hard not to stare as her nipples visibly hardened in the quiet kitchen.
The kitchen wasn't cold.
And neither was she. Under my gaze, her cheeks grew rosy and her lips parted. For a long moment, neither one of us spoke.
In the end, it was Cami who broke the silence, asking in a breathless voice, "That's your question? Seriously?"
My gaze held hers. "Sure, why not?"
As I watched, her tongue darted out between her lips and grazed her upper front teeth. When my eyes followed the motion, she gave a little gasp and clamped her lips shut, as if to rein in whatever she'd been thinking.
Shit.
Did she have any idea what she was doing to me?
I sure as hell hoped not.
I put on my best poker face and made a forwarding motion with my hand. "So go ahead. Tell me."
"Sorry, what?"
"Lunk-blaster, what does it mean?"
"Oh." She blew out a long, trembling breath. As she did, my gaze strayed once again to her lips, and I felt myself swallow. She had nice lips – full, pink, and natural, too.
In my world, this wasn't as common as you'd think.
In the back of my mind, I wondered how long it had been since I'd kissed someone whose lips hadn't been pumped full of whatever to make them look more appealing.
But Cami, she was appealing just the way she was.
I wanted to kiss her.
Fuck.
From the other side of the kitchen, she gave a shaky laugh. "It's just an insult, that's all."
"But what does it mean?"
"I can't say."
"Oh yeah? Why not?"
"Because it's not kid-friendly."
I made a show of eyeing our surroundings. "You see any kids around?"
"No." She turned and glanced in the general direction of the staircase before saying in a much lower voice, "But Willow still might be able to hear."
She was wrong. The house was huge. Even the staircase was a decent walk away. I told her, "We both know that's not true."
"That's what you think," she said. "But when I was a kid, I heard my parents talking all the time, even when they thought I was asleep."
"Oh yeah?" I felt my lips curve into a reluctant smile. "So you were a little eavesdropper, huh?"
"No." She cleared her throat. "Not really."
I wasn't so sure. "Is that so?"
"I just have really good hearing, that's all."
"Uh-huh."
"And maybe Willow has good hearing, too." She glanced around. "So maybe we should talk somewhere else."
I recalled our last conversation. "Well, there's always the back patio."
With a rueful laugh, Cami said, "Oh, sure, because I didn't freeze enough yesterday."
I frowned. "You were cold?"
"Yeah, weren't you?"
"No." And now I felt like a dick. "You should've said something."
She bit her lip. "Why?"
"Because I could've done something."
"Like what?" she said. "It's not like you control the weather."
"No. But I could've brought you inside. Or loaned you my jacket."
"Oh stop it," she said. "You wouldn’t do that."
She was wrong.
I would.
For Cami.
I stiffened. What the hell did that mean?
And now I was pissed – not at her, but at myself.
It wasn't just because I'd let her freeze. It was for the way I felt about it now, with a nearly primitive urge to protect her, not just from the cold, but from anything that threatened her comfort or safety.
Shit.
I was losing it – the calculated coolness that had served me well for most of my life. I needed to regain it, and fast.
When I spoke again, my voice came out several degrees colder. "Are you gonna answer the question or not?"
Her eyes narrowed, and the warmth in them cooled considerably. "Fine." She extended her arm and pointed to the nearby pantry. "In there."
I turned to look. "You're joking."
But already, Cami was stalking past me, heading toward the pantry door. She yanked it open and stomped into the glorified closet before turning once again to face me. "No. I’m not joking," she said. "So, are you coming or not?"
If this were anyone but Cami, I would've told her that we'd be talking where I damn well pleased. But her concern for my sister softened the edges, even as I said, "You want to talk in the closet?"
"It's a not a closet," she said. "It's a pantry."
"Which is a closet for food."
She gave me a stiff smile. "Excellent. If we get locked in, we won't starve."
Oh, man. The thought of being locked anywhere with Cami was a dangerous thing to consider. On the upside, the pantry had no lock, and Cami looked too annoyed to be interested in anything other than talking.
I might be a prick in every