JC's Quest/Cameron's Dilemma
It was the first time she had seen him since she had left him in front of Petrie’s Drugs.
“Well, hello, Josh. You must be Tommy’s and Brody’s benefactor this time around,” Cameron said coolly.
It took JC a moment to find his voice. “I-uh-yeah, I hit the dog.”
“Don’t feel too guilty. The little tire-biter’s days are numbered if Tommy doesn’t watch it. Brody has been here numerous times.”
“You’re looking good, Cam.” Damn good. She wore maturity well.
“And you became the star I predicted.”
“I enjoy the work.”
“I’m glad.” She presented him with the bill for Brody. “Cash, check or charge.”
“I-uh-charge, I guess.” Digging out his wallet, he gave her a credit card. “Got time for a bite?”
Cameron ran the card through, then handed it back with his copy of the bill. “Sign here.”
“Dinner?” he questioned as he scrawled his name.
“I’m afraid not.”
“Oh…”
“Riley said you needed directions back to Chicago. It’s simple really. Go left out of the driveway. Go until you meet the main highway. Turn right. That will get you to the DeKalb exit to the tollway.”
“Cam—“
“I really need to be getting home, Mr. Chasez. Have a nice evening.”
JC found himself hustled out the door in short order. He watched as Cameron climbed into the big truck and drove off in the opposite direction. She had dismissed him without a thought – well, he’d just see about that!
Cameron’s insides quaked violently as she drove towards home. Josh. What in the hell had he been doing in Draperville? Did he take the hint she wasn’t interested in seeing him for old-times’ sake? She had built her calm, comfortable world and he had no place in it.
She was still shaken when she reached the Delaney Farm. She had just dropped her keys on the foyer table when a sweet bundle of freshly bathed little girl catapulted itself at her.
“Mom, you almost missed bedtime,” her daughter exclaimed.
“Then I would’ve had to come in and steal a kiss.” Cameron lifted the child to her hip. Kara was getting too big for this, but tonight, she needed her little girl to be her little girl. Despite the fact Kara Delaney looked more like her sire than her mother, she was Cameron’s baby.
Walking into the living room of the rambling farm house, she saw Riley IMing on the computer. “Thank you for staying with Kara tonight.”
“No problemo.”
“I have no appointments tomorrow morning. I’ll sleep in. Tell John the next time he wants Wednesday off he can…” Glancing at Kara, the mother decided on different phrasing. “Just tell him to make other arrangements.”
The teenager laughed. “I’ll be sure to do that.”
“Night. Lock up when you leave.”
“Will do, Cuz.”
Cameron carried her daughter to the girl’s bedroom and tucked her in. “Story or song?”
“I’m okay. You look really tired, Mom.”
“It was a long day. I’m glad to be home with my girl.”
“Sounds like you need one of those forever baths you like.”
“How did you get so wise?” Cameron chucked the girl’s chin playfully. “Must take after your mom, huh?”
Kara giggled.
Kissing Kara’s forehead, Cameron whispered, “Sweet dreams, baby. I love you.”
“Love you, too, Mom.”
“Let’s see…You got pregnant in Orlando…JC is from Orlando…” Riley stood next to Cameron’s bedroom door with her arms folded. “You never once mentioned you even knew JC Chasez, let alone knew him in the biblical sense. I never even put it together until I saw him in person. Damn, Kara looks like him.”
“Riley—“
“He doesn’t know?”
“No – and if I have my way, he never will.”
“Is that fair to either of them?”
“My child is not going to be exposed the circus JC Chasez calls a life. If she wants to know about him when she is older, I’ll tell her then.”
Riley shook her head. “What that kid doesn’t know…”
“All I can say is if you let it slip, you’ll never make it to nineteen,” Cameron threatened.
“Chill, Cam. I won’t say anything.”
“Thanks.”
“Woo-whoo, Doc Delaney!” Riley crowed when Cameron came in the backdoor of the clinic Thursday noon.
“What?”
“Check the front desk.”
Cameron walked to the reception area. On the counter sat a large bouquet of red roses in a crystal vase. “Who?...oh, my God, not…”
“Mr. Chasez, I believe. I was dying to read the card, but I had that much willpower…”
Cameron pulled the card out of the small envelope.
To the most beautiful vet in the world.
Josh
“How does he know I’m the most beautiful vet in the world? she muttered. “Has he met them all?”
“John nearly went postal,” Riley whispered.
“Too damned bad. It was his fault I was here. Wanting to go golfing on my afternoon off…”
“Since when do clients send roses?” John Petersen’s gruff voice came from behind them. John was Cameron’s partner in the clinic. Tall, blonde, rugged looking, the thirty-five year old bachelor had his own designs on Cameron.
“He was an old friend passing though. Brody tried to take a bite out of his tires.”
“That mutt is a danger to himself and every driver on the road.”
Cameron shrugged. “What can we do? Our lectures fall on deaf ears.”
The bell above the door jangled and all three turned to see JC Chasez walk in. His long curls were wind-blown. A day’s growth of beard bristled his face – And his incredible blue eyes zeroed in on Cameron.
Oh, God, she looked even better today. Her toffee colored hair was piled haphazardly on top of her hair. She wore a pink blouse instead of plaid flannel – the snug, worn jeans…Damn, they fit like a glove.
“Josh…”
“Hey, Cam.”
“I-um-you’ve met Riley…”
JC nodded towards the girl. “Riley.”
“And this is my partner, John Petersen.”
Warily, the men shook hands, sizing each other up as potential rivals.
“What brings you back to Draperville?” Cameron asked.
“I-I was wondering if maybe I could take you to lunch.”
“Cameron just got here,” John announced as if that forbade lunch plans.
The possessiveness irked Cameron into accepting the invitation she had meant to turn down. “That sounds lovely. Nora’s Diner okay with you?”
JC had to smile. He could tell she was going to tell him ‘no’ before her partner butted in. “Great! Whatever you want, Cam.”
“Riley, I’ll be back in an hour or so. Want me to bring back the special?”
“Yes, ma’am! I love Nora’s chicken and dumplings.”
Nora’s was a Draperville landmark. The food was still homemade and simple.
“I’m sure this is not what you’re used to,” Cameron said to JC as they sat down at the gingham covered table.
Glancing over the menu, JC had to admit she was right. “Hey, I like good food.”
“It’s farmer and trucker fare. Her apple dumplings are to die for. You have to have one of those or you can’t say you’ve eaten at Nora’s.”
“What are you having?”
“Hmm..I think the beef stew and biscuits.”
”Chicken fried steak any good?”
“It’s all good here.”
Just then a waitress in jeans and flannel came to the table. “Afternoon, Doc.”
“Hello, June.”
“What’ll you have today?”
“Beef stew and biscuits. Coffee – oh, and a special for Riley when I leave.”
“Sure thing. Mister?” June looked to JC.
“Chicken fried steak. Coffee. And apple dumplings for three of us.”
“Comin’ up.”
“Josh, I couldn’t possibly eat dessert.” Cam protested.
“Then take if for later.”
For a long moment there was an awkward silence. They had so much to say and neither of them knew where to start.
“So…” JC began. “You came home to Draperville.”
“For a while, then I went to Champaign/Urbana for my degree.”
“I never knew you wanted to be a vet.”
She shrugged. “I’m a farm girl. In Orlando, all I wanted to do was survive.”
He took one of her hands between his. “I wish I could have done something, Cam.”
“You saved my life, Josh. There was no more,” she reminded him quietly.
“I felt so helpless—“
“We were kids. It was never in our control.” Cameron didn’t want to dredge up the painful past. “You’ve done well for yourself.”
“It was tough, but it’s been one wild ride. Some days I have to pinch myself to make sure it’s true.” Teasingly, she pinched his arm and he smiled. “Seeing you yesterday…Man, it all came back to me in a rush. Crazy, dude. I wanted to catch you up on all I had done – like we used to every evening. I felt like sixteen again.”
“Most of what you’ve done is public record.”
JC shook his head. “Not what I’ve felt inside, Cam. The isolation and frustration, loss of privacy…” Loneliness echoed in his voice.
“Josh, odds are a year or so later we would have split anyway.”
He pinned her with a clearly disbelieving gaze. “You really think so, Cammi?”
“Yes,” she lied and dropped her eyes.
June returned with their meal, saving Cameron from further close scrutiny. They ate silently for some time.
“So what landed you in Draperville?” she asked.
“I’m doing some studio work with Richard Marx. He’s in Chicago – so are my parents.”
Cameron had heard that, but figured that even though Chicago and Draperville were only an hour or so apart, they were light years away socially. “How are they?”
“Good. Fine.”
“That still doesn’t explain how you got from Chicago to Draperville.”
JC gave her a sheepish grin. “I wasn’t concentrating, so Richard told me to take a drive. I got lost.”
“Draperville, Illinois is as about as lost as you can get.”
“It’s a pretty little town.”
“We like it.”
“We?”
Damn, she let herself slip already. “Grams has the family farm here. Riley is my cousin. She moved here when her parents died. She lives with Grams. I have my own place on the property.”
Reaching out, he gave a stray strand of hair a tug. “Delaney hair? Yours is darker than Riley’s.”
“Yep.”
“Cammi, can I see you again?” Earnest blue eyes bore into hers.
“Josh, we shouldn’t start this. Our lives are worlds apart.”
“While I’m in Chicago then.”
Her heart wanted to say ‘yes!’. Her brain knew she was heading for trouble if she followed her heart. “I just don’t know.”
“How can I convince you?”
Cameron grinned at him. “Bribes, Chasez?”
“Well, it can’t be a soda from old man Petrie’s…”
“We have an old fashion soda shop here.”
He chuckled. “I’m really likin’ this town!”
“I know I love it.”
“So…what can I bribe you with, Doc Delaney? Jewels? Trips? Cars? Anything your little heart desires.”
“Oh, Josh, that makes me so sad for you…” Did he honestly have female friends that made such demands? “I don’t really have a lot of free time. The clinic…the farm…Chamber of commerce…church…” And being the mother of an active third grader.
“I won’t ask much. A dinner here. A lunch there. And when you free up some time, dinner and a movie maybe.”
Cameron shook her head. “Let’s leave it for now.”
JC didn’t want to leave Cameron at the clinic. He had enjoyed her easy company as he always had. He had nothing to prove to her; she knew him soul deep. Years ago, she had found every insecurity and every strength he possessed. “Cam, at least, let me call you,” he said as they stood by his car.
“Josh—“
“Please?”
“My cellphone is on the bill.” She relented.
“Thanks!” His genuine smile was almost worth the risk at such a concession.
When he lowered his head with the intent to kiss her, she had meant to turn her head away. Somehow, her head refused to move. Their lips met and clung briefly.
“Mmm…sweet,” he purred roughly against her cheek.
“Good-bye, Joshua,” she whispered. Gathering Riley’s lunch, she walked away on less than steady legs.
“I’ll call!” JC promised before he got into his car to drive away.
“Woo-whoo, Cuz!” Riley cheered when Cameron came into the reception area.
To waylay any further comments, Cameron shoved the styrofoam cartons at the girl. “Josh bought an apple dumpling for you.”
“I love that man!”
“Go eat. I’ll cover the desk.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Idly, Cameron plucked a rose from the vase and began removing the thorns from the stem. The roses were really quite beautiful and smelled heavenly. These weren’t the kind one got from the local grocery – these were from a pricey florist. Every bloom was perfect. It was the first time anyone had sent her roses.
“All the emergencies must have happened yesterday,” she muttered when the phone remained silent and no one came into the clinic. At Riley’s desk, there was little for her to do but read a magazine and toy with the rose. She brushed the velvety petals against her cheek…
Damn! Did she realize how inviting she was? JC watched as Cam stroked the rose down her cheek and wished it was his mouth, not the flower, that made its way across her lips, beneath her chin and down her throat.
“Mister, can we go in now?” Young Tommy asked when JC simply sat behind the wheel after parking the car, too mesmerized by Cam to move. “I want to see Brody.”
“Uh-yeah, sure.”
Cameron looked up at the sound of the bell only to see the object of her rather steamy daydream come in. “Josh?”
“I-um- I brought Tommy to pick up Brody if he is ready.”
“Oh, of course. I’ll go get him.” She had been so intent on the man she hadn’t really noticed the boy. Going to the back room, she carried the bandaged dog back out to its owner. “Now, Tommy, I am not going to keep doing this. If you care for Brody at all, you will keep him confined to the yard. If he were a cat he would have used up ten of his nine lives already,” Cameron said sternly.
“Yes, ma’am.” The boy was contrite for the moment.
“Why don’t you take him out to the car,” JC suggested. “I’ll be right out.”
“Okay!” Tommy was more than willing to beat a hasty retreat.
JC put his hands on Cameron’s hips and drew her against him, their lips an inch apart. “What’s Nora’s Friday special?”
It took a moment for the question to register in her Josh-hazed brain. He was so close…his cologne…he smelled so good… “I-uh…She’s Irish Catholic, too. Baked macaroni and cheese. Fish.”
His mouth moved a fraction closer. “Fish is good.”
“I-uh…there’s always her meatloaf for heathens.”
“Am I a heathen, Cam?” A little closer.
“If you aren’t Catholic, you’re a heathen to Nora.”
“Let this heathen take you to lunch tomorrow?”
‘Kiss me dammit!’ her nerves screamed. “Josh—“
His mouth settled over hers for a long moment. “Nora’s. Lunch. Say twelve-thirty?”
Cameron was breathless from his nearness. “One is better for me.”
“One it is. I’ll pick you up.” With one last brief kiss, he left her standing there, stunned.
“Oh, damn!” she whispered. The shy teenager had learned some very potent tricks in the intervening years!
“Tomorrow.” JC urged when he dropped Cameron back at the clinic after lunch Friday.
“I work half a day.”
“I’ll take you into Chicago. We’ll—“
“No, Josh.”
“We’ll do whatever you want.”
”Has anyone told you that you are pushy?”
He gave her a sheepish smile. “No, cuz I’m really not.” Rubbing his thumb over her bottom lip, he said, “But you’re you, Cam. I want to spend time with you, get to know you again. You’re one person I’ve never had to be fake with.”
“I am hardly a starry-eyed teenager anymore.”
“Baby, were you ever?” She had always been so adult.
“Once. Forever ago.”
He kissed her softly. “I’m sorry, Cammi.”
“Josh, I am not going to see you this weekend. I just have too many things to do. I’ve got a million things to catch up on." Like maybe her common sense!
“You’re sure?”
“Positive.”
“I’ll call you then.”
“Thank you for lunch.”
“My pleasure.”
Cameron gave his lips a quick peck and walked away before he could melt the last of her resistance.
“Another delivery from Romeo,” Riley announced at Cameron’s office door.
Cameron groaned and buried her face in her hands. “Now what?” Flowers. Lunches at Nora’s. Sweet telephone calls. And a CD he had made just for her. Josh was doing a full court press for her affection.
“See what happens when you go to lunch with an ex-beau to piss John off?” Riley chuckled.
“Well, what is it?”
Riley plunked a large gold foil covered box on the desk. “My guess is candy.”
Tearing off the wrapping, Cameron discovered a five pound box of Godiva chocolates. She was aghast. “Oh my God! Does he realize what this does to a woman who is PMSing?”
The teen laughed. “Unless you told him, he probably doesn’t know.”
“I didn’t know Godiva made boxes this big.”
“For JC Chasez, they were probably falling all over themselves.”
“Help yourself.” Cameron opened the box and the seductive aroma of chocolate assailed her senses. She opened the enclose card.
Sweets for the sweet sounds too hokey.
Just enjoy. Talk to you soon.
Josh
“Yum!” Riley declared around a mouth full of chocolate. “Heaven!”
Cameron leaned back in her chair, rubbing her forehead.
“You didn’t expect you’d ever see him again. Now he’s here. You thought you could blow him off, but he just keeps coming. You’re starting to feel for him…”
“I just never—“
“Got over him.” Riley supplied the words.
“No...I mean how could I? I look at his daughter everyday…”
“Why didn’t you ever tell him?” The girl propped one hip on the desk. “He seems like a nice guy…”
“Which is why I never told him. He was still sixteen when Kara was conceived. He was so sweet and decent…I didn’t want to destroy whatever future he had.”
“So Kara is really a love child, not a horny teenage mistake.”
“We were both in love.”
“I don’t know if I would be able to be that strong, to walk away from the guy I love.”
“It was the hardest thing I ever had to do.”
Riley stood and straightened. “I think the hardest thing you’ll ever do is tell him he has a half-grown daughter,” she predicted.
“That won’t happen. He’ll go back to his jetting from coast to coast and I’ll cease to exist in his world.”
“Uh-uh, Cuz.” Grabbing a handful of chocolates, Riley went back to her desk.
“Cammi!” JC was relieved to hear her voice on the other end of the connection.
“Well, if it isn’t the missing Chasez,” Cameron teased. It had been two weeks since they’d seen each other.
“Sorry, sweetheart, but the sessions were going so great; I didn’t want to break the rhythm.”
“I understand—“
“I need to see you.” Need. He honestly did. He’d only stayed away, because he had been trying to prove to himself that all he felt for her was residual feelings from teenage love. It hadn’t been true. He had missed her. His dreams had been filled with Cam. He’d only gotten back to Chicago two hours earlier given that he couldn’t put her out of his mind any longer.
“Josh—“
“Please, Cammi.”
“Fried chicken is Nora’s Tuesday night special…”
“I’m in DeKalb. Let me take you to Nora’s for dinner.”
She’d have to have Riley pick up Kara from Grams… “Just a minute. Let me check my social calendar.” On his chuckle, she put him on hold. “Riley!”
The girl poked her head into the office. “You bellowed?”
“Would you be willing to watch Kara tonight for a few hours?”
“Romeo’s back, huh?”
“Yes or no, smartass?”
“Sure. Never let it be said that I stood in the way of true love.” Riley grinned as her cousin stuck her tongue out.
Taking JC off hold, Cameron said, “Early dinner? About five-thirty?”
“Works for me, beautiful. Thanks. See you in a few.”
Ringing off, Cameron dialed her grandmother’s house.
“Delaney Farms,” a young voice announced.
“There’s my baby!”
“Hi, Mom!” Kara called over the line.
“I’ve got a big favor to ask.”
“Uh-oh!”
“A friend invited me to dinner. Think you could tolerate Riley for a couple of hours?”
“Aww, Mom, do I hafta?” Kara whined dramatically, followed by a giggle.
“I think you have been spending entirely too much time with Riley,” the mother announced dryly.
“Okay, Mom. Can I go riding?”
“If Riley wants to.”
“Okay.”
“Bye, sweetie. Thanks. I’ll be home to tuck you in.”
“Bye!”
Riley rolled her eyes. “Lemme guess…squirt wants to go riding.”
“Yep. You go ahead. I’ll lock up.”
“Now, you’re talkin’! Night!” Riley beat a hasty retreat.
Only moments later, the bell on the front door jingled.
“Cam!” JC called.
“In my office!”
Following the sound of her voice, he found her a cluttered cubby hole. Her hair was mussed. Her cheeks were flushed from excitement. Her blue eyes looked incredibly wide. And her pink tongue slipped out to wet her lips.
Grabbing the keys off her desk, she headed towards him. “Just let me lock up and we can go out the back.”
“Hold on a minute.” He reached out to cup her face in his hands, kissing her softly. “Mmm…” He then wrapped his arms around her to hold her close, burying his nose in her hair.
Taken by surprise, Cameron found her face pressed against his collar. He smelled so good and it felt so right to be held by him…
“You smell like sugar cookies,” he murmured.
“Warm vanilla sugar.”
“Whatever it is, it makes me want to gobble you up.”
They lifted their heads. Some unspoken permission gave him the right to kiss her more fully. His tongue slid sensuously against hers, tasting and tangling until they were both breathless.
“Cammi…”
“I’d better lock up.”
Time to stop kidding himself, JC decided as he and Cam lingered over coffee and apple dumplings. Cam wasn’t a passing fancy anymore than she had been ten years earlier. He wanted her in his life. Sure, she had broken his heart then. Maybe at eighteen, she’d need her home more than she had needed him. Being away from her…it just didn’t feel right.
“Josh?” Cameron was aware of his sudden silence.
“Sorry. Got lost just looking at you.”
“You look tired.”
“I’ll sleep like a baby tonight. I just needed to see my girl.” He lifted her hand, pressing each fingertip against his lips as he had when they studied after school.
“Oh, Josh…” She felt incredibly sad and conflicted. “You know that this is impossible.”
“How do I know that?”
“My life is worlds apart from yours. We don’t know each other anymore. We aren’t the same people we were...”
“No, we aren’t, but I’m trying to know you. It’s kind of hard when all we do is meet over meals. We never spend much time together.”
“We should just let this go.” Before she suffered another broken heart over him.
“No, we need to see each other more, not less.”
“Josh—“
“One date, Cam. I want an honest-to-God date. That’s the only way.”
She hesitated. “What do you have in mind?”
“I don’t know…Dinner and a movie maybe.”
“Then you’ll drop this?”
“Or we’ll see each other more often.”
Movie and a dinner…
The ‘movie’ in dinner and a movie ended up being a world premier in Chicago. She felt under-dressed for the occasion in a nice blouse and slacks while many of the others in attendance were all glammed up. JC wore jeans and tee-shirt, so at least she wasn’t out of place with him!
Cameron felt terrible for the Josh she had known. Did he think all the trappings of fame and wealth would impress her? Did he really like the fancy dinner he had rolled into his high-priced hotel suite once they had arrived after the premier and the party? Since when did he need to check the vintage of the wine? What happened to the boy who had shared his ice-cream soda from Petrie’s with her?
Cam was frowning, JC noted. That didn’t bode well. He had wanted her to like the things he could do for her – to like his life. He wanted her in it. Stepping over to the stereo system, he filled the room with soft ballads of the Rat Pack era – some of her favorite music. He watched as her eyes brightened with delight. That was much better.
“May I have this dance, Doctor Delaney?” He offered his hand.
Placing her hand in his, she rose. “Certainly. Mister Chasez.”
It was wonderful to hold her against him – if only while they danced. He’d forgotten how well she fit against him, how naturally she partnered him.
“Out of all the things you did tonight, this really impresses me,” she sighed.
“Dancing?”
“Remembering the music I like.” She pulled back a little to meet his eyes. “Josh, I don’t care who you’ve become or how much money you have. That’s not who you are – at least, I hope that’s not how you measure yourself as a man.”
“You used to prefer guys who could give you something.” He remembered the guys with fancy cars that used to get her into the back seat.
“I’m not that troubled girl anymore.”
“I know, Cam.” He brought her close once more, inhaling the intoxicating scent of her – sugar cookies and her own unique fragrance.
“I never meant those awful things I said that day.”
“I figured as much.”
“You did?”
“When I stopped being hurt and angry. By then Maureen had moved and I had no way to find you.”
“She wouldn’t have known. She and I don’t speak.”
“That’s too bad.”
“No, I am happy with it. Grams raised me. I became the Cam you knew when I was forced to live with Maureen – who never wanted me in the first place. Those were the longest three years of my life.”
They swayed in silence for a while. JC’s hand on the back of her neck urged her head to his shoulder. Just holding each other was a sincere pleasure.
This wasn’t the girl he had known, not in any of her incarnations. The teen that was too bright and bubbly, hiding the hurting child. She was the one who loved Frank Sinatra, the teasing, gentle friend to the skinny, shy boy next door – the one who helped him with his homework. The promiscuous girl who slept with guys for affection. The flighty sexpot who had been so sweet and tender with an awkward boy during his first forays into sexual pleasure. The tough young woman who loved him but guarded her heart too closely to fully love anyone, including herself. No, the strong, intelligent woman he held now had been beneath those ill-fitting facades.
“Cammi, did you ever really love me?” JC asked quietly.
“Out of all the boys I slept with, you were the only one I did love,” she answered honestly.
He nuzzled her hair. “Thank you, baby.”
“No. Thank you. You were the only one who loved me in Orlando.”
“I so loved you.”
“I know.”
“You broke my heart when you left. Not just the cruel words. I lost my best friend.”
“I couldn’t stay,” she said truthfully.
“I know.”
The song Return to Me by Dean Martin came on. Cameron waited for Josh’s cheesy imitation of Martin he had always taunted her with. Instead, he sang softly to her.
“You really do know the words!” she exclaimed.
“I always did, but it made you smile when I made like Dino. I loved your smile.”
“Oh, Josh…”
JC brushed his mouth over hers. Cameron knew this was dangerous territory, but if it felt so good…
“Cammi…” he whispered before he claimed a full kiss. She was delicious, opening like a flower for him. All the sweet nectar of her mouth was his for the taking.
she thought, melting.
He raised his head and gazed into her beautiful face. “Listen, sweetheart. Our song.”
She listened to the first few notes. “Unchained Melody,” she murmured. It was her favorite song of all. It had played the first time Josh had made love to her and he had declared it ‘their song.’
He turned her in his arms, her back against him. As they moved slowly, his mouth found all the sensitive spots on her neck and his hands ran along her sides.
Cameron wanted to weep at the lazy pleasure he was building within her. One hand reached up to bring his mouth back to hers. Molten longing pooled between her legs as his hands cupped her breasts. Their mouths became urgent, hungry. She could feel the heat and hardness of him. Suddenly her blouse was open and she felt his long fingers on the bare flesh of her ribs…”No!” She jerked away, pressing a hand over her kiss-swollen mouth. This couldn’t happen! As much as she truly wanted it, it simply could not happen.
JC was panting, left on the brink of something wonderful. He hadn’t meant it to go this far. He’d hoped for a few kisses and maybe the promise of something more at a later date. Instead he was mauling her. “Cammi…” He reached for her, to soothe and apologize.
Escaping him, she moved toward the balcony doors. Stepping out into the cool Chicago night air, she tried to rein in her runaway emotions.
“I’m sorry. I never meant it to go that far,” he told her once he was at her side.
“I was a willing participant, Josh. We both got carried away.”
“Yeah.”
Cameron buttoned her blouse once more. “Maybe I should go home.”
“No. You’ve had champagne and wine. I’d worry about you on the road. Stay in the spare room like we’d planned.”
“Josh—“
“I promise not to jump you again.”
“You didn’t ‘jump’ me. I didn’t expect to be this tempted.”
He couldn’t suppress a smile. Could he ‘tempt’ her at a later date? Could he really win Cam Delaney back into his life?
“Proud of yourself, Chasez?” she grumbled, seeing his smile.
“No, but I like the notion you find me tempting.”
“You have no idea,” she muttered as she headed inside.
JC gave himself several more minutes in the night air to cool his raging hormones before he followed her.
“Josh, we shouldn’t do this to each other. We live in two different worlds. You proved that glaringly tonight. Movie premiers, fancy parties, expensive hotels. That is your life. Mine is Draperville. I go to matinees to save money. The wildest party I attend all year is the Harvest Festival. I travel rarely and when I do it’s Motel 6. I—“
“Don’t.” His mouth slammed down on hers until she surrendered. “Can’t we combine our worlds, Cam?”
“No.” She pulled away and went to her room for the night.
Damn! Here he had wanted her to see what he could offer her – and all he had succeeded in doing was showing her she didn’t fit in his life!
JC woke alone the next morning. He didn’t have to climb out of bed to know Cam was gone. He felt her loss. Tossing back the covers, he padded across the suite to find the door to her room open. On the nightstand was a brief note.
Thank you for the lovely evening.
Good-bye.
Cam
“I won’t accept good-bye this time, sweetheart,” JC vowed.