Except it did.His acceptance meant more to her than she could ever convey.Trouble was, she wasn’t free to be careless with her potential exposure.Her past could hurt him, whether he acknowledged it or not.
“Now I see why you were kicked out the family boardroom.”She went with teasing as opposed to sentiment.“Aren’t Colliers taught to collect salacious details?”
A shrug.“We pull the strings, don’t write the stories.And Hot Woman Rules are their own subset.”
“The aim being to get the story and laid?”
“Ideally.”
Her head tilted.“There’s a flaw in that objective for you.”
“I like to be different.Stand out from the pack.Excel on my own.”
“From the perspective of a woman…” hot or not, “we do like a guy who makes an effort to surprise us.”
With that, his bass dropped.“I made an effort last night.”
“For a man with no interest in hitting a home run, you sure know how to smolder.”
And he had no problem with the swaggering smile either.Though it was more modest than most men would achieve, that was probably practice and expertise too.Cam was in his own league, nothing was sure when it came to him.Nothing except his chastity.If she hadn’t been sure before last night, she was now.This man could’ve done whatever he wanted to her and she’d have begged for more.Her restraint only lasted because his did.
“You’re a man of conviction.No doubt about that.”Her fingertips met his hip.“Are the rest of your family so virtuous?Mimi strikes me as…”
“Insane?She drops acid or ‘shrooms every morning.”
“She does not!Does she?”
“You come up with a better explanation.She knows every dealer in LA, probably on the planet.”
That was hilarious.“She’s your grandmother!”
“She doesn’t like to be reminded.It’s not just dealers, Mimi knows everyone.Need a fence?A hitman?She’ll hook you up.”Such a prestigious family didn’t let a little thing like social class or legality come between them and knowledge.“I’m sorry that she recognized you.”
“She didn’t.Your friend Tripp did.Is he a detective or something?”
“Says he never forgets a face, or a body.There’s every chance he featured in a drunken fumble from your past.”
Yeah, she’d never run in those circles.“Spencer might’ve noticed that.”
“Tripp has his ways, you might’ve missed—”
“I’ve only ever been with two men: Spencer and Mason… I never had a wild phase.”
Clarity piqued his demeanor.“Which is why you’re having one now.”
“Trying and failing.”
Sipping her coffee, she left the stool to wander toward the couch.Was she honestly going to do this?Tell him everything.Everything?That could take a while.More than that, did she really want him to know?
FIFTEEN
“I GET IT,” Cam said.“Wild phases teach us boundaries.”
This wasn’t easy.Picking a moment.Where did she start?And what would he think when the truth was out?
“I didn’t—I don’t…”
His quiet breath calmed her or maybe it was the idyllic sketch on the wall above the couch.Couldn’t she live there?Quiet, nothing but the ocean beyond that palace.Life would be so much easier there.
