Yeah, he supposed it would have to do.
Having Audrey here, and Piper too, had made him take stock of his life. It had made him wonder if he’d been truly happy before the two of them had come along.
A knock sounded at his door just as Cameron cut into his leftover grilled chicken. With a resigned sigh, he placed his dish on the kitchen counter and went to the door.
When he opened it, Tessa breezed past him in a cloud of perfume and determination that had once turned him on. Now he just wanted to scratch his head and ask himself what he ever saw in her.
“When you said you were going to bed, I figured I’d join you,” she told him as she kicked off her shoes and dropped her purse.
See? Invitation.
He should have listened to his own warnings.
“Tessa,” he said on a tired breath. “I really am going to bed.”
She smiled at him. “I know. And I’ll join you.”
“I don’t think you understand.” He gripped her shoulders. “I’m going to bed alone. And did you not get my second text? This needs to end.”
She blew out a breath and took a step back. “I met someone,” she said.
Cameron waited to feel something. A flicker of jealousy, betrayal, anything. But nothing.
“That’s great,” he told her.
She blinked at him. “You don’t care.”
He shrugged. “I’m happy for you.” When she didn’t respond, Cameron ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Tessa, you’re the one who wanted this casual. No questions, no commitments. Remember?”
“Yeah, I just…” She broke off and looked around. “I thought maybe you’d feel something.”
“Tessa, what’re you doing here if you’ve got a guy waiting for you?”
“We haven’t made anything exclusive yet,” she answered with a shrug.
“So you thought you’d stop by for one last booty call?”
Tessa made an impatient noise. “You never seemed to mind before.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, I mind now. You need to go.”
She laughed. “Why, you have a woman stashed in the back?”
Audrey’s face immediately flashed across Cameron’s mind, but he shoved it away.
“Ah, shit,” Tessa muttered, obviously taking his silence the wrong way. Or maybe she took it exactly as he’d wanted her to. Either way, he didn’t care. He just needed her gone.
Cameron shook his head. “There’s no one here,” he told her, not really sure why he felt the need to correct her assumption.
Her eyes dropped closed for a second. “Can you just be straight with me for a minute? What’s going on? You’ve never shoved me out the door like this before.”
He blew out another tired breath and wrestled with whether or not to be straight with her. Despite how pushy she could be, Tessa was a good woman. She was nice and fun to be around and could offer some other guy a lot. Just not him.
“We’ve run our course, Tessa,” he told her.
“Really?” she asked, as though she didn’t believe him.
“Yeah,” he confirmed.
She came closer, and Cameron automatically recognized the look in her eye. It was the one she’d shown him when they’d first met and all he’d been able to focus on was her long legs and come-hither smile. And damn if his body didn’t react. He was still a man, after all, even if his thoughts were on Audrey and finishing that kiss.
Cameron lifted his hands to hold her away, but somehow he found himself gripping her shoulders. Tessa must have taken the gesture as an invitation because her smile grew.
“I don’t think so,” she muttered.
“Tessa,” he warned.
She either didn’t hear him or chose to ignore the edge in his voice. Her hands crept up and slid over his chest. His body reacted further, and Tessa’s grin widened when she felt the evidence pressing against her thigh.
Her gaze dropped to his erection. “You’re still going to ask me to leave? Come on, Cameron.”
His back teeth gritted together in agony as she pressed a soft kiss to his neck.
Push her away. Put her in her place. You’re trying to be a better man for Audrey.
His hands tightened around her shoulders, but his movements were halted when he felt her tongue.
She’s doing that thing you like, his evil side whispered.
What would Audrey have to say about this? his more sensible side countered.
Ultimately, Cameron found the strength to shove Tessa back. He was just about to tell her enough already, when a movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.
Cameron held his breath, because he knew what he’d find before he even turned his head.
Audrey’s expression was full of disappointment and hurt, and a thousand other things he couldn’t name.
He opened his mouth to explain, anything to chase away the disgust darkening her whiskey eyes. But nothing came out, because deep down he knew he’d lost her. He’d lost whatever trust he’d managed to gain in the past few days. Then she was gone, pivoting on her heel and disappearing into the moonless night.
Tessa made a noise behind him. Cameron really didn’t care, because his heart was currently plummeting to the bottom of his stomach.
When he turned, she was slipping her shoes on. She offered him a sad smile. “We’re not all that different,” she told him. Then she scooped her purse off the floor and slung it over her shoulder. “I’ll see myself out.”
He watched her walk out, his gaze dropping to the perfectly round ass that had attracted him in the first place. Yeah, Tessa was beautiful. She was ambitious and aggressive and outspoken and good in bed. But she wasn’t the one who squeezed his heart whenever he looked at her. The honor belonged to a blond, pushy, gorgeous woman that he’d let slip from his grasp.
Audrey’s hand trembled as she splashed a healthy amount of red wine into a glass. She still shook as she raised the glass to her
