Page 4 of Camden

I flinched as a hand touched my shoulder before the chair beside me slid back. Camden, Mason’s best friend and best man, sat down next to me. I laced my hands together in my lap, attempting to hide my reaction, but Camden was more perceptive than most.

Thick brown brows creased in concern. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said and shot me a smile, making my stomach flutter.Damn butterflies.I tamped them down.

I waved him off as though his closeness didn’t throw me off kilter. “It’s fine. I’m jumpy by nature.” That was a lie. I didn’t used to be jumpy. Now, any innocent touch could set me off.

I hated it.

And it was just one more thing I was working on.

He eyed me, and I knew he didn’t fully believe it, but he didn’t push. Instead, he held his hand out. “Would you like to dance?” His hand stayed suspended mid-air between us, waiting patiently for me to decide instead of forcing me like Jax used to.

Don’t think about him, Steph.

I gave him a small smile. “I was actually getting ready to leave.”

His lower lip pouted slightly. A move that would look ridiculous on any other man. “You promised to save me a dance.”

“When did I promise that?”

“At the engagement party. When you turned down my offer to dance, then.”

I cocked a brow. “I believe I said maybe at the wedding.”

“I also asked you to save me a dance last night at the rehearsal.”

“You did.” I didn’t agree, but I didn’t point that out.

He moved his outstretched hand to the back of my chair and leaned into my space. I took a deep breath, holding my ground. His intoxicating scent had me wanting to melt into him. My cheeks warmed as Cam smirked at me, his gorgeous blue eyes roaming over every inch of my face. “I reminded you earlier when I walked you down the aisle.”

“When we’d already reached the end of the aisle.”

“You didn’t say no,” he said.

I huffed out a laugh. “I didn’t say yes, either.”

“Technicality. Don’t make me beg.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “That might be something I would like to see.”

Pushing the chair back, Cam placed one knee on the ground as if he were proposing. The blood rushed to my face from the attention we were gaining from other guests. The thing about Cam was that he always had someone watching him.

He wasthatperson.

The one who oozed self-confidence and commanded attention when he entered a room but never asked for it. It wasn’t his fault women threw themselves at him. I’d heard the rumors of the reformed playboy that slept his way through his younger years, never committing to one woman.

The exact opposite of what I needed or wanted.

The small-town grapevine insisted that since his sister, Stacey, was diagnosed with breast cancer, he’d stopped hooking up and focused all his energy on helping her. Which, of course, highlighted the fact he was a dedicated family man. Something woman around here ate up. All my single nurse friends have made it clear they would date him in a heartbeat if he gave them even the slightest inclination that he was interested.

They were all sorely disappointed when he hadn’t gone back to his old playboy ways after Stacey was declared cancer free.

As far as I was concerned, Cam hadn’t changed. Granted, I didn’t know the man he was before. Getting to know him over the last few months, though, Camden didn’t seem like someone who slept around. He never picked anyone up at the bar when we went out. Instead, he kept me company when Rylie and Mason couldn’t help but get lost in their own world.

“Stephanie, will you please do me the honor of dancing with me?” He released a full-blown grin. I wrinkled my nose, shaking my head. The butterflies launched a full assault on my stomach. I swear, before Camden, I thought they’d all died a slow and painful death.

After all, I stopped getting them with Jax.

“Fine. Get up,” I relented. Mainly to stop people from staring.

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