Broken Justice (Justice Brothers) (9 page)

Accepting the bottle from her outstretched hand, Lacey felt fireworks tingle on her skin where his fingers touched hers. With widened eyes, she stared as he tipped his head back and drank deeply from the container of chilled water. The way he wrapped his lips around the bottle had her thinking about that beautiful mouth on her sensitive skin. When he swallowed, she marked the path of the water as it moved down his throat and almost groaned aloud when he finished with a low grunt of satisfaction.

Needing to do something,
anything
, besides acting like a teenager with a bad case of hormones, Lacey moved to arrange the blankets and was immediately thrown for a loop at the sight of the prominent bulge in his shorts. He was watching her closely, something he seemed to do a lot. Far from being embarrassed by the obvious state of arousal he was in, Cameron challenged her with a quirked eyebrow.

Pretending nothing was amiss proved more difficult than she thought when he moved to take the blanket from her frozen hands. “Here, let me get that,” he muttered swinging the soft material over his hips. She blushed from the soles of her feet to the top of her head when he rumbled out a very sexy, “Sorry ’bout that,” followed by a less than discreet rearranging of the covering so that his erection wasn’t
quite
so evident.
Yeah
, she thought,
fat chance of that.

Lacey silently muttered, “
I’m in deep doo-doo”
at the pathetic way she was reacting. She had zero experience in the ways of men and here she was losing her cool with this guy. No, this
man
. An older man if she was judging things correctly. Men like the dark knight lounging by her side didn’t get involved with naïve innocents such as her. All this moony-eyed nonsense made her look like a fool. Men like Cameron Justice exuded an intoxicating maleness that undoubtedly made all women swoon. He probably dated supermodels and wouldn’t have any trouble whatsoever finding beautiful, sexy women to share his bed. She figured he was mid-thirties and so far out of her league it would be laughable.

Cam watched the play of thoughts and emotions on her face and noted them all. He didn’t think she’d be thrilled to know that he could read her like a detailed recipe. She’d obviously had little experience dealing with men judging by her complete lack of artifice when it came to hiding her reactions. The thought shouldn’t have been so deeply satisfying, but it was. Something inside him warmed at the notion that she was struggling with the same awareness for him that he was experiencing for her.

He could also plainly see that she was embarrassed and out of her comfort zone. Cam wanted to calm her before she panicked and ran. The last thing he wanted was for the Ponytail to vanish before his eyes. She intrigued him and shook up his cautious reserve. Made him see shadows of things he dared not dream of. Truth be told, he was also out of his comfort zone. The growing sexual tension sparked in the silence stretching between them.
Say something you idiot
, his mind screamed.
Say something before she bolts.

Quickly standing, she snatched up her jeans and deftly slid them on with her back to him. Turning around as she worked her hands through the messy hair falling around her shoulders, she pulled it back and secured it with a band all without making any eye contact.

Get her talking
, Cam thought.
Get her talking and everything will be alright
. “Come back and sit down, Lacey,” he rumbled as he moved his legs aside to make a space for her at his side. When she looked at him, clear surprise at his commanding tone etched on her face, he held out his hand and gestured for her. “Tell me what’s happened,” he said nonchalantly hoping his laidback questions would circumvent her impulse to shut down and run for the hills. “How long was I out?” he asked matter-of-factly and then waited expectantly for her next move.

Lacey looked everywhere around the room except at Cameron, from the drawn curtains to the TV by the sofa. She noted the container on the nightstand filled with cool water that she’d stroked over his burning skin. She saw her backpack on the floor. She considered his clothes piled on the floor and took stock of how his half-naked presence was wreaking havoc on her nerves.

She was drawn to him and though she had no idea what the heck she was doing, or why, Lacey let a thread of control slip from her hands as she responded to his command and moved silently to sit again by his side. She had to clear her throat twice before actual words came out rather than a raspy, self-conscious bark.

“You were a mess when you got back last night. Judging by how bad things were when you came through the door, I’m astonished that you were able to drive,” she told him hesitantly. “Do you remember anything?”

“I remember feeling like fucking shit,” he ground out. She tried not to grimace at his coarse language. “Pretty sure I puked my guts up and then face-planted after that.” Twisting slightly to place the empty beverage bottle on the nightstand he turned back toward her. “The washcloth and water container tell me you had your hands full.”

Busted,
her mind screamed.
Yeah, she had her hands full all right.
Full of touching him, stroking that wet cloth across his torso and along his neck and shoulders. Using her greedy fingers to push his hair back off his forehead, letting them linger against the stubble on his face. She’d all but given him a complete sponge bath and would have gladly done so with her tongue and hands, a thought that exploded in her head with a shocking bang.

Her pretty blush told Cam that she was remembering using the wet cloth against his skin and try as he might to find some remnant of awareness of her administering to him, the blankness that met his attempts frustrated him greatly. He knew he’d been sick, but apparently he’d also been completely out of it. Her lovely hands had been on his skin and he couldn’t remember any of it.
Fuck my life
, he thought.

Hiding her expressive baby blues from him, Lacey shrugged while carefully inspecting a spot on the floor that only she could see. He waited her out and her husky response obliterated the pathetic show of nonchalance she was trying to affect.

“Your fever got quite high so I
had
to use wet compresses to cool you down,” she began. The emphasis she placed on having to do what she did invaded his brain. She was clearly self-conscious admitting she had touched him. This was new territory for Cam. Despite displaying a serious, kick-ass attitude toward the life she’d been handed, she was apparently off the reservation when it came to dealing with the fact that she had run her hands along his body. The lady was embarrassed.

“Thank God you knew to do that, little Ponytail,” he muttered. He didn’t want her to feel awkward with what she’d done and frankly was hoping to get her to do it all again so this time he could remember.

Lacey’s eyes instantly snapped to his while her heart leapt in her chest when she heard him call her “Ponytail”. So he
had
been dreaming of her in his fever. Suddenly, the world slipped a tad off center and for a few seconds she thought she might have half a swoon coming on.

Shifting his big body, Cameron ran his fingers over her knuckles. “I don’t ever remember being that kind of sick. Like, ever,” he grumbled. Laying his head back against the pillows he added, “Thanks again.”

Keeping her hands passively in her lap was costing Lacey as the thin hold she had over her composure wavered under his light touches. She was drawn to him but old, self-protective reflexes scrambled her thoughts and brought her up short.
What was she supposed to do?
In the end, the only thing that made sense was just to be honest and see what happened.

Remembering the fever reducer she’d given him, Lacey hastily blurted out one big long sentence. “Nothing was working and you were burning up - I remembered the first aid kit so I went through it until I found a liquid fever packet.” Glancing at the clock she assured him, “That was about four hours ago and luckily there was no adverse reaction.”

Seeing her look at the clock reminded Cam he had no idea of a timeframe for how long he’d been out of it. “What time is it now?” he asked.

“Um, well…,” she mumbled while biting her lip, “it’s just past two in the afternoon. You came back around nine-thirty last night so I’d say you had a twenty-four hour virus.”

Cam ran the numbers and the whole scenario as best as he could in his mind. The craptacular way he felt yesterday afternoon, how he’d steadily gotten worse as the late afternoon and early evening came on. How he’d barely made it back to the motor lodge in one piece and how god-awful sick he was on the drive. That’s what she’d been presented with when he came stumbling through the door.

She’d been left to deal with a sick stranger who she nursed through what must have been one hell of a night. She’d put cold cloths on his fevered skin, had the presence of mind to search his bags for a fever reducer, and had stood watch over him throughout the course of his fever. He saw glimpses of other things he wasn’t sure were real or just the fevered imaginings of a sick mind. Things like Lacey wrapping him in the warmth of her arms, sharing the heat of her embrace and the hushed sounds of her sexy purr against his ear. His hands remembered the feel of a succulent breast that he shaped in his mind’s eye with exquisite detail.

Next thing he knew, Lacey asked how he happened to come upon her predicament in the alleyway. Cam considered his answer carefully before deciding to be direct and wait for the fall-out. “I saw you at the diner. Noticed you actually,” he told her. “You were trying to blend into the woodwork and it caught my attention. I notice things like that. It’s sort of what I do for a living; I notice things.” He saw her look of confusion and just plowed on.

“Couldn’t help but piece together the pattern. When you arrived. How long you stayed. The fact that you put on a good show of pretending to get on a bus.” She looked slightly panicked at that particular reveal but he just kept on explaining, deciding it was best to go for broke.

“What I’m saying may sound a bit unsettling but really Lacey, it’s what I do for a living. Noticing that kind of shit. You struck me as being vulnerable and I guess my hidden inner hero came along for the ride.”

Considering what he’d just blurted out, Lacey fixated on something he’d said. He noticed things and it was what he did for a living.
What the heck did that mean?
“What are you saying …
you notice things
? I don’t understand. What would make you even care about what you
noticed
?” she growled at him. “Why me?”

“Yeah, I know it sounds stalkerish and creepy but that is in fact one of the things I do.” Reaching onto the nightstand to grab his wallet, Cameron extracted a business card and shoved it at her.

With a slightly shaking hand Lacey lifted the card and read, “The Justice Agency, Sedona Arizona. Cameron Justice, Associate.” She stared at him, frowning and confused.

“There are three of us. Draegyn, Alexander and me. We have a private agency that does security and investigative work. My specialty is surveillance and analysis. Call it an occupational hazard. I’m here on a break from work and I noticed you. Plain and simple. I wasn’t trying to fuck with your life, Lacey.”

He was an investigator. Of course he noticed her pattern. In trying to stay on top of things she’d allowed herself to fall into a rhythm. One that anyone who actually paid any attention would have picked up on. She stared at the card in her hand. “So you didn’t just happen to be passing by when those guys jumped me?” she asked quietly.

“Right,” was all he replied. Silence stretched while Lacey thought about what she’d just learned.

Going for broke Cam jumped on an idea that had started brewing in his mind from practically the moment he’d first spied her. “Look. You’ve nothing here, right?” he asked quietly. When she shook her head he tugged on her hand. ”What are you going to do when winter comes?”

“Well actually,” she answered smoothly, “I had planned on going someplace warmer. I’ve saved some money that will help me get a fresh start and if I head south it will be easier not having to battle with the weather.”

Jumping on the unbelievable opening her declaration of independence had given him Cam played all his cards in one fell swoop. “I’m glad to hear you’re headed someplace warm and have a desire to start over. It’s settled then,” he proclaimed with enormous aplomb. “You’re leaving with me when I head back to Sedona. It’s warm as hell in Arizona so you’ll like it. And I can get you a job when we get there. I know of a security agency that needs a temporary replacement for their office manager.”

Feeling mightily satisfied for coming up with a solution that allowed him to keep her near, Cam relaxed against the stacked pillows and waited for her to fall in line. When she didn’t immediately say something he started feeling the slow drip, drip, drip of anxiety at the thought she might turn him down. He wanted to take her with him, wanted to explore the peculiar attraction he felt toward her, and wanted to do a fuck-load more if his hard-on was any indicator.

He hated feeling off-kilter whether from the lingering effects of illness or the quiet indecision radiating off the Ponytail. Scrubbing both hands up and down his stubble-covered face and through his shaggy hair to help clear his head Cam all but groaned aloud in frustration.
Why was she being so quiet?

Lacey stared at the man who had in just twenty-four short hours turned her world upside down. He was offering her a way out and a chance to start over; the very thing she’d been dreaming about and working toward for a long time.
Why was she hesitating?
She knew the reasons but didn’t want to give them any oxygen. She was acutely aware of the attraction she felt toward him. A delicious blend of mystery and danger with a heady dollop of
OH MY GOD
thrown in, Cameron Justice was way out of her inexperienced league. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop her wayward thoughts and aroused senses from wanting to follow him like a needy puppy.

The conscience perched on her shoulder was tut-tutting her indecision while pushing her to
jump
. Taking a deep breath she hoped she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her short life. Striving for business-like, she doubled down on the details to give her thumping heart a chance to calm down.