“You’ll get sick if you eat them all,” he says. “But I was prepared for you to say that. So I came up with a plan.”
An hour later, we leave the café with full stomachs and a gigantic sampler box—one of each type of beignet to bring home.
“This is literally the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me,” I say to Cam as we walk back to the truck. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome.”
He leans closer to me, so close I think he’s going to kiss me. I stop breathing. I stop moving. I go completely stock-still.
His brow furrows and he steps back.
“It’s okay,” he says in a gentle tone. “I won’t hurt you.”
I know he won’t. But I can’t stop freaking out every time he gets close. And I don’t know how to explain that without sounding like I’m too screwed up for him to want to waste his time with me.
I reach for his arm, and he tucks my hand inside his coat pocket as we keep walking.
“This place reminds me of the town my cousins grew up in,” he says, gesturing to the small shops along Main Street.
“In Montana?”
“Yeah. Except for the mountains, of course.”
“I’ve always wanted to go there,” I say.
“Really? You never mentioned that before.”
That’s because it feels like a pipe dream. I change the subject. “I think we should come here again when the ice has melted a little. It could be our place outside of Climax.”
That last part just slips out.
Shit, shit, shit.
I try to think of a way to rephrase.
But Cam’s dimple flashes. “I was thinking the same thing.”
We reach his truck, and he opens the door for me and then walks over to the driver’s side.
“And about what you asked me back in the hotel room…” he says as soon as he’s inside.
“Forget about it,” I say quickly as I reach for my purse and pretend to look for something—anything—in it. “You apologized for startling me last night. Well, I didn’t mean to startleyou. So, touché I guess.” I laugh.
I turn away from him to stare out the window, but suddenly a large hand snags my wrist. Cam gently tugs until I’m facing him again.
“Do you really want that?” he asks me, his expression serious. “For me to be your first?”
“Of course,” I say. “I wouldn’t ask anybody else.”
Silence hits the truck, and Cam swallows so hard I can see his throat move. And it’s so damn sexy. Everything about Cam is ridiculously sexy.
“Why me?” he finally says, shifting so he’s inches away from me.
I feel like my face must be the color of an actual tomato, but he deserves an honest answer, so I do my best to give it to him.
“Because I trust you,” I say. “You’re a good person, and you’re kind and genuine. Plus, you’re the only man I’ve ever been attracted to. Like really attracted to, enough for me to…”
His eyes darken. “For you to go to bed with?”
