“No right?” he asked incredulously. “May I remind you, you were the one who snuck out of a window.”
“And whose fault was that?” she shot back. “Roy, can we go now? I need to get my keys from Gabriel.”
“I have your keys,” he said, fishing them out of his pocket and dangling them in front of her. “Now get away from this penis extension vehicle so we can go inside and have a civilized conversation.”
Roy’s face turned red. “Who do you think you are, you asshole!”
Cam stretched up to full height, which was about half a foot taller than Roy, then crossed his arms over his chest. “Want to try me?”
“For fuck’s sake, put your dicks away.” J.D. slapped a hand on her forehead. With a long sigh, she turned to Roy. “Listen, Roy, thanks so much, but I can take it from here.”
“But he’s—”
“It’s all right,” she assured him. “He has my keys, and I can get into my house.” She didn’t want to talk to Cam, but it was much easier to get her keys from him than to have to go all the way to Gabriel’s. He would ask her questions, and Damon would get involved, and the whole thing would be a big fucking mess. “Sorry to have bothered you.”
“Not a bother at all.” He glared at Cam, who sent him a seething look. “Bye, J.D..” Hopping into his truck, he sped away with a final deafening roar of his engine.
“Wanker,” Cam spat. “What the hell was he doing here?”
She folded her arms over her chest. “I thought you didn’t get jealous?” When he didn’t answer, she rolled her eyes. “Just give me my keys.”
“Not until you sit down and talk to me.”
“I don’t want to talk to a liar like you. Now, give. Me. My. Keys.”
“I wasn’t lying,” he pointed out. “I thought you said I can fill in the details later? And not to ‘sweat the small stuff’?”
“Those were very big details to leave out!” she screamed back.
“Fine.” He grabbed her hand and put the keys in her palm. “Here. Take them. But I’m not the only one lying here.”
“What?” she snarled at him. “I have never lied to you, Dr. Duke Cameron Aleksandr, whatever your name is!”
“Oh yeah?” His blue-violet eyes blazed. “What about when you told me that nothing I could say could make you not want me?”
The true, genuine hurt in his eyes made her heart clench.
Oh God.
He was right.
She had promised him. Remembering the anxiety in his eyes, she recalled how much courage it took to even open up to her, a virtual stranger at that point. But he did it because he wanted to be with her.
I can’t quite imagine my life without you.
She blinked as the air rushed back into her lungs. “Cam!”
He was already climbing into his vehicle. “Wait!” She dashed after him, tugging at the back of his jacket, forcing him to turn around. “Cam, you’re right, please, I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have—”
Arms wrapped around her as his mouth captured hers in a hot, soulful kiss. It took her a second, but she responded back, pouring every emotion she had into kissing him back, arching her body into his in a desperate attempt to get as close to him as possible.
“J.D.,” he breathed against her mouth. “I tried to tell you. I was going to. But I was swept away. This week … it’s been the best of my life.”
“Me too,” she confessed. “And I’m sorry, too, for walking out like that. For not hearing you out. I was just so stunned and … and jealous.”
“Jealous?”
“Yeah. Of … her.” She winced. But even now, the ugly green monster inside of her was rearing its head inside her. “That you and her—”
“Oh, dear God. J.D., love, no.” He kissed her again. “That’s in the past. And even then, I wasn’t really …” He took a deep breath. “Can we go inside, please? And talk? I promise I’ll tell you everything. It might take a while, but I promise you’ll know everything.”
“All right,” she said. “Let’s go inside.” She was about to escort him to the front door but remembered the graffiti there. Not wanting to deal with that yet or explain it, she tugged him toward the back door instead. “On second thought, we should go to the kitchen. I’ll make coffee.”
“Here you go.” J.D. handed Cam a mug of fresh, hot coffee, then sat beside him at her kitchen table.