Chapter Four #2
Lexie was more concerned with the sea of people in front of her.
Lifting her hand to block the lights from her eyes, she looked out over the crowd.
Her jaw slackened when she saw all the faces tilted up at her.
Her cheeks turned a pretty pink as she realized, probably for the first time, where she was and what she was doing.
Cam tried to keep his voice low and soothing. “It’s all right. Just come here.”
This time when he reached for her, she came to him willingly.
He caught her by the hips, and she braced her hands against his shoulders.
The position elicited a whistle from someone close to his eardrum.
Bent over as she was, anyone could see right down her shirt.
The pale blue bra she wore under that camisole cradled her curves in a way that no beer-swigging biker deserved to see.
He swung her down off the makeshift stage and onto the wooden floor.
Keeping her close, he shielded her from the crowd.
Her warm body pressed against his side, and her fast breaths hit his neck.
She rocked a bit on her feet as she pushed her hair out of her eyes, and the contact made every one of his nerve endings light up.
“You’re blitzed,” he said.
Her eyes narrowed. “What’s it to you?”
Nothing—but he’d never seen her at anything less than full control, besides this morning. Her spine wasn’t rigid, and her lips were soft. Her eyes were still suspicious, but they weren’t as sharp. For once, that quick mind of hers wasn’t three steps ahead of him. The effect was interesting.
The crowd shifted then, bumping up against them. She rocked again on her high heels, falling against his chest. Cam pulled her to him, as his head whipped around.
The man next to them held up his hands, a tallboy clenched in one. “Sorry, man. Didn’t mean anything.”
“Come on, Roxie,” someone else called. “Don’t leave us hanging.”
The brunette on the bar fluffed her hair, unfazed by the attention she received standing up there alone. “Sorry, boys. Show’s over. It’s time for you to buy more drinks.”
She jumped down behind the bar, ready to help take orders. There were more grumbles, but most of the men reached into their back pockets for their wallets.
Cam worked Lexie away from the crowd and found a nook against the wall by the jukebox.
Nickelback was now pouring out of speakers overhead.
Pushing her protectively into the corner, he braced one hand near her head.
She was an expert at avoiding him, but not this time.
He kept his other hand on her waist as he hovered over her.
She was warm and soft and entirely too tipsy for him to leave alone.
He slid his gaze over her, taking in her flushed cheeks and mussed hair. “How long have you been here? Why didn’t you call someone?”
Her jaw hardened. “Who would I call? They kicked me out.”
And the pain over that still lingered in her voice.
“You could have called me. I’ve been looking for you all day.”
“I didn’t ask you to do that.”
She might not have, but he wasn’t the type of guy who could sit around twiddling his thumbs.
He’d seen her expression as she’d walked away from the Underhills, and it had concerned him.
She was an expert at pushing things down and not letting them show but, this time, her face had been damn near placid.
It hadn’t been a good sign. The proof had been in the way she’d sparred with him in her office afterwards.
Him—somebody she avoided like the plague.
He’d been half out of his mind worrying about her all afternoon.
Apparently, with good reason.
“Have you been here all day?” he asked. How much of it had she spent drinking?
She brushed her hair out of her eyes again. It was tumbled around her shoulders, all silky and touchable. As approachable as she seemed, though, there was fire in her eyes. “Yes,” she said defiantly. “I popped in and decided to stay when I found my sister.”
All that stubbornness faltered when she glanced at the bar. When her gaze came back to him, the brown depths were soft and aching. “Did you see that, Cam? Did you look at her? I have a sister. A full-blooded sister.”
The fight drained out of him. She acted so stunned, so overwhelmed and so delighted, he couldn’t stay upset with her. Besides, she’d called him by his name.
He bent his head down closer to hers. “I can see that. It’s hard not to.”
“We’re twins. We’ve got it all figured out.” She watched fervently as the dark-haired woman behind the bar passed out drinks. “Her name’s Roxie. She was the one on that billboard. Not me.” Her eyes narrowed again, and her chin thrust out. “Not. Me.”
From out of nowhere, she gave him a shove solid enough to rock him back on his heels. Surprised at the spitfire side of her, Cam leaned back in, settling close. The feel of her hands on him was just too good. “I knew it wasn’t you,” he reminded her.
“You didn’t know…” She stopped. “You did.”
Uncertainty made her face fall, and she glanced back to the bar. “You said our eyes were different.” The uncertainty turned into a frown. “Is she prettier than me? Was that it?”
“No, that wasn’t it.” He cupped her chin and brought her attention back to him.
He sighed when he saw the glaze in her eyes.
She wasn’t a sloppy drunk. She didn’t slur her words, and she didn’t get belligerent.
Well, not that belligerent. Alcohol just seemed to break down the walls she constantly kept erected around herself.
Let loose, her emotions were fighting over which could show itself first. Hurt, joy and confusion were all there for the world to see.
With her, alcohol brought out honesty.
Cam took a deep breath. He had to get her out of here.
Sober her up and help her get things straight in her head.
The misunderstanding with the Underhills needed to be cleared up as soon as possible—for her sake as well as the company’s.
They’d hurt her this morning and without cause.
She deserved an apology, and he was going to make sure she got one.
This newfound sister, though. He glanced over his shoulder to the bar. She was a different issue entirely.
He watched as Roxie flirted with a particularly ugly biker, checking out the tattoo on his shoulder. He didn’t like coincidences, and he didn’t like surprises. This woman was both, and he didn’t want Lexie around her until he had the opportunity to check her out.
And he had the resources to do a really close check.
He brushed his thumb against Lexie’s waist and pulled back. “Let’s go straighten things out with Julian.”
Her breath caught audibly. Face paling, her gaze flew to the door. “Is he here?”
Cam sighed. Damn that man. “No. We’ll go find him after you’ve had some coffee.”
“Is anybody else coming?” She rubbed her bare arms. Without her jacket, she seemed vulnerable. Ten minutes earlier, she’d been dancing around and having fun. At the mention of her family, though, she needed her armor.
He stroked her waist, trying to get her to relax. “You got me. Just me.”
“Oh.”
The emotions in her eyes tumbled again, and confusion won the battle this time. She glanced around the bar almost forlornly. Cameron braced his hand against the jukebox, wanting to punch it. She was so easy to read this way, but it was a painful read.
“Do you really dislike me that much, Lexie?”
“I don’t dislike you.”
Could have fooled him. “Then what is it? You’ve been avoiding me ever since I first started working at Underhill. Are you afraid of me?”
She shifted uneasily. She’d ventured into a biker bar and had made it her own, yet looking him in the eye seemed to be too much for her. “Kind of.”
Cam nearly winced. That honesty was a double-edged sword. “Why?”
“Why? You want to gut my family’s company.” Her brow furrowed. “I mean, Underhill Associates.” She shook her head, the confusion too much. “I have good workers. Smart people. They should know their jobs are secure. My job should be secure.”
“I’m not talking about work here,” he said bluntly. “And I think you know that.”
Her lips parted. “But work is all we…” Frustration colored her cheeks. She lifted her hands and pressed her fingers against her temples. “Argg. You’re doing it again, confusing me and twisting everything up. I couldn’t sleep last night after you did what you…and firing me…and, and cleavage…”
He could look at her cleavage all he wanted right now, but things were suddenly getting interesting. “You couldn’t sleep because you were thinking about me?”
She rocked her foot back onto its heel, and he instinctively positioned himself closer so she couldn’t kick him. The move put his body a hairsbreadth away from hers. She was warm from all that dancing. Her skin glistened with perspiration, leaving it damp and kissable. Lickable.
She flattened her hands against his chest again, but this time he didn’t budge. It flustered her. She shifted against the jukebox, but he wasn’t letting her get away now—not when he finally had her talking to him.
Her lips pressed into a straight line. “I wasn’t thinking about you, I was thinking about my proposition…purpose…my proposal.”
Interesting choice of words.
But the alcohol she’d consumed had her on a roll. “You made me late today. I kept wondering what you were going to do. What were you going to think? How were you going to smell?”
“I smell?”
“Not you. It’s just…” Her cheeks went red. “Your aftershave smells nice.”
Her words died away, but all thoughts of taking her home to Daddy left Cam. Taking her home, though, wasn’t such a bad idea. His body felt hard and hot. He’d been stressed all day, but the tension gripping him now was another sort entirely. “What do you think of me, Lexie? Really?”
Her gaze locked with his, and he saw something new in the dark depths. Something that made his heart rate slow down, and the thick pumps sound loudly in his ears.
“You make me uncomfortable,” she said, her voice low.