Always Yours (14 page)

"You....you're so happy all the time. It just isn't—"

"Normal?" I interrupted her as I leaned back in my chair, folding my arms over my chest.

"No, I was going to say, it isn't like
you
. To use the word normal you'd have to be normal to begin with, and we both know you're not normal." I rolled my eyes at her. "Seriously, though, every time I see you lately you're grinning like a damn love-struck teenager and it's starting to freak me out," she said matter-of-factly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I claimed as I looked back down at the stack of order forms on my desk, trying to avoid her stare. She was right, though, I had been excessively happy the past two weeks and that was a big deal for me.

"You're such a crappy liar," she huffed. I peeked up at her through hooded eyes. "See, there it is again!"

"Whatever, Shay," I grunted, returning to my work.

"It's written all over your face, girl. Just admit it. Cam's having an effect on you."

"You want me to admit it? Fine, Cam makes me happy. In fact, I haven't been this happy in years." I paused for a moment as I thought about what I was going to say next. "But what I don't want to do right now, is acknowledge it. Acknowledging it makes it a reality, and in my reality, I always get burned. You of all people know this. I'm just not ready for that pain again."

She looked at me with sympathy. "Fine, but you can't keep your feelings hidden from him. If you break up, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

"We aren't together, remember, no labels," I reminded her, keeping my head down.

"Cara, when two people are having sex and they agree not to sleep with anyone else, that usually means they're together. Call it what you want, but don't say I didn't warn you, sweetie."

"Warn you about what?" The profound voice echoed in my ear and my whole body came alive. I looked up and just as I expected, I saw Cam standing in the doorway next to Shay.

He looked delectable in a pair of faded blue jeans that had rips in all the right places, and a grey ribbed tank top that showed off his tribal tattoo and muscular arms. His aviator sunglasses were hanging from his collar and his hair was jumbled like he had just woken up. I had to squeeze my legs shut just from the sight of him.

"Oh, um, Shay was just—"

"I was just warning her about your arrogance," Shay butted in. Cam's eyes narrowed as he glared at her. Shay knew how much that comment was going to piss him off, but then, I'm sure that's why she said it. She hadn't been nice to Cam since that day in the parking lot when he scared the shit out of us, not that Cam had been pleasant to her either. When they were together, it was like trying to referee a rivaling football game and I was getting sick of it.

"Shay, stop it," I warned. She rolled her eyes and left the office quickly, giving Cam the stink eye before disappearing around the corner.

"Is she always such a bitch?" Cam asked as he entered the room.

"Only to you," I teased. "What are you doing here anyway? I thought I was going to meet you and Blake for dinner later.

"Oh, you are," he affirmed. "I just stopped by to see if you would do me a favor?" He took a seat in the chair in front of my desk.

"Sure, just name it."

"Come to the firefighter's ball with me on Saturday." His favor seemed more like a demand the way he said it.

"I thought your shift agreed to go without dates since Cash just got divorced?" I said, tilting my head in confusion.

When Cam had first told me about the ball I was a little disappointed that they had agreed to remain dateless for the event. A part of me really wanted to go.

"Well, we were, but that was before Blake fucked up and invited some girl. And if he's taking a date then so am I. There's no way I'm going to be part of some sausage fest when I can have a beautiful woman by my side." He leaned back in the chair crossing his foot over his knee while he placed his hands behind his head. "Oh, and when I say Blake is taking a date, I mean a real, honest-to-god-I-think-he-loves-her-already-date."

"What? You're kidding?" I screeched. There was no way Blake was in love. He was the biggest womanizer I had ever met. Just last weekend he had taken home a different girl each night, and they were friends—how he pulled that one off, I'll never know, and now he was supposedly in love with some girl—yeah, this I had to see.

"Nope, I'm telling ya, this Tessa chick is different. He's known her for years but somehow they never hooked up. You'll understand when you see him tonight. He's like a love sick puppy."

Blake had started to grow on me over the past two weeks. Even though he was a total jackass, he was sweet to me, in a protective, big brother sort of way, and he had a good heart. Plus, he was one of Cam's best friends and if Cam liked him, then who was I to judge. "Well, in that case, I have to be there. I want to meet the girl that's taming the wild bachelor."

The next week we walked into the firefighter's ball hand in hand. The ballroom was unbelievable, with projected fire flames dancing on the walls and beautiful tables with massive white birch trees for center pieces. It was hard not to be in awe of everything in the room. Still, with all of the elaborate decorations around me, I still couldn't tear my eyes away from Cam.

His Perry Ellis tux looked like it had been made just for him. The dark grey color of the suit mixed with the ice blue tie made his overwhelming eyes that much brighter. Not to mention the colors complemented my dress perfectly. I had no idea how he coordinated our outfits so well. I had borrowed the dress from Shay so there was only one way he would've been able to find out what color it was.

The dress was perfect and it showed off all my curves. The low cut halter neckline was trimmed with silver sequins and the long, satin skirt had a slit that showed just the right amount of leg. It was sexy yet sophisticated and I loved it.

After grabbing a couple of drinks we headed off to our table. Adam and Brent were already seated when we walked up. Brent looked handsome in his black tux and tie, while Adam seemed almost like a different person. He looked so unusual dressed up for the event that I hardly recognized him. His signature scruffy face had been shaved clean and his once disheveled, black hair had been cut short, allowing me to finally get a good glimpse at his absorbing light brown eyes. I had never thought Adam was particularly melt-your-panties-hot, but tonight, seeing him dressed up, he sure as hell was.

"Hey, Cam..."Adam said, greeting us. His eyes fell on me and roamed over my body, making me feel a bit uncomfortable. "And helllloooo, Cara." His bright irises burned a hole right through me as he spoke. "You look...tempting tonight," he declared, smiling as Cam pushed my seat in for me. I don't know why but I felt my cheeks heat when his grin produced two of the sexiest dimples I had ever seen.

"Oh, um, th...thanks, Adam," I said, stumbling over my words. Adam was typically pretty quiet when I was around, so the bizarre greeting caught me off guard. I glanced at the table in front of him and spotted three empty glasses. He already had his fair share of liquid courage tonight and now it was on display for everyone to see.

Peering over at Cam I gauged his reaction, his jaw was clenched tight and I could tell he was biting his tongue. The tension around the table was thick and muggy as Cam scooted his chair closer to mine. He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek, not once taking his eyes off of Adam.

"She is remarkable, isn't she? But this," Cam scorned calmly as he motioned to me, "is nothing, bro. If you want to see tempting, you should see her right before she's been thoroughly sated."

"Cam!" I shrieked, elbowing him in the side. "What's the matter with you?"

Shit, this is awkward
.

Adam and Brent's jaws hit the floor. I sunk down in my chair a little, trying to hide myself from their ogling eyes.

"What, firecracker, can't a man be honest?" he whispered into my ear. I didn't mind the honesty; it was the personal idiom that bugged me. I mean, I barely knew Adam or Brent, and the last thing they needed was a mental picture. The looks on their faces were pretty hilarious though. They were just as stunned as I was; unfortunately, I think they were a little turned on too.

Adam quickly recovered though, shaking off the bewildered look on his face, he started up again. "I can't believe you came here with that ugly mug of all people," he said, nodding his head to Cam as he tried to hold back the sneer that was developing on his face.

Adam knew exactly what to do and say to get under Cam's skin and by the look on Cam's face it was working."Why don't you ditch him and hang out with me tonight. I'd like to see what you look like after you've been...what was it called, Cam? Oh, yeah, thoroughly sated." He droned, giving me an ill-behaved wink as he raised his fourth glass of clear pungent liquid to his lips.

My face flushed with color for the third time in ten minutes and the room suddenly became very warm. I couldn't believe these two. Adam was only doing this to get under Cam's skin and Cam was feeding into every last bit of it. I needed to put an end to their bickering before all my deodorant wore off and I started to smell.

"Alright, that's enough you two," I said sternly as I crossed my arms over my chest. "Adam, I think it's time for a glass of water. And while I appreciate the compliments, even though they are beyond inappropriate, you sound like a drunken douche." Cam started to laugh hysterically. Turning to him I continued, "I don't know why you're laughing. You're just as bad. Can't you see he's doing all this to get a rise out of you?" I gave Cam a firm, disapproving expression. "Now, can you please stop acting like two-year-olds and get along?" They both looked down at the ground as I scolded them.

"Damn, Cam, she's a keeper. Maybe I should hire her on at the station to keep you boys in line," Cash said sarcastically from behind me.

"Hey, Captain," the guys all said at once as he walked around the table and took a seat.

"Hi, Cash," I greeted him shyly.

He gave me a polite nod in return. "Sorry if the guys were unbecoming. Apparently, they don't know how to act around a lady."

"You don't have to apologize for them, Cash. I'm used to dealing with provocative men like these guys," I teased.

"You haven't seen provocative yet, sweetheart," Adam threatened under his breath and Cam shot him another dirty look.

I just rolled my eyes. These two were never going to grow up.

Turning my attention away from the juveniles at our table I spotted Blake heading towards us. He looked divine in his tux and on his arm was a beautiful brunette in a stunning black dress—I assumed it was Tessa.

Her big brown eyes were glowing and the smile on her face told me everything I needed to know about her. I watched them cross the room and as they approached the table I saw Blake slide his arm around Tessa's waist and pull her closer as if he was scared to let her go. Just by looking at them I could tell they had something way past friendship.

Everyone greeted them and when Blake introduced Tessa to the table I couldn't help but jump up and give her a big hug. I already felt like I knew her from listening to Blake go on and on about her all week. Cam followed suit and embraced Tessa like she was family and then we all sat down. We chatted for a while about the department and then dinner was served.

I couldn't help but watch Blake and Tessa while we ate. They kept giving each other little looks like they secretly wanted to devour one another but were too scared to admit it. The look in Blake's eyes when he smiled at her was beyond anything I had ever seen before and I could tell he really was in love with her, even if he didn't want to admit it just yet.

After sitting through boring award ceremonies and bidding on silent auction items, the ball was over and we were now dancing our asses off at a private after party in the presidential suite of the hotel. I had talked to Tessa a handful of times tonight and every time she opened her mouth I liked her even more. She was a wiseass that challenged Blake at every turn—she was exactly what his cocky ego needed.

"I need some water," Tessa shouted at me over the blaring music. We had been dancing for over an hour with no break and it was getting hot.