Color swept his cheeks—one of those adorable blushes—and he blinked before shaking himself out of it, lifting thebottle to his mouth. “I was ashamed to be affected, even a little, by someone I despised.God, I hated her. And the older I got, the worse she got. The demands, the lies, the innuendos. Until leaving was the only option. I couldn’t stay and make this—Promise—work. For Kit’s sake, if nothing else.”
Seconds ticked by, the wind striking the windowpanes the only sound. Until he whispered, “As it was, my father went to his grave believing the worst.”
The sympathy on her face must have been too much for her newfriendto accept.
So he reverted to the man he understood best.
Placing the wine bottle out of reach, Campbell leaned in to cradle Fontana’s face, pulling her close. His lids fluttered as his hand slid into her hair, his fingers quivering against her scalp, as if he’d been keeping himself from touching her. “I could kiss you and send the past right where it belongs, into the past. If you’ll let me, I’ll make it all go away. Fuck you until we see stars and not just through a glass ceiling.”
Fontana’s breath faltered. She should have said something, but words felt impossible with his fingers threading through her hair, his voice scraping over her skin.
“The way youlookat me…” His sigh whispered across her cheek. His eyes were gilded pools, the amber edges glowing, drawing her into a circle of fire, into his orbit. “If you knew how often I’ve thought of you. That night was awe-inspiring. The most extraordinary of my life.”
Fontana wanted to invite him in, take the easy road. The wildlypleasurableroad. Because it had been the most extraordinary night of her life, too.
But she wanted to help him more.
Which plunged them both into dangerous territory neither was ready to face.
Helpless, her finger found the hole in his jeans,slipping inside with a little wiggle. “Friend, not lover. Remember?” Although her touch said the opposite. She wasn’t that strong.
His lips brushed hers, lingering, then he groaned and rolled onto his back. “I remember.”
“There’s more. To this story.”
“Yeah, sure. Isn’t there always?” He threw an arm over his eyes, and she felt him slipping away. “How about we make a deal? You tell me who hurt you, I’ll tell you why I don’t photograph people.”
She traced the scar on his finger, a remnant from the famousbaseball incident, refusing to bite. Campbell pushed people away with ugly statements. She knew that now. But she didn’t dislike him nearly enough to be ugly back. “Not now, Atlanta. But someday, I will.”
He lifted his elbow just enough to see her. His white-hot gaze melted her courage, and she drew her hand back. “Good idea. Because I can’t handle you touching me right now.”
His arm dropped, shading his eyes. “By the way, I called Kit once a week, sent anything he needed. Never missed Christmas, a birthday. No matter where I was, the kid knew I loved him. Or I thought he did. But I messed up somehow. He needed more than fucking phone calls and a brother trying to make peace.”
Her breath left her in a rush. “I didn’t know.”
He grunted, nothing more to share.
Fontana rolled onto her back beside him, not touching, as he’d asked. Despite their night together, she didn’t know Campbell True at all. And he didn’t know her.
But she knewherself.
A complicated woman who liked to fix things falling for a complicated guy who needing fixing.
chapter
fifteen
Slide–Goo Goo Dolls
CAMPBELL
Campbell hadn’t seenher in five days.
Not a glimpse since Fontana dropped him off at the Rise the night of his birthday, where he’d stood for almost a half-hour after watching her taillights disappear into the darkness, a powerful yearning twisting his belly into knots.
What he would have paid to make love to her in her Jeep’s cramped back seat. Like something from high school, but yeah,so what?
More fantasies to add to the collection, which only ramped up his masturbation schedule.
