“It’s like a symphony. There’s no sweeter sound.”
She moaned then pressed her hand to her mouth.
He slid his hand up her thigh and gripped her ass. “Cadence?”
“Yeah?” she breathed.
That wolfish grin twisted at the corner of his mouth. “You don’t have to do that. Nobody can hear you back here.”
She stilled. Between the low bass beats coming from the spin class and the mechanical grind of the treadmills and rowing machines, their little hovel in the bowels of the rec center was soundproof.
She looked down at him. “Then what are you waiting for?”
Clearly…nothing.
Camden’s grip on her hip and ass tightened, and the man went to work. She steadied herself, one hand on his shoulder, the other clenching the doorknob as she bucked against him, her gasps growing louder with each stroke of his tongue.
“Yes, Camden, don’t stop!”
Letting go never felt so good. And she hadn’t been able to let loose in years. Even when she touched herself, she had to stay quiet. There was no way she was going to have her son telling a therapist twenty years from now how he’d heard his mom getting off alone in her bedroom.
Camden set a punishing pace, increasing the pressure on her tight bundle of nerves, and within the space of two carnal cries, she flew over the edge. Giving herself over to the sensations, she pumped her hips and threaded her fingers into his hair, riding out the sweet, pulsing waves of ecstasy.
He squeezed her thigh. “I’m keeping these,” he said, pocketing her underwear.
“You are?”
“I am.”
“I like those panties!”
“You know where I live. You can always get them back and…” He held up the sports skirt. “These have built-in underwear already.”
She plucked the skirt from his hand and got dressed. “You’d think someone whose family owns a sporting goods and apparel empire would have heard of skirts with built-in shorts.”
He stood, and that pained expression was back.
She reached up and stroked his cheek. “Whatever you may think, you’re a good man.”
“I don’t know if that’s true, but when I’m with you, I feel like maybe I could be.”
The pain he carried broke her heart, and all she wanted to do was gather the pieces of this kind, broken man and make him whole. But that wasn’t what this summer was about.
She glanced down at her watch. “Well, we have four minutes left, and I’d really like to spend that time with your lips attached to mine.”
The sadness in his eyes disappeared as he lifted her into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist and tangled her fingers into his hair as their mouths met in a toe-curling kiss.
He pressed her back to the door. “Do you know all the things I’m going to do to your body tonight,” he said, the heat of his breath scorching each word until a knock at the door brought their make-out session to a screeching halt.
10
Camden
Cadence’s eyes went wide as they stared at each other.
“That was the door, right?” he whispered.
She nodded, panic flashing in her eyes.
They did not need this. He’d already been chased by that nosy taxi driver looking to cash-in on his identity. They didn’t need whoever the hell this was getting in on the Bergen dirt bandwagon, too.
Enough shit would hit the fan when the staff and camp families learned he’d taken Curt’s place as the site leader.
And more than that, he didn’t want anything to get in the way of what he’d found with Cadence. This perfect respite. This place where he wasn’t the runaway failure of a Bergen brother, but a man giving the woman he’d fallen for the chance to be someone different from the cards life had dealt her.
He couldn’t give her forever, but he wasn’t about to let anyone take this summer from them.
“You better put me down,” she whispered.
“Yeah.”
He gently lowered her, and she smoothed her T-shirt.
Time to put on his game face. “Ready?”
She glanced at him and gasped. “Panties.”
Shit! The lace trim of her G-string peeked out from his cargo shorts.
He shoved the sexy scrap of fabric deep into his pocket. “Thanks! Good catch!”
She nodded, then reached for the doorknob.
Worst-case scenario, it was a parent or a counselor. Jesus! What did he just say to Cadence? Something about all the things he was going to do to her body? He tensed as she gripped the knob.
They could play it off like she needed a massage for a pulled muscle. That might be a reasonable explanation.
Or not.
Christ, he was a fucking idiot!
He held his breath as Cadence opened the door.
“Yes…hello?” she said and stepped into the hall.
He pulled the door open to see the teen from the front desk, staring at her phone and wearing—thank the technology gods—wireless earbuds.
Cadence tapped the girl’s shoulder and the teen startled.
“You knocked?” Cadence asked and gestured over her shoulder to the door.
The girl pulled out the earbuds, exploding with a techno beat. “What?”
“Was that you, knocking on the door?” Cadence tried again.
The teen tugged on her earlobe, probably still vibrating from the booming music. It was a miracle she could hear at all.
“What can we help you with?” Cadence asked, a little louder.
The teen wrinkled her nose. “It smells like my brother’s jockstrap down here.”
Cadence glanced back at him, gaze brimming with relief. They could have been setting off bottle rockets while blasting heavy metal music and the poster girl for teen hearing loss wouldn’t have noticed a thing.
Cadence glanced at her watch. “Is there a problem? We need to leave to meet with the Bergen Adventure Summer Camp counselors.”
“No problem,” the girl answered, her eyes glued to her phone.
“Then…how can we help you?” Cadence asked with a placating smile.
He pressed his lips together and smothered a grin. He knew this smile. It was the one she’d given him on the drive back to her place right after she’d laid down the law about her perceptions of his family. It was her I don’t have time for your shit smile, and he loved watching her use it on someone other than himself.
The teen swiped her thumb across her phone’s screen and a muscle ticked in Cadence’s jaw.
“One, two, three! Eyes on me!”
He took a step back. This girl better pull it together. Cadence Lowry was about to lose all the Miss Honey and drop some Trunchbull.
The girl’s head whipped up like Cadence’s teacher chant had temporarily activated the attention center of her brain.
“Oh yeah, some delivery guy came in and said he left a bunch of corrugated cardboard next to the boathouse. He told me to tell you and Curt.” She glanced his way. “Hey! You’re not Curt!”
He crossed his arms. “Curt broke his leg. I’m taking his place this summer.”
The girl’s shoulders drooped. “Damn, that’s too bad. Curt always had the best weed and was the bomb to chill out with. We’d shoot the shit for hours under the boathouse,” she said, inserting the earbuds then heading down the hall, the effect of the One, Two, Three charm wearing off.
“That Curt sounds like a peach,” he said.
Cadence snapped her fingers. “So that’s where he’d go all day! He’d disappear for hours at a time.”
They started down the hall behind Miss Teen Hearing Loss USA.
He opened the door for Cadence and joined her outside.
Camper drop-off was in full effect, and he surveyed the circular drive, manned with counselors in Bergen T-shirts. One by one, cars drove up, and kids wearing backpacks hopped out. Small groups of children sat clustered together with their counselors, waiting for the activities to begin—ev
erything running seamlessly.
“I wonder how Curt got hired in the first place?” he mused.
Bergen Adventure Summer Camp was his parents’ idea. Before their deaths, they’d headed up the Bergen Mountain Education division which, under their leadership, had progressed from winter educational programming at their nineteen mountain resorts worldwide to summer activities. And then, onto the summer multi-activity day camps in Denver and across the state. They’d been working on implementing camps like this in Vermont and California near their resorts when…
He swallowed hard as his hands clenched into fists, his jaw tightening.
“Hey,” Cadence said, touching his arm. “We need to go check-in with our lead counselors. And I’m pretty sure Curt is the idiot brother or screw-up nephew of some important Colorado someone or other. You know how it goes. These D-canoes always get a pass,” she added with a teasing grin.
He met her sky-blue gaze, and he was back.
She brought him back.
This summer was about her, not brooding and licking the open wounds of the runaway Bergen brother.
“Right,” he said, walking in step with her toward Carrie and a young man holding a clipboard.
“Hey, guys! I wanted to introduce you both to the new site leader,” Cadence said when the young man turned to face them.
Camden’s jaw dropped. “Lucas Parker?”
“Cam?” the counselor replied.
“Yeah, it’s me. It’s been a long time.”
“Holy…” Lucas began, then glanced at Cadence. “Moly.”
Cadence chuckled. “You two know each other?”
Lucas’ wide grin nearly spanned his face. “Do we know each other? Cam was the only one out of all the Bergen and Parker brothers who’d actually put up with me on the slopes.”
Camden clapped the kid on the shoulder. “The last time I saw you, you must have been…”
“Thirteen. All gangly legs and braces,” Lucas supplied.
Camden turned to Cadence. “Lucas is the youngest son of our family friends, the Parkers.”
“Yep, I was the oops baby, five years younger than Cam. And it’s just Luke now,” Luke-now said, his cheeks growing pink.
Camden took a step back and shook his head. Jesus! Lucas—no, Luke Parker—had gone from a boy to a man in the time he’d been gone.
Cadence glanced between the men and grinned. “It’s wonderful you two know each other. It’s Luke’s first year with us. And let’s not forget Carrie Mackendorfer, our other college-aged lead counselor.
“Nice to meet you, Carrie. I’m Camden Bergen,” he said and shook the girl’s hand.
She turned to Cadence. “What happened to Curt?”
Cadence bit back a grin. “Broken leg. Poor thing.”
Carrie seemed to be holding back a grin of her own. “That’s…too bad. I really hope he’s on the mend soon—but not too soon.”
“He won’t be with us at all this summer,” Cadence said, lowering her voice.
Carrie’s grin broke free as she glanced his way. “You’re one of the Bergen brothers, right?”
He gave her a tight nod.
Carrie released a relieved sigh. “Thank God! You’ll know what you’re doing. Last summer, I had to stop Curt from piling a bunch of five-year-olds into a canoe without an instructor. He was about to push them off into the lake and hadn’t even given them a paddle.”
Cadence shook her head. “Curt was the worst.”
“Totally, the worst! It was easier when he’d disappear.” Carrie added.
Camden watched the women’s exchange—flabbergasted. This Carrie not only didn’t seem steeped in the runaway Bergen folklore, but she was also happy to have him there for his qualifications.
Granted, the qualification was that he wasn’t a pot-smoking child endangerer—but, hell, he’d take that.
“All right,” Cadence said and glanced at the empty circular drive. “Why don’t you give Camden and me an update.”
Carrie and Luke nodded.
“Drop-off went smoothly. The campers are with their group leaders going over behavior expectations and camp safety,” Carrie replied.
Luke tapped his clipboard. “And we’ve got all the morning outdoor activities set up and ready to go. Here’s the rotation schedule,” he added and handed over a sheet of paper.
Cadence scanned the park. “Good work, guys. Any issues come up, Camden and I will be on the waterfront this morning. As the groups cycle through, we’ll be telling the campers about the upcoming events and the end of the summer cardboard boat regatta here at Smith Lake.”
Camden stilled as memories of the regatta flashed through his mind.
He’d spent so much time these past ten years focusing on his mom and dad’s death, he hadn’t allowed any happy memories to break through the barrier of guilt and shame he’d built around his heart.
But those special summer days when he, Bren, and Jas would push their boats to the edge of the sparkling lake and wait for the start whistle, like cats preparing to pounce, came back to him.
The Cardboard Boat Regatta at Smith Lake had been one of the highlights of his summers growing up. More than the mountain biking, the rock climbing, the canoeing, and the hiking, he loved laying out his giant sheets of cardboard next to his brothers’ and planning their boat designs alongside their parents. Jas, with every ruler and protractor scattered about, and Bren, going at the cardboard without making one mark or measurement.
He fell in the middle, allowing creativity and thoughtful design to guide his boat crafting. Then again, as the youngest, he got to learn from his big brothers’ mistakes and got a little extra attention from his parents.
Those were good memories—his mother and father, waving their hats and cheering for them as they paddled with their hands, splashing and laughing, zigzagging across the lake. He could almost feel the spray of water and hear his mother’s cheers.
“Keep going, my brightest stars!”
“Were you able to distribute the flyers to the parents?” Cadence asked, snapping him back.
Carrie nodded. “This morning at drop off we provided each family with a copy of the cardboard boat building rules and let them know the cardboard is ready for pick up.”
“Nice work! You’re really on top of it. Now, let’s get this day started,” Cadence said with a warm grin as Carrie and Luke set off toward the clusters of children seated in the shade.
She looked up at him. “Is it coming back to you, Cam?”
Cam.
Christ, how he liked the sound of that.
He thought of his mother’s smiling face. “Yeah, it is.”
“See, you’ve got this,” she said as they made their way down to the waterfront.
“No, you’ve got this,” he answered in awe of this petite powerhouse of a woman. “How do you do it all? Bodhi, teaching, the houses?”
“Lots of Post-it notes and chatting with my online friend is a real stress reliever.”
“Mac, right?” he asked, careful to keep his voice even.
He was doing it again. Pressing, pushing, fishing for information. Why did he need to hear her confirm what he already knew? She cared for Mac. Anytime her phone made a sound, he knew she was hoping it was a message from Mountain Mac because that was the face, the exact expression, he had when her messages would come in.
That zing of anticipation. That hopeful thread, weaving its way through his broken heart.
She tucked a loose strand of blond hair back into her braid. “Yeah, but he’s had stuff going on, and we haven’t chatted much lately.”
“And he’s helped you? This Mac?”
She grinned up at him with a smile so genuine, it made the breath catch in his throat. “Mac gave me the courage to get on a bike again to help my son learn to ride. So yeah, I’d say he helped.”
“But you’re not chatting now?”
A playful glint sparkled in her eyes. “Are you jealous of Mac?”
His gaze darkened.
“I’m jealous of anyone who makes you smile like that.”
And Christ, how he wanted to tell her, it was him.
She touched her lips. “Like what?”
“Like you’re smiling with your whole heart.”
Her expression softened. “What kind of smile do I give you?”
The kind I could wake up to every day for the rest of my life.
The kind that’s brighter than the sun.
The kind that deserves the man I could never be.
The errant lock of blond hair came loose again, and he tucked it back into place. “You give me the kind of smile that makes me want to press you up against the boathouse, pull down that skirt contraption you’re wearing, and listen to you beg me to make you come.”
“Wow,” she said on a breathy sigh. “That’s quite a smile.”
“You’re quite a woman.”
The moment hung in the air, sweet and fragrant. He took a step toward her when a little hand grasped onto his.
“Hi, Camden! My group gets to be with you and Mommy first!”
“Hey, sweet boy!” Cadence said and went to give Bodhi a hug, but the boy pulled back.
“Mom!” he whisper-shouted then extended his hand.
“I almost forgot,” she said, squeezing his hand three times.
I love you.
He squeezed back, I love you, too.
“Camden?” Bodhi said, holding out his hand.
“Let’s bump it,” he replied, not sure what he’d do if Bodhi gave his hand three little squeezes.
“Bump explosion?” Bodhi asked with a wide, toothy grin.
“Sure!”
They bumped fists then each made a pretty spectacular explosion sound.
“I’m going to go sit with Porter, but Mommy…”
“What is it, honey?” Cadence asked.
“Logan Klein is in my group, and he’s kind of being mean.”
Camden scanned the pint-sized campers, heat rising to his cheeks at the thought of some bully picking on Bodhi.
“You stick with Porter. I’ll keep an eye out and let your counselor know,” she answered.
Bodhi nodded and sat down next to a little boy holding a toy firetruck.
Camden leaned in. “Who’s this Logan kid?” he whispered into Cadence’s ear.
Man Find (Bergen Brothers Book 3) Page 13