Page 6 of Harboring Shantae

Hoping to get rid of them sooner rather than later, she threw the front door open but stopped dead in her tracks. The person standing on her stoop wasnother parents. It was a man. A very handsome man. No, wait. Handsome was too tame of a word for the man who oozed masculinity and was possibly the sexiest male she had ever had the pleasure of staring at. There was no way this perfect specimen could be looking for her. Now, the hot intern two doors down was probably more up this guy's alley.

"Shantae?"

Well, there went that theory.

Shantae looked down at the clothes she threw on and inwardly groaned. Talk about a forehead-slap moment. She had no idea who the man standing on her front porch was but he must think poorly of her. She looked like a squatter hitching a free ride in someone's townhouse.

"Ah ... who's asking?" she finally answered.

With her arms crossed over her chest, she did her best to block entrance into her home. She wasn't about to let this man's good looks detract from her better judgment. Trust no one. Especially in this town. Not that she could actually stop him if he tried to force himself in. Whoever this man was had a solid six inches on her and about sixty extra pounds of muscle.

"True friendship resists time, distance, and silence."

Her world shifted beneath her feet when the man standing in front of her quoted Isabel Allende. It was the same quote she wrote several times in her letters. Which meant ...

"Camron?"

There was no hiding the disbelief laced in her tone. She never told him her name, but he didn't feel the same way. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think he would show up in person.

"May I come in?"

"Yes, of course." She stepped back and let him in.

Shantae was still in complete disbelief as she closed the door with a soft click and stumbled her way into the living room.

"Can I ... um ... get you anything?"

What the hell was she supposed to say to the person who, for half her life, was her only confidant? Writing letters felt natural, but now that Camron was standing in her living room, her mouth was dry and her mind blank.

Over the years she had pictured how he would look, but nothing she conjured up could ever compare to the way his jeans and Henley hugged every inch of his toned body. He was every woman's fantasy.

"Just some answers."

Wow. Okay. Looks like we're just jumping right in.She shouldn't have expected anything different. Camron didn't hold back. She figured that out within the first few letters they exchanged. He didn't pull punches, and if he wanted to ask a question, then he did. She always wondered if he would be the same face-to-face. Looked like she was getting her answer.

Shantae dropped onto the couch and pulled a pillow into her lap. If she was going to be in for an inquisition, then she wanted to be comfortable.

"As the letter stated, I need your help. My parents ..."

She was cut off by the wave of his hand.

"I'm not talking about the letter you just sent. We'll get to that shortly. I want to know why, a year ago, you wrote me and said we needed to stop."

Oh, shit.

Shantae thought she would have more time before he asked about that. She thought Camron showing up out of the blue meant he wanted to help her with her current predicament, not discuss the past.

"Umm ..."

"Please don't even think to lie to me." She could see the heartbreak clear as day. "I've told you enough times how much honesty means to me and how I hate to be blindsided."

Yes, she knew that about him well. After what his high school sweetheart did to him, Camron despised liars. He also hated to be strung along. That was exactly why a year ago, when she realized that she was falling for a person she never met, she knew she needed to end things. To cut off their communication. Camron felt a family wasn't in his future and she couldn't see herself with anyone else.

Shantae didn't want marriage because the only person she connected with was a man halfway across the country.

"Things were getting too complicated for me," she tried to explain without actually confessing her feelings. Telling Camron how she felt would only make him regret coming to D.C. "It was only supposed to be one letter, and then the next thing I knew, it was half my life. You didn't even know my name, for crying out loud."

Her explanation did nothing to appease him. In fact, she was pretty sure her words only infuriated him more although she couldn't tell for sure. Camron would make one hell of a poker player with a face like that. It was both fascinating and annoying.

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