Page 79 of Be Mine Forever

Cam lifted his eyes from her suds-tipped nipples to the grin waiting for him on her face.

“Sorry. I got distracted.”

“It’s okay.” Her eyes strayed over his strong, lean body. “I get distracted sometimes myself.Isthat steak I smell?”

“Maybe.” Cam lifted his girls-would-kill-for lashes and laughed, crossing the room to rub at a blue spot on her arm. “The paint didn’t all come off?”

Jo smacked the water, sending a tiny wave into his face. He reared back, falling onto his butt and pulling his knees up, shaking water from his hair.

“No, it didn’t all come off.” Jo pushed back the suds covering her stomach, pointing to the faint traces of the Heineken six-pack he’d drawn there. “I walked around with a beer gut all day thanks to you.”

“As long as you keep running ten miles a day, I don’t think you have to worry about a beer gut.” His eyes remained on her stomach, and something soft and curious replaced the laughter.

“What are you thinking about right now?” Jo laid her forearms on the lip of the tub, resting her chin on top. “Gun-to-the-head answer.”

A microscopic smile barely curved his lips. He shook his head, a dismissal of his thoughts.

“Let’s see.” Jo tilted her head on her arms, biting her bottom lip. “You were staring at my stomach, so…”

She couldn’t bring herself to voice the thought persisting in her mind. What if she was wrong? How embarrassing that would be.

“Never mind.” She sat back in the tub, gathering suds to cover her stomach and breasts.

Cam crawled across the small space to the tub and stood on his knees beside her. He pushed the bubbles away again, exposing the lean muscles of her stomach, tracing a finger down the center, lingering at her belly button.

“I was wondering how you’d look pregnant.”

Even though that had been her guess, hearing him say it aloud set windmills spinning in her chest.

“And this imaginary pregnancy, where I get fat and unsightly.” Jo captured the finger tracing her stomach, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Is the baby yours?”

Cam intertwined their fingers across her belly, tracing the wet skin with his thumb.

“You’d go half in on a kid with me, Jo?” Cam’s voice was deliberately light, but the question weighed so much it took both of them to hold it, and she didn’t hesitate with her response.

“I’d throw my pills out tonight if you asked me to.”

Cam hauled himself over in the water with her, fully clothed, boots and all. He settled his chest on hers, pushing the damp hair away from her face. The water sloshed over the side of the tub, but Jo didn’t care and Cam didn’t seem aware of anything but her.

“When the time is right, then.” Cam rubbed his lips across her collarbone, nipping the skin of her neck gently between his teeth. “Can’t remember. Did I mention that I’m in love with you?”

“It came up last night, yes.” Jo laughed, resting her elbows on his shoulders and scooping suds into his dark hair.

“If I don’t get out of this tub, that won’t be the only thing that comes up.” Cam thrust between her hips and leered playfully.

“Since when is that a bad thing?” Jo pouted, tugging on his hair to keep him in place when he tried to leave the tub.

“Since I’m behind on my deadline for this protocol. I really do need to get unstuck.” He dropped a kiss on her cheek and hoisted himself out of the tub. “Creatively, I mean.”

Jo enjoyed the show as Cam peeled his wet T-shirt over his head and discarded the jeans and boxers, standing without self-consciousness in nothing but the glorious olive-hued skin God gave him.

Oh, mercy, mercy me.After dating Cam for a few months, she could quote Marvin Gaye backward and forward, and looking at the lean muscles of Cam’s arms and chest, the sharp cut at his hips, the well-defined abs—that lyric said it better than she ever could.

He left the bathroom for a few moments, coming back unfortunately dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt.

“You’re going to be pickled if you don’t get out of there soon.” He rubbed a towel across his water-darkened hair. “And your steak is getting cold.”

“I knew it.” Jo fist pumped and climbed out of the tub. “You’re not eating with me?”

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