Page 15 of Hot Commodity (Banks/Kincaid Family 1)

"Son of a—" The string of curses that followed had Olivia spinning around and hovering against the bed's headboard, her eyes wide and frightened. Hopping on one foot as he held the injured toe in his hand, he glared at her, hoping she caught on that his crappy morning was her fault.

When she merely eyed him as if he was Freddy Krueger, he muttered under his breath and bent down to retrieve the high heel that had caused his outburst. Scooping up the fishnet hose and thong underwear as well, he dumped the contents on the bed. "Yours, I presume?"

She quickly reached out and gathered her things close, cradling them to her chest.

"Right now might be a good time to, you know, put your clothes on, too," he suggested when she made no move to do so but only stared up at him with wide blue eyes. He shrugged. "Not that I mind you being all warm and naked in my bed, but—"

"Could I have a little privacy, please?" she cut in.

Ah, she speaks. Yet what she said left him clueless.

"What for?" he asked, frowning.

Her jaw dropped. "I don't want you to see me," she said, her face heating with color.

He laughed. "Okay, let me get this straight. Last night, you picked me out of a bar full of complete strangers, kissed me like there's no tomorrow, somehow talked me into marrying you, and then screwed my brains out. But this morning, you're too modest to let me see you naked?"

"Could you just…" she grumbled as she motioned frantically toward the door.

Cameron folded his arms over his chest and sent her an amused smile. "Sorry. No." When she let out a small growl, he threw his hand into the air, calling defeat. "Hey, if I go out there, my sister's going to rip a strip from my hide. And I'd like to figure out what the hell happened here before I try to defend myself."

"We got married," she explained from between clenched teeth. "That's what happened."

"Yeah, I caught that much. Now, I'd like to know why. How?"

He watched her face shut down. Her features turned blank, an expression revealing nothing. Cameron sighed and scrubbed at his face with both hands. "Look, all I want are a few answers."

"I was just as drunk as you were," she said defensively.

"But th

is was your idea," he pressed. "That's one thing I do remember. You approached me. You asked me, first thing. I have no idea how you talked me into it, or why, but that's my own drunken stupidity. You, however, were the little instigator of this whole mess. And I do know that for sure."

When she refused to talk, Cameron became mesmerized by a stray tendril of blonde hair that slipped over her shoulder. No bikini line marred the smooth surface of her very bare skin; he couldn't help but wonder if she sunbathed in the nude—nude like she was under that sheet.

He shuddered and wanted.

"Honestly," he said, wincing at the pinching constriction in his pants. "Can you put some clothes on already? I can't concentrate when you're all…" He waved his hand toward the sheet.

She lifted her eyebrows. "And me dropping this sheet to reach for my clothes is going to help that—how?"

He rolled his eyes. "Gotcha," he muttered and turned away so his back was to her. "Better?"

She didn't answer, but he heard bed springs shift and squeak as she hopped off the mattress. He was tempted to swing around and say, 'boo', just to irritate her. But he figured he'd gotten on her nerves enough in the past five minutes.

Yes, the honeymoon was definitely over.

When he heard a muttered curse behind him, he chanced a glance over his shoulder. What he saw had him stopping dead. "Whoa." He paused and shook his head to clear the nasty thoughts.

Olivia had dressed. Well, she'd dressed as much as she could. She no longer wore the fishnet hose but stood in a skirt—a very leather, very tight, very short black skirt—and a top, which consisted of a black bit of leather that barely covered her tits. She held the gaping middle together with both hands.

After letting out a low, appreciative whistle, Cameron mused, "Now I see how you coaxed me into marriage."

His wife scowled. She lifted a frayed leather strap he had to guess once held her top together. "You ruined my blouse."

Blouse? Cameron was trying to figure how that thing could possibly be referred to as a blouse when she suddenly crossed her arms over her chest, restricting his fine view. He lifted his face in time to catch her full glare.

Grinning, he shrugged. "Can't imagine why I would've done such a thing."

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