Page 24 of A Sinful Trap

“Your silence is making me nervous,” Bailey said to some spot over his shoulder. “I know it won’t matter, but I am sorry.”

“For what?”

“For what?” She stared at him in astonishment. “For what, he says. I swear, I will never understand rich people for as long as I live. I’m talking about Davide. Your Davide. I don’t know what kind of kinky swinger’s train you two are riding, but what happened just now was unprofessional. And while we’re on the subject, I thought you were planning to take my hiring advice because I knew the locals and the area.”

“I am.” He was feeling the beginnings of a headache. Was she apologizing or attacking him? “The only person I didn’t hire off your list was Celeste, because, despite her resume and your glowing recommendation, I knew it would be a big job and I already had someone in mind.”

“Davide.”

“Aaron,” he corrected sharply. “I’m not sure if you met him. He’s the one actually working on the roof instead of getting in your pants.”

She paled and he swore, running a hand through his hair. “That was crass and I apologize.”

Bailey nodded, wrapping her arms around herself. “I’ll accept yours if you accept mine.”

Cam caught her eye. “You aren’t the one who needs to apologize.”

She sucked on her lower lip and his blood quickened, his cock suddenly heavier between his thighs.

“He was jealous, I think,” she finally said. “That’s all it was. He thought you had feelings for me.”

“I know how Davide feels, Bailey.” Cam’s laugh was disbelieving. “It’s you I don’t understand. You think he seduced you because he was jealous, but you’re still defending him.”

She blushed. “No one seduces me without my permission.”

“Good to know.” Cam stepped toward her, unable to resist the pull. “Do you want to know why I gave Aaron the job? He’s got experience in construction, but he’s also more interested in music and plants than people. Asexual is the term he prefers. I knew he’d watch over you without being tempted to try for more.”

Her eyes widened at his disclosure, but he pressed on. “As for the cook and the others, as I said, I chose from your list of previous hires because I thought it would make you happy. Was I wrong?”

The question rattled her. “No, of course not. I love Ava and the girls. If my budget had allowed, they would have been my first choices.”

“Now it does. Problem solved.” He shrugged, frustrated. “I didn’t expect you to swoon in gratitude, but I didn’t think you’d be this upset with my decisions.”

Maybe in part he’d been trying to butter her up to ease his way into her life. From her file and the deeper dive he’d made into the ledgers, he knew that the people of this community were her Achilles’ heel.

Her day laborers were always families in need and adolescents in trouble. Odd jobs magically appeared exactly when someone needed one the most. Any payment that would have put the inn over budget came out of her pocket, with a small notation for reimbursement that she never expected to receive. She’d used her own money, no doubt from the savings she’d been hoarding to buy the property that he’d purchased instead.

He wondered how many people knew this flamboyant bundle of dynamite was Sedona’s secret fairy godmother.

She’d stopped hugging herself to run a hand through her hair. “I do appreciate what you’ve done for them, Cam, but I would like some notice next time. I have financials to keep track of. Schedules to organize. Paperwork to be copied and filed. Not as exciting as your globetrotting adventures, I know, but it has to be done.”

She didn’t think she was exciting? An image of her bent over a filing cabinet as he fucked her made him bite back a groan. Another man had just touched her and nothing she was doing now could be considered flirting, but it didn’t matter. Every breath she took turned him on.

It was getting worse.

“I’ll do better next time.” He cupped her shoulders and forced her to look at him. “Let’s talk about Davide.”

“Do we need to?” she said quietly, her shoulders slumping. “I was hoping we could forget it after the crass commentary.”

“I apologized for that, but there’s no way I’ll forget it.”

“I don’t know what got into me.” She was almost whispering. “He’s your boyfriend, and I knew that. I hate cheaters.”

“Don’t.” He pressed his forehead against hers, stunning her into silence. “Don’t apologize unless you know what to be sorry for, Bailey. I’m upset that I missed it. Do you understand? I wanted to be the one to introduce you to each other. I wanted to set the pace. Davide was too curious about you and he beat me to it, that’s all.”

“Oh.” Awareness lit her eyes and the warm, rich scent of renewed arousal surrounded him, nearly felling him. “That is, um…”

“Unprofessional again?” he rasped, his throat tight and dry, longing for the taste of her. “You’re right. But you liked what he was doing to you. It’s only fair to tell you I want the same things he does.”

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