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My insides clenched.

The confusion on his face melted into surprise, then disappeared behind a mask. He crossed his arms and leaned on the doorjamb. “Honeycutt.”

I tried not to stare, but I was still female and one-hundred percent in love with him. He looked so good. My gaze darted to his biceps, shoulders, neck, and my face burned despite the cold air.

I finally met his eyes.

He smirked as if he knew exactly what I was thinking and was only too happy to dangle the bait in front of my face. “Like what you see?”

Heat rushed to my cheeks. “That’s— I— Um⁠—”

“Speechless?”

I clamped my mouth shut.

He leaned in, lowering his voice. “I warned you I wouldn’t make it easy on you.”

Well, well. Polite Cam must have been trampled this morning by the alpha who sometimes took his place, and my body responded in kind, begging to roll over and submit. Scowling, I set my hands on my hips, mustering up my pride. “I can’t believe you told on me to your mother.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Again, I did warn you. I’m not ashamed to fight dirty when there’s so much on the line.”

“It wasn’t fair!”

He glanced up, pretending to ponder the notion. “There’s a saying about that. Something about love and war and fairness?”

I ignored that and stepped closer. “Did you know all that? About the first marriage and the miscarriage?”

“I knew he was married before, but that’s all. Everything made a hell of a lot of sense once he explained it.”

I was close enough that a potent hit of his scent filtered into my lungs, and my legs grew weak. Ugh. Weren’t men supposed to stink when they sweat? I huffed at my own distraction. The large, glowing, doable body in front of my face wreaked havoc on my concentration. “Can you, like, put on a shirt, or something?”

“I’m already wearing a shirt.” He plucked at the fabric over his abs.

“Doesn’t feel like it,” I muttered.

He chuckled and stepped back. “Come in. It’s cold.”

Something sparkled in his eyes as I entered, something a little predatory, and goosebumps erupted across my legs and arms. I preceded him upstairs to the living areas, ignoring the sensation of a bloodhound at my back. The place looked different during the day, with sunlight streaming through the multitude of windows. It was homier, more comfortable.

Camden didn’t stop in the living room. He traipsed straight to his bedroom, peeling off his shirt as he went.

I squeaked at the view of his back. So pretty. “Why are you taking off your clothes?”

“Not sure if you noticed, but I’m very sweaty.” He faced me at the entrance to his bathroom and motioned toward his gleaming torso. “I’m going to take a shower. Make yourself comfortable.”

“You’re going to take a shower? Right now?”

To drive home the point, he dropped trou right there.

“Okay!” I spun on my heel, throwing a hand over my eyes. “Jeez.”

He chuckled. “You’ve seen me naked before, Shay.”

I kept my hand firmly over my eyes.

“I seem to recall you’ve had your hands and mouth on most of it, too.”

A strangled noise emerged as another wave of heat surged up my neck.