It’safter nine by the time I pull into Camille’s driveway. As soon as I put my truck in park, Lizzy says goodnight and hops out of the truck. She runs inside so fast; I don’t even get my goodbye out before she’s gone.
I laugh. “Well, that was discreet.”
“Subtlety never was her strength.” Camille leans into me and kisses my cheek. “Thanks for inviting us over. I had fun today. So did Lizzy.”
“Hopefully, my family didn’t scare you off.”
“Not at all.” She gives me a warm smile. “I like them a lot. They're so unlike my family.”
“How so?” She hasn’t talked much about her family, only that they’re not close.
“The laughing, the joking, the playfulness, and the fact that you all actually get together weekly. My family doesn’t do that. And my mother doesn’t hug. I can’t even tell you the last time she hugged me. Your mom has officially hugged me more times than my own. That’s how different they are.”
“They all like you and Lizzy. You’re welcome back anytime.” I take her hand in mine and lift it to my lips. Her skin is soft, delicate.
After the conversation with my brothers, I can’t stop comparing Camille to Irene. Irene is a city girl with an odd roughness about her. Not a rugged roughness like me or Joe, more ruthless and harder around the edges. I was married to her for seven years and never really knew who she was. I only knew the version of her she wanted me to see.
Camille is different. Everything about her is soft and delicate. She’s sweet and kind. And honest. That’s her best quality. With Camille, I know what I’m getting into. There isn’t a ruthless bone in her body. She has more compassion in her little finger than Irene had in her entire body. I don’t even know what I ever saw in Irene now. I cringe at the thought of how I ever allowed myself to marry her in the first place. She was all wrong for me.
“Hey.” Camille’s hand gently brushes down my beard. “You okay? You faded out on me there.”
“I’m fine.” I squeeze her hand before I reach down and push my seat back. “Come here.”
I lift her up off her seat and sit her on my lap. With one hand clasped tight around her waist and the other cupping her cheek, I kiss her. It’s a soft, slow kiss at first. But when she parts her lips, I plunge my tongue into her mouth. The kiss quickly grows heated, and my cock hardens beneath her. She rolls her ass against me, eliciting a guttural groan.
She pulls away, both of us breathing heavily. “Adam, talk to me. Something’s wrong. I can sense it.”
I drop my head and rest it against her chest. She instinctively hugs me closer. God, she feels so good in my arms. What my family said tonight is true. I’m in deeper with her than I want to admit. Losing her at this point would be painful.
“Adam, look at me.” She lifts my chin and forces me to look into her eyes. “Is it your family? They don’t like me?”
I let out a long exhale and pull her close to my chest. “It’s not that. Trust me, they all loved you and Lizzy. I’ve no doubt Momma will insist you come to dinner more often.”
“Then what is it?” The concern in her eyes nearly breaks me.
I drop my head and rest my forehead on her shoulder. The last thing I want to do is give her the wrong impression about my family, but I don’t want to lie to her either. “It’s just … Matt and Joe expressed their concern for me. They don’t want to see me hurt again. Joe brought up Irene, and I don’t like thinking about her.”
“I see.” She sags against me, and I can feel her heart rate increase from where her chest is pressed against mine. “Was she really that bad? I have to be honest with you, I can’t imagine you marrying someone who’d treat you that poorly.”
“Sadly, I did. She did a number on me, and my brothers don’t want to see me go through something like that again. It has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with me.”
She pushes off my chest and frowns. “How can it not have anything to do with me when I’m the woman in this relationship with you?”
Her last words cause my heart rate to speed up. The thought of defining what we are to each other excites me. “Are we in a relationship? We haven’t exactly talked about what this means, and what we are to each other.”
She rotates on my lap and straddles me. She winces from the strain on her muscles. The effects of the ride earlier today are kicking in. I rub my hands up her thighs, and she relaxes into me. The tight space of the truck forces us even closer together, and my erection is hard against her center. She smiles and lightly kisses me before she continues. “I consider what we have a relationship. I can’t make you any promises. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you I've got this all figured out, because Idon’t. But I know I want you in my life. You’re important to me, Adam.”
I wrap my hand around her neck and pull her forehead to mine. “You’re important to me, too. We don’t have to have everything figured out yet. I just need to know we’re in this together.”
“Together.” She kisses me breathless, and it takes every bit of my strength to not fuck her right here in my truck. Instead, we make out like teenagers, stealing as many kisses as possible while pushing the boundaries of curfew.
CHAPTER 18
CAMILLE
Iforce a smile on my face as I walk into Sweet Cakes. Lizzy heads home today, and I feel absolutely miserable. Having her here with me these past few weeks has been so good for my soul. I’m going to miss her something fierce. The thought of watching her walk-through security at the airport later today crushes me.
Leaving her behind in Georgia was the hardest hurdle I had to overcome when I decided to move so far away. I wanted to pack her up and bring her with me, but her life is in Savannah. She has a great job and a lovely apartment close to the water that is remarkably affordable. Plus, all her friends are there.
