“And?”
“I’d like to dance with you, Becca. We’ve never done that and it’s been too long since I held you in my arms.”
Two
Becca found herself pressed close to Cam on the dance floor a short while later. He smelled good, like expensive aftershave, and she had to really struggle to keep from resting her head on his chest. But she wanted to. It had been so long since she had anyone hold her, and she’d spent the last two years feeling very alone. She didn’t need a man … she got on very well without one. But there was something about dancing with Cam to the slow bluesy song “Love Is a Losing Game” that Amy Winehouse had made popular a few years ago….
“You’re a good dancer,” she said.
“My mother insisted on lessons. She might not have been too involved in her sons’ lives, but she did make sure we were raised proper gentlemen.”
“What does a proper gentleman do?”
“He knows how to talk to a woman, how to romance her.”
“Romance? Is that what you are doing to me?” she asked. She hadn’t gotten a chance to know the real Cam Stern when they’d had their affair, and though she’d thought she loved him, she knew that had been based on sex and quiet moments in the dark of night. She’d never danced with him or really even seen him outside of that hotel bedroom.
“I am,” he said, pulling her close and spinning them around. Though the dance floor was crowded, she felt like they were the only two people in the room. His eyes were intense as he looked down at her. She felt as if they could bore all the way through to her soul and the secret she kept from him.
She should go. She should walk out of his arms and leave. She needed to remember that no matter how romantic the night felt, Cam wasn’t the kind of man who was interested in settling down or starting a family. And she came with a ready-made one.
He kept his arms around her, and she told herself she was Cinderella and this was for only one night. Even Cindy had gotten one night with her Prince. She knew that Cam wasn’t some white knight who could rescue her. She’d seen the chinks in his armor. But when he held her close like this, it was easy to forget about that all that. It was so easy for her to just pretend that for once she was going to have her cake and eat it, too.
“What are you thinking?” she asked, as she glanced up and found him staring at her.
“That you are the most beautiful woman in the room,” he said.
She flushed and shook her head. “I’m not.”
“In my eyes you are,” he said. He leaned down, and the warmth of his breath brushed her cheek as he spoke directly into her ear. “You are the most exquisite woman I’ve ever seen. You have haunted my dreams.”
“Then why did you wait so long to get back in touch with me?” she asked.
“I didn’t think you’d be able to forgive me. And I wasn’t sure if I had fantasized about you so much that I made you into someone you weren’t. But none of that matters now.”
But it did. He was talking to her as if nothing had happened except a bad breakup. But she knew there was so much more between them, and she had no idea how to tell him.
He wasn’t the evil ogre she’d made him out to be. She’d known that even back then, but she had pride. Some said too much pride was a bad thing, but Becca didn’t really know how to define “too much.” She had only understood that Cam wasn’t the kind of man who’d take the news of her pregnancy well.
She twisted and started to walk away from him.
He caught up with her and grabbed her arm as she reached the edge of the dance floor. “Where are you going?”
“I can’t do this, Cam. I am trying to pretend this is all just a nice night out, but every time I look in your face I see the past. And I’m just not ready to deal with that tonight.”
“I’m not asking you to,” he said. “I think we should forget about what happened between us—”
“I can’t. It’s way too complicated to go into now, but trust me when I say I could never pretend we didn’t meet.”
“That’s a good thing,” he said.
She shook her head and pulled away from him. “No, it’s not. There are things about me that you don’t know.”
“Tell me about them,” he said.
“Not here. Come to my house tomorrow morning.”
“I can’t wait until tomorrow,” he said.
She smiled up at him as he leaned in close. The hardness of his body was a remembered thrill. “We already did lust. Remember?”
“Yes,” he said. “I know you remember, too. It’s there in your eyes when I hold you. You still want me.”
She did still want him, but she liked to think she was older and wiser. Please, God, let her be wiser. She couldn’t fall for him again. Wouldn’t let herself be that weak where he was concerned. Cam Stern wasn’t the kind of guy she could have a one-night stand with and walk away from.
But that was what she wanted. She wanted to pretend they were strangers with no baggage or no commitments. That they could have one night of passion with no consequences. But it was too late for that. She was emotionally entangled with him, even though he wasn’t with her.
She went up on her tiptoes and rubbed her lips over his and then slowly opened her mouth and kissed him.
She held on to his shoulders and felt his mouth move against hers. He parted her lips with his own, and his tongue snaked over her teeth into her mouth.
His thrusts were light and teasing, making her crave so much more of him. She opened her mouth wider, held on to his shoulders and let everything drop away. She didn’t think about the past or her secrets. She didn’t think about the glittering people at this charity ball. She didn’t think of anything except Cam Stern and his mouth.
That oh-so-talented mouth that was moving over hers and making her forget everything except the way he tasted and the way he felt.
His lips were firm but also tender against hers. His hands smoothed their way down her spine. One sprawled in the middle of her back and the other dipped lower to her hips, drawing her closer to him.
“Let’s get out of here,” Cam said. “We need to go someplace private.”
Confused for the first time in a very long time, Becca really didn’t know what to do. So she followed Cam out of the ballroom and onto the street as he hailed a cab.
Cam wasn’t ready to let the night end. Seeing Becca again wasn’t at all what he had thought it would be.
The April sky was clear, the night air a little cool but not cold when they left the club. Cam had said his goodbyes to Russell earlier and Russell had offered the car, but Cam had turned him down. He liked to do things his own way. He wanted to be in control.
Cam hailed a cab for them and asked to be taken to his hotel, the Affinia Manhattan, which was a suite-only hotel. Though he’d only been in town for a few days, Cam liked to have room to be comfortable. At six-five, he was a big man, and he didn’t like to be in a room crammed with a bed and a dresser.
“I thought you said you only wanted someplace private,” Becca said, arching one eyebrow. “Why do we need to go to your hotel? “
“I don’t know any other quiet place we can talk.” He wanted her to himself. That was one thing he’d done right during their affair. They had spent all of their time together in her hotel room. Having sex and lying in each other’s arms. Despite the fact that they were both working hard during the day, the nights had been filled with only each other.
She