4. Talia
four
Talia
No, no, no. This can’t be happening.
When I lift my head, Nico is standing—no, he’s looming—overhead like a dark cloud. Waves of fury roll off his body. He’s a storm waiting to hit the shore. Anger and hurt swirl in his steel-gray irises, breaking my heart.
Why did I let Cameron kiss me? Because he’s hot, duh.
No. Get that out of your head right now.
But, that kiss? No.
I glance at my brother again. He’s barely containing his rage. No matter how hot Cam is or how good that kiss was, he’s a no-go.
Completely off limits.
“Get your hands off my fucking sister, Miller,” Nico growls like a feral animal waiting to pounce on his prey.
Cam drops the arm he was using to protect me and stands toe to toe with Nico.
“I didn’t know she was your sister.” Cam looks at me, and I can’t avoid the hurt in his gaze.
I should have told him as soon as I realized it was him beside me. I swear I was just about to tell him who I was, but then that scumbag Kyle walked in and everything went sideways.
The way Cam got angry on my behalf pulled at something deep in my chest. He wanted to protect me. Not out of obligation, but because it was the right thing to do .
I’m sorry, I mouth.
Cam shakes his head and turns his attention back to my brother. Hot blades pierce my stomach in regret as he says, “Won’t happen again.”
I know kissing him was stupid and it never should have happened, but for some inexplicable reason, hearing Cam say it hurts like hell.
Of course, that’s the moment Kyle walks over and joins us. “What won’t happen again?” His voice is like nails on a chalkboard.
His eyes find mine, and I fight a shiver as he stares at my chest and licks his lips. Nico misses the look, but Cam doesn’t. His back stiffens, and he steps in front of me, removing me from Kyle’s hungry stare.
Creep .
Why the hell is he here? Shouldn’t Nico’s agent, Damien, be here?
“Better fucking not, asshole.” Nico shoves Cam out of the way and grabs my arm. “Come on, Lia. We’re leaving.”
“Ow,” I wince.
“Don’t fucking grab her like that,” Cam growls.
The butterflies in my stomach flutter at his protective tone.
My brother’s grip loosens, and he takes a deep breath.
“Take a minute and chill out, dude. We don’t need people reporting back to Anson,” Cam tells him, looking around the half-empty restaurant.
“Whatever. Just … don’t come near my sister. You won’t like what happens to your pretty face if you do.”
“Try it,” Cam says, not backing down.
My stomach plummets at the thought of them fighting over me. Cam doesn’t deserve my brother’s wrath over something I did willingly.
Nico balls his fists, his knuckles whitening with restrained anger. I’m afraid he’s going to punch Cam. I need to separate myself from him before my brother blows a gasket .
“Nico,” I hiss under my breath. “Let’s go.”
Grabbing his elbow, I pull him away from Cam, who looks about a second away from punching Nico and dragging him out of the restaurant.
There’s also Kyle. I can’t have Cam telling Nico about what happened with the creep. It’s not like I’m trying to protect the piece of crap, but I don’t want my brother to think I can’t take care of myself either. It’s bad enough that he treats me like a helpless child.
Nico takes my advice and starts walking towards the exit.
When I look back over at Cam, he’s watching me, fists clenched and chest heaving. Kyle leans in and says something, forcing Cam to break our connection, which is for the best.
Nothing can happen between us.
My chest twists at the thought. Cam was so sweet and genuine. Protective. He’s nothing like Nico said he was. I’m having a hard time reconciling the asshole playboy my brother makes him out to be and the thoughtful uncle who stared at his phone, smiling happily at pictures of his nephew.
For a second, I thought the little guy was his son. It was a private look, and it made him appear soft, almost vulnerable for a second. His walls dropped. My chest ached looking at Cam.
I doubt people get to see that softer side of him.
Nico shouts at the valet, who throws a set of keys at my brother. He drags me over to the horrendous sports car he rented and opens the door for me. I slide in as he slams the door harder than necessary, letting me know he is still very pissed off over what transpired in the restaurant.
My brother gets in the car and peels out of the parking lot. Ignoring me, he connects his phone and calls his agent.
Damien answers on the second ring. “What’s up, man?”
“I need a hotel room.”
“Oh, did you pick up a hot-piece-of-ass and you don’t want to go home where your baby sister will hear? ”
Ugh. Damien is such a chauvinistic pig. Of course, he has guys like Kyle working for him.
Scumbag.
“Shut the fuck up, D. The room is for Lia. She needs somewhere else to stay.”
“Nic—” I pipe up, finding my voice.
My brother cuts me a look, and I trap my lip between my teeth. Fighting with him right now, while he is fuming, isn’t worth it. He won’t listen to reason.
Besides, I know I messed up. I committed the worst act of betrayal in his book—I kissed his enemy. The guy he hates as much as the father who abandoned him.
Tears prickle my nose as I turn away and stare out the window.
I hurt my brother, and something tells me I hurt the sexy, sweet man I kissed back at the bar too.
After an hour of driving around while Nico’s agent searched for an available hotel room, my brother had no choice but to return to the house—the same house Cameron is staying in.
I’m not surprised, but I didn’t bother saying a word. It’s spring training. All the hotels in and around the Phoenix area are fully booked. I’m just grateful Nico didn’t tell Damien what happened. I don’t want to make that kiss a bigger deal than it already is.
How did I get myself into this mess? This is so unlike me.
I stare out into the darkness as Nico cuts the engine next to an unfamiliar car parked in the driveway—no doubt Cam’s. It’s just another reminder of what happened tonight. There isn’t anything more I can say to Nico at this point. I already apologized, and to be honest, I’m mad at him for treating me the way he did.
He had no right to manhandle me and call his agent to find me a hotel room.
The silence is thick with unsaid words as we sit side by side .
“I’m sorry, Lia. I shouldn’t have touched you when I was angry,” Nico says, breaking the tension.
His sad gray eyes find mine, and my earlier irritation falls away. This is the side of him I love—the big brother who would do anything for me. I let him down tonight.
“That guy … just pisses me off. I hate him.”
“Why?” I ask, truly curious.
Cameron Miller is nothing like my brother described.
Was he flirty? Yes, but so was I.
When I said I knew who he was, Cam’s shoulders stiffened and he plastered on a fake smile like he was preparing to get propositioned. The tension in his shoulders only relaxed after I started joking around with him.
Then, when I told him about Kyle, he was genuinely angry on my behalf. I was afraid he was going to march over to the douche and punch him. Not that I would mind. Kyle deserves a good smack upside the head.
My brother described Cameron as someone who sleeps around with no regard for women. A guy like that doesn’t react the way he did to my story. I believed Cam when he said he’s never left a date to sleep with another woman.
When Cam suggested we kiss to scare off Kyle, I knew I shouldn’t have agreed. I was playing with fire—a fire I’d willingly touch again. The only thing I regret is not telling Cam who I was sooner.
I will never regret kissing him.
“Why? Because he’s an asshole, Lia. All he cares about is himself. He’s a playboy and no good for you. I need you to promise me you’ll stay away from him.”
Hearing Nico warn me away from Cam has my chest caving in and tears pooling in the back of my eyes. For some strange reason, the idea of staying away from Cam doesn’t sit well with me, but I can’t let Nico down either.
My brother has been there for me, taking care of me and our family even when he didn’t have to. I can give him this, right?
Right .
It’s probably for the best that I don’t dig into the reason why my stomach is in knots and my chest is tight with panic when I say, “Yeah, okay. I’ll stay away from him.”
The words taste like ash on my tongue. I should hate Cameron for whatever he’s done to hurt Nico—sibling loyalty and all that—but something deep inside me will never agree. I want answers.
No, I need answers. From my brother. From the man himself.
I need to know because connections like the one Cam and I shared tonight don’t happen very often. Especially to me.
Don’t go there.
Listening to the warning in my head is the smart thing to do. I’m about to start my new role at the hospital. I don’t need complications in my life.
Nico and I get out of the car and head inside the house. The entire place is dark when we walk in. Cam’s probably hiding in his bedroom.
I say goodnight to Nico and lock myself in the small guest room Nico set me up in, next door to his room.
Plopping back onto the neatly made bed, I stare at the ceiling. I’m in that weird state between exhausted and completely exhilarated, and I can’t get the look of hurt in Cam’s eyes when I pulled Nico out of the restaurant out of my mind.
Now, he’s sleeping down the hall.
A man I barely know and am insanely attracted to.
A man my brother hates more than anything.
A man who kissed me like no one else before.
My lips tingle at the memory. The way his tongue seductively slid against mine in slow and controlled movements as my panties flooded with arousal. His touch was gentle and possessive.
Everything around us melted away as we made out like we had all the time in the world.
Knock it off. He’s off limits.
I need to stop thinking about Cam and that kiss. It can’t happen again. Ever.
Shower? Yes, a shower will help me clear my head.
After a quick rinse, I throw on a pair of shorts and an oversized T-shirt, and climb into bed. As I slip between the cool sheets, I pray for sleep to claim me. Unfortunately, I can’t stop my thoughts from drifting to Cam.
What is he doing? Sleeping? Or is he thinking about me too?
Oh, goddess in heaven, why am I thinking about him? He’s a freaking no-go.
For the next—I don’t know how long—I toss and turn, unable to get comfortable as I replay the events of the night and everything that happened between us.
From the moment he sat down, I knew I was in trouble.
Cameron Miller has this magnetism about him. I could tell he was trying to stay under the radar, but his presence attracts people. He attracted me. I couldn’t help but notice the way his eyes shined with love and longing as he stared at pictures of his nephew. I knew I couldn’t sit there and not talk to him.
I had to know more.
I knew I shouldn’t because my brother hates him—like, really hates him—but I was intrigued. Still am.
I have always thought Cameron Miller was good-looking, but the pictures don’t do the man justice.
He has the whole “tall, dark, and handsome” thing going for him, and let me tell you, it works. His brown hair is a little shaggy and curls up at the ends in a sexy just-crawled-out-of-bed kind of way. He’s tall with thick muscles that make him look carved from stone and has the dreamiest hazel eyes I’ve ever seen. They are mesmerizing—amber, brown around his irises, bleeding to gold striations and then into a deep-green ring around the pupil.
Cam is gorgeous, and no matter what Nico says, he’s also a very talented baseball player. I’ve been to enough Saints vs. Evaders games to know that, aside from my brother, Cam is by far one of the best players in the league .
Talking to him was natural, easy. Even the silly pickup lines and flirty banter we shared put me at ease. So much ease that I ended up telling him about Kyle, which led to us kissing.
The kiss.
I have never been kissed like that before in my life. He stole my breath and somehow breathed life into my empty, lonely soul.
I’ll never forget the way my skin lit up, on fire, as he ran his hands up my arms and dug his fingers into my hair. The gentle way his thumb caressed my jaw before he kissed me. How his pupils dilated right before he closed them and covered my mouth with his.
The kiss. The kiss. The kiss.
I grab a pillow and throw it over my head, muffling my growl. Maybe if I suffocate myself to sleep, I’ll stop thinking about the sexy baseball player my brother just banned me from going anywhere near.
Around midnight, I give up and crawl out of bed.
As quietly as I can, I switch out of my pajamas, put on my bikini, and make my way down the hall towards the kitchen. Since we got here, I’ve been slipping into the hot tub on the deck to sit and stare at the stars, while Nico slept like the dead.
Hoping I don’t wake up the other residents in the house, I continue through the kitchen on tiptoes. The sliding glass door being open should be warning enough when I slowly push through.
Sitting in the steaming hot tub is none other than the off-limits man himself.
Cam is leaning back with his eyes closed, face to the sky. The condensation on his skin glistens in the faint porch light, giving him and his angular features an ethereal glow. The prickly urge to run my finger over his scruffy jaw is strong as I stare at him.
Sensing the weight of my gaze, his head lifts and his eyes snap open.
A heavy silence falls between us .
“Are you going to get in or stand there staring at me like the stalker you are?” A smile tugs at the corner of his lips as he teases me, easing the tension in my shoulders.
“Caught me.” Dropping my towel on the sun chair beside the jacuzzi, I make my way up the stairs to climb into the bubbling hot water.
My foot lands on the seat wrong as I step in, and it slips out from under me. I wobble, teetering on the edge of falling as a warm hand finds mine. His touch steals my breath on a gasp as the same electrical shock from earlier shoots up my arm, sending my heart racing like the devil out of hell.
Cam steadies me as I slip into the steaming tub, his grip firm. “Are you okay?”
No. “Yeah.” My voice cracks, giving away my nervousness.
“Good.” He releases my hand and returns to his seat on the other side of the hot tub, putting as much distance between us as he can. “So, little Romero, what reason do you have for coming out here?”
The water laps around Cam, and I can’t help but stare at the way his biceps bulge as he runs his wet hands through his chestnut hair, the ends coiling up ready to twist into the curls I know he tames under his baseball hat. My eyes almost pop out of their sockets at the sight of his chiseled chest and the beautiful black and gray realistic tattoo of a bear on his right peck.
Wow.
This man is gorgeous. He’s a Greek god walking amongst us mere mortals.
My mouth is dry and scratchy, like I swallowed sand, as my gaze finds his. In the moonlight, glints of gold sparkle in his eyes as he smirks knowingly at me, enjoying himself a little too much at my body’s treachery.
I refuse to be alone in this uncomfortable space with him, where I’m the only one hot and bothered. Two can play that game.
Using the confidence I usually reserve for work when I’m battling it out with other nurses for the top spot, I mimic Cam’s position and lean back against the edge of the hot tub. Resting my arms across the back of the jacuzzi, I make sure the tops of my boobs lift above the water. They might not be huge, but they are perky and more than a handful.
“My guess is the same as yours. Couldn’t sleep.” I shrug, sending water lapping around me.
Butterflies swirl in my stomach as Cam’s gaze falls exactly where I want it. I run a wet finger over my chest.
Take that, Miller.
“Hmm. So, you were thinking about me,” he says coolly. A grin that rivals the Cheshire Cat’s spreads across his handsome face, sending those pesky butterflies soaring and shivers up my spine. My thighs clench, and my clit pulses.
Oh, crap.
I think I have a crush on my brother’s enemy.