Текст книги "Down London Road"

Автор книги: Samantha Young

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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 23 страниц)

I almost threw the fare at the taxi driver, then rushed into the building, my boots slapping carelessly against the concrete as I hurried up the stairs. I was just rounding the stairwell to Cam’s landing when I heard a door open. As I reached the top of the stairs, he came into view, standing barefoot in his doorway, waiting for me.

Overwhelmed that just the sight of him made my chest so full of emotion that it hurt, I stumbled a little towards him, my boots just clipping the doorstep.

Cam didn’t say anything. Every inch of him was solid with tension as he looked at me.

‘Cam –’

My words were swallowed by motion as his hand clamped around my wrist, wrenching me hard against his body, his mouth slamming down on mine. I instantly wrapped myself around him, and my fingers curled in the hair at the back of his neck as I licked and sucked and flicked my tongue against his, our kiss so deep I didn’t even realize I was inside his flat until the door crashed shut behind us.

Cam broke the kiss to pull back, his hands shoving my jacket off my shoulders. I let it drop to the floor, exhilarated in feeling – my breasts were swollen, my skin burned, and I was surprised once more to realize I was already wet for him from just a kiss and anticipation. ‘Cam …’ I whispered urgently, needing some part of me touching him at all times. I slid my hand up under the bottom of his tee, feeling silken, hard, hot skin against my palm. ‘I broke up with him.’

He nodded, his hands on my waist as he yanked me to him, my breasts brushing his chest deliciously. I shivered and Cam smiled, fully aware of the power he had over me. In reaction to his cockiness, my hand glided back down his six-pack and out from under his shirt and didn’t stop its descent. He sucked in his breath as I rubbed him through his jeans, watching the colour on his cheekbones rise. ‘I got that, baby,’ he said with a groan. ‘You wouldn’t be here otherwise.’

‘Are we really doing this?’ I whispered against his mouth.

His hands squeezed my waist, and I looked up into his eyes. They were almost navy with scorching heat. ‘We’re really doing this. No backing out.’ His lips skimmed my jaw until his mouth stopped at my ear. ‘I’m going to fuck you so hard, sink so deep inside of you, you’ll never work me out from under your skin. Never.’

Tingles exploded all over my body at his words.

I reached for his mouth. I loved the taste of him, the feel, the way he kissed, like I hoped he screwed. I sucked his tongue hard and he shuddered, his growl urging me on, until it descended into the wettest, dirtiest kiss I’d ever experienced.

My back slammed up against the wall as he crashed us into it. ‘I can’t wait,’ he told me breathlessly.

I shook my head, my chest heaving against his, telling him silently I couldn’t wait either.

I felt his warm, rough hands on my outer thighs as they brushed my skin, pushing my skirt up to my waist. With an almost animalistic grunt, Cam curled his hands around the fabric of my knickers and tugged, the sound of it tearing away from my body and the sudden air between my legs increasing the heat between us to a combustible level. He’d just ripped my underwear off! Holy hell!

That was seriously hot.

I thought I would feel exposed, uncomfortable, standing there with my skirt at my waist, the most private part of me on display for him. I felt neither.

All I felt was urgency.

Our lips collided, biting, nipping, licking, as we both reached for the closure on his jeans. He shoved them and his boxers down to his ankles, freeing his cock, and I watched as he took his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled a condom out of it. As he rolled it up his straining dick, I gasped. It was big, but I had had big before. That wasn’t what the gasp was for. The gasp was for the girth.

‘Oh, my,’ I breathed, feeling the trickle between my legs incite my already excited state.

‘Why, thank you.’ Cam flashed me a cocky grin that made me laugh – laughter that ended with a gasp as he gripped my legs, spread them, and thrust up into me.

‘Cam!’ I cried out in pleasured shock, his throbbing heat overwhelming me. Every feeling, thought, all my focus was on the sensation of his thickness inside me, and I struggled for breath as my body tried to adjust and relax. It was as if every nerve in my body was inflamed, and a minuscule shift between us sparked a tug of delicious tension I immediately sought more of.

Cam, however, held still against me, breathing heavily as though he was attempting to gain a little control. My body wasn’t for it. I wanted more and I wanted more now. I pushed my hips against him and his grip on my thighs became almost bruising. ‘Wait,’ he said hoarsely. ‘Give me a minute. I’ve wanted this for ages and you feel bloody amazing. Just give me a minute.’ As I heard this erotic confession, my inner muscles clamped around his cock and he inhaled sharply. His head drew back in surprise as his eyes collided with mine. ‘Baby, do that again and I’m not going to last.’

I shook my head, my fingers digging into the muscles of his back. ‘I don’t care. Just move, please just move. I need you.’

His control snapped.

As he hauled my legs up, my body took his lead and I wrapped my legs around him. Holding tight to him, I panted with excitement as he pounded us into the wall, thrusting into me hard, gliding in and out of my snug channel, the wet slap of flesh against flesh spurring us towards climax.

I felt his thumb press down on my clit and I blew apart, my cry of release triggering Cam’s. He threw his head back, his eyes on me, his muscles strained as he let out a guttural grunt, my sex pulsing around him as he shuddered inside me in climax.

He fell against me, his lips on my shoulder, his chest against mine, my arms still locked around him. He turned his head and kissed my neck. ‘Do you know how many times I’ve imagined these long, gorgeous legs wrapped around me as I fucked you?’

I shook my head, still not recovered enough to speak.

‘Every day. And none of the fantasies were as good as the real thing.’

I smiled softly at that as he raised his head to kiss me. He made to pull back, but I chased his mouth, my hands sliding up his back to his nape, holding him to me as I kissed him with an ardour that hopefully clued him in to the fact that I wasn’t nearly done. I leaned back and raised my eyes to his beautiful ones. Someone naughty and a little bit wicked had crept inside me. I wanted him again. And I wanted him just as raw and hard as I’d just had him. ‘Do you know how many times over the last few weeks I lay in my bed and touched myself thinking about you?’

His breath sputtered and I felt his dick twitch inside me. ‘Jesus,’ he breathed, his eyes dilating. ‘Keep talking and you’re not going be able to walk tomorrow.’

I grinned up at him, squeezing my inner muscles around him again. ‘That’s the plan.’

15

Cam pressed a soft kiss to my mouth before he leaned back and pulled out of me. The fever hadn’t quite left me, but I did feel the heated fog drift to the edges of my brain, allowing reality to settle in.

I’d dumped Malcolm tonight.

And then I’d had sex with Cam against his hallway wall.

Amazing sex.

Mind-blowing sex.

‘Going to be a difficult act to follow’ sex.

Cam-and-I-were-together-now sex.

The churning worry in my gut was overwhelmed for a moment by giddy butterflies. Weeks of daydreaming about him – and now it was no longer a fantasy. We were doing this.

All of a sudden I felt weirdly shy.

‘Keep thinking those thoughts, whatever they are.’ Cam grinned, reaching out to smooth my skirt down for me. His eyes remained trained on mine as he took off the used condom and pulled his jeans up. ‘Stay right there.’

Before I could reply, he wandered off down the hall, disappearing into the bathroom. I heard the flush and then he was sauntering back towards me with his jeans still unzipped, his eyes hot on me. ‘Is Cole staying at Jamie’s tonight?’

I nodded, my heart banging away in my chest.

When Cam drew to a stop before me, he held out his hand to me. ‘Good. You can stay the night, then.’

I’d never been turned on by a guy with tattoos, but as I drank in the sight of his arm, my eyes following the curling script of his BE CALEDONIA tattoo, I felt a rush of possessiveness over his ink – that one in particular. Somehow, it was mine too, and I wanted to follow every detail of it with my tongue, laying claim to it.

A flare of emotion blazed through my chest as he squeezed my hand, then led me to the back of the flat, to the master bedroom. I looked around as he walked us inside. I hadn’t been in his room before. I was entering his private domain.

There wasn’t much to see.

A king-sized bed with a pale blue duvet set, mostly bare walls except for a large framed print of two Stormtroopers getting into a DeLorean, a chest of drawers, a wardrobe, and a couple of bookshelves filled with books and DVDs. It was clean and tidy, just like the rest of his flat, I mused, trying to ignore my racing heartbeat. We’d just had sex, so the thought of having more sex shouldn’t have sent my pulse skyrocketing. But it did.

Cam let go of my hand as he reached the bed and he turned to face me. In one smooth movement, he pulled his T-shirt over his head and threw it on the floor.

I swear I started to drool at the sight of him half-naked.

Yes, I had been right when I fantasized about this moment. Cam was pure, lean, solid muscle. I followed the lines of his six-pack to the sexy cut of his hips, my cheeks blazing.

I had been waiting for him to drop his jeans and let me ogle the rest of him, but instead, he sat down on the edge of the bed and looked up at me. ‘So … what would you like to do with me?’

Um, that seemed like a silly question, no? Was my panting and drooling not an indication of what I’d like to do with him? ‘What?’

He shrugged casually, as though we were sitting down to tea and not getting ready to repeat the hall sex but this time on a bed. ‘If we’re doing this, you’re going to be straight with me. In every way – including in bed. I’m not some guy you’re trying to hold on to for dear life – accommodating him and forgetting about yourself and what you want. We’re in this together and I just took what I wanted. Now you take what you want. So what do you want?’

My first thought was to jump on him and ravish him. Everything he’d said was perfect and it took me a moment to remember that this was real. Had I finally found someone who actually gave a shit? Like … really gave a shit?

I tried to stop myself from getting carried away on a floating cloud with one oar called hope and the other called dreams, but it was difficult when he was being so bloody wonderful.

So, okay, I wasn’t some naive girl. I certainly knew Cam wasn’t a perfect man – he’d proved that when we first met – but I was beginning to wonder if he might possibly be just a little bit perfect for me. Finally, I’d found a guy who wanted to be with me – the real me. And not only that – he was actually encouraging me to be a bit self-indulgent.

What he’d asked caused me, to my bemusement, some embarrassment. I wasn’t a prude. I’d had plenty of sex with a few different men. However, none of them had ever asked me to talk about sex with them. No questions, no likes, no dislikes. Now Cam wanted me to communicate with him about sex, and I found myself grinning to cover my timidity. ‘You don’t seem like the kind of guy who lets a girl take the lead much.’

‘I’m not the kind of guy who lets the girl take the lead much. I’m not the kind of guy who talks this much either. But I need to make sure your head is in the right place. It’s too important. So as much as I want to strip you naked and bend you over my desk, tonight I’m leaving it up to you.’ His eyes darkened. ‘The desk can wait.’

I was unbelievably turned on by the thought of Cam taking me against his desk. Sounded orgasmic to me. I licked my lips, eyeing him as he waited patiently for me to decide what we’d be doing next.

As I drank in his half-nakedness, I tingled all over with anticipation.

He was right. The desk could wait.

‘Strip,’ I ordered quietly.

Cam stood up, his eyes never leaving mine as he pushed his jeans and boxers down his legs, his hard-on saluting me as he kicked himself free of his clothes. He stood before me completely unabashed by his nakedness, and I took a moment to sear the sight of him like this into my memory.

With shaking fingers I pulled off my own T-shirt, and pulled off my boots. My skirt followed them and lastly I unsnapped my bra, dropping it on to the pile of clothes at my feet.

I shivered as Cam slowly took me in, his dick throbbing, the colour heightened again in his cheeks. When his blue eyes met mine, I inhaled sharply at the raw need in them.

‘You’re stunning,’ he whispered hoarsely. ‘No man can possibly deserve you.’

Holy …

Wow.

My stomach actually somersaulted.

‘Cam,’ I whispered back. The sheer emotion provoked by his beautiful words clogged my throat. It seemed that Cameron MacCabe was a bit of a romantic. I shook my head, not knowing how to respond to this side of him. Instead, I gestured to the bed. ‘Lie down on your back.’

I noticed a muscle tic in his jaw at my order and had to curb my smug smile. No, Cam was definitely not used to letting the woman take the lead. Since I had a feeling that this was going to be a rare gift from him, I decided to take full advantage. I waited, my eyebrows raised expectantly, and Cam responded by lying back on the bed.

His hard-on didn’t diminish under my command, though, straining and awaiting my attention. He stared at me, his hands crossed casually behind his head. Well? his eyes asked.

Ignoring the slight tremor in my hands and legs, I approached him slowly, my slender hips swaying from side to side, my perky breasts bouncing a little, and I kept the feminine satisfaction from my expression at the way his body tensed, all cocky relaxation coiling into anticipation.

I crawled up his legs, noting that his chest began rising and falling a little faster. My own breathing grew shallow as I stopped at his erection.

‘Jo …’ He groaned as my head dipped.

I didn’t dislike going down on a guy, but it had never been my favourite thing. I found, however, that I wanted to taste Cam. I wanted to own him in every way that I could.

I wanted him to burn with me.

His scorching hardness passed between my lips and I felt his thighs tense under my fingertips. My tongue trailed along a vein on the underside of his cock and his breathing stuttered before seeming to stop entirely as I began to suck, bobbing my head so my mouth slid excruciatingly slowly up and down his length.

‘Jesus,’ he growled through gritted teeth. ‘You keep that up – ahh – baby, I’ll come and this will all be over.’

Well, I didn’t want that.

After a little more teasing, I released him and gazed at him from under my lashes, taken aback by how much I’d enjoyed that, how much my own body had responded to it. Finding the anticipation a total aphrodisiac and wondering where foreplay had been all my life, I kissed the sexy cut of definition in his left hip, my lips tracing a path along his torso as I crawled up his body. Knees on either side of his hips, I shivered as I felt his cock against my inner thigh. I pressed my lips over his right nipple, my tongue flicking, my moan muffled against his body as I felt his rough hands cup my breasts, my own nipples pebbling, eager for his touch. When his thumbs brushed them, I shuddered, a sigh escaping from between my lips.

‘You’re sensitive,’ Cam murmured in satisfaction, squeezing my nipples between his fingers and thumbs. I barely had time to recover from the streaks of white-hot lightning that shot towards my groin before his right hand coasted down my stomach, heading between my legs.

As two fingers slid into my slick passage, my back arched, giving his left hand better access to my breast, and my hips surged against his right. I panted for breath, not caring that Cam had taken over.

Really, I was astonished he’d lasted as long as he had.

‘Jesus,’ he grunted this time, his lower body bowing up off the bed. ‘Take me inside you. Condom in the drawer …’

I reached blindly through my sensual fog, yanking his bedside drawer open. Once we had him sheathed and ready to go, we guided him together to my entrance, the muscles in my legs shaking with need.

I slammed down on him and we both cried out, Cam’s hips jerking up in reaction.

We found a torturous rhythm quickly and with my hands braced on the bed beside his thighs, I leaned back slightly so his cock thrust into me at the most delicious angle. I moved slowly, building towards an exquisite orgasm.

My gaze never left Cam’s face as I moved, feeling sexy and powerful at his glittering expression, watching the way his blue eyes darkened on my breasts, on my hair swinging across my back. His hands gripped my hips, urging me on; his jaw clenched as the heat between us increased and a light sheen of sweat covered our skin.

As I approached climax all I was aware of was the coiling pleasure low in my belly, the sound of my uncontrolled breaths and mews of pleasure, the intoxicating smell of sex … and then I heard Cam hoarsely asking me to come. Pure bliss took me over, and I closed my eyes, revelling in it as my body moved faster up and down his length, rushing towards climax.

Lights exploded behind my lids as my orgasm shook through my entire body. My muscles clenched around Cam, wave after wave of pleasure pulsing around his cock.

Cool air whipped over my skin as Cam flipped me unexpectedly to my back, my eyes flying open as he pressed me into the mattress, holding my hands imprisoned above my head. His features were strained with uncontrolled need, and as he crushed his mouth against mine he began to stroke deep inside me, his movements rough and hard. He groaned into my mouth, the noise vibrating through my whole body, and I felt the stirring of another orgasm.

When his lips left mine, I stared up in wonderment, our gasps seeming to echo all around us as I pushed up against his thrusts. He let go of one of my arms, his hand disappearing between our joined bodies, and as soon as his thumb pressed down on my clit I flew apart, my scream filling the flat.

‘Jo!’ Cam cried out, eyes wide with wonder as my climax drew a staggered, seemingly soul-deep release from him. He collapsed on me, his face buried in the crook of my neck, his hand relaxing around my arm. His cock continued to twitch inside me, and I enjoyed the lingering pleasure it brought.

It was as though I’d melted into a puddle in the mattress – I couldn’t feel or move any of my limbs. I was floating on utter gratification. I was sated air.

‘Wow!’ I breathed, wanting to curl my fingers in his hair but unable to remember how to move.

Cam nodded in agreement against my skin.

After a little while he pulled up, bracing his weight on his arms beside my head. His features were completely relaxed, his eyes soft and languid. ‘I’ve never come so fucking hard before,’ he confessed quietly.

Sweet satisfaction washed over me and gave me the strength to lift my arm. I stroked Cam’s muscled back, then slid my hand into his hair, running my fingers through it soothingly. ‘Me neither. In fact, up until now I thought multiple orgasms were a myth.’

He laughed, his thumb sweeping affectionately across my cheekbone. ‘You’ll stay here tonight?’

‘If you want me to.’

His expression changed, becoming more serious – pensive even. ‘There’s nothing I want more.’

Smiling, I realized I believed him.

I didn’t know if I trusted him completely yet, but at least I knew that in that moment I believed him. I drew his head down to mine, pressing my mouth to his for a kiss sweetened not just by the satisfaction of great sex but by emotion as well. When I let him up for air, I grinned at him, feeling a bit like a kid who’d found out Santa Claus was real after all. ‘You’ll have to tell me if I snore.’

He frowned. ‘No one’s ever told you before?’

‘I’ve had a sleepover once and I didn’t stick around in the morning to ask.’

‘You mean you’ve only stayed with a guy once?’ I knew by the hardness in his eyes that he’d drawn the right conclusion as to why that was.

I shrugged, turning my head away, embarrassed that I’d brought it up now and worried what he’d think. ‘Yeah.’

‘Jo?’ He touched my chin, turning my head so I had to meet his gaze. ‘They were dicks. All of them.’

‘Let’s not talk about them.’

‘We’ll talk, just not now.’ And with that ominous warning, he withdrew from me and went to get rid of the condom. When he returned from the bathroom seconds later he pulled the duvet down underneath me so I could crawl on to the sheets, and he slid in beside me, covering us. I rested on my side, my head on his pillow, my nose inhaling the smell of his cologne, my heart suddenly racing again as I realized I didn’t know what to do.

It became quickly apparent that I had no reason to be anxious.

Cam’s strong arms wrapped around my waist as he snuggled in behind me, my naked bottom pressed to his groin, his legs entangling themselves in mine. ‘ ’Night, baby.’ His voice rumbled in my ear and I felt my stomach flip at the possessiveness in those two words.

Smoothing my hands down over the arms that held me close, I burrowed back against him and let myself melt. ‘ ’Night.’

My butterflies actually woke me up, my eyes blinking open to find my cheek pressed against Cam’s bare chest, my arm thrown across his stomach, and his hand resting on the curve of my waist as I lay curled into him. The fluttering in my stomach only worsened.

Cam must have seeped into my subconscious, all my concerns and exhilaration waking me. There was my excitement at being with him, and yet the anxiety over throwing away a secure relationship with Malcolm for this passionate but nevertheless somewhat shaky relationship I’d developed with Cam. Unlike any man I’d met, he could rile me, piss me off, argue with me until we were blue in the face … all of which screamed ‘disaster waiting to happen!’

Yet I had to weigh that against the unbelievable chemistry between us, the awe-inspiring sex, his concern and consideration once he’d stopped being a prick, his patience, and how down-to-earth he was. I loved that he could admit when he was wrong, that he saw things in me no other man had, and that he had taken time to get to know Cole. I liked Cam. I really liked him, and I knew as I lay there that I would have lost the tiny sliver of self-respect I’d had left if I’d walked away from those feelings, if I had given up on them because of another man’s wealth and what it could bring me and Cole.

Cole.

I tensed a little, fretting at the thought of my brother. I didn’t have nearly enough saved for his future. I needed to go job hunting again, see if I couldn’t find something that paid better than Meikle & Young’s.

‘Whatever you’re thinking, I’m not sure I’m going to like it,’ Cam murmured sleepily.

I tilted my head back in surprise, my eyes meeting his drowsy gaze. ‘What?’

He squeezed my waist. ‘You were warm and relaxed, and then I felt your whole body get tense. What’s up?’

‘Worrying about my job. Worrying I should try to get something that pays better than Meikle’s.’

‘Never mind better pay. How about someone who treats you better?’

I made a noise of agreement.

‘So is that what you do first thing in the morning? Worry?’

Smiling at him, I nodded. ‘If you’re sticking around you’ll need to get used to it.’

He tightened his embrace. ‘If I’m sticking around, I’ll do my best to make bloody sure you never have to worry again.’

My breath caught. Damn, I hoped it wasn’t going to become a habit of his to say romantic crap that robbed me of speech all the time. ‘Smooth talker,’ I answered a little hoarsely, and his lips twitched with amusement, as if the arrogant bugger knew that his words liquefied my insides.

‘What time is it?’

‘I don’t know. I gave Malcolm back the Omega watch.’

‘That was good of you.’

‘It was the right thing to do.’ I winced, feeling a wave of remorse wash over me. It somehow didn’t feel right to be luxuriating in the heat of Cam and the happiness he brought me, while Malcolm was home hurting over my betrayal. ‘Do you feel guilty?’ I mumbled against his warm skin, my fingers absent-mindedly stroking the lines of his abs.

‘It’s difficult to feel anything but hard when you’re touching me, baby,’ Cam answered gruffly.

I chuckled despite myself. ‘Insatiable, are we?’

‘Apparently around you.’

‘More sweet talk. Am I required to repay you in some way for it?’

‘Now why would you assume you had to pay for it?’

I grinned teasingly. ‘Well, you’re not known for being sweet to me, Cam.’

His chest rose under my cheek as he gave a little huff of annoyance. ‘How long am I going to pay for being a bastard to you?’

‘Oh, I don’t know. I think it might prove useful as leverage in the future.’

His playful growl filled the room as he rolled me on to my back. At the sudden move, I giggled up into his now alert eyes, letting him pin me to the mattress. He nudged my legs apart. His face was still relaxed from sleep, the sexy curl of his upper lip soft and begging for attention. ‘Do you want to know why I was such a bastard?’

‘You’ve already told me why – ah.’ I ended on a gasp, feeling him hard and nudging insistently between my legs. My legs widened instinctively as he moved slowly against me, teasing me.

‘Truth?’ He lowered his head, kissing softly along my jaw until he found my ear. I shuddered at the tiny nip he gave the lobe, at the lick of his tongue against the bite. My chest heaved and my breasts brushed tantalizingly against his chest. My chest rose and fell in fast, shallow movements.

At the press of our bodies, Cam froze for a second, a guttural moan falling from his lips to land on a breath against my neck.

I brought my knees up, inviting him to take what we both so desperately wanted him to. He reached for the chest of drawers and rummaged around, then pulled out a condom.

As Cam put on the protection his usually cobalt eyes were almost black. ‘Truth?’

‘Truth,’ I whispered on a nod.

‘I wanted you and I couldn’t have you.’

My lips parted in amazement at the confession. ‘That’s why you were a bastard to me?’

‘I didn’t want to want you so badly, so when it appeared that you were someone I could never respect or want, I held on to that and ran with it. But you kept blowing all my preconceptions to smithereens, and I just kept wanting you more.’

As Cameron gazed deep into my eyes I felt a weight bear down on us, like a cocoon wrapping around us, protecting the connection that was developing so deep and fast between us. ‘I guess that means your bastard days are behind you,’ I replied, my words barely audible under the gravity of emotion.

His brows drew together. ‘Meaning?’

‘You can stop wanting me now that you have me.’

Light twinkled mischievously in his eyes as he grinned at me. ‘I don’t think that’s possible. To stop wanting you, I mean.’

Without warning, before I could even reply to that, he pushed into me and I cried out, my hands digging into the muscles in his back as my body grew reacquainted with his thickness. His breath whispered over my lips just before he kissed me, his tongue teasing mine as he pulled out of me a few inches before sliding back in.

His kisses were hot and sweet as he slowly made love to me, pushing us towards another shattering release.

We had just got out of his shower – where I’d finally found my chance to study the ink on his arms with my tongue – and we were in the kitchen making tea and toast when my phone rang. I found it in the pocket of my faux fur jacket, still lying in the hall from last night when Cam stripped me out of it.

A picture of Joss giving someone behind me a sly grin popped up on my phone screen as it rang. I’d taken it at the bar months ago, not realizing Craig was doing some absurd ‘sexy’ dance behind me as I snapped Joss’s picture. I smiled. ‘Hullo?’

‘Hey, you,’ she answered casually. ‘How are you?’

‘I’m fine.’ More than fine! I just had life-changing sex with Tattoo Guy! I grinned, trying to contain my giddiness as I wandered back into the kitchen, where Cam stood by the kettle, shirtless and all mine. ‘You?’

‘Good. You sound weird.’

‘Weird?’

‘Yeah. Weird.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ Cam glanced up at me and smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling sexily. I grinned again. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about at all.’

‘Hmm.’ Clearly Joss was unconvinced. ‘Are you and Cole coming to lunch today?’

I hesitated. I had a lot to do today. I had to tell Cole about me and Cam, and it was time to put the clothes Malcolm had bought me on eBay. Just the thought of it made my stomach lurch with guilt about how things had ended between us.

‘Butter or jam on your toast?’ Cam asked loudly.

I sucked in my breath.

‘Was that Cam?’ Joss asked quietly, more than idle curiosity in her tone.

‘Yes.’

‘At nine thirty in the morning? Asking about toast?’

‘Mm-hmm.’

‘Oh, my God, you fucked him.’

I rolled my eyes. ‘Well, just say it like it is, Joss.’

‘I take it you dumped Malcolm first before you got it on with Tattoo Guy. Poor Malcolm. Oh, well.’

An unexpected warmth flooded my chest at Joss’s summation of the situation. She hadn’t asked me if I’d cheated on Malcolm. She’d just assumed I’d been good enough to be straight with him. It was nice to know she thought so well of me. ‘We broke up last night.’ I was suddenly very aware of Cam’s inquisitive eyes on me. ‘Look, we’ll talk about it later.’

‘Bring Cam to lunch.’

Okay, what? ‘What?’ I tried to squelch the hint of hysteria in that question.

‘If you’re seeing him now you should bring him to lunch. Elodie won’t mind.’

‘You never asked Malcolm to lunch.’

Cam shot me another questioning look.

‘Well, if I’d thought the lunch would be as interesting as this one is definitely going to be, I might have.’

‘We’re not coming to lunch just to entertain you.’

Suddenly the phone was whipped from my ear and I watched wide-eyed as Cameron held it up to his own. ‘Joss, hey, it’s Cam. We’ll be there. Time?’ He nodded at whatever she said. ‘Cool. See you then.’