. “I ignored the KNOCK FIRST sign and brought in a whole bunch of snow with me. I ruined whatever he was working on. He got all pissed off before he even looked at me.”

“And let me guess,” Katie said. “In return, you were sweet and kind and understanding.”

“Yes!” Annie sagged. “Okay, no. I snapped. I snapped and yelled and stalked off.”

Yeah, She could relate. She’d snapped and stalked off on Cam as well. “Before he got a look at you?”

“Before I even took off my coat.”

“Well, then, it doesn’t count,” she said firmly. “Look, someone should get things right today. You have to try again.”

“No.” Annie shook her head. “No way. He had one shot at me, and that was it.”

“Are you saying then that you only deserve one shot too? Because what if that was yours, Annie? Wouldn’t you want another chance?”

She sure as hell did.

And yet it wasn’t up to her and she knew it. It was up to a man who had no positive experiences with relationships, a man who may not ever want a positive experience, a more stubborn man than she’d ever met.