Page 57 of My One and Only

“She is.” Jo disentangled her arm from around Fiona, slid off the bed and stood up. Instead of asking Cam questions, she moved into the hall and watched as Cam kissed Fiona’s head and rearranged the covers over his daughter. Then he eased out of her room and closed the door but didn’t latch it. Even after a break-in, he remembered the rules.

Once in the hall, he took Jo’s hand and drew her into the living room. Tugged her onto the couch. She turned to him and studied his face. He looked older than he’d looked earlier that evening. Beaten down. She grabbed his hands and squeezed them tightly. “Did you recognize the guy in the ski mask?”

Chapter 17

Cam shook his head. Tightened his grip on her hands. “Nope. Didn’t recognize him. But I got his name from the police, who had his driver’s license. It sounded familiar, but I’d never seen the guy before. I’ll let it roll around in my head. See if I remember where I heard that name.”

Circling his wrists with her fingers, she smoothed her thumbs down his hand. The feel of his skin, warm and alive, soothed her. Made her still-rapidly-beating heart slow down. “He said he wasn’t here to ‘kill no kids’. So maybe he would have spared her. But who knows? If he thought she’d gotten a look at him?” Jo swallowed and closed her eyes, needing to block out that mental picture. How could anyone kill a child in cold blood?

Cam shifted closer to her. “Thank God you ignored my stupid attempt to keep you out of my house,” he murmured. “Thank God you came to Ogden to visit your mom. That you came to find me to rip me a new one about the problems in your mom’s house.”

Jo smiled at him. Smoothed her fingers over his cheeks, feeling his stubble scrape her palms. “Don’t worry, Cam. You’ll be paying for all those things.” Every sweep of her hands heightened the sensation of his beard against her palms. It made her shiver.Want.

Shoving the inconvenient desire out of her head, she said, “Not sure how much Mel will charge you for my services, but there’s no way I’m going back to Montana until your situation has been resolved. Until you know who’s targeting you and why. You have a bodyguard until everyone behind this is locked up.”

He stared into her eyes, and she saw need in them. Hunger. He repeated, “If you hadn’t come here to visit your mom, Fiona and I might both be dead right now.”

Jo pulled her hands away from Cam’s face. They shook a little, a side effect of the adrenaline that had roared back as soon as Cam woke her up. She was enjoying touching him way too much. “Maybe, maybe not. I was the one who started everything when I saw the shoddy work Billy Simms was doing. I was the one who saw Simms passing a bribe to the city inspector. I was the one who hunted down the truck that crashed into you. If I hadn’t come to Ogden, you might not know about the construction problems. You wouldn’t have made a stink about those problems. You’d be perfectly safe.”

“But my houses would have been a disaster,” he said. “I don’t want that. I’m very grateful that you noticed the problems.”

He leaned closer, and his pupils were completely dilated, leaving only a tiny ring of blue at the edge. Probably because it was dark in the living room. But the need in his expression had nothing to do with the darkness. The desire she saw there burned into her, igniting a matching need in Jo.

As they stared at each other, she moved closer to Cam at the same time as he moved closer to her. She smiled as she studied him -- they were still in sync, even after fifteen years.

He brushed his lips over hers, a barely-there touch. As if asking a question -- is this all right? May I kiss you?

In answer, she pressed her mouth against his, sucking on his lower lip. He groaned and wrapped his arms around her. Pulled her close until they were pressed together. The hard planes of his chest pushed into her soft breasts. She hadn’t taken the time to put on her bra when she’d thrown on her clothes, and the sweater she wore rubbed against her nipples. The heat from his skin beneath his thin tee shirt burned into her.

The fear from earlier, when she’d heard the guy trying to get into the house, had faded, replaced by frantic need.

That need made her want to tear her sweater off. Cam’s shirt, too. She didn’t want to think about what could have happened if she hadn’t been here. She needed to be skin to skin with Cam.Now.

She slid her hands beneath Cam’s shirt. Traced the ridges of his muscles, and when they quivered beneath her fingers, she smiled.

Cam sucked in a sharp breath and skimmed his own hands beneath her shirt. He cupped her breasts in his hands and circled her nipples with his thumbs. Hot electricity flew straight to that sensitive spot between her legs, and Jo groaned. “More,” she breathed against his mouth. “Please.”

Cam pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it to the side. Stared at her breasts for a long moment, then said, “God, Jo,” and put his mouth on her. He sucked one nipple into his mouth, swirled his tongue around the hard bud. Sucked on it for a moment, then paid attention to her other breast.

Jo ripped his shirt over his head. Tossed it away and slid onto his lap. The hard ridge of his erection burned against her, even with two layers between their bodies.

She wanted to get rid of those layers. Wanted to feel Cam’s skin against her. But she didn’t want to take the time to remove her clothing and his. She squirmed to get the thick, hard length of his cock between her legs. Once she had it exactly where she needed it, she rocked against him, letting her chest brush over his.

She closed her eyes and savored his groans. Whimpers escaped her throat every time he surged against her. The way his hands trembled as they cupped her breasts, playing with her nipples, made her lose all control. Right now, she could think of nothing but the effect Cam was having on her.

She lifted her head. “Cam,” she whispered. “I want you. Do you have a condom?”

He touched his forehead to hers. “I don’t,” he said. “Fiona likes to go through my drawers. Wasn’t sure how I’d explain a box of condoms.” He groaned. “Cock-blocked by my own kid.”

She stilled on the couch. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten about Fiona. She was just down the hall, her door open.

“What about Fiona?”she murmured. “I don’t want to wake her up.”

“We won’t,” he said, and he sounded confident. “Once she’s asleep, she sleeps like the dead.”

Jo wondered if he’d been with anyone since his wife died. But she wasn’t going to ask. None of her business. Wasn’t sure she wanted to know, anyway.

Cam tugged at the waist of her jeans. Unbuttoned and unzipped them, then worked them down her hips. Down her thighs. Finally pulled them off and dropped them on the floor. Stared at the small gun strapped to her calf.

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