Uncut Bundle

Cam smiled and tweaked the end of her nose. “Tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“Tell me about you.”

“The story of my life, you mean? Okay, but I get to ask you a question first.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She pushed up the sleeve of his T-shirt and danced her fingertips over the eagle on his bicep. “Tell me about this.”

To her delight, he blushed. “It’s just a silly tattoo.”

“It’s a spectacular tattoo.”

“You think?” He grinned. “Well, that’s good because my brothers and I think so, too. See, we were born a year apart, so I graduated from high school first. The night before I left for college, we realized it was the first time we were going to be separated.”

“So you all got the same tattoo?”

“Yeah. Kid stuff, you know, but then—”

“Then, it became a bond between you. My brothers would think it was cool.”

“Are they dancers, too?”

“My brothers?” Leanna snorted, then erupted in laughter. “Ohmygod, if they ever heard you say that…”

“No, huh?” he said, laughing with her. He loved her laugh. It was natural, just like her.

“They’re police officers. Cops. Swat-team guys. They’d beat you up if you called them dancers. Well, no. They probably wouldn’t be able to beat you up. I mean, they’re big, like you. But—”

“But, they’d try.”

“Absolutely. They still tease me about ‘the dahnce,’” she said, raising her eyebrows, “whenever they can.”

Cam plucked a daisy and ran the petals lightly over her mouth.

“They laugh, but I bet they’re proud as hell of you.”

“They are now.” She grinned. “Of course, it was different when I first began dancing. I was six and we performed The Nutcracker—do you know what that is?”

“Trust me,” Cam said dryly, “we have culture as well as barbecue in Texas.”

“Well, my whole family came to watch, except I didn’t tell them in advance that I was dancing the part of—”

“The Sugar Plum Fairy?”

“A doll under the Christmas tree. Meaning, I just sat slumped over and never, ever moved. Oh, I was devastated! I decided to switch from ballet to tap.”

“Ballet’s loss.”

“Well, no. Because actually—”

“Actually, you’re a wonderful dancer.” Cam waggled his eyebrows. “That dance you did for me last night, for example…”

She blushed. “I don’t want to talk about that.”

“I do. Man oh man, when I looked up and saw you…”