8 #2
“Here, now,” Addie protested, scrambling to join them. “I’m the host.”
“And as such, you should relax.” Glory urged her back to her seat.
“You fixed the meal, now let us clear the table.” Callie gave Tanner a kiss, whispered something to him, and then filled her
arms with stacked dishes.”
As she was walking away, Glory heard Kam say, “Sorry, Shara, but I’ve been busy.”
“With her?” The other woman laughed. “Get real.”
It didn’t help that even when they reached the kitchen, Glory could still perfectly hear the conversation in the dining room.
It consisted of Shara making not-so-veiled insults toward her, and Kam clearly becoming irked.
Callie glared back toward the dining room. “Kam should tell that woman to shut it.”
“Shh.” That hearing thing went both ways. “I’m sure he doesn’t want to be rude.”
“Well, I don’t mind throwing her rudeness right back in her face.”
“Callie,” she hissed. “Please don’t embarrass me.”
Taking one look at her cousin’s expression, Callie relented and lowered her tone. “She’s a nasty woman. I don’t like her.”
“Neither of us really knows her.”
“I know you and Kam have something going on, so stop trying to hide it.”
“I . . . It’s just . . .”
“Glory, you know you can’t fib to me. There’s a sister code or something, I’m sure of it.”
“We’re cousins.”
“You only say that when it’s convenient.”
From the other room, they both heard Shara say, “Why is Miss High and Mighty hanging out here?”
In a tone rife with irritation, Tanner said, “She’s my wife’s cousin—”
At that, Glory raised a brow as if to say, See, we’re cousins.
“But they’re more like sisters.”
Callie gave a muffled, “Ha!”
“And they’re both lovely women,” Addie insisted, her own voice bordering on hostile.
“Fine, she’s nice,” Shara said to Addie without much conviction. “Do you honestly think she’s interested in Kam?”
“Why wouldn’t she be?”
“She comes from money, that’s why. She walks around with her nose in the air as if she’s better than us.”
“Us?” Tanner repeated, his tone flat. “Glory likes me just fine.”
“And me,” Addie said.
“Ha! She’s up to something, I tell you.”
The strangest thing happened. Glory didn’t mean to intrude, and in fact, she hadn’t wanted to. But anger propelled her to the dining room, and suddenly, she was there, face-to-face with Shara, and she heard herself say in silky menace, “Are you somehow insinuating that this family is beneath me?”
“Beneath us?” Callie said, as she slipped her arm through Glory’s in a show of solidarity.
“Because you couldn’t be more wrong.” It took a lot to get Glory riled, but insulting this wonderful family, in any way, certainly
did it. “I’ve never met finer men or a more beautiful, generous woman.”
Surprised by the direct confrontation, Shara moved closer to Kam.
Folding his arms over his chest, his mouth tipped in a very small smile, he waited. So did Tanner and Addie, and they all
three looked . . . pleased.
Oh, Lord. Glory couldn’t believe she’d started this.
“Well,” Shara said. “I guess you’re slumming, then?”
“Slumming?” Glory was right back to being enraged. “I doubt I deserve to be here with them, not the other way around!”
“So you’re . . . what?” Shara sneered. “Genuinely interested in Kam?”
Put on the spot like that, Glory floundered.
Callie, unfortunately, did not. “He’s staying with her.” She dusted her hands, as if that settled it.
“I . . . That is, Kam and I are friends.”
Curling her lip, Shara suggestively asked, “Friends with benefits?”
Glory took a step forward. “How dare you be so crude in front of his mother?” She turned to Addie. “I’m so sorry for her insensitive
remarks.”
“Oh, um . . .” Addie blinked over the defense. “Yes, you’re right.” She tried, and completely failed, to look shocked. Overall,
she appeared fascinated by the entire clash.
Callie snickered. Tanner grinned.
Of course, having raised Tanner and Kam, Addie had likely heard a lot worse over the years.
Glory didn’t care. “It’s incredibly rude to enter someone’s home and sling around insults and accusations.”
Suddenly unsure of herself, Shara turned to Kam. “I’ve always thought you were all awesome. You know that, right?”
“Sure,” he said with disinterest, then he took Shara’s arm and said gently, “Come on, I’ll walk you out.”
“But I wasn’t leaving.”
“Yeah, you are.” He urged her along.
As the silence descended, Glory wished for a quick way out. “Kitchen. I’m, um, yes. The kitchen.” She spun away and rushed
back to the dishes. Why was it she could never find the right way to fit in? Every time, she ended up saying or doing something
that made her feel foolish. She certainly knew better. If Liz were here, she’d be scandalized. Over and over, Liz had stressed
that scenes were to be avoided.
Wallowing in her own humiliation, Glory hoped no one would join her, not even Callie.
Then she heard the sudden roar of laughter. She glanced back to see the three of them hanging onto each other, cracking up.
Putting her hands over her face, Glory wondered if she could sneak out the back.
But before long, she, too, was grinning.
Maybe she fit in better than she realized.
The second they were through the door, Kam was on Glory. Damn, it had been hard keeping his comments—and his hands—to himself,
while they were visiting Addie and eating cobbler.
Not for a second did he think Tanner or Addie were dense enough to overlook the obvious. He and Glory had some powerful chemistry
going on, and even when she tried to hide it, the sparks ignited.
Pinning her to what he now referred to as his favorite wall, Kam took her mouth like a starving man. Even better, she reciprocated in kind. Hands to her backside, he lifted her against him so he could grind his erection against her softness.
When he kissed his way to her throat, she said, “You taste like blueberries.”
He growled. “You taste like heated woman.” To punctuate that, he gave her a soft love bite that had her groaning.
In a rush, she pressed him back, but snagged his hand. “Come on.”
What she meant was: Come to the bedroom, where I can make it too dark for you to see. God, he wanted to explore every inch
of her body. He wanted to reassure her that she had nothing to hide.
Night after night, those damn rules stood between them; a brick wall he couldn’t scale and couldn’t ram through, not without
hurting her. She’d come up with them for a reason, and until she trusted him enough to share those reasons, he’d keep respecting
her wishes.
In the bedroom, he found the blinds already closed. Glory flipped on the small lamp on her nightstand, using the low light
to fold back the plush bedding, then setting out two condoms.
“Love your faith in my stamina.”
Hitching her chin, she smiled. “You’ve given me reason to have faith.”
He’d given her reason to trust him, too, but apparently she needed more time.
Coming toward him in a sassy walk, she said, “Give me three minutes in the shower.”
Kam caught her hand and drew her around to him. “Sorry, babe. I can’t wait.” Stealing any chance she had for a protest, and hoping to chisel away on the trust issue, he lifted her in his arms, took two steps toward the bed, and lowered her to her back.
It wasn’t easy to ignore the way her eyes flared with worry. He slipped off her shoes and tossed them toward her closet. He
wouldn’t want her tripping over them later when she tried to move around in the dark room.
Standing again, he reached back with one hand and grabbed his shirt, stripping it off over his head and tossing it toward
a corner. He kicked his shoes in that general direction, then opened his jeans.
Glory came up to her elbows to watch.
That’s right, girl. A little stripping can be sexy. He didn’t mind giving her a show. Eventually, she’d repay the favor. He had to believe that.
Without a speck of modesty, he pushed down his jeans and boxers, and without looking, threw them in the general direction
of his shirt and shoes. Trust, he reminded himself. That’s what he needed from her.
Breathing deeper, Glory tracked his every step as he moved to the nightstand to pick up a condom. He flipped it a few times,
enjoying how her focus stayed on his dick, then he handed it to her. “Why don’t you put it on me?”
As she sat forward, her chest rose on a deep breath. “The light . . .”
“Can go off when you’re done.”
Briefly, her gaze met his—with apology, and maybe a touch of gratitude, too.
Kam touched the side of her face. “It’s your show, Glory. Whatever you need, remember?”
A flush rose in her cheeks, warm and enticing, followed by a sultry smile. With one hand, she held the condom packet, and
with the other, she reached out to stroke his hip. “You devastate me.”
That husky timbre in her voice hit him hard. “Back atcha.”
Shaking her head, she said, “I’m just me. But you . . .” She leaned forward to brush her nose against his torso, which nearly
stopped his heart. “You smell so good.”
Damn, much more of that and he’d lose it. “You smell good too, Glory. Waking up with you against me, my nose in your hair
or against your neck, is one of my favorite things.” While he spoke, he brushed his fingers through her hair. “Right up there
with hearing you laugh.” Serious, hoping she’d understand, he added, “You don’t laugh often enough.”
“I’ll try to do better.” The whispered words, said absently, preceded the bold curl of her fingers around him. He barely had
time to drag in a breath before he felt the soft press of her lips.
Closing his eyes didn’t help, so he opened them again to watch her. Nothing in this world could be hotter than Glory’s blond
hair falling forward, half hiding her face while her pink lips parted, followed by the slow stroke of her tongue across his
dick.
“God,” he growled, trying to find the words to encourage her, to hurry her along.
“I’m glad you left the light on for this.”
Yeah, he was glad, too.
With no other warning, she drew him into her mouth, damp heat closing around him.
“Glory . . .” His muscles locked, but he kept his hand gentle as he stroked her hair, her shoulder, the side of her face,