Page 40 of Be Mine Forever

“I said we did, didn’t I?”

Jo followed, steps lagging behind, mind racing ahead. Cam, already in the kitchen, took out two spoons and a carton of unopened mocha chip ice cream. Jo sat on the stool and followed their time-honored tradition of digging right into the carton with her spoon. Cam sat on the stool beside hers but didn’t look up from the counter.

“Why are you mad at me?” Jo asked when the silence got to be too much.

“I’m not mad.” Cam rolled his eyes and then met hers. “Okay, I’m irritated.”

“I didn’t know Peter would be there.”

“Did you know he’d kiss you?”

“Cam, listen—”

“You like him.” Cam studied her face as if her expression might tell him something she might withhold, but she had nothing to hide.

“Yeah, I do.”

“A lot.”

“Yeah, a lot.”

“He’s kissed you before?”

“You know we’ve been on several dates the last few weeks.”

“Don’t hedge. Isn’t that what you always tell me?”

Jo turned the spoon to cup her tongue, knowing her answer would displease him but wanting to be honest.

“We’ve kissed.”

“You liked it?”

Now Jo rolled her eyes, setting the spoon on the counter with a clatter.

“This isn’t fair.”

“Have you slept with him?”

“What if I have?” Jo gave in to the indignation she had barely checked since Cam went all cold and prickly on the sidewalk. “You and I have been together all of a day, and you have the nerve to question me about what I did before? After what you’ve put me through?”

“I wasn’t judging you.”

“Good, because you don’t get to.”

“I was just asking—”

“If I’d slept with Peter. I heard you.”

Jo dipped her spoon back into the carton, teasing the mocha chips out of the ice cream.

“What if I have? Would that make a difference?”

Cam looked away, gripping his spoon until she thought it would bend. He put the spoon down, still not giving her his eyes. He swiveled on the stool, resting his elbows on the counter and his feet on the stool rung.

“It wouldn’t make me want you less, if that’s what you mean.” Bits of shrapnel lodged in his deep voice. “But it would make it harder for me with the two of you working so closely.”

Jo slipped from her stool and stood in front of him, sliding her hands under the sleeves of his shirt, skidding her palms over taut skin and hard muscle. He drew in a sharp breath, finally looking up to meet her eyes.

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