Page 71 of Be Mine Forever

“He does have feelings for me, yes.”

“And you? What do you feel for him?” Cam’s spine went ramrod straight, braced for her answer no matter what it was.

“We’ve been through this.”

“Tell me again.” He kissed the spot behind her ear that smelled like her shampoo and body wash and hope. “I need it.”

She peered at him through the long, curly length of her lashes.

“I like him as a friend. I do find him attractive. That’s not a crime, is it? To recognize that someone is attractive?”

“Maybe you shouldn’t talk about crime and Peter in the same sentence because I want to strangle him every time I catch him looking at you.”

He closed the inches between their mouths, sucking her full lips between his. His hands glided over her slender back, across the slight flare of her hips, and down to cup the luscious curves of her ass. She started a subtle thrust against him, and before he knew it, he was thrusting back. He shoved an urgent hand into the silky hair falling around her face. He pushed the robe off her shoulders, letting the lapels fall open until their hearts beat against each other through their skin.

The kitchen door opened behind them, and Cam jerked the robe back up around her shoulders, clenching the lapels together. Walsh and Unc filled the entryway. Jo looked over her shoulder, clutching Cam’s naked arm for support.

“Shit.” Jo mixed the curse with a husky laugh, seemingly undisturbed to be caught half naked in the kitchen by her father and cousin. “Hey, Daddy. Walsh.”

Jo was the only one with any composure, flipping around on Cam’s knee before standing to face them. Walsh’s and Unc’s mouths both hung open before they recovered.

“Hey, baby girl.” Unc walked over to them, raising his eyebrows at Cam, clad in just boxers in his kitchen. He leaned down and kissed Jo’s hair. “You’ve been a good girl, I hope.”

Jo looked back at Cam and quirked her lips.

“I think I was very good, Daddy.”

Shameless.

“What the hell is going on?” Walsh demanded, anger snapping his brows together. “Am I in the freaking Twilight Zone? Unc, is it every day you come home to your daughter straddling Cam in the kitchen?”

Unc walked over to the coffeepot and poured himself a cup. He looked at Walsh over the rim, sipping and taking his time responding.

“She’s a grown woman, Walsh, and Cam’s a grown man.”

“This is not okay.” Walsh turned turbulent eyes on Cam. “How could you do this? To Jo?”

Cam was just about to speak, not knowing what would come out of his mouth, when Jo turned on Walsh with hands on her hips.

Oh, hell. Here we go.

“How darehe?” Jo popped the words across the kitchen at Walsh like a rubber band. “How dareyoucome in here high and mighty and inserting yourself into a situation you know nothing about?”

“Oh, I don’t know?” Walsh folded his arms over his chest. “I think I do. I’ve seen this before more than once. It won’t end well, cuz. You know that.”

“What I know is that this is none of your damn business.” Jo narrowed her eyes at Walsh, gesturing toward Unc casually leaning against the counter and sipping his coffee. “If my own father is fine with my relationship—”

“Relationship?” Walsh cut his eyes between Cam and Jo before landing on Cam like a stack of bricks. “How long has this been going on? What the hell, Cam? This is Jo we’re talking about.”

Cam stood, ignoring Walsh’s eye roll and heavy sigh at the sight of him in only boxers.

“It’s not what you think.” Cam scratched at the back of his neck. Searching for words to reassure Walsh about something he barely trusted himself.

Jo turned her head, eyes welling with hurt. Her bravado cracked and her bottom lip trembled. Shit. Did she think he was going to deny her? He reached for her hand, pulling her against him and dropping a kiss on her hair, still damp from their shower.

“What I mean is that you probably think I’m going to just”—Cam glanced at Unc, uncomfortable with what he needed to say in front of Jo’s father but determined to put it all out there—“just hit it and quit it.”

“You must admit there’s a bit of a precedent.” Walsh relaxed his mouth, shaking his head and allowing his disappointment to press past the anger. “We’ve always protected her, both of us. I thought she was off-limits.”

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