Page 32 of Best Laid Plans
“Oh.” Elle pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, mulling over what he’d just said.
He didn’t know why, but he kept talking. “Yeah. So, I had nothing to say to him when we lived in the same house, and I sure as hell have nothing to say to him now.”
Elle nodded. “That makes sense. Seems like a shitty situation, and I’m sorry if I hit a nerve.”
Suddenly aware of the moment that was passing between them, as Elle looked at him with dark eyes that made it feel like she could see inside of him, Cam cleared his throat. “All good. He surprised me, which isn’t easy for a six-foot-tall drunk. Theyaren’t exactly known for their stealthiness,” he said, trying to make a joke.
It landed, sort of, as Elle’s lips cracked a hint of a smile.
They both got back to work. There were only a few hours left before they were going to be trapped together again in far closer–and hotter–confines than the ones they found themselves in now.
It was minutes later when Elle spoke again, her voice soft. “When you’re not being an ass, you aren’t half-bad to be around. I’m sorry for your dad that he missed that.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ELLE
Elle looked at the tetris-like configuration stacked throughout the entirety of the van’s interior. They’d managed to fit all of their supplies in the back, only possible because they were leaving with not even a condiment packet to their names.
She wiped the sweat off her brow. “I cannot believe we sold out of everything by Sunday afternoon.”
Cam closed one of the van doors and stretched. Elle tried not to look at the muscled plane of his stomach. “I hope it translates into some momentum for the restaurant. It seems like people liked the food. I vetted all the recipes with your dad last week, so I’m hoping he incorporates some of them into the menu.”
He pulled off his hat and ran his hands through his short hair. It had already been disheveled, and if that had been his attempt to fix it, he’d seriously overestimated his ability. He looked so much like the younger version of himself, with that guarded smile he’d always worn when he was at her family’s apartment. Happy, but like he thought that life was always one second away from fallingdown around him.
Now that Elle knew more about Cam’s childhood, she understood that smile a lot better.
“Now that your mission is accomplished, are you heading back to Boston?” Elle asked, not sure what she hoped the answer would be. Space away from Cam would be the only solace her body could hope to find, but she’d miss the crackle between them, even though it seemed to come with a healthy dose of brooding on Cam’s side. And more than a little sexual frustration on hers.
Elle sat on the small patch of floor in the van’s trunk, her legs dangling over the side. She took a long sip of one of the few bottles of water they had left, draining at least half of it. Droplets trickled down her chin, but she didn’t care. She’d just survived three days in a furnace with a man who was driving her to the brink of insanity. An indulgent guzzle of hydration was the minimum that her body deserved.
She caught Cam looking at her lips, his stare tracking down to the trail that had dripped onto her collarbone.
“Seems like you can’t wait to get rid of me,” he finally answered. His voice was low, but his eyes were a dark shade of green, like a dense forest that was so easy for Elle to get lost in.
He wanted Elle. That much had become clear. But he still seemed like he had no intention to do anything about it. The man had the self-control of a monk. And it would be really annoying if there also wasn’t some part of Elle that respected it. A small part. Like, an atom compared to the universe.Thatpart appreciated that Cam was sticking to his guns. The rest of her body was constantly abuzz with awareness whenever Cam was close. In how he looked at her. The way he really did seem fixated on her lips, and all it did was make Elle desperately want to know how Cam would kiss her.
Soft and slow? Ravenous and consuming? Teasing, given that he must know how much she wanted it, too?
She sighed before polishing off the water. “Depends on the day of the week.”
He walked over to the passenger’s side of the van and grabbed something from the seat. When he appeared again, there was another Pierce’s Lobster Co. t-shirt in his hand. He threw it to Elle, who managed to catch it, and then immediately stripped off the shirt he was wearing. “And what day is today?”
The audacity of this man. She threw the clean shirt at him, refusing to take the bait. “One that ends in ‘y.’ As in, why are you like this?”
Cam laughed and quickly–blessedly–put the t-shirt on. “I’m in a good mood.”
“Glad to be free of our fiery cage?” she guessed.
“Kitchens are always hot, though that did put me to the test. But no.” He put his hand over his eyes and looked up at the sky, smiling. “It’s a gorgeous day. We were the most popular food vendor. There’s still a few hours left to catch the festival.” He looked back at her, then. “And the company…”
She folded her arms across her chest, waiting for his next words. God only knew what they’d be.
Cam walked closer. When he was standing in front of her, he put one of his forearms against the interior of the van’s open door, right next to her head. She was bracketed in, his body and his scent enveloping her.
Just another inch and they’d touch. She’d feel the press of him, that she’d been thinking about all week. Since she’d gotten the first bit ofknowingwhat it would feel like to be with Cam. It felt like all she’d been doing was chasing that feeling.
His thumb ghosted across her chest, where the water she’d spilled on herself must have dried by now. He trailed a line of fire along her collarbone. The touch sparked through her, and she lit up from the inside out. The insistent thrumming in her clit was already back. A second heartbeat, as blood rushed through her ears with a steadythump,thump,thump.
