Chapter 10 #2
He turned to see Sabrina sit at the table, open the bag, and look at the plastic containers. Her laugh sounded genuine as she held one up. “I see people here do the same thing as Southern people—use Country Crock as Tupperware.”
“My foster mom called them ‘pass on’ go-boxes. No need to return them, just use and pass on to the next person.”
“I’ll do what I can, but my storage is limited. You may get them back anyway.” She pressed her fingers over one dish. “Oh, wow, it’s still warm.”
“Try one.”
She fished out a pierogi with her fingers and bit into it. “This is soooo good!”
Her enjoyment pleased Cam. “Tracie is a great cook. I think you should meet her sometime.”
“I’d love to. This beats the frozen Lean Cuisine I was planning on having tonight. Thank you.”
A smattering of drops hit the roof, then increased until the sound blurred into one continuous sizzle. The noise didn’t faze the lizards; they stayed curled up in their spots.
“Guess I’m not going anywhere for a while.” Cam seated himself on the short padded bench next to Sabrina. “There’s a couple chocolate cheesecake slices in there too. Tracie makes them with drizzle and chips on top. I thought since I didn’t have supper with you, I’d at least do dessert.”
Her eyes lit up at the word cheesecake. “Cam, you just became my favorite. Want a cup of coffee?”
“Sounds good to me.”
She pulled down the small coffee maker and filled it from a half-empty five-gallon jug of water that sat in an alcove above the sink. A bowl of assorted pods came next. “Here, take your pick.”
Cam fished out a Sumatra while Sabrina popped in a Colombian. Soon the gurgling sounds started, and a rich coffee aroma filled the van’s interior.
“Thanks for coming to see me,” she said. “You really didn’t have to. I’ve survived worse things than being alone.”
He watched her fill her mug with the potent brew and prep for a second cup.
“It’s not a problem. You sounded like you needed company, and I’m not at work for a change.
” As the rain picked up in volume, his brain gave him a brilliant idea.
“Since we’re gonna be stuck with each other for a while, wanna play a game? ”
She pulled two forks from a drawer. “Sure. What game?”
“Truth or dare.”
She stopped and smiled. “Really? We used to play that in high school a bazillion years ago.”
“I’m feeling nostalgic.”
“Cream and sugar, sugar?”
“Black.”
She doctored hers before sitting back down on the bench. “Okay, I’ll start. Truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
“You said something about a foster mom earlier.”
Cam took a big sip of the coffee and forked up a bite of cheesecake.
“I met Vera when I was nine. She and her husband, Cecil, never had kids of their own. They just took care of others. There were four of us: Tammie, Kyle, Morgan, and me. They were more like foster grandparents, but they were the best. Your turn. Truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
“Why did you really call me tonight?”
Sabrina’s smile dimmed a little. “It was kind of a shitty day. I had a couple walk-ins who didn’t like my work very much.
Before that, the last new client I got stuck with had trouble keeping his hands to himself, and he threatened to leave a bad review.
Cicely didn’t have my back when she found out.
” She twirled the fork in the top of her cheesecake.
“Normally, I wouldn’t take that kind of shit, but I need this job.
It also didn’t help that my asshole stepbrother is on my case about something too.
All of that piled on me enough to make me want to see a friendly face, so I called you. ”
Cam’s blood rose. “Say that again? Someone put their hands on you?”
He watched as Sabrina licked chocolate from the tines of her fork. “It’s not that. I’ve had that happen before, and truthfully, it’s not that frequent, but it is annoying. No, it was that my boss was more upset over a potential bad review than clients disrespecting her employees.”
Cam did not like that, neither the client nor the boss.
When he looked at her again, the motion of her tongue as it searched for the chocolate drizzle made heat erupt in his belly, which rivaled the building anger in his head. “Someone ever fucks with you again, you call me, yeah?”
Her quizzical eyes met his. “Why? I can handle myself, Cam.”
“You shouldn’t have to handle anything. At least not alone.” He cleared his throat in an attempt to cool off a bit. “What about your brother?”
She picked up a big chunk of the crust. “Stepbrother. I talked to him earlier. He’s been hounding me to go back to Florida and sign a bunch of papers that have something to do with Dad’s estate.
He died without a will in place. I don’t know how probate works, but I guess it’s something to do with proving legitimacy.
Rodrigo was legally adopted, so he’s supposed to inherit, but if I’m Ernie’s blood relative, he’ll have to split it with me.
” She shook her head. “After all the crap he put me through, I don’t feel obligated to help him. ”
Cam’s temper rose a few more degrees, outpacing his libido for the moment. “The post office still exists.”
She sighed and bit into the graham cracker sweetness. “He said he doesn’t trust the mail. This is really good.”
“Like I said, Tracie is a great cook. So, you need me to go to Florida and kick some ass?”
“I’ll think about it,” she told him with a sassy grin. She lowered her eyes and took another bite of the dessert. “Truth or dare?”
Cam recognized a dismissal when he heard one. It bothered him. A lot. He reached over to put his coffee cup in the sink. “Truth.”
“How many girlfriends have you had?”
Shit! That was a question he didn’t want to answer. “Positive you want to hear this?”
She settled back into a big throw pillow that doubled as a cushion and brought her bent legs up. The tight space forced her bare feet to rest just on his thigh. The contact was casual, yet he felt every bit of it. “Yes, actually. I’m curious.”
Cam took the other pillow and put it behind his back. “I’ve been with more women than I want to admit, dated a few, but only one actual girlfriend. We stopped seeing each other after high school.”
“Why did you break up?”
“Long story.”
“Wanna tell me?”
“No.” His abrupt answer made the corners of her mouth turn down. He didn’t like seeing that, but he wasn’t ready for that level of sharing. Some things in his past needed to stay there. “Truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
“Same question. How many boyfriends have you had?”
She raised an eyebrow and reached out a bare foot to tap the top of his thigh. His dick twitched in response. “Only two, and one of them was in high school. I can count on one hand the number of lovers I’ve had and still have fingers left over.” She pursed her lips. “Truth or dare?”
He grabbed the foot that pushed against his leg. This slow dance was headed toward the danger zone. It was time to step it up a little. “Dare.”
The air in the van changed. A subtle tension ramped up his back as he waited for her challenge. He had a notion what it would be and hoped he was right.
“I dare you to kiss me.”
The invitation was there, and he took it.
Without hesitation, he moved in and covered her mouth with his, tasting coffee and chocolate.
She kissed him back, opening for him. It turned into an unhurried exploration of tongues, teeth, and lips.
A slow burn started in his belly, one that resembled the heating of a billet.
Metal had stages of color when it was annealed in a furnace: gray to blue to black to dark red to bright cherry to orange.
It took time to reach each level, and once it did, it could become anything. Any form he wished to make.
What they would forge between them had yet to be decided, but the furnace had lit up.
The kiss ended. Cam found himself on top of Sabrina with one leg on the floor and the other between her thighs, his mouth hovering over hers. Tension and need permeated the air along with uncertainty. They’d reached a turning point, and neither of them wanted to make the next move.
Sabrina licked her lips as if tasting Cam’s flavor. “It’s still raining.”
It was indeed. The heavy downpour still pounded the van, and it didn’t sound like it would let up anytime soon.
“Do you want me to leave?” he asked in a rough voice.
“No.”
“What do you want, Sabrina?” He was sure she could feel his heavy groin through their clothes. Only a couple of layers lay between them. If they were naked, he’d be inside her already—if she wanted that to happen. Her kiss dare made him think she did.
She took a few deep breaths, as if calming herself into control. “I’m not a slut. I don’t sleep around or do one-nighters. But right now… I think I need you.”
“I think I need you.” Those words burned themselves into his mind and his gut like an iron brand.
But as much as he wanted to, the timing wasn’t right.
Forging a blade took many steps, patience, and methodical work.
Skipping ahead left the metal too soft to hold an edge or too brittle to last. If he wanted whatever this was to be long and solid, he needed to get the tempering right.
Cam spoke in a rough voice. “I’m not fucking you tonight. I’m not fucking you ever. When we get together, and we will, it will be more than just scratching an itch. We’ll be 100 percent sure we’re ready for that step, ’cause once we take it, there’s no going back.”
She licked her lips. For several moments, they stayed frozen, the air heavy and thick, neither one moving forward or backward or breaking.
Cam held himself rigid, wondering how long they could listen to the storm without falling prey to its power and giving in.
He could see himself kissing her hard, testing her response, and pushing her to open up and take him inside.
His erection screamed for relief; only his iron will kept him still.
“I have a flat-screen over my bed so I can stream movies when I get a chance to hook into a Wi-Fi signal,” she finally said, but her eyes never moved from his.
Apparently, they weren’t going to talk about it. Very well, he would play the game and sweep everything under the rug. For now.
“I can do a movie.”