Whitney felt her heart rate increase as he got closer. It wasn’t fear. Her brain recognized that. But that was what the surge of adrenaline felt like.
“Fine. It’s one thing for you to know what’s going on with her,” Whitney said. “You’re my boss.”
His frown was deep and swift. “Stop fucking saying that.”
She lifted her chin. “It’s true. And, yes, eventually you’ll all have to know because things will deteriorate with her health and I might have to miss work and might have to adjust deadlines. But that’s all the more reason for me to get things in place and going well before that happens.”
“Things in place,” he repeated. His voice was low and almost angry sounding. “At work, you mean.”
“Yes. This new product launch and everything,” she said. “And, of course, there will always be more going on but I’m hoping that we’ll be past all of this newness and we’ll be working well together and you’ll all know what I can do and will be able to trust that I can handle my part even if I’m away from the office more at times.”
Cam’s eyes glittered and he looked a little angry now. “That’s what you’re thinking about when you’re working late? How to get ahead now for the eventuality of when your grandma gets sicker and you need to be gone? So we trust that you can handle things and, what, don’t fire you while you’re taking care of your grandma?”
“Yes.”
“Jesus, Whit.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “You think we’re that big of assholes?”
She swallowed. “Of course not. But it’s only fair that I plan ahead.” She could feel the tension coming off of him. He seemed… not angry, actually. Annoyed. And frustrated. That seemed more accurate.
“And for now,” she went on. “I would really appreciate if you could keep my family’s personal business personal. You came into this situation because you and Didi got together and she got a wild hair. You weren’t really invited. Not by anyone who knows every piece of this. But you’re here now. Because Didi wants you to be. But that doesn’t give you permission to bring a bunch of other people into it.”
She saw that he’d noticed her emphasis on Didi when she’d said who wanted him here. His eyes narrowed again. “And you think my family is a bunch of assholes too.”
She sighed. “Cam…” She shook her head. “I don’t know your family. I know what my family felt about your family. I’ve had it ingrained that your family doesn’t like us and wants us to fail.”
“You know me. You fell in love with me.”
She flinched as he put that out there so bluntly.
“You think assholes would have raised a guy you could fall in love with?”
He was closer again. How did he keep doing that without her noticing him moving?
Then she realized that it was her who had moved. Closer to him. Into his personal space. Close enough to feel his heat. To see the gold flakes in his green eyes. To feel his warm breath on her cheek. And lips.
But he didn’t move back.
“You think that you could fall in love with a guy who had friends who were assholes who would blab all over town about your grandma’s situation?” he asked.
But his voice was softer now. Huskier. And his eyes dropped to her lips.
“I think that this is complicated and it’s temporary. Can’t you just keep this between us for a few weeks?”
“No.”
He didn’t even hesitate. He didn’t even think about it for a second. He didn’t even pretend to consider what she said.
She frowned. “No? Just no?”
“No. Your grandma has had several great days. My family and friends have enjoyed having her around. I’ve had a good time. There’s no reason to not have other people involved, Whit. They can make things better.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” she exclaimed. “You’ve been here for a few days! Maybe they’ve been particularly good days but it’s still new. Tomorrow might be bad. Eventually it will be bad. You can’t bring all these people in.”
“Whitney.”
“People who don’t know her,” she went on without pause. “People who don’t know about her condition. They won’t know how to handle things if they go bad.”
“Whit—”
But she was on a roll. “What if she gets confused or scared? What if she gets angry? What if she can’t figure out why she’s suddenly surrounded by people she’s always believed hated her? What if—”
Suddenly Cam took her chin between his thumb and first finger and brought her mouth to his, cutting off her words. And her air supply. And every thought other than Cam’s kissing me.
She had no idea what she’d been saying. She vaguely recalled her heart beating hard a few seconds ago, but it was drumming against her rib cage now and the reason for that completely consumed her.
Cam was kissing her.
For about two seconds his lips had simply pressed against hers, as if to only stop hers from moving. But then he moved. Both his body—up against hers, his other hand going to her lower back and pressing her close—and his mouth, tipping slightly to make the contact more complete, and opening.
His mouth was hot and insistent. The hand that had held her chin, slid along her jaw and into her hair, cupping the back of her head. He tipped her head too, taking the kiss even deeper.
His tongue stroked over her bottom lip and she went on tiptoe to get closer to all of that while opening her mouth. He groaned, the hand on her lower back gripping her silky shirt now. The silky red shirt she’d paired with the dark gray skirt that he surely hated since it was one of her work skirts.
She gripped the front of his shirt similarly, pulling him closer or using it to pull herself closer to him—she wasn’t sure. It didn’t matter. She was as against him as she could get with the height difference and
