“I like her, too.”
“She already signed the lease anyway,” I finished, grabbing my duffle. This conversation was over.
“Hey,” Cam said when I would have brushed past him. His hand wrapped around my upper arm and towed me closer. “Don’t be mad. I’m just thinking about your safety.”
“And I appreciate it, but I’m fine.”
He reached out and slid the duffle strap off my shoulder and hefted it onto his. Then his hand moved off of my arm and slid around my back, pulling me closer so my body came directly up against him.
He dipped his head and captured my lips as his other arm wound around me, locking me in place. A low groan rumbled in the back of his throat as our lips collided over and over. I reached up, my hands sliding around his head and burying themselves in his hair at the base of his neck. I tugged at the strands, drawing him closer, and my tongue snaked out to mingle with his.
His hands didn’t stay at my back for very long. Instead, they cupped my butt, pressing me even closer, and I gasped when his solid arousal brushed against my belly. Lust, plain and simple, swamped me. If it had been an ocean, I surely would have drowned. It was like I was made just for him and he knew exactly how to illicit desires, cravings, needs from me that I was beginning to think I didn’t possess.
I delved my hands into the neck of his shirt, my fingernails raking over the smooth skin of his upper back. His shirt was in my way. I didn’t want it between us. I wanted to run my hands all over the body I couldn’t stop staring at this morning on the beach.
But he pulled away. “Fuck, Harlow. You’re so damn responsive. Every time I touch you, it’s like you melt in my palms.”
I totally did.
It was completely embarrassing.
Once again, Harlow acts like a nympho.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized, then paused. What did a girl say when she acted like a complete ho? I don’t get out much? Yeah, because that would be believable. Hell, at this point I was starting to think I lost my virginity along the way and just forgot.
Sex with Cam would be unforgettable.
Ahh, geez. There I go again.
Maybe I was a nympho.
“Don’t ever apologize,” he said, pulling me against him and kissing the top of my head. “I fucking love it. You make me feel like I have some kinda sex powers.”
I laughed.
“Are you laughing at me?” he growled.
“Only a guy would think he has sex powers.”
“You saying I don’t?” he asked slyly, reaching down and slipping his fingers up my dress and caressing my inner thighs.
My back arched and I sucked in a breath.
He chuckled. “Yep. I got powers.”
Then he released me and hitched my bag a little farther onto his shoulder. “C’mon, we’re going to be late.”
I called a good-bye to Roxie and we headed down to the curb. “No bike?” I said, a little disappointed.
“I didn’t think a helmet would feel too good over that knot on your head. Besides, you have a concussion. Traveling on a bike isn’t a good idea.”
“You act like I need to be on bed rest,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Would bed rest really be that bad?” he asked, giving me a heated stare.
My cheeks flushed.
He laughed.
“You’re quite the contradiction, babe. One minute you’re like a firecracker in my arms and the next minute, you’re blushing like a virgin.”
A nervous laugh slipped out as I reached for the door and slid into the passenger seat. He caught the door as I swung it closed. He looked at me with squinty eyes. I could see the debate raging inside his head… was she or wasn’t she?
I licked my lips nervously, not really sure what to say.
“Harlow,” he said, his voice strangely hoarse.
My eyes met his.
“Shit,” he swore. He knelt down between the door and my seat. “Are you a virgin?” he whispered.
“Yeah.”
He groaned… the kind of groan that implied pain. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“Because of this morning… in bed. I went too far. I just… the way you respond to me, I would have sworn you were experienced.”
My cheeks flamed. This wasn’t exactly the kind of conversation I wanted to have. But if I wasn’t mature enough to have this conversation with him, then I had no business being in his arms. And I wholly wanted to be in his arms.
“You didn’t go too far. I… wanted it, which you could tell.” I took a deep breath. “I’ve never felt like this, like that, with anyone before.”
“Yeah, well, I haven’t either. And I’m not a virgin.”
“Really?”
He rubbed a hand over his jaw. “No, that ship sailed a long time ago.”
I rolled my eyes. “I meant that you haven’t felt like this before either.”
He stood and shut the door between us but was able to lean over the side because the top was still down. Balancing on the top of the door, he leaned close, kissing me in a way that was meant to be brief but deepened the minute our lips moved.
“Yeah,” he said, pulling back and motioning between us. “This is new even for me.”
I tilted my head to the side. “So we’re kind of both virgins?”
“I wouldn’t go that far, babe.” He chuckled and kissed me on the tip of my nose. Then he went around and jumped into the car without opening his door.
Before backing out of the parking spot, he looked at me and half smiled. “A stripper who’s a virgin. That’s got to be a first.”
The wind carried away my laugh as we drove away.
10
The Mad Hatter was beyond packed. It was so busy that every table was full. There were two bachelor parties on both sides of the room, and it was standing room only around the stage.
It made me incredibly nervous.
“Is every weekend like this?” I asked Roxie as we dressed backstage.
“Pretty much.”
My stomach churned. I felt like I was going to be sick. How in the world was I going to convince a crowd this big that I was sexy without taking off my clothes?
The first three girls that just finished their routines stripped all the way down to nothing but thongs. Money practically rained down on them as they danced.
I wasn’t sure I could do that, even for raining money.
I missed my first two dances of the night because the bar was so packed that Adam told me to stay on the floor and serve drinks. I didn’t mind; in fact, I was relieved. I put on the black bustier, the stockings, and the heels and laughed and smiled with the best of them. I made pretty good tips and at least doing this, I felt a little less exposed.