Page 68 of Eden's Comfort Kitchen
Cam winced. ‘I asked for that.’ He reached for his coffee, taking a moment to consider his response. ‘All right, I suppose I did. But then I kept going because I was enjoying myself and I didn’t want to go back to my hotel alone. I wanted everyone to stay, so I kept buying the drinks.’ He put down his cup and looked up at her. ‘Is that so bad? And I’m sorry but there’s more. Maybe I didn’t want to keep everyone at the pub. Maybe I wanted to keep some people there more than others.’
Suddenly, she was adrift. He held her fast in his gaze. She’d sobered, she felt sure of it, so if that were true, why did she suddenly have the maddest urge to kiss him? Surely that was alcohol thinking for her? She couldn’t…
It all happened so fast, afterwards she couldn’t truly say who had moved first. But in the next instant they were kissing. Her hands were all over him, full of fire and need, and he responded in a way that left her feeling she’d never been kissed properly before, as if all the men in her past had been practice, and she’d been built to kiss him and him alone.
He was breathless as he pulled away. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know what?—’
Eden tugged at his shirt, his sudden humility and doubt only causing her to ache for him in a way that might see her lose her mind. She pressed her lips to his again, volcanic and urgent, and knew what she wanted. He wanted it too – every response in his body told her so.
‘Upstairs,’ she murmured. ‘Now.’
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
What was that weight across her chest? Something warm, something…Eden ran a hand along the arm. She opened her eyes, instantly awake, and then groaned as the previous night came back to her in sharp and mortifying detail. What the hell had she been thinking?
Cam slept peacefully beside her. She’d never seen him look like that before. Breathing steadily, the glow from the sun outside the curtains lighting his face, he looked younger, somehow almost vulnerable. She was so used to seeing the alpha side of him, the confident, swaggering career man, that it came as something of a shock.
But then she recalled how he’d been in bed. For a while, that man had been there, but as they’d become more intimate, he’d become gentler, considerate and…Eden might almost have called it loving. But they didn’t love each other. She still wasn’t sure she even liked him, despite the fact they were currently in bed together. But the night had been amazing. Whatever else she felt, she couldn’t deny there had been some deep connection that had been so much more than sex. Had she imagined that? Perhaps. She’d been drunk, after all. Sort of. When she really thought about it, could she honestly say she’d been drunkenough to blame what she’d instigated on the alcohol? Hadn’t she already wanted it, way before the first glass in the Dolphin? On some level she knew that to be true too, and she couldn’t quite decide whether the fact angered her or scared her. This wasn’t supposed to happen, and now that it had, things were about to get a whole lot more complicated.
He stirred and smiled in his sleep, and something stirred in Eden. She frowned.
Absolutely not. We’re not doing that again, ever,no matter how sexy he looks.
Moving his arm, she tried to get out of bed without waking him, not really sure if she ought to anyway. He couldn’t stay there; she had to get him out of the house as soon as she could.
Despite her efforts, he opened his eyes this time, and as he focused on her, he began to smile.
‘Good morning.’
‘Good morning. I’m just going to make coffee – want one?’
‘I seem to recall it was you making coffee that got us here. What was that you said about not getting ideas?’
‘I’ll take that as a yes. Come downstairs when you’re ready.’
‘You’re not bringing them back up here?’
‘I thought you’d want to get up. Don’t you have work today?’
‘At some point, yes, but there’s no rush. Bring them back to bed; we could talk.’
‘We can talk in the kitchen.’
‘But it’s nicer here. Warmer, more comfortable.’ He reached out to pull her back, but she swiped her hand out of his way and grabbed the dressing gown from a hook on the back of the bedroom door.
‘I’m sure, but neither of us will get much done today if we spend it in bed.’
He looked faintly disappointed but said nothing else.
Eden left him and headed down to the kitchen, but the image of him lying in bed looking so damn seductive wouldn’t leave her. Truthfully, she wanted to climb back in bed with him as much as he wanted it. Talk about muddying the waters. She’d just about stirred up the whole ocean bed with her little lapse.
Down in the kitchen, her phone lay on the table where she’d left it the night before. She noted a couple of unread text messages that must have come in overnight or this morning. One from Ralph asking about an extra shift and one from Livia wanting to know if she’d got home OK. Eden couldn’t help a wry smile. Livia didn’t really want to know if Eden had got home OK; more likely she was hoping to find out what had happened during the walk back with Cam. Eden was quite sure she’d never have guessed exactly what had happened, because she could hardly believe that herself, but she might assume that some discussion of the community kitchen would have taken place, and she perhaps hoped to hear that Eden had made some headway. She was typing a brief reply when Cam came into the kitchen.
‘Oh.’ Eden looked up from her phone. ‘I didn’t think you’d be down so quick.’
‘I thought I’d better do as I was told. Seemed like you meant business.’
‘Do you want some breakfast? I don’t have loads in, but I’m sure I can offer you something before you leave.’
