Julia gazed at him warily, seeming to gauge his temper. “Um, absolutely nothing. I misspoke.”
“You misspoke?” he drawled. “About my mother? You’re kidding, right?”
“No, I’m not kidding,” she said, and straightened her spine in righteous anger. Which caused her breasts to thrust forward. Her wet hair had dampened the T-shirt enough that it molded even more firmly to her skin. But she didn’t seem to notice as she persisted. “You’re not supposed to be here. And since I was given a key by your hotel management, I think it’s only right that you should leave.”
“Trust me, that’s not going to happen.” He prowled toward her, studying her every move. “Now exactly what did my mother tell you? “
Her eyes widened and she took a step back. “Never mind. On second thought, I think I’ll just pack my things and get out.”
“Not yet,” he said, grabbing her arm. “I want to know what my mother has to do with you being here.” “All right,” she said as she tried futilely to pull away. “Sally said you’d be gone during the conference and that I would be more comfortable in a suite than a regular room. She told your manager to give me the key.”
Her words sent icy tendrils of pure dread down Cameron’s spine. Yes, he’d originally planned to stay up north another two weeks, but he’d called Sally yesterday to tell her his plans had changed and he was coming back tonight.
His mother had set this whole thing up.
Did Sally really think that Cameron would take one look at this woman, fall on his knees and beg her to marry him? If so, then Mom was doomed for disappointment.
But as Julia squirmed to pull away from him, Cameron’s lower body came to life in a big way. Did it really matter, in that moment, what his mother had done? No. He’d deal with Mom later. Much later.
Right now he had his hands on a lovely, skimpily dressed woman. A sexy woman he’d once known in the most intimate way a man could know a woman.
Holding her close, he again caught that intriguing fragrance of orange blossoms along with something deeper, something exotic. He’d never forgotten her, never forgotten her scent, despite his every effort to do so.
He could still remember meeting her that first time. Talk about lust at first sight.
It all happened after his mother had discovered Cupcake, Julia’s bakery in Old Town Dunsmuir. Mom had tried her pastries and cupcakes and had insisted that her sons try them for themselves. They all agreed that her products were incredible and soon thereafter, the Duke resorts began carrying Julia’s line of pastries, cookies and breads.
Julia had been invited to attend a one-day vendor orientation at one of the Duke resorts up the coast. She’d planned to stay through the long weekend as a guest of the Dukes. That was where Cameron first saw her, walking across the lobby on her way to the hotel lounge. He’d approached, she’d shown equal interest, and they’d ended up spending that long weekend together.
And that had been the end of it.
She’d haunted his dreams on more than one occasion, but Cameron had refused to contact her again. He had a steadfast rule when it came to women. Once the affair was over, he always made a clean break. He never went back, never looked back. It was safer that way, and simpler. For both parties. Otherwise, women tended to get the wrong idea and hold out hope of a relationship growing. Cameron didn’t want to hurt anyone so he stuck to short-term affairs with women who knew the score.
He remembered receiving a few emails from Julia, asking him to call her. He’d thought about it, wanted to, but personal experience had taught him that renewing the affair would only lead to disaster. For her sake as well as his own, Cameron had ignored her requests and eventually, she stopped contacting him.
But here she was, he thought, a year and a half later. In his hotel suite. Wearing those sexy shorts and a practically see-through top. And a belly ring. She gazed up at him with her startling blue eyes and in that moment, he wanted nothing more than to watch those eyes go dark with passion, to taste her lush lips again as well as every other part of her stunning body. Was he honestly going to kick her out of his suite?
Was he nuts?
“Look, I’m sorry,” he said in a soothing tone as he ran his hands up and down her arms. “My people must’ve forgotten I was coming home today. It’s late. We can both stay here tonight and I’ll find you a room in the morning.”
Her eyes clouded with worry. “I suppose I could sleep on the couch.”
“We can talk about sleeping arrangements later,” he said easily, moving closer. “It’s great to see you, Julia.”
Smiling tentatively, she said, “Really?”
He skimmed his lips along her hairline and breathed in her fresh scent. “Yeah.”
She sighed and closed her eyes, clearly swayed. “But what about your rule?”
Watching her closely, he lowered his head toward hers. “What rule is that?”
Her eyes fluttered open as she whispered, “Once you’ve finished with a woman, you never go back.”
Cameron frowned. “I told you that?”
Nodding solemnly, she said, “It was the last time I saw you. You said you had a great time but you wouldn’t call. You said you didn’t want me to get the wrong idea.” Her voice quavered as his lips hovered within millimeters of hers.
“I’m an idiot,” he said, cupping the nape of her neck in his hand.
With a smile, she gazed into his eyes. “You said it’s a long-standing rule of yours.”
“Rules are made to be broken,” he murmured, and covered her mouth with his.
A soft moan escaped her throat as she melted against him. He used his tongue to urge her to open for him and she relented. He thrust into her warmth and felt as though he’d come home. The problems of his world faded and all that mattered was her taste and his need for more.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed herself even closer. Sweet, was all he could think. Sweet and warm and passionate. He’d missed her, he realized. He shoved that thought away as her tongue teased and tangled with his.
He heard whimpering and wanted to hear more. Wanted to hear her shout his name. Wanted to hear her begging, demanding, crying out for …
Crying?
Cameron stiffened. Yes, that was definitely the sound of someone crying somewhere. Outside? Next door? That was odd, since it was almost impossible to hear anything going on outside the suite. The walls of all the rooms were reinforced and soundproofed.
But there it was again, muffled but discernible. He eased back a few inches to make eye contact with her. “Did you hear that?”
“Yes, I did,” Julia said, pushing him away and glancing around. Her eyes were sharp as she seemed to be waiting for it to happen again. But there was nothing, and after a moment, Cameron pulled her back into his arms.
“Must’ve
