Page 17 of Pomegranate Kiss

“Good for you,” Cam said, nodding as she offered a polite smile. She’d stopped paying attention the moment he opened his mouth. She knew why she bothered. After the phone call with her mom, she hoped and prayed if she went on a date that she’d feel a candle’s worth of the flames that devoured her whole every time she was around Lex. However, Cam couldn’t sacrifice herfamily and security for a temporary thrill when Lex proclaimed far and wide her anti-commitment stance.

She should’ve texted Danny beforehand and set up some escape route, because this date had been a bad idea from the beginning. She was a walking contradiction, yet every time she considered taking the step, her mother’s words clanged around in her head.

“It’s allowed me to live in one of the nicer sections of the city. My condo’s got a gorgeous view if you’d ever like to come over and check it out.” He appraised her with heated eyes, his look edging on a leer.

Cam resisted the temptation to gag and took another sip from her dwindling martini. “Is your family from the area?” she asked, desperate to switch the focus. Part of her thought going home with him would be a good idea. Wash away the memories of Lex, quit this experiment between them, and remind herself she was straight. That part of her spoke with her mother’s voice.

“We’re originally from Louisiana,” he started. A shadow fell over their table.

Oh, shit.

“Cam, fancy running into you here.”

Lex stood in front of their table, looking gorgeous as hell in a loose maroon top and skinny black jeans highlighting her slender, but muscular figure. Cam’s heart had been dead-on-arrival to this date, but the sight of Alexis Dukas got it thumping hard again. Guilt twisted in her chest like she’d been caught cheating, even though neither of them made any promises beyond six months of fooling around.

A dangerous glint lingered in Lex’s eyes as she leaned forward, placing her hand on the table. She angled her body toward Cam, her lips pressed tight together even as she offered a fake as anything smile. “Here on a date? Who’s your friend?”

Cam nodded. Not like she could lie her way out of this one. She tried not to notice the flicker of hurt in Lex’s eyes that froze over. The look sliced her with razors and made the foolish part of her hope maybe she meant more than a goal or temporary thrill.

“This is Ted?” she said, wrinkling her nose as she glanced over to him.

His gaze darkened. “My name’s Brian. Who’s this?”

Lex slipped into the seat beside Cam, and in a blink, her arm looped around her shoulder. “I’m her favorite person on the planet,” she drawled, baring her teeth in a feral grin. Relief shuddered through Cam at the safety of Lex’s arms, and she resisted the urge to sink against her.

“We’re sort of in the middle of a date,” Not-Ted said, leaning in like he might put up a fight. Even though the guy was one popped collar away from a bro, he wouldn’t stand a chance against Lex.

Lex nodded and picked up Cam’s martini to steal the last sip. She wrinkled her nose. “Who the hell drinks martinis besides James Bond?”

Cam rolled her eyes. “Why’d you drink it if you don’t like it?”

“Wishful thinking it’d be something else,” Lex said with a shrug. She fixed her gaze on Not-Ted. “How’s the date going? Did you know this girl is a talented cook AND an artist? Total catch, and she’s already smoking hot.”

Cam’s brows drew together, and she pursed her lips. Whatever Lex was doing, the guy wasn’t digging it. Maybe the way Lex’s grip tightened around her irritated him, or he didn’t like the possessive curl of her voice that made Cam shiver.

Lex leaned in, lifting her hand for a stage whisper. “She’s a screamer too.”

Of course. Cam flicked Lex in the side.

Her date blanched, his gaze darkening as he glanced between them. “Whatever, I’m out.” He pushed up from the table andpulled some crisp bills from his wallet. “This should cover my drinks.”

Brian stepped away from the table, and Cam rounded on Lex. “You’re ridiculous. You can’t just barge in on my dates and scare them off.”

“He wouldn’t have lasted,” Lex said, not budging an inch as she crowded her space. Instead, Lex spread her legs wider. “Come on, the dude seemed nervous the moment I brought up anything personal, and I’m not going to disappear from your life once our expiration date hits. You had the misfortune of becoming one of my friends.”

“Right, but as one of my friends, if I do happen to find someone who works for me and wants the whole settling down package, you’re not going to burst in and tell them I’m a screamer.” Cam fixed her with a granite look. She wouldn’t budge on this.

Lex shot her a look and leaned into her. “Fine. You meet the Mr. Cleaver of your hetero dreams and I’ll keep my lips zipped. Though, it’s a damn shame, because you make one hot-as-sin lesbian.”

Cam’s features tightened at the label. She couldn’t help it. The comment hit her like she’d been slapped, and her mother’s ugly words resurrected from their shallow tomb.

“I’m not,” she insisted, knowing how hollow her words sounded. Around Lex, she settled into her own skin at last, not the uniforms she’d been slipping into from an early age. “I can’t be.”

Lex’s eyebrows drew together, and she reached up to brush her thumb over the crease in Cam’s brow. The tender gesture made her melt like butter.

“Hey, I didn’t mean anything by that. If that’s not something you’re ready to come to terms with, I’ll back off. This has always been your choice, on your terms.” She traced circles on the tablewith her finger. “I remember when I came out in high school, I thought my parents were going to have a heart attack. I had been agonizing for a full year over it, trying to keep it secret from my siblings and failing hard. The anxiety was crushing me, so I wrote out a whole letter to read to them. Ended up tossing it in the trash and told them they could either take me as I am, or I’d leave.”

“How’d they respond?” Cam asked, unable to help herself. Her heart stuttered at this shade of vulnerability from Lex, the way she opened windows around her that remained closed for everyone else.

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