When Cam’s audience shifted to the makeshift dance floor, she made her way over to him, watching as he worked up a pitcher of margaritas while singing along with whatever alt rock song Nick and the band were playing. “You seem like a natural,” she said
“At making drinks? I am pretty good, I have to admit.”
“Also at the people thing.” Her eyes slid meaningfully to the women, some of whom were still watching him with hungry eyes. “They’re falling at your feet.”
Over the blender, his green eyes met hers and she felt a little zing. “All of them?” he murmured.
“Well, I’m still standing.”
He let out a small smile. “Ouch.”
“Oh, it’s not you. I’m taking a little break from…falling.”
He poured the margarita mix into salted glasses and handed her one, watching her closely. “Because…?”
She shook her head at the drink. “No, thanks, I’m a lightweight. And to answer your question, I’m taking a break because the last guy I dated turned out to be married.”
At that, he winced. “Yeah, we’re pretty much all ass**les.”
“Not all.”
“All,” he said firmly.
“We’ll have to agree to disagree there,” she murmured, trying not to be mesmerized by those eyes of his, the eyes that seemed to see a hell of a lot more than she wanted him to. “But just because I’m not good at the whole dating thing doesn’t mean I’ve given up entirely. I’ll get back to it.”
“No one’s good at it.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” She smiled. “I have a feeling you are.”
“Not me. I gave all that up.” He shifted away to hand out the margaritas and she figured that was it, the extent of their conversation; but when his tray was empty, he came back, smiling at her as he once again moved behind the bar.
And she had to ask. “You gave up sex?”
His mouth curved wryly. “Not on purpose. But as it turns out, it’s been a long dry spell.”
“Miss it?”“Now that you mention it.” Shoving his shirtsleeves up to his elbows, he leaned on the bar, shifting close, shooting her a look of pure wicked trouble that shouldn’t have revved her engines but did. “Why? Are you offering to get me back on the bike?”
Something inside her quivered, but she hadn’t been born yesterday. She tore her gaze off his, but that meant soaking in his chest or his forearms, which were ripped with tough strength. His hands were as rugged as the rest of him, big and calloused and scarred. “Does that ever actually work for you?” she murmured. “That line?”
He chuckled softly. “Not in a damn long time, I can tell you that.”
Stone made his way behind the bar and looked at his brother. “You working your magic here?”
“Not with this one.” Cam’s gaze was still locked on Katie. “She’s immune to the Wilder charm.”
“Smart woman.”
Smart to steer clear? Was she really? Or, as she looked at the two brothers with their matching mischievous smiles, matching stun-the-brain good looks, was she being very, very shortsighted?
Several nights later, Annie dragged Katie out to Juniper Lake for ice-skating and a bonfire. It was a full moon, and the sharp, black outlines of the majestic peaks surrounding them in a full circle were enough to render Katie awestruck as they drove out on the narrow, curvy, almost nonexistent road. The high moon shined over the frozen alpine lake, but the best scenery was Nick, Stone, and Cam, skating as if they’d been born to it. “Look at them.”
“Yeah, they’ve been playing hockey for years,” Annie said, mistaking her excitement for dismay over their skills. “Don’t mind them.”
Nick flew past them so fast he was nothing but a blur, and for a moment, Annie stared after him with a look of such naked longing it hurt Katie’s heart.
Giving the chef a moment, Katie got her borrowed skates on and tested herself on the ice, eyeing Cam speeding around the lake.
Did he look good doing everything?
She thought maybe he did, then let her mind wander to what else he might look good doing-like her. Unbidden came the picture in her mind of him doing just that, stripping her naked one article of clothing at a time, smiling that wicked, naughty bad-boy smile as he worked his way down her body with his tongue-
And just like that, her feet flew out from beneath her, and with a teeth-chattering thunk, she hit the ice on her most padded spot-her ass-which didn’t make it hurt less.
Cam stopped on a dime with an ease that made her want to knock him on his ass, fine as it was. “Don’t say it,” she warned, pointing a finger at him. “Don’t say anything except how the hell do I skate like you?”
He flashed a smile and pulled her to her feet, and when said feet would have fallen out from beneath her again, he held her upright.
She’d just been picturing his hands all over her naked body and here he was, touching her. It had her brain’s wiring all crossed, and her ni**les went hard.
Bad ni**les.
With great concentration, she shoved the sensual images aside, because over the past week since his return, she’d begun to get to know him, and one of the things she knew was that he tended to be a hands-off kind of guy. Stone and Nick were forever shoving each other, and Annie as well. But they were also just as likely to hug, or even just casually touch.