“Yes, but I’m still waiting for the catering files. I’d like them before our meeting today at three.”
“No problem. My secretary’s copying everything for you now. I’m sorry I was so obstinate about the location in our meeting the other day.”
“No problem. I was a little heavy-handed.”
“Why?” she asked.
Because your legs were affecting me, he thought. But he couldn’t say that. He shrugged.
He opened his lunch container and took a healthy bite of his bacon cheeseburger. He ran an extra five miles at night to be able to afford the calories he ingested at lunch and, though he cursed like a sailor on the last mile, it was well worth it.
He wanted to know what had caused her to blush. She aimed him a tight little smile. The silence at their table was deafening in the noisy room. Nearby, a woman laughed loudly and Cami glanced at her.
He used the opportunity to snag her book and saw the cover depicted a man and a woman smiling at each other while draped in a seductive pose.
“Hey, give me back my book.”
He handed it over. “Sure.”
He bit into his burger before he realized he hadn’t brought anything to drink. He’d planned to grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator in his office.
“What? No snide comment about how this is as close as a woman like me will ever get to a man–woman relationship.”
Obviously he’d stumbled onto one of her hot buttons. “Nope. Never read one, so I can’t rightly comment on it. And I know nothing about your personal life.”
“Right, but you can take one look at me and see I’m not torrid love affair material.”
“You’re not convent material, either, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to assume you’re an atheist.”
She bit her lower lip, and he wanted to lean over and kiss her. To take her in his arms and protect her from the cruel world, but he wasn’t a good protector of innocence. And he knew that better than anyone. For the first time since Rebecca’s death he regretted that.
“Sorry. I’m just not myself today.”
“No problem.” He had more than his fair share of hot buttons so he couldn’t fault her. Now he knew more about her than he’d ever thought to. This woman with the naughty underwear was unsure of herself. This woman who had fought him to the wall over control of a million-dollar event didn’t trust herself on a basic man–woman level.
This woman with the average surface intrigued him in ways Rebecca never had because Rebecca had been a feminine version of himself. They’d shared everything from background to likes and dislikes. Rebecca had been a safe person to involve himself with because she’d understood about protective barriers and holding back emotion. She’d even been a cop, like him. They’d met at the police academy.
Get up, he told himself. Leave the table before this developing relationship goes any further. Sure, right now all they had was a business partnership, but he wanted more. He was nothing more than a scarred ex-cop who’d grown up in an orphanage and never been adopted because he’d never talked until he was seven. According to Janie O’Malley, his early development counselor, his parents’ death caused his silence. He knew nothing about building someone else’s self-image. He’d developed into the man he was through blood and sweat. No tears, never tears, because tears required emotion he didn’t have.
Being involved with Cami would require emotion. He sensed the tenderness she evoked when he’d watched her make her presentation was only the tip of the iceberg. Just being in the same room with her made him react—like a teenager with his first glimpse of a girlie magazine. He hadn’t spent so much time acutely aroused since he’d discovered why boys and girls were different.
He closed his to-go container and stood. “See you at three.”
He walked away without looking back. How was he going to work with the woman who’d made him remember why he’d stopped caring? She was intelligent and gutsy and should think of herself as attractive. She reminded him of himself in those early days, and he didn’t want anyone to ever feel that unloved.
Cami dreaded the Pryce Enterprises picnic because mingling wasn’t her thing. She shone behind the scenes, but onstage she froze. Stone Mountain was lovely and as she parked her car under the shade of an oak tree, she watched Pryce employees and their families head toward the picnic area set up for the company.
The mid-June sun warmed the back of her neck and the scent of magnolias filled the air. The gravel under her sandals crunched as she neared the registration tables.
The one really bad thing about living across the country from your family was attending events such as this one by yourself. She checked in and received her name tag. Maybe she should go back home.
“Cami?”
Duke. The scent of his aftershave washed over her like a warm breeze on a cold winter day. He made her uncomfortable. Not in the slimy way Jess in Sales did. In a way that was entirely too personal, and involved emotions she shouldn’t be having for him. Duke was way out of her league in the man–woman dating field.
“Hi,” she said, trying to sound normal. She wished she’d worn something trendy that would make her look glamorous but her simple cotton sundress was more her style.
Duke managed to look both sophisticated and comfortable in his designer shorts and polo shirt. She squinted up at him and found her own image staring back at her from the mirrored lenses of his sunglasses. She reached into her pocket and removed her own glasses. They were flaky and she knew it, but part of her loved the rhinestone star-shaped sunglasses.
“Checking up on security?” she asked him.
“No. Just here to enjoy the fun.”
Funny, he sounded the way she felt. As if there was more torture than enjoyment in this event.
Somehow—Cami wasn’t really sure how—Duke walked with her through the food line. Long rows of red-checked, cloth-covered tables and uncomfortable chairs were set under a large tent. Families filled most of the seats, but Cami followed Duke to a section at the back that was relatively quiet.
Cami realized how alone she was as she watched her co-workers interact with their families. She might stay that way if she didn’t take some action.
An awkward silence fell between them as they both ate their chicken. Cami searched for something to say but the small talk that always came so easy with strangers wasn’t easy with Duke.
“I love picnics. When I was growing up my family would go to Golden Gate Park at least once a month to fly kites and eat too much.”
Duke took a bite of his ribs. Cami watched him eat. He glanced up and caught her staring.
“Do you have a large family?” she blurted.
He swallowed. “No, do you?”
“I guess, aside from my parents and an older sister, I have about fifteen aunts
