Lovers and Other Strangers Box Set: The Boston Stories (22 page)

"Evie, I'm sorry if I freaked you out. I didn't mean you had to have sex with me, but I wanted to make love to you. I wouldn't have done anything you didn't want, I swear. I'll just get my stuff and go. We can see each other some other time.

"No."

"No, you don't want to see me again?"

"No, I don't want you to leave. Please don't, not like this. It just took me by surprise. I should probably explain myself better but it is going to take some time."

"If you don't want me to leave I've got plenty of time.

They both startled at the knock on Evie's inside door.

"What the hell? Is there another way in besides the door with the bad lock?"

"No."

"Evie, I'm calling the locksmith tomorrow, hell, I'll take the day off to meet them if you can't.'

"Joseph, I don't have any enemies but it is cute the way you want to take care of me." She walked over and looked through the peephole.

"Its just Bernard." as she opened the door.

"That's a fine way to say hello." He reached over and kissed her. Cam saw Evie stiffen so it was a good bet it wasn't Bernard's normal hello. Evie pulled away and looked over at him. Cam did his best not to growl as the pain in the ass walked in. He knew Evie hadn't invited the kiss and it wasn't like she had melted from it the way he liked to think she did with his, but having to watch some other man kiss her made him crazy jealous. It also got him thinking. If he was right, this wasn't Bernard's normal behavior. It was a safe bet Evie hadn't dated much, was Bernard jealous enough to break Evie's windows. Time to poke Bernie with a sharp stick and find out.

"Bernie! This sweet lady and I were just about to go up stairs for some, quiet conversation, you understand don't you." Okay, smooth it wasn't, but it told Bernie-boy everything he needed to know. Judging from the color his face turned, it also told Cam everything he needed too. Unfortunately Evie was looking at him like he'd lost his damn mind so she didn't see the red and white splotches of anger coloring Bernie's face. By the time she turned back to face Bernie he had brought his features back to normal and his coloring was almost there too. Cam made a note to check out Bernard's history when he got to the office tomorrow. And get a locksmith out here ASAP.

"Bernard, this is a surprise. What are you doing here?"

"I heard about your windows and came to see if there was anything I could do to help. If you need a place to stay I'm happy to have you at my place." Evie looked at him like he had grown a second head.

"Really, I'll be fine here..."

"I'm going to be staying here so she'll be safe." Evie looked over at him like she had a second ago.

"Joseph, I don't think..."

"Evie, I'm not taking no for an answer." He tried to make his voice as reassuring as possible. Let her know that this wasn't about sleeping together, that he really did want to protect her.

"No offense, but what good could you possibly be to her." This from Bernie-boy. At least Evie looked horrified, maybe Cam should thank the guy for making this easier.

"Joseph is more than able to keep me safe, actually he has been wonderful through this!" Damn she was cute when she was mad. "He handled everything with the cops this morning, and got a company to come and board up the windows. I'm not a child Bernard. I don't need a babysitter." Bernie must have realized his mistake because Cam could see him mentally recalculating where to go from here. He must have figured she would have been alone that early in the morning. Good, let the creep chew on that for a while. Cam rolled next to Evie and held her hand.

"I want to be around when the insurance guy gets here tomorrow. In case they have any questions about what I saw. And don't forget the locksmith." Cam fought smiling at the seething look on Bernie's face. This was almost too easy. Evie looked down at him and squeezed his hand.

"Thanks. Bernie, ugh, I mean Bernard, we've got it covered. I'll be fine overnight and Joseph has already been dealing with everything. It would get too confusing to have you step in now."

"I just wanted to make sure you had the help you needed that's all. Wouldn't want anything to happen to my biggest fan." Cam doubted that Evie was his biggest fan, he was pretty sure Bernie's biggest fan was Bernie himself. "Give me a call after you're done with your appointments tomorrow we'll have lunch, the three of us if necessary."

"Sorry she's already got plans." Cam tried to be as dismissive as possible. "Actually, she's got plans for all her lunches, and dinners, and breakfasts too." That ought to drive the point home with a bullet.

"Well, Evie, I am at your disposal if you need me."

"Really, Bernard, I should be fine but if I need you, I'll call."

"That was all I was looking for." He turned around and left. Cam could feel his chest start to loosen up immediately. He really didn't like that guy.

"Joseph Camenitti, that was positively caveman-like behavior!"

"Yeah, well..."

"I can't believe you were jealous of Bernard." Cam couldn't be sure but he thought he caught the faintest glimpse of a smile on her pretty lips. Should he tell her about his hunch? He had no proof and she knew Bernie a hell of a lot better than she knew him. Still she had stiffened up when he kissed her so there was something to his fears. Probably better if she just thought he was jealous. He was, a little. Not enough to get crazy or anything but she didn't know that.

"Hey, I didn't like him kissing you, and yeah, maybe I was jealous for a second. Guys like him and I are enemies in the wild. He thinks he is the real shit, while I think he's just full of shit.

"You're cute when you're jealous." She smiled and then giggled. Suddenly she looked like a pretty fifteen year old girl. Yeah, she needed his protection more than she knew, problem was who was going to protect her from him.

"And you are damn cute when you get angry, I'll have to keep that in mind for our first fight."

"You aren't mad about before?"

"What? Oh, no. I was never mad, just upset with myself. I got from the beginning that you wanted this to go slow. I shouldn't have gotten carried away."

"I shouldn't have led you on. I mean, I wanted... Its complicated."

"I'm not going to push, when you're ready you'll tell me, okay? Now come curl up with me on the couch so your caveman can kiss you."

"No unbuttoning me?"

"I'm not going to lie, I'd like to do a hell of a lot more than unbutton you but, scout's honor I will be a perfect gentleman.

"So which is the real you, the caveman, the scout, or the perfect gentleman? Some how I've gone from not dating at all to having three guys in my bed."

Cam growled at her. "They better all make you yell out my name."

She gave him a dazzling smile. "Oh, they do. but right now I'm thinking I like this caveman guy the best."

"He's all yours, but careful, he bites."

"Mmm, sounds promising." And like that she went from innocent girl to sexy temptress. Damn, this woman was an E ticket ride if ever there was one. He could spend a lot more time with her and never get bored. They caught the last quarter of the game. To tell the truth, he didn't remember much of it. She was curled up practically in his lap drawing lazy circles on his chest. After her reaction last time, he figured he was better off ignoring what she was doing till he could get control of himself. At the rate he was going he figured he'd be dead of old age first.

It was getting dark and she was getting hungry. Not hungry enough to move away from him, not yet anyway. She didn't think she'd ever just been held for as long as this. Scratch that, she knew she hadn't. Maybe there had been guys that wanted to but Eden was right she couldn't even make eye contact most of the time. With Joseph, eye contact wasn't even part of the equation She couldn't keep her hands off of him.. He was like some kind of emotional superhero, walking through her emotional minefield, scaling her walls in a single bound. She stifled her giggle at the image of him in a cape. He was staring at the television but she couldn't even figure out what was on now that the game had ended. She was so comfortable and relaxed she wanted to just curl herself around him and stay there forever. She couldn't stop running her hands over his chest as he cradled her in his arms. She wished he'd kiss her or maybe carry her upstairs to bed. Instead he pushed her to sit next to him. Bummer!

"We should get going?"

"Hey, I was comfy." In return she got a strange grimace from him that was either annoyance or confusion or something else she didn't understand. He mumbled something under his breath that sounded like "I'm not".

"When I came over here, yesterday," He added emphasis to the the last word, "I hadn't planned on staying over. We're going to need to eat soon too. Grab some stuff, I'm taking you to my place."

"What? I thought you were going to stay here. That's what you told Bernard."

"This is plan B, its a hell of a lot safer."

"You really think the threat is that bad?" He had seemed tense while they watched the game did he really think Bernard would do anything.

"Yeah, If I have to share a bed with you up in that playground you call a bedroom all night and you're adamant we're not having sex. I am pretty sure I'm gonna combust."

She couldn't stop her grin, so that was why he was so tense! Duh. She really did need to pay more attention. What did he mean playground?

"Why are you calling my bedroom a playground? Its a perfectly nice bedroom, its not horribly girly, just a little, maybe. I thought you said it was perfect.

"It is perfect. That tub up there is perfect for us to soak in together, and the old hand held shower would be perfect for me to use to wash your hair. That giant mirror is perfect to make love in front of. A couple of pillows on that fuzzy rug and it would be our own little paradise. Then there is your bed under the stars, that headboard is perfect for tying you to. I'm thinking nice thick silk ribbons. All so I can sweetly torture you with kisses all over your body till you are begging me to make love to you. So no, I'm not spending the night here. I've got a spare bedroom where you'll be nice and safe and you can lock the door to keep out the caveman and the scout and the not so perfect gentleman, because right now all three of them are trying to figure out how to get you into bed." By the time he was done his face was bright red and steam could have been coming out his ears. Evie wouldn't have noticed she was so lost in the pictures he had painted in her head.

"Oh." That was articulate. She took a deep breath and it shuddered in her chest. He was staring at her chest now. She hadn't bothered putting a bra on and her nipples hurt they were so hard, he had to be able to see them through the shirt.

"I'll go get some things." When she got upstairs she sank onto the love seat and put her head down between her knees. Once she felt the blood rushing to her head she sat up and looked around the room. She started laughing then covered her mouth in case Joseph heard her downstairs. She had put this place together bit by bit as she found things she liked. None of it was planned, nothing coordinated. Now she looked at it through his eyes and a wave of desire washed over her so strong she was stunned. She wanted to do all those things he'd talked about. Well, the tying her up she was a little unsure of but having his lips all over her she knew she wanted that. She looked into the mirror and could almost see the two of them together on the rug. Oh Damn! And the tub, a nice hot bath with a nice hot man had never sounded so good. She realized she was panting, if he came up here now she'd tear his clothes off before he could get a word out of his mouth.

She was out of her mind, that had to be it. She had known him, really talked to him -known him, for just over twenty-four hours. She was not jumping into bed with him that quickly even if the things he said he wanted to do to her made her wildest fantasies look like a kiddie movie. She stood up and swayed. She pulled in as much air as she could and marched into her closet. In five minutes she had filled an overnight bag and gotten her toiletries out of the bathroom. She grabbed the T-shirts and the other flannel shirt they had bought for him and made her way back downstairs.

"I'm ready." She said quietly. She was still on edge from what he had said but she had firmed up her resolve that no matter what, nothing was going to happen, not yet anyway.

"I'll make you dinner at my place. That is as long as you like Italian? That's all Dad cooked and that's all I ever learned."

"Italian is fine, great actually." A minute ago she was ready to tear his clothes off, now she was feeling shy. No wonder he had no idea what was going on in her head, she didn't either anymore.

"I came by way of the T. If you want we can take that. I live over by the arboretum in JP. Parking is kind of a bitch but..."

"The T is fine, I don't love driving around here. I hear its really nice out that way. I have to confess I haven't been out there since we went in school."

"Its different than here, families mostly, I bought the place after I got shot, never would have had the money to afford it otherwise and now, forget it. Even with the crappy housing market the prices are still insane. Its not like I'm going anywhere though. I should probably warn you. My niece, Delia, lives with me. She's a good kid, well if 21 is still a kid? Her mother, my sister, is having a midlife crisis and has decided to go live in the Southwest. Said she felt creatively suffocated here, mostly I think she was just bored. You can take her old room."

"What does your sister do?"

"She used to be a nurse but for the last ten years has been a romance writer."

Evie choked. "A romance writer?" it came out a squeak. "As in Romance Writer, romance writer?"

"Yeah, you'd be getting an earful if you made that face in front of her."

"Sorry, I guess logically I know people write them but I guess I never thought about it being someone you could actually talk to. Sorry, that sounds stupid."

Joseph started laughing. "No it doesn't, I thought it was bizarre at first too. Then she started getting checks from her e-book sales and I stopped laughing. Delia comes and goes as she pleases so you may not even get to meet her. Although..."