The Mighty Quinns: Cameron (8 page)

His thoughts wandered to his brothers. Where were they and what were they doing? Had they settled into a job, a place to live? In six weeks, they’d be together again. What kind of stories would they have to tell?

5

T
HEY
CHECKED
INTO
the Serenity Spa and Resort separately, Cameron going in first and Sofie following a half hour later. She signed the register as Sofie Smith from San Francisco, following the story she and Cameron had decided on earlier. She was at the spa recovering after a skiing accident that injured her right leg.

The drive to Taos had been pleasant, but neither one of them had restarted the conversation they’d had the night before. For now, Cameron was doing his best to behave like a proper employee.

Sofie glanced up and down the hallway before knocking on the door of room 327. A moment later the door swung open and she hurried inside. Cameron stood behind her as she entered the room and took in her surroundings.

A king-size bed dominated his room. Near the French doors to the veranda, a sofa and coffee table provided a place to lounge. She walked over to the doors and gazed down at the turquoise water of the swimming pool. “I have a view of the parking lot,” she complained.

If she hadn’t been here to close a case, then this might have been the perfect place for a getaway with a sexy companion. In truth, Sofie had spent most of last night reconsidering her decision to keep her relationship with Cameron purely professional.

Maybe it was time to start living her life a bit more spontaneously. She always had a plan, a goal and a way to reach it. But where had that gotten her? After nearly dying, she ought to be the first person to want to live each day as if it were her last.

“What’s your room number?” Cameron asked.

“I’m in 308. A few doors down from the elevator.”

A twelve-year-old bottle of scotch sat on the table along with a card. She picked it up, read it, then turned back to Cameron. “A massage with Erika? Compliments of your new buddy, Walter. How nice of him.”

“I can always cancel,” he said.

“When are you supposed to meet him?”

“He left a message that we’ll get together for a drink later this evening at the bar. He said he’d call.”

Sofie sat down on the edge of the bed. The decor in Cameron’s room was simple and serene, with touches of luxury throughout. Two plush robes hung from hooks on the wall, and the bedclothes were made of expensive cotton. She’d caught a glimpse of the bathroom on her way in and had noticed a walk-in shower big enough for two.

“Do you want a drink? There is a minibar.” Cameron crossed to the small fridge and opened it. He bent down to pick through the contents. “No alcohol. I guess that’s why he left the scotch.”

“I’ll have scotch,” she said, suddenly feeling an attack of nerves.

If this was what she really wanted, then she shouldn’t be nervous at all, Sofie mused. She ought to be calm and prepared. After all, she had always been cool in a crisis. And this certainly could be considered a dangerous situation.

Cameron dropped ice cubes into a pair of glasses, the sound shattering the silence, then poured a bit of scotch into each. He crossed the room, handed a glass to Sofie and sat down beside her. “Cheers,” he said, clinking his glass against hers.

“Cheers,” she murmured before taking a sip. The scotch burned a path down her throat and she stifled a cough.

“I got the impression we’d be meeting before dinner. Maybe five or six.”

Sofie nodded. “I got a text from Walter’s wife. She thinks he’s at a conference in San Diego. She was thinking of surprising him there with a little visit.”

“What did you tell her?”

“I told her to leave the investigation to me.”

He took a sip of his scotch. “It seems like a waste not to enjoy ourselves while we’re here.”

“I don’t think we should be seen together,” Sofie said.

“Why not? We could pretend that we met at the pool and hit it off. You’re Sofie Smith from San Francisco, and you’re into healthy eating, yoga and good books. I saw you across the crowd and told myself I just had to meet you.”

“I suppose that could work. It does seem like a waste of a perfectly good weekend.”

“Maybe I could even bring you along for drinks. Then you could meet the cheating couple.”

“I need to get photos,” Sofie said. “That’s going to be hard to do if I’m sitting at the table. I forgot my lipstick camera.”

“You have one of those?” he asked.

Sofie laughed. “No. But I do have a digital recorder that looks like a pen.” She considered her options for a long moment. “You go meet them first and I’ll join you later. I’ll walk by your table, and we can pretend it’s just a chance meeting. Then you can invite me to join you.”

He took another sip of his scotch. “All right. That sounds like a plan. So, what do we do until he calls?”

“Wait?” she said.

Cameron nodded.

“Or—or I guess we could order something to eat? Or maybe take a walk. We could go sit by the pool and—”

Her words were interrupted by his touch. Cameron reached out and ran his fingers along her jaw, then dragged his thumb over her lower lip. Her breath caught in her throat and she closed her eyes. She wanted to tell him to stop, but she didn’t have the strength.

“And maybe I could kiss you,” he added. He gaze fixed on hers and he waited.

She reminded herself to breathe, and then, without thinking of all the consequences, Sofie nodded. “Yes,” she murmured. “Yes.”

* * *

T
HEY
FELL
BACK
onto the bed, and Cameron wrapped his arms around her, pulling her body into his. She couldn’t think of a single reason to stop him. To Sofie’s surprise, she wasn’t afraid. This was what was meant to happen.

The kiss grew more intense, more desperate, and as Cameron ran his hands over her body, Sofie felt as if she was on sensory overload. His taste, his scent, the feel of his body beneath her hands was more than she could process, and she willed herself to slow down and enjoy each moment.

When he rolled over on top of her, she wriggled beneath him, their bodies creating a delicious friction that made her pulse pound. The evidence of his need was growing harder, and Sofie arched against him, determined to make her own need obvious.

If Cameron thought she still had doubts, he didn’t make any move to stop. He pinned her hands above her head and dropped a trail of kisses along her neck and collarbone. “Tell me we don’t have to stop,” he whispered.

“No, we don’t have to stop.”

He drew her down into another kiss, this time lingering over her lips and teasing at her tongue until they were both sure of where they were headed. When he pulled her on top of him, Sofie sat up, her legs straddling his hips. She reached for the hem of her T-shirt and pulled it over her head.

Cameron’s gaze flickered at the sight of her red satin bra, and he reached out and ran his fingers along the lacy strap. Sofie closed her eyes as he slipped his fingers beneath the strap and dragged it over her shoulder. Taking her cue, Sofie brushed aside the other strap, then reached back and unhooked the bra, letting it fall onto his chest.

He stared at her for a long moment, his gaze drifting down to her breasts. Sofie took a steadying breath. Everything in her life seemed to fade into the background. This was a moment she didn’t want to forget. What stroke of good fortune had put him in her path? His grandfather could have bought him a ticket for another town, in another state, and he might never have met her.

Though Sofie had never believed in fate, she was forced to think that there was something beyond luck that had brought them together. Karma? Kismet? Would something like this happen without any reason?

“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he said.

A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. “If you say that again, I might believe you.”

He cupped the warm flesh of her breast in his hand, teasing her nipple until it came to a hard peak. “You are…the most beautiful—”

She didn’t let him finish. She bent down and stopped his words with her lips. In that single moment, Sofie knew that they wouldn’t be able to stop. They’d take this seduction to its logical conclusion, and after that, their relationship would be irrevocably changed.

He sat up, pulling her closer, then tugged his own T-shirt over his head. Sofie wrapped her arms around him and drew him to her body, his lips pressed against her chest. Slowly, he moved lower until he found her nipple. Cameron flicked his tongue around the hard peak, causing a low moan to tear from Sofie’s throat.

Holding tight to her waist, he crawled back to the center of the bed, and she stretched out beside him. They paused, staring into each other’s eyes, waiting for the other to call a halt to the seduction.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve done this,” she whispered.

“Me, too,” he replied.

Sofie shook her head. “No, I mean a really long…long time. Since before my accident. I’m not sure I’m going to—”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “We’ll go very slowly.”

She reached for the button of his jeans and undid it. “I think I want this.” Slowly, she drew the zipper down. “And this.”

He reached over to her jeans. “Do you want this?” Cameron asked, his hands on the button.

Sofie nodded. She wanted it all. The undeniable need, the shivers of pleasure, the weight of his body as he rolled on top of her. Her body ached for his touch, every nerve so alive that Sofie wondered whether she’d ever find relief.

He crawled off the bed and pulled her to her feet, slowly skimming her jeans over her hips. “Boots first,” Sofie said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

Cameron tugged them off, then kicked off his own. Jeans and socks came next, and when Cameron was left with just his boxers and Sofie her red panties, they stopped again for a moment.

She wasn’t sure how they’d gotten to this point and she really didn’t care. They’d been teetering on the edge since the moment he’d first touched her, pretending that there was nothing between them. But they couldn’t avoid it any longer.

She reached out for the waistband of his boxers, but a knock sounded on the door and Sofie froze. “Do you think that’s him?” she asked.

“Who is it?” Cameron called.

“It’s Erika. I’m here for your massage. I was told to come by at three. I’m set up down at the pool if you’d like to come down.”

He grabbed a robe and pulled it on, then walked to the door. Sofie stepped out of view and listened as he spoke softly to the masseuse.

“I’m kind of busy right now,” he said. “Maybe I could reschedule for another time. I’m really sorry but—”

“No problem,” Erika said. “Just dial eight-seven. Have a nice evening, Mr. Quinn.”

Sofie heard the door close and smiled. She stepped out of the shadows. “Put out the sign, Mr. Quinn,” she said. “We don’t want to be disturbed again.”

* * *

C
AMERON
FELT
HER
arms around his waist as he shut the door. He closed his eyes and smiled. Though he’d expected that they’d maintain their distance as she promised last night, Cameron had decided that he wasn’t going to encourage that point of view. Still, he hadn’t expected things to move quite so quickly.

He grabbed her hands and brought them to his lips, pressing a kiss into each palm. She nuzzled the center of his back, and Cameron turned and grabbed her waist, pulling her against him. “I don’t know, that massage sounded really good. Maybe I should call Erika back,” he teased.

“Don’t you dare. I’m not sure I could stand the competition.”

Cameron reached down and picked her up, carrying Sofie to the bed. He dropped her onto the mattress, then fell down beside her. “She’s no competition,” he said. “She had a wart on her nose and was missing her front tooth.”

“I have a limp,” Sofie said.

“I don’t even notice that,” he said. Cameron braced himself on his elbow, then ran his hand along her right hip. The scar was there, partially hidden by the high waist of her satin panties. He pulled the fabric away and looked at it, tracing the jagged shape of it with his finger.

“It’s ugly,” she said.

He shook his head. “No. It’s part of you. It’s beautiful.” Cameron leaned over and pressed a kiss to her hip. “Everyone has scars. I have this one myself.” He pointed to his hairline. “I got whacked in the head with a boom. Knocked me right off the boat. I almost drowned.”

“What’s a boom? Like a boom box?”

“No, it’s the horizontal support for a mainsail.” He held up his hand in the shape of an L. “See, the sail is attached along the mast, and the boom moves it from one side to the other so it can catch the wind. Sixteen stitches and it bled like crazy.” He paused. “I know it’s small potatoes next to your scar, but it hurt.”

She laughed. “Small potatoes?”

“Yes. Small potatoes.” Cameron put on his best Irish accent. “My grandda always says that. ‘Och, boyo, don’t worry about it. It’s small potatuhs.’”

Sofie reached up and ran her hand through his hair and smiled. She had the most incredible smile and when she turned it toward him, Cameron felt the warmth of it like the sun on his face.

“It’s hard to believe we only met a few days ago,” she said.

“Considering where we are and what we’re doing, I’d have to agree with you there,” Cameron said.

“I don’t want to wait any longer,” Sofie said.

“There is something to be said for anticipation, though.” He brushed her lips with his. “Maybe we could just lie here and get to know each other a bit better. You could ask me a question. I could ask you a question. I could show you more of my scars.”

“Or maybe we could just take off the rest of our clothes and see what develops,” Sofie suggested.

“I suppose I could always be persuaded,” he said.

Sofie reached between them and ran her hand over the front of his boxers. Cameron groaned softly, then grabbed her wrist. “Don’t start something you aren’t planning to finish,” he warned.

“I’m prepared to finish,” she said.

Cameron nearly jumped out of his skin when she slipped her hand beneath the waistband and wrapped her fingers around his hard shaft. Her touch sent a surge of pleasure racing through his body.

Somewhere in their lazy exploration, they managed to discard Cameron’s boxers and her red satin panties. He left her alone on the bed for a moment to retrieve condoms from his shaving kit, and when he returned, she took the two packets from his outstretched fingers.