“Yes.”
“Why’d you move to Atlanta?”
“The city appealed to me. You know this is Margaret Mitchell land. And I wanted to establish myself away from my family.”
“Is your family protective of you?”
“A little bit.”
“Is that why you’re not torrid love affair material?”
Oh, God. He remembered what she’d said the other day at lunch.
“Sorry I overreacted.” But she hated having a good-looking man catch her reading a romance novel. He would guess she spent every Friday and Saturday night at home living one lush adventure after another from the solitary safety of her front porch. He’d know she’d never have one-tenth of the excitement, passion and drama as the characters in the books, she thought. Duke made her wish she was different.
“No problem.” He removed his sunglasses, placing them on the checkered tablecloth. “I really want to know why there isn’t a man in your life.”
The sun burnt the back of her neck and an ant crawled over her big toe. She stared at the ant instead of answering Duke.
“Cami?”
She shrugged. “I work all the time. And well…”
“What?” His voice was low and husky and he leaned closer to her. Encouraging her to speak the truth to him. And the truth was something she always prided herself on.
All her life she’d lived in the shadow of her gorgeous, smart sister. Moving to the East Coast from San Francisco four years ago had allowed her to escape, but that distance had left her feeling empty. She’d filled her life with books and things. She’d also fallen on old practiced habits, still hiding in the shadows of her sister though Gabriella was far away.
It had taken a long time for her to realize that she actually liked being in the background and making things happen. Though she wanted to be equal to her sister, in her mind she’d always be that shy awkward girl despite her success in a large corporation. She longed for confidence and poise but had no idea how to achieve them.
“Men like women with flash and pizzazz.”
Duke stared at her and Cami regretted her words. His eyes narrowed and he traced one blunt finger down the side of her cheek. She shivered as desire coursed through her, pooling at the center of her body.
“I’ve never met anyone with more pizzazz than you.”
She smiled. It was the nicest thing a man had ever said to her. But the look in his eyes as they swept down her body set fire to her veins. Her nipples hardened against the lace of her bra, and she shifted in her seat. She wondered if he felt it, too. There was a tension in the air that made her want to lean closer to him, tilt her head back and tempt him into kissing her.
“That wasn’t pizzazz you saw.”
“Really, what was it?”
“My legs,” she said.
He wanted to smile. It was there on his face. She didn’t know why he wouldn’t smile, but there was something about this dark sexy man that got to her faster than her first sip of the gin her father hid in the bottom drawer of his desk.
“Why don’t you ever smile?”
“Why do you care?”
“I don’t know,” she said, but in her heart she knew it had to do with the loneliness that surrounded Duke.
“May we join you?”
Cami saw Max Williams standing across from them with a woman who could have easily been a cover model. Duke glanced at her and Cami shrugged. It was a telling moment. Not many men would turn away the CEO of the company, but Cami knew that Duke would have.
“Sure.”
Max introduced his date, Melissa Hines, and they settled into chairs across from Duke and Cami.
“Did you catch the Braves last night?” Duke asked.
Oh, my. She hadn’t realized how high up the ladder Duke was. His office wasn’t on the same floor as the other executives so she’d figured he was new to the upper-management level. But his ease with the CEO was telling. She was out of her league. She shouldn’t have challenged him to smile.
Cami let the conversation swirl around her, listening to Duke speak. Deep, and dark, his voice perfectly suited to the male protagonist in her romance novels. It was a voice she’d want to hear in a candlelit bedroom. His voice could stroke her into a heated frenzy with just a few words. His voice, she realized, was calling her name.
“Cami?”
“Yes?” she said. Her pulse was pounding, and she wanted to go back to her fantasy.
“Would you like another drink?”
“Sure.”
She nodded and watched Duke walk away with Max and his date. Even interacting with Max, who was obviously a close friend, Duke still kept a distance. Cami felt challenged.
With Duke she’d felt a spark the first time they’d touched. For days she’d dreamt about him. The hero in the book she was reading had taken on his physical characteristics. Because her hidden self was bold, she’d spent forty-five minutes last night in a lingerie shop choosing something new to wear today because she hoped she’d run into him.
Did he feel the same spark? A glance at the man waiting in line at the bar sent a chill down her spine. Did this man feel anything? Max and Melissa had moved on, and the families that surrounded Duke didn’t touch him. He was an island. Could she make him feel? She doubted it, but for once she wanted to try.
He made her want to comfort him, which surprised her more than the sexual desire he’d sparked in her. Comforting a man like Duke would mean risking her heart because she didn’t know how to only feel emotions halfway.
Duke steered through the early evening traffic with ease. He hadn’t seen Cami since the picnic last weekend. She had invited him to check out an event the catering company she’d selected was working here in town. Since it would give him a chance to see how the caterers worked and allow him to observe their interaction with hotel security, he’d decided to go with her.
He’d been avoiding her since he’d seen her at the picnic. Because he knew he’d crossed a line he hadn’t meant to when he’d asked why there wasn’t a man in her life. Now he was backpedaling and trying to reestablish the distance he always kept between himself and others.
She’d wanted to drive, but he’d put his foot down. Sitting next to him in another one of her frenetic suits, Cami hummed quietly to Vivaldi’s Concerto in E, the music suited her.
If any woman was Spring, it was Cami. She bustled with life though she tried to hide it. On the outside she tried to be calm, polite, and a plain Jane but she didn’t come close. The true woman underneath kept flashing through. He wanted to get to know that woman intimately.
“There’s
