Amused, I leaned back in my chair and casually laid an ankle over my knee. “I made sure my friends spent no more than ten dollars.”
“But that rule doesn’t apply to you?” She finally stopped pacing to level me with her pointed glare. “A laptop? The art studio? Three weeks ago, I said it was all too much too soon, but yet you heard, Buy her more?” When the unconcerned shrug I gave as a response caused her nostrils to flare, I had to fight the grin that threatened. But the way my lips twitched must have tipped her off when she folded her arms and went in for the kill by saying, “She already loves you, Trey. You don’t have to buy your way into her life.”
In an instant, I was up and in her face. “You know damn well that’s not what I’m trying to do.” Her eyes widened a touch, but she stood her ground. “Yeah, I’m spoiling her a bit… so, fucking what? I’m a goddamn loner with more money than God and no one to spend it on. This is about more than me indulging our daughter. Maybe this is you being jealous that she now has someone other than you to hang her sun and moon on?”
Frustrated, I ran a hand through my hair, regretting my words. She didn’t say anything for a few long moments, even while the fire in her eyes morphed into sadness.
I opened my mouth to apologize just as she said, “That’s low, even for you.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. You just frustrate me so fucking much. It drives me nuts when you bottle it all in, and pushing your buttons is the only way you’ll talk to me.”
Her brows rose as realization hit. “Ah… was that why you had me pack an overnight bag for her? Was that your plan all along? To have her sleep out so you could ambush me?”
“If by ambush you mean communicate, then yes, that was my plan. Since we’re never alone…” I closed what little distance there was and leaned over her. “I needed to find a way to have this conversation happen face-to-face while making sure you fessed up to what’s bothering you.”
“Okay, I’ll bite.” She calmly placed the wine on a side table to fold her arms defiantly. “I’m thrilled that my daughter finally gets to have what she’s wanted her whole life, a man to look up to and admire. What I’m not happy with is the lengths you’ll go through to spoil her. Why can’t you see where I’m coming from?”
“Probably the same reason you can’t see where I’m coming from. I’m not going to change that, Camilla. You need to accept it.”
Undeterred, she lifted her chin, bringing our mouths a whisper apart. But before she could respond, before she could voice whatever it was that had those chocolate-brown eyes blazing with an intensity I couldn’t ignore, I gripped the back of her neck and kissed her hard.
This time, I didn’t pull away. This time, I wrapped my arms around her waist, tugged her into my body, and unleashed all the sexual frustrations I carried into her mouth.
She pulled her head back enough to break the kiss, but her fingers contradicted that action by gripping the fabric of my T-shirt. While we stared at each other, teetering on the edge of lucidity, a desire I hadn’t felt in ages thrummed through me.
Kissing Camilla felt like standing in the eye of a storm… a calmness that consumed me even as turmoil whipped around us.
I was sick of the turmoil. I was tired of being level-headed.
I wanted to feel the high that came from intimacy, to submit to the hunger she somehow triggered.
Which was why I stepped away.
Chapter 24
Camilla
One step did little to break the tether caused by his crystalline eyes drilling into mine. They seemed to be asking me for permission… or begging me to stop him.
Despite my brain screaming at me, I didn’t want to stop him.
The two times his lips had touched mine instigated a desire to inhale him. It felt like I’d been holding my breath until those firm, sexy lips provided the oxygen I needed.
But before I could fully snap out of my trance and do the right thing, I watched him engage in some sort of internal battle that resulted in him stepping forward to resume where he had left off.
That was all it took for me to completely cave in. I slid my hands up his muscular torso and into the short hair at the nape of his neck. The move spurred him to grip my hips and yank me closer still.
Kissing him unleashed years of desire and unraveled weeks of restraint.
“Camilla,” he rasped as a whisper against my lips. “We can’t,” he went on to say before contradicting himself by devouring my mouth once again. Disappointment came fast when he released the hold he had on my hips, only to be replaced by hope when he slid his hands up my back. Regardless of the way he increased his efforts by nipping on my lips, I knew he didn’t want to do this but couldn’t stop.
Whereas, I wanted to do this and knew we needed to stop. I was already in trouble when it came to this man holding my heart hostage… moments like this threw gas on the fire.
It literally took every fiber of my being to pull my face away from his. When he chased my mouth, it almost killed my resolve. Thank God, reason prevailed. With his gaze searching mine, he nodded and stepped back. “I’m sorry.”
“This isn’t just on you, Trey.” Neither was the last kiss. I fully participated in both instances, and I hypocritically wanted more. “They’re just lustful moments messing with our libidos.”
“Camilla.” Gone was the heat his eyes held a few seconds ago, replaced with intense regret that altered his expression. “I know.”
“Good. Then let’s just forget—”
“I know what you’re feeling,” he cut me off.
“Feeling…” I left the word to dangle, not comprehending his point.
He gripped the back of his neck and looked away. When he came back to catch my expectant gaze, remorse flashed like a beacon across his face. “I know you have feelings for me.”
His admission hit me like an arctic blast, freezing me in a state of shock. “What?”
“I heard you… on the phone with Debbie… at the beach house. I heard you admit you developed feelings for me. I heard you say you think I have an agenda.”
“Why?” The word escaped as a croak. It felt like he’d reached over and squeezed a hand around my throat. “Why were you listening to my call?”
“It wasn’t intentional,” he said. “I was about to check on you… and then heard you.” His stepping closer forced an automatic step back. “Camilla, I don’t know how to process that.”
Something in his pitying tone sparked a renewed anger. “There’s nothing to process. It’s my issue, and I have no intention to stoke that unfortunate realization.”
“Which realization? The one where you don’t trust me?” he asked quietly, before adding, “Or the one where you’re falling for me?” There wasn’t any cockiness in his questions, yet my cheeks flamed as if I were standing before him naked, exposed, and vulnerable—which in a way I was.
Needing out of there, I snapped up my purse and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?”
“Tell Jack and Leila I don’t feel well. You can drive Alivia back tomorrow morning. I won’t ruin her fun.” With that, I rushed out like a coward before he could stop me.