Page 28 of Strong Coffee

“Sure.” I rolled onto my back, my body protesting at the movement. My muscles strained over my bones, clearly not used to being fucked the way I had.

Cam pulled away from me and slid off the bed. In all his naked glory, he left the bedroom.

When I was finally alone, I let out a slow breath. This thing with Cam was something I never knew I needed before meeting him.

Cam had a large four-poster bed. The furniture was a dark mahogany. It looked rich and powerful, much like the guy who had come barreling into my life after wanting a one-night stand that was never just one night.

Cam took that moment to come back into the bedroom. He crawled onto the bed and handed me a bottle of water.

“Tell me something about yourself that you haven’t told me yet,” Cam said gently, taking a sip of his water. “Did you grow up here?”

“I did.” I slid higher up the bed and leaned against the headboard. Pulling the covers up and over my lap, I let out another sigh.

His eyes caught mine then. “You good?”

“Yeah.” I gave him a small smile. “Relaxed.”

“Good.” He returned the smile. “Do you have any siblings?”

“No. It’s just me. My dad and mom had me young. He also came out as bi-sexual shortly after they found out my mom was pregnant with me,” I explained, repeating the story my dad liked to share with me often. “Like you and your ex-wife, my parents are close. But they never married. My mom also knew that my dad was attracted to men as well as women.”

“Are they still together?” Cam asked, turning toward me and giving me his full attention.

“No. They remained friends and my mom ended up marrying someone else. My dad isn’t seeing anyone as far as I know. He actually owns a local sports bar a few blocks from Coffee Beans & Love.”

“Really?” Something flashed in Cam’s gaze. “What’s the name of the bar?”

Before I could answer, Cam’s phone rang. He reached for it, frowning when he glanced at the screen. “I have to take this.” He slid from the bed, placing the phone up to his ear. “Why are you calling me so damn late?”

It wasn’t that late but clearly, Cam didn’t want to speak to whoever was on the phone.

He left the bedroom, grumbling to whoever was on the line. It didn’t take long for him to rejoin me, but something was off about him now.

“Everything okay?” I asked, patting the empty spot beside me.

“Just business shit. I think I’m starting to get in way over my head by owning more than one business. Mybusiness partner can get a little antsy and I keep telling him to trust me, but I think he likes being in control. He’s worse than I am.” Cam chuckled. “I love the guy, but he drives me nuts at times.”

“I have enough issues owning one business and I’m not even the sole owner of it.” When he moved to the spot beside me, I linked my fingers between his. “I don’t know how you do it.”

“I’m starting to wonder the same thing,” he mumbled.

“Tell me about your family.” I figured that would be a safe topic and get his mind off of whatever that phone call was about.

“My parents are retired and are backpacking across Europe at the moment. You would think they were in their twenties with the adventures they go on. I’ve always been in awe of them.”

“That sounds amazing. Do you have any siblings?”

“No. I was sort of a surprise.”

Our conversation went on like that for the rest of the night and well into the early morning of the following day. We fell asleep mid-conversation. I didn’t remember the last time I ever did that, if ever at all.

I learned that Cam enjoyed traveling and that he wanted to slow down when it came to work. He was turning thirty-five but with the stress of running several businesses, he felt like he was turning fifty. He knew he had to take a break but didn’t know how.

I also learned that he loved food. He wasn’t a great cook, but he tried to cook himself a meal at least once a week, instead of ordering takeout all of the time.

Listening to him speak, was something I could do for hours. Even though he had me take part in the conversation, I would be happy just listening to him instead.

When I left his place the following morning after he cooked us breakfast, we promised to meet up again in a few days. He had some business to take care of and I had to work anyway.But we promised each other to text as much as we could. He also told me that he wanted me to meet Beverly. I was shocked over that, and my face must have said it all because Cam laughed.

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