Where We Meet Again, стр. 20
“Make it a whole.”
I open my mouth to interject again, when Law shocks the shit out of me by handing over his credit card.
“Law!”
“Shut it, Cami. The less you argue, the quicker you can get home.”
Damn him! A headache throbs behind my eyes.
I turn to the display case and busy my mind with reading all the nameplates in front of the various salads. I read through: No-Bake Baked Potato Salad, Buffalo Chicken Salad, Three Cucumber Salad, Broccoli Cheese Salad, Deli Antipasto Toss, and Cranberry Pistachio Cloud before he touches my shoulder and informs me it’s time to leave as if I’m a child.
“I can carry my things,” I say halfheartedly. At this point, he isn’t even listening, and frustration fills my veins.
We step together into the November chill. I fold my coat tighter around my body and hold out my hand for my bags. “Thanks. I’ve got it from here.”
“Where’s your car?”
“Lawrence, I got it.”
“I didn’t ask if you got it. I asked where’s your car.”
“Please. I just want to get home.”
“Cami, where’s your damn car?”
Fighting the urge to stomp my foot, or let out some shrieking battle cry, I jam my hand into my pocket, whip out my keys, and squeeze the button on my key fob until the lights blink repeatedly. “There you go.”
He snorts obnoxiously, wraps his enormous hand around my elbow, and tows me toward my car. “Difficult… dramatic… Not much has changed with you, has it?”
I jerk my arm back out of his grasp. “Thanks for the insult.”
“Is it?”
I glance at him from the corner of my eye. We reach my car, and I unlock the trunk with the fob. “It is if you’re implying I’m childish.”
“No, not childish. Stubborn, definitely.”
“Thanks,” I huff.
He sets both bags inside and slams it closed.
I force a deep breath. I want him to hear my sincerity with what I said next. “Thank you. Truly. For helping me in there. It could have been a catastrophe, and I would have been even later getting this home to my daughter. I really appreciate the help.”
We lock eyes, and I feel like I convey my message. Until he cracks a smile and throws his head back to stretch his neck. “And there’s the drama.”
“What drama? I’m being serious.”
He rolls his head back into place. “I know. Which is why it’s funny that you used the word catastrophe to describe a shopping cart falling apart. Seriously, Cami.”
I purse my lips to keep from smiling. “Oh, shut up. I need to get home.”
“Yeah, I do too.” His face falls to seriousness, and he sinks his teeth into his bottom lip. The movement reveals the long dimples on either side of his mouth. My stomach flips at the sight. He hasn’t fully smiled in my presence, and I’d forgotten all about them.
My gaze moves from the dimples to his mouth. “So, I guess this is it then? You’re going back home?”
“Shit,” he curses, and my eyes snap to his.
One second we’re staring at each other, and the next, his big body cages me in. His arms come down on either side of me, and he rests his palms against the lid of my trunk. I bow my back to permit some space, but Law has none of it. His broad chest presses against my breasts, and one of his hands leaves the trunk to wrap around my back.
“What are you doing?” I whisper shakily, unsure of what to do with my hands. I don’t want to lead him on, but not touching him feels so wrong. Touching him feels wrong, too, so I’m stuck with my hands suspended between us.
He closes his eyes and rests his forehead against mine. When he opens them, they seem to shine. “I live here now, Cami.”
“You do?”
He bites his lip again. “You’re going to hate me, anyway.”
My brow furrows. “Hate you for what?”
A war wages in his eyes. “For this.”
The hand behind my back tangles into my hair, and he uses it to tip my head to the side. My eyes open wide, but the second his lips touch mine, they drift closed as if I’ve fallen asleep. A new dream begins, one I know I won’t wake up from for the rest of my life. A dream where Law and I can somehow fix this chasm between us and find one another again.
There’s nothing slow or gentle about the way he devours my lips. He steals from me. He presses coaxingly against my lips until they submit to his, and then he prods with his tongue until I open for him. Kissing him now is nothing like I remembered, and fear grips me.
Can he taste my inexperience? Is the feel of his mouth on mine as potent to him as it is for me?
I no longer wonder what to do with my hands. They move on their own to slip inside his open coat. My fingers trail up his chest, causing a groan to rumble from his lips. I keep moving until I grip his shoulders and pull him tighter to me.
Something I did broke the spell, and he wrenches his mouth from mine, establishing space.
We pant heavily, creating white clouds between us. They float up above our heads, taking whatever magic we conjured with them. I remain speechless, but Law finds his voice immediately.
“We can’t see each other again.”
My head thuds against the trunk and a frown tugs my lips down.
“I live here now, so places like this? It’s unavoidable. But you said it right a few weeks ago. We’d be better off avoiding each other.”
“Then why the hell did you kiss me?”
He sniffs and gazes out at the horizon. “Because I wanted you to feel it.”
“Feel what?”
“Get home. Take care of your daughter.”
I push away from the car, back into his space. “Feel what?” I bite out.
“Nothing,” he growls back.