Page 55 of The Saint

“Are you mad at me?” she asked.

His eyebrows arched. “What? No.” He racked his mind for ways that he could have made her think he was upset. “Why?”

She lifted a bare shoulder. “When we arrived, I thought… maybe I was overstaying my welcome.”

She meant that moment when he damn near ran away instead of taking her against the wall. He was an asshole and needed to get himself in order before he did something he couldn’t take back.

“Not at all.”

“Oh.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Okay.”

Uncertainty and tension mixed in the crackling air. He should probably say more, but all he could think about was wanting to get into her bed. He really needed to get the hell out of that room.

“I’m kind of getting that same feeling now.” She bit her lip, and a blush rose into her cheeks. “If I did something to make you feel uncomfortable, I’m really sorry.”

“You didn’t do anything,” he said too shortly.

She clearly didn’t believe him. Hell, he wouldn’t believe himself either. He walked to the edge of the bed and sat, at which point he faced the door that he should’ve been walking out of. “I promise. I’m not mad. I’m just…” He dropped his head back and stared at the ceiling. “Struggling.”

“You don’t want to help me with Hailey?”

He snorted. “Work is the last fuckin’ thing on my mind.” He glanced over his shoulder. “That’s my problem.”

Her cherry lips rounded as if she suddenly saw his action in an entirely different light.

“I should go downstairs.”Shouldwas the operative word, but he didn’t move a damn muscle.

The comforter rustled behind him, and her hand cupped his shoulder. Her touch heated his skin in a way that he couldn’t believe possible. His shoulder muscles tensed. Arousal pounded in his blood with an intoxicating buzz. Camden let out a shaky breath and stared at her hand then into her face again, praying he was misreading everything between them. But that was not what he saw.Fuck.“This is a bad idea, Amelia.”

She didn’t pull her hand away, and he didn’t want her to. Of all the women in the world, this one didn’t play hard to get. She wasn’t the type for games or bullshit, and he’d never been the type to ignore what he wanted, except right then.

Amelia let go. “How come?”

“I don’t know how long I’m here for. I could be gone by the morning.” Her palm had seared his skin in a way that he would always be able to feel all the way back in Abu Dhabi. He forced himself off the bed and turned. There was a simple answer she wouldn’t like to hear. “And you have been through a lot.”

“You’ve helped me survive a lot,” she countered with a quickness that made him want to smile.

Instead, he ground his molars until he was certain of what would come out of his mouth. “That’s exactly why we shouldn’t.” He licked his lips. “We’renoton the same playing field right now.”

“I should’ve gathered you were one for sports metaphors.”

He chuckled. She gave him an erection and made him laugh. That was why saying no was nearly impossible. Wasn’t that what romance was all about? Thoughromancewas morethan a quick screw on the job. Camden walked to the edge of the bed. Crawling under the covers would change everything. Then again, who cared? Dynamics were meant to be fluid.

Amelia lay down and rested her head on the pillows. “Do you think I’m attractive?”

“You know I think you’re gorgeous.”

“I don’t know that.” She blinked hard. “Cam, you’re the only thing I know that’s safe. You’re the person I trust.”

Every. Single. Thing she said pulled him closer. He shook his head. Right then wasn’t the time, but therewould bea time. Of that he was certain. And maybe it didn’t have to happen all at once. She wasn’t playing games. Neither was he. Her words replayed in his head.I like it when you tell me what to do. The possibilities ran through him with volcanic understanding. She wanted—needed—a distraction, and he could do that in a way that would leave both of them loopy as fuck without taking advantage of her.

Camden moved closer. “Close your eyes, Amelia.”

They went wider instead.

He eased onto the bed and lay close enough to smell her soft floral scent. “Eyes closed, sweetheart.”

Her eyelashes fluttered shut. Her pulse jumped in her neck as her unsteady breathing whispered between her pink lips. Camden touched her cheek. Her lips parted, breath catching. His fingers traced to her jawline and mapped it slowly from one side to the other. The pads of his fingertips drifted down her neck. The quick beat of her pulse played around his skimming touch. “What do you say…” He caressed her collarbone with the back of his hand. His knuckles teased from one side to the other, nearly dipping between the swell of her breasts. “We take it slow?”

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