Too Wilde to Tame

Sinclair, huh?'

'Yes.' Mia finished off her Pop-Tart and washed it down with a drink of water. 'I take it Carrie told you who he was?' Gina knew of Cameron's existence but had never seen him before last night.

Gina nodded as she picked at the edges of her breakfast pastry. 'Yep. God, Mia, you didn't tell me he's so… everything.'

Unable to help herself, Mia laughed. 'So everything?' she repeated, amused by Gina's choice of word to describe Cameron.

'Hot. Gorgeous. Sexy.' Gina sighed appreciatively. 'The full package.'

The man definitely had a full package, and then some, Mia thought, remembering how the hard, thick length of him had felt in her hands and stroking deep within her. Heat rose to her cheeks, and she doused the rush of warmth with a long, cool drink of water.

Luckily, Gina didn't seem to notice her reaction. 'So where did he drag you off to?' she asked.

'His place. He thought I was drunk, and he was trying to keep me from causing a scandal that would get back to my brothers.'

'And?' Gina prompted, wide-eyed and curious.

'And what?' Mia replied casually, not wanting to encourage any further discussion on the matter.

Gina puffed out an exasperated breath of air. 'And what happened at his place?'

Mia wasn't emotionally ready to discuss her intimate night with Cameron with anyone, maybe not ever. What had transpired between them was personal and private, and because it wasn't going to happen again, there was no point in making an issue of her one-night stand with Cameron.

'Nothing happened,' Mia said and dismissed the pang of guilt she felt for not confiding in Gina when just minutes ago she'd wanted that same trust from her friend. She justified that this situation was different, that her relationship in no way threatened her physical state. Her heart, she feared, was another matter altogether. 'Once I set him straight on the fact that I wasn't drunk, he brought me back home. End of story.'

Gina was staring at her too intently, as if she suspected there were at least a few more chapters to that story, and Mia quickly changed the subject before her friend could say anything else.

'By the way, what was up with Carrie last night?' Mia asked. She and Gina had met Carrie at the gym about six months ago, and they'd all become friends-mostly Carrie's doing, as she'd been the one to pursue the friendship. They hung out together occasionally, but lately Carrie had been acting strange and distant, and last night her attitude had not only been cool, but even a bit abrasive.

A confused look passed across Gina's features. 'What do you mean?'

'She snapped at me a few times for no real reason I could figure out.' She shrugged. 'She just seemed on edge, and it didn't take much to set her off.'

'Sounds like a classic case of PMS to me,' Gina said and laughed.

Mia thought about Gina's explanation for Carrie's odd behavior, and she supposed it was completely plausible. 'Yeah, I guess so.'

Gina stood and walked over to the kitchen sink, a light spring in her step Mia hadn't seen in a long while. 'So can we go see a chick-flick today? I've been dying to see that new Richard Gere movie.'

The enthusiasm in Gina's voice made Mia smile. Besides, who could resist gazing for two hours at one the best-looking actors in the business? 'Richard Gere it is.'

She had a feeling the distraction would do them both good.

Chapter Four

FIRST thing Monday mornings Cameron met with his partner, Steve, to discuss the week's agenda and divide up the new investigative cases that needed to be handled. They were retained by quite a few large corporations, so there were more than a dozen background checks and evaluations to perform on new employees. A new law firm had hired them to locate and interview a key witness for one of their cases, and a woman had contracted them to help her find out who had committed identity theft against her because the police weren't getting anywhere with the complaint she'd filed.

There were deadbeat dads to locate, a sexual harassment claim to investigate, domestic cases to sort through, four new requests to find a long-lost friend or loved one, and surveillance to set up on a forty-eight-year-old construction worker who'd filed an insurance claim for a back injury but apparently wasn't disabled at all.

As always, the cases seemed endless, and halfway through the meeting, as Cameron was reading through a file on a skip trace, his thoughts drifted and eventually images of Mia filled his mind. No big surprise there. He hadn't been able to get her out of his head since Friday night, and in fact, he had spent the entire weekend dissecting Mia's dual personalities-the shameless, brazen spitfire he'd believed she was, and the uncertain, contradictory woman he'd glimpsed in an unguarded moment after their fast, heated encounter.

He'd made a career of analyzing people and their actions. After spending too many hours reflecting on Mia's behavior, he'd come to the conclusion that there was so much more to her than he'd originally assumed and what she obviously wanted him and everyone else to believe-because he'd been privy to the emotional depth she tried to hide beneath her scandalous attitude and impetuous personality. He'd seen a vulnerability he never thought her capable of because of the strong, rebellious facade she wore around her like an impenetrable cloak.

It was all an act, he'd come to realize, and a damn good one at that because he'd fallen for it-hook, line, and sinker. And obviously, so had every one else, her brothers and cousins included. They all accepted her as the Wilde child of the family, and her reckless and outrageous conduct had become an expected thing-whether they approved of her antics or not.

But there was one question that kept tumbling through Cameron's mind, one he didn't have an answer for but had kept him up the past two nights trying to figure out. Who was the real Mia, and what kind of emotional secrets were lurking behind that come-hither smile and those smart-ass remarks she tossed his way to keep him at a distance.

And why the hell did he even care?

Shit. He was so in over his head where Mia was concerned, like a drowning man with no lifesaver in sight who kept getting sucked in deeper and deeper. He'd spent what seemed like forever resisting her, sparring with her, lusting for her until it all had collided in a frenzy of demanding, carnal sex. And what Cameron had come to realize in the aftermath of that culmination had nearly sent him reeling. Somewhere along the way he'd started developing feelings for Mia. Beyond the smoldering desire and aggravation she inspired, his subconscience had taken an emotional turn, and he wasn't at all happy with that particular revelation.

Their attraction was. no longer a teasing, seductive game between them they were both skirting. They'd leapt over personal and intimate boundaries that never, ever should have been crossed. He wasn't the type of guy who sought out one-night stands, and he hated that his time with Mia had been reduced to something so cheap. But there was no future for the two of them together, and they both knew it.

He'd be crazy to get mixed up with her beyond their one night together. They couldn't be more opposite-he colored inside the lines, and Mia did not. She bucked convention, and he was a man who lived by the rules. And she was completely opposite of what he wanted and needed in his life. Someone solid. Grounded. Not a woman who loved the thrill of being impulsive and lived to drive him insane. Her defiant and rash decisions went against his grain, especially when he'd seen in his line of work where that kind of behavior could lead.

Unfortunately, none of those strong and valid arguments made him stop wanting her. Just the opposite, actually. It was as though one taste of her had left him ravenous for the whole entire feast. He wanted to eat her up and use his tongue to lick and savor every single inch of her body. Especially her breasts, the soft curve of her belly, and between her thighs…

'Yo, Cam. You still with me?'

Startled out of his thoughts, Cameron jerked in his seat and shook off the erotic images dancing in his head. He glanced up at Steve from across the conference room table and was reminded of yet another reason why he'd do well to keep his distance from Mia. Any further involvement with her could only lead to trouble for him, and he wasn't about to risk his friendship and business with Steve for another tumble with Mia. No matter how much the provocative thought tempted him.