Page 4 of When You Are Mine

Jenni scurried off without a word. Had he been rude? Kerris couldn’t tell. She wondered if charm like that wrapped around such a steely will left people feeling they should thank him when he stepped on their feet.

He watched her with the focus of a jaguar considering a particularly scrumptious prey. That look should have frightened her, but it wasn’t fear unfurling inside. She didn’t know this feeling, but she was certain she had never felt it before.

“Congratulations.” He slid his hands into his pockets and cocked his head to one side, his casual stance belying the barely checked energy of a hunter. “I don’t know which was more impressive. The award, or your good deed earlier taking the old lady home.”

Kerris’s jaw nearly gave in to gravity and dropped.

“How did you…when did you…huh?”

Wow. Stellar articulation. She gave her mental processes a second to catch up. Let’s try this again.

“How did you know about the lady?”

“I was in the parking lot across from the hotel, running late for the awards ceremony, and overheard.”

The room narrowed to the width of his smile, and Kerris felt herself leaning toward him, on the verge of toppling.

“Most people wouldn’t have helped her out.”

“She was a sweetheart. It was nothing.”

One hand went to her throat. The other touched the silk orchid nested behind her ear. A succession of twitches she couldn’t control. Butterfly wings brushed the lining of her belly. She willed the triple time tempo of her heart to slow, but he inundated her senses, and they would not be soothed.

Kerris watched him catalog every detail about her, his eyes surveying each limb and curve. Her fingers plucked at her thrift shop dress, a scarlet tunic with gold embroidery edging the sleeves and collar, stopping just above her knees. Under his scrutiny, her toes curled in the scarlet leather mules. She shifted her weight from one tanned leg to the other. And then back again, like an uneven scale, grappling for balance.

She returned his inspection, noting the dark green eyes under thick, well-shaped brows. The sculpted blade of a nose. The high cheekbones jutting to create hollows above his jaw. His tanned skin stretched taut over the regal bones of his face. He wore jeans, a green polo shirt, and leather moccasins, but he carried an air of careless glamour only money could achieve. He was a slumming prince, and the strong male beauty of him snagged the breath in her throat. The rest of the room dissolved into a peripheral blur.

She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to speak, or if it was his turn. She wanted to speak, make small talk, but speech and sense had fled. She was naturally reticent. Slow to share much about herself. Some might even call her shy. But somehow she knew this man could trample her defenses and dismantle her like a ticking bomb.

“So you two finally met.” A familiar male voice a few feet away snapped the invisible thread tugging her closer by the second.

Kerris looked over her shoulder, coming back to herself and finally absorbing something beyondhim. Cam walked up, making her smile. He made smiling an involuntary action, like blinking or sneezing. Something you just couldn’t hold back.

Cam slid an arm around her waist, leaning down to kiss her cheek. She forced herself to give him her full attention, willing Mr. Mountain to drift away.

“This is the guy I’ve been trying to get you to meet for the last year, but he’s been all over the globe saving orphans. This is my best friend in the world, Walsh Bennett.”

Oh. Freaking. No.

Kerris’s only consolation was that Walsh looked just as disconcerted before disciplining his features into a polite mask, as if that moment hadn’t happened. Maybe it had been her imagination. Feeling a wordless, mindless connection that strong with your boyfriend’s best friend would border on tragic.

“I was just congratulating Kerris on her award. My mom practically threatened to disown me if I didn’t.” Walsh split his glance between the two of them. “I had no idea Mom’s star scholar was the girl you’ve been raving about.”

Jo sidled up and slipped her arm through the crook of Walsh’s.

“I’m just glad someone made Cam work for it.”

“I finally found a girl worth working for.” Cam’s half-serious look rested on Kerris.

He placed a kiss on her unsuspecting lips, surprising her when his tongue made a quick foray into her mouth. She willed herself not to jerk away. Cam knew how difficult physical affection was for her in private, much less in a room full of people. Her discomfort deepened in front ofhim.

“I’m glad to finally have you both in the same state,” Cam said. “This summer’s gonna be great. The two people I love most in the world. Sorry, Jo. Make that three.”

“Whatever,” Jo said, her laugh good-natured. “Are we going to celebrate the scholar or what? The food at this reception looks delish.”

“Um, remember I kind of had a private celebration planned for Kerris and me.” Cam offered a sheepish grin, squeezing Kerris’s hand.

“What’d you have in mind?” Kerris found a smile she hoped passed for normal.

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