by A. L. Cook
“You baked?”
Still holding the boxed pastries, Erin looked square into Cameron’s face, and he was again startled by how brightly green her eyes were in the strong light. “I did.”
Cameron waited for her to elaborate, and when she didn’t, he flashed her a grin. He didn’t think he’d ever met a woman who had been so resistant to his charm before. That was all right, though. Cameron was a man who could appreciate a challenge.
“I guess I should be getting to work,” he told her reluctantly as he checked his watch.
“I guess you should,” Erin replied, passing him the box and taking a quick step back as she folded her arms over her chest.
Which naturally drew Cameron’s eyes to her breasts. Great breasts, if the truth be told, full and perfectly proportioned to her height. The tight thermal shirt she wore did nothing to hide her assets, a fact for which he was very grateful.
Erin made a very pointed noise in her throat, making his eyes flick back to hers and an unrepentant grin turn up the corners of his mouth.
“It was nice meeting you,” Cameron told her, taking in every detail of her face. “Very nice.” The colour that flooded to her cheeks made Cameron’s smile grow even larger. “Let me take you to dinner, I’d love to get to know you better,” he said smoothly.
His tone left no room for misinterpretation, and when Erin’s hands clenched convulsively around her upper arms he knew she had understood exactly how he’d like to get to know her.
“I’m not sure,” she told him, though the way she shifted minutely towards him indicated that her body certainly was.
“Why don’t I call you later, and we can discuss it?” he asked, juggling things to rewrap the scarf around his throat again.
He stilled as Erin took a quick step forward and helped him, her warm fingertips grazing the underside of his jaw and lingering briefly on the back of his neck. Once she had positioned it for him, she ran her hands down the scarf tails where they lay over his collarbones and his pectorals.
The smell of her, a combination of good, clean sweat and something zesty, was a heady combination that shot through him with a jolt, and the sensation of her hands running over his chest made his blood heat. He looked down into her face, taking in the high, sharp cheekbones and adorable slope of her nose, the smooth, tanned perfection of her skin, and wondered for the first time if maybe he was in a little over his head with this woman.
“Sure,” she told him as she took a sudden step back, and it took a moment for Cam to recall what they had been speaking about. “Call me.”
Her eyes lingered on his for a long moment, and then she was gone, slipping behind the counter and out the back of the store before he could reply. A little startled by her departure, Cameron hesitated for a moment, unsure for the first time in a long time when it came to a woman, before he turned and departed.
It was only a few blocks to work, and it passed faster than usual in his contemplation of his and Erin’s encounter. The intrigue she inspired in him was almost greater than his attraction to her, and he was looking forward to seeing her again.
It wasn’t until he was walking through the door of his workplace that he realised she had disappeared before giving him her number.
Two
The lunch rush was finally starting to die down. Erin busied herself collecting empty plates and coffee cups as the last few diners finished their meals and began to filter out, waving and calling out their farewells.
She had not been at her best today, she had to admit. Her mind had been preoccupied in a way she was entirely unused to for her entire shift, and it had taken a hell of a lot more concentration than usual to serve without making an ass of herself.
And she couldn’t really understand why. Obviously, she knew that she was attracted as hell to Cameron, but the why of it escaped her. He wasn’t her usual type, she had known him for less than fifteen minutes, and he was more sure of his own attractiveness than a man had any right to be. No matter how ridiculously attractive he may be.
Yet despite all that, she hadn’t been able to get him out of her mind. The gorgeous, cheeky grin; the solid, warm feel of his chest beneath her hands; the perfect way their bodies had come together as she had collided with him- all of those things were making her libido sit up and pay attention in a way she had almost entirely forgotten it even could.
It was for exactly those reasons that she was both glad and disappointed that she had managed to distract him enough to send him away without giving him her number. He was dangerous, with the way he made her feel- physically and emotionally- and he was the last thing she needed.
But damn if the man wasn’t smoking hot.
The phone rang, startling Erin from her reverie. She dumped the armful of dishes she had collected onto the sink and dried her hands as she moved out to the front of the store and picked up the phone.
“Thank you for calling Sweet Temptations,” she answered as she surveyed the pastry case to check what they were running low on, “this is Erin, how may I help you?”
“You could let me take you out for dinner,” a familiar deep voice rumbled down the line.
“Cameron?” she asked, startled into straightening up. “Why are you calling me at work?”
“You told me to call you,” Cameron replied, chuckling. “But you disappeared before you gave me your number, so I figured I’d call you there.”
Damn. Erin had been half-hoping that with no number he’d decide she wasn’t worth the effort and just forget about her. The other half of her, the long-abstinent part of her, was thrilled, and with that deep voice thrumming through her as he purred down the line she found herself siding with that half in a fast hurry.
“Oh,” she replied, suddenly breathless. “That. Sorry, I…uh, forgot.”
“So did I,” Cameron replied. “You distracted me.” He sounded very pleased by that fact. “So,” he continued, when there was no reply forthcoming from her, “what do you say? Can I take you out to dinner?”
She hesitated. She wanted so badly to say yes, but she didn’t feel that she could trust herself with Cameron. Her body wanted him, craved the touch of a man- this man in particular, but her heart was still broken. She was afraid that something that should be easy and fun would become something more to her, in a way that wouldn’t be healthy for either of them.
“Erin?” Cameron asked gently, as though he could sense her turmoil.
“I’m still here,” she told him, indecision warring within her.
“How about lunch instead,” he suggested. “I have ninety minutes between shifts before I have to get back to work, so I’m all yours if you’re free?”
“Get back?” Erin queried. “Where are you?”
He laughed. “Look out the window.”
Thrilled anticipation welled up within her, and she moved to the big glass windows at the front of the store. Across the street, leaning against a building at the mouth of a narrow laneway with his phone held to his ear, Cameron waved lazily.
“Do you like burgers?” he asked, turning and gesturing down the street. “Grill Bill has the best burgers in Juneau, if you’re hungry?”
As she wavered, debating the wisdom of saying yes, Maggie slipped around the counter and plucked the phone from her hand.
“She’ll be out in a minute,” she barked into the phone, before ending the call and mock-glaring at Erin. “Girl, you have no sense at all. Go. We’re about done for the day, and I can close up. Just make sure you get those gardenias done for the Mackay wedding cake.”
Suddenly buoyant with having had her mind made up for her, Erin flashed Maggie a rare smile and took off her apron to hand it over. “Thank you, Mags,” she said, before darting out the door.
As she stood on the other side of the street from Cameron, waiting for traffic, the cold wind bit through the thin jacket she had on and she shivered. Waving to a school bus from Harbour Elementary full of kids she recognised, Erin crossed the street to where Cam stood, waiting f
or her with his jacket held out.
“How is it so cold?” she asked, grateful for the heavy fabric as Cameron settled it around her shoulders. “It’s not even November yet.”
“Welcome to Alaska,” Cameron laughed, pulling the lapels closed around her. “Come on, let’s go and get out of the wind,” he told her, reaching down and enclosing her cool, slim hand in his, and leading her into the laneway he had been standing at the mouth of. “A few blocks this way and you’ll be in heaven.”
“Okay,” Erin agreed, having to stretch her legs to keep up with Cameron’s long-legged stride down the lane. She reached up and tugged her hair free of the loose bun she’d put it up in so it tumbled down around her face and kept her neck and ears warm.
Cameron glanced at her, and smiled. “I love your hair,” he told her, watching the way the ends curled as it fell down past her shoulder blades, thick and shiny. “Very sexy.”
Pushing it back from her face self-consciously, Erin blushed. “Thank you,” she told him awkwardly. “I... grew it myself?”
That surprised a laugh out of him, and he pulled her close to his side to sling an arm over her shoulders.
Erin was acutely aware of the way his fingertips tapped against the top of her chest as they walked, even through the thick jacket she wore. The heat of him at her side was like a brand, and she felt her pulse quicken.
She was suddenly very glad that Maggie had made her go with Cameron. He seemed like a lot of fun, and fun was exactly what she needed. Judging by his manner with her, and the easy-going affection he seemed so willing to bestow, the decision was made.
Fun was to be had, and Erin was in.
Emboldened by her resolve, not to mention the surge of desire that came with it, Erin slipped an arm around Cameron’s waist, snuggling right up against him. Surprise was evident in his face as he looked down at her again, but the grin he flashed in response to her cocked ‘what of it?’ eyebrow proved that he was as on board as she was.
*
Cameron was surprised when Erin slid her arm around him to hook her thumb in his belt loop, but there was no way he was about to protest. She felt great, and the lime scent from her hair was a surprisingly heady one.
He wasn’t sure what had happened, but the sudden bounce to her step and her willingness to initiate physical contact made his heart feel like it was beating a hell of a lot lower than his chest.
They walked in an easy, yet oddly tense silence. To be honest, Cameron was a little hesitant to speak lest he push Erin back into her previous reluctance to be engaged by him, but she relieved him of that burden.
“So,” she suggested, “tell me about the best burgers in Juneau.”
Cam grinned. “They’re amazing; as big as your face, juicy, packed full of flavour. And with a side of the crispiest chips you’ve ever eaten. They’re fried, then seasoned with sea salt and rosemary, and kept under a heat lamp rather than in a bain-marie. Incredible.”
“That does sound great,” Erin agreed. “Do you eat there a lot?”
“Oh yeah,” Cameron laughed, gently guiding her across a small plaza and down another street. “Every time I’m home, it’s one of the first places I come for a meal.”
He stopped them in front of a nondescript door that Erin would have walked straight past if she hadn’t been looking for it, and paused with his hand on the door.
“I should probably mention my bias, though,” he told her. At her questioning look, he chuckled. “My sister and her husband own the place,” he told her, and pushed open the door.
They were instantly enveloped by the scents and sounds of frying onion and grilled meat and herbs. Erin’s mouth watered instantly, and Cameron helped her shrug off his coat as she looked around, taking in the repurposed warehouse.
The huge space was predominantly seating, and even this late after lunch there was a substantial crowd. Against the wall to their right was an open kitchen, filled with busy staff and gleaming appliances. There was a specially purposed case filled with thick slabs of steak, a salad bar with a bench behind it with a burger assembly production line at work, and several long grills, one with flames shooting up from it.
The entire venue was brick, and lit predominantly by enormous skylights in the vaulted roof. The floor was made of wide, scuffed boards that had been stained a deep red-brown and lent warmth to the large, open space.
To their immediate left, just inside the door, a teenage girl with straight black hair and deep brown eyes was standing behind a counter stacked with menus and a computer screen. She was typing while speaking into a phone, and glanced up with a smile as they approached.
Her double take was almost comical as she saw Cameron, and she started hopping on the spot as she tried to finalise the call as quickly and politely as possible.
“Uncle Cam!” she squealed, tossing the phone down and darting around the counter to fling herself at him. “When did you get home?”
Cameron wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. “Hey Ana,” he laughed. “I got in last night and I’ve been at work all day, otherwise I’d have stopped into say hi.” He let her go and smoothed a hand over her glossy dark hair. “Is your mom around?”
“Yeah, she’s out the back on the phone with one of the suppliers,” Ana told him. “I’ll page her… hello?” she said curiously, finally catching sight of Erin watching the exchange.
“Oh, sorry,” Cameron told her, pulling Erin up close by his side once more. “Ayiana, this is Erin, my…” He trailed off, not entirely sure how she wanted to be classified, or even what they were to each other.
“I’m Cameron’s date,” Erin smiled slightly, extending her hand.
Cameron’s stomach flipped, and his grin grew. Well now, wasn’t that something? His date. Better than he had hoped for, actually, but he was more than happy to hear it from Erin’s own lips. Pouty, sensuous lips that they were. Couple that with the dimple in her left cheek that appeared with her smile, and he was becoming more smitten by the second.
“I’m his niece, obviously. Ana,” the girl replied, glancing at Cam pointedly as she shook Erin’s hand. “It’s lovely to meet you,” she told Erin, her gaze frankly curious and appraising. “Uncle Cam’s never brought a date here before,” she started.
“Jesus, Ana, aren’t I supposed to be the one embarrassing you?” he protested, shoving her shoulder.
“Not if I can manage to get a quick jab in,” Ana replied, turning back to Erin. “You’re very pretty,” she said conversationally, with all the bluntness of youth.
Cameron groaned, but to his surprise, Erin just smiled again.
“Thank you,” she replied. “You’re pretty too. I love your hair.”
Obviously thrilled, the teenager shook her hair back from her face. “Thanks! Come on, let me show you to your seats.” She led them to a table near enough to the kitchen to be able to see the meals being cooked, and Cameron pulled Erin’s seat out for her.
As she picked up her menu and perused it, Cameron watched her over the top of his own. It hadn’t just been lip service when he told her he liked her hair. It was thick, shiny, and tumbled smoothly around her face and over her shoulders, despite having just been out in the wind. The light coming through the skylights picked up threads of rich red and bright gold running through it, and it complemented her warmly tanned skin tone to perfection.
Her green eyes met his and his mouth went dry. They stared over the table at each other for a long, charged moment before that flash of a smile and the surprising dimple appeared again.
Again, she surprised him. While she had seemed serious and somewhat unyielding to begin with, she was quick, had a dry sense of humour and was friendlier than she had first seemed. She was becoming more and more attractive to Cam, and he was looking forward to getting to know her a lot better.
He only realised he was staring at her when she addressed him by name. “What? Sorry,” he said, focussing his attention.
“I asked what you recommended,” she
replied, but the amusement that lingered in her eyes said that she knew he had been thinking distinctly unchivalrous thoughts. “Is there anything in particular that you like?”
Was he imagining the heat in her words? Was the innocent expression she wore just a little too innocent?
“Oh, lots of things,” Cameron told her, noncommittally. “I’d recommend something you haven’t tried before. You know, experience something new?”
“Hmm,” she hummed in reply, eyes skimming over the menu before meeting his. “I like trying new things.”
She was flirting with him! And the sudden, deliberate huskiness her voice had taken on was enough to change him from attracted to her to aroused by her. He felt that arousal begin to make itself known, and it took more willpower than he knew he possessed to keep himself from shifting to accommodate said arousal.