Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 94630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Even though that had been her guess, hearing him say it aloud set windmills spinning in her chest.
“And this imaginary pregnancy, where I get fat and unsightly.” Jo captured the finger tracing her stomach, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Is the baby yours?”
Cam intertwined their fingers across her belly, tracing the wet skin with his thumb.
“You’d go half in on a kid with me, Jo?” Cam’s voice was deliberately light, but the question weighed so much it took both of them to hold it, and she didn’t hesitate with her response.
“I’d throw my pills out tonight if you asked me to.”
Cam hauled himself over in the water with her, fully clothed, boots and all. He settled his chest on hers, pushing the damp hair away from her face. The water sloshed over the side of the tub, but Jo didn’t care and Cam didn’t seem aware of anything but her.
“When the time is right, then.” Cam rubbed his lips across her collarbone, nipping the skin of her neck gently between his teeth. “Can’t remember. Did I mention that I’m in love with you?”
“It came up last night, yes.” Jo laughed, resting her elbows on his shoulders and scooping suds into his dark hair.
“If I don’t get out of this tub, that won’t be the only thing that comes up.” Cam thrust between her hips and leered playfully.
“Since when is that a bad thing?” Jo pouted, tugging on his hair to keep him in place when he tried to leave the tub.
“Since I’m behind on my deadline for this protocol. I really do need to get unstuck.” He dropped a kiss on her cheek and hoisted himself out of the tub. “Creatively, I mean.”
Jo enjoyed the show as Cam peeled his wet T-shirt over his head and discarded the jeans and boxers, standing without self-consciousness in nothing but the glorious olive-hued skin God gave him.
Oh, mercy, mercy me. After dating Cam for a few months, she could quote Marvin Gaye backward and forward, and looking at the lean muscles of Cam’s arms and chest, the sharp cut at his hips, the well-defined abs—that lyric said it better than she ever could.
He left the bathroom for a few moments, coming back unfortunately dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt.
“You’re going to be pickled if you don’t get out of there soon.” He rubbed a towel across his water-darkened hair. “And your steak is getting cold.”
“I knew it.” Jo fist pumped and climbed out of the tub. “You’re not eating with me?”
Cam’s emotions went into hiding. He turned away from her, but Jo noted the tighter shoulders and tenser tone of voice.
“No, I think I’m going back to my old neighborhood. Find a bridge or an alley to paint. Graffiti does it for me sometimes. Unsticks me. Inspires me.”
From what she could tell, his old neighborhood had been hell for him. If Cam was venturing back into hell, she was going with him.
“Can I come?”
“No way.” Cam shook his head and headed back into the bedroom. “I’ll see you when I get back.”
Jo speed-walked into the closet where she’d transferred a good quarter of her wardrobe from home, scrambling to find a pair of skinny jeans and a cropped hoodie. She threw on some flats, twisted her hair up into a knot on her head, and zipped to the studio. Cam was loading paints and spray cans into a saddlebag. He glanced up, a frown settling on his brow.
“You’re not coming with me, babe.”
Jo had never thought of herself as having feminine wiles, but she also hadn’t lived twenty-nine years as the Walsh “princess” without learning a thing or two about getting her way.
“I just…” Jo paused, leaning against the table and looking down at the floor, biting her lip.
“I just missed you today, and with the adoptions falling through…” Jo sighed, shrugged, blinked quickly as if she might cry. “I kind of need you right now is all.”
She kept her eyes stuck to the floor but noted Cam’s motions slowing until he stopped altogether and stared at her. He crossed the room, saddlebag slung over his shoulder. He tipped her chin up, searching her eyes. It really had been a hard day. She focused all her energy on looking like she was at the end of herself.
“It’s not the best place, baby.” Cam rolled his thumb over her cheekbone.
“But I’d be with you, so I’d be okay, right?”
She didn’t exactly flutter her lashes because that would tip Cam off right away, but she did this slow blink thing that she hoped might have a similar effect.
“Well…” Cam chewed the corner of his mouth and then blew a breath out. “Okay, I guess you can come.”
She followed him back into the living room, promising herself she would never underestimate the power of long lashes again.