Down London Road (On Dublin Street 2)

‘But it showed you a new life. You started dating men with money to get by?’ Cam’s body tensed as he asked the question.

I turned my head from him and even though there was no longer any censure in his question, I still felt ashamed. ‘I’ve never dated a guy I wasn’t attracted to, or that I didn’t care about.’ My eyes found his and I prayed for him to believe me. ‘I cared about Callum. I care about Malcolm.’

Holding up his hands, Cam stopped my worries with a gentle look. ‘I am not judging you. I promise.’

I raised an eyebrow.

He grunted. ‘Any more. Or ever again.’ He shook his head, his brows dipped in consternation. ‘You must have thought I was such a self-righteous prick.’

I chuckled. ‘I do believe I may have actually called you that.’

His eyes brightened. ‘Good girl, by the way,’ he said approvingly. ‘Giving me what for.’

I smiled a little shyly. ‘I usually hate confrontation, but I did quite enjoy putting you in your place.’

My words had the opposite effect of what I’d intended. He didn’t laugh. Instead he was grave. ‘Earlier in the hall, I grabbed your arm …’

I looked away as I remembered my reaction. ‘I tend to freeze if someone gets aggressive with me. Just a reflex from years with my dad.’

‘I didn’t mean to be aggressive.’

‘I know.’

‘You know I’m a martial artist.’

As my eyes ran over his lean but roped physique, I was so busy checking him out that I didn’t call him on his seemingly abrupt change of subject. ‘Makes sense.’

His answering smile was more than a little cocky and I rolled my eyes, making him laugh. He shook his head, trying to return to being serious. ‘Judo. Nate and I both go to classes. You should come with me, Jo. Learning self-defence might help – it could give you back a little control.’

‘I don’t know.’ My stomach jumped uneasily at the thought. ‘I work during the day Monday to Wednesday anyway. I don’t have a lot of spare time.’

I had surprised him again. ‘You have another job?’

I gave a huff of laughter, thinking I understood his surprise. ‘Believe it or not, I never ask Malcolm for anything he gives me. I accept gifts he chooses to give me, but that still leaves me with bills to pay. Plus I have to put money aside for when Cole decides what university he’s going to. Oh, speaking of – let me get my purse so I can pay you back the money you just gave Cole.’

‘Forget it.’ Cam shook his head, and catching the stubborn tilt to my chin, he narrowed his eyes. ‘I mean it.’

Hmm. I would just have to find a way to pay him back later in such a way that he couldn’t say no.

As if he was reading my thoughts, our eyes locked in a battle of wills, and slowly but surely the familiar tension thickened, heat creeping between us. My eyes dipped to his mouth, to that soft, curling upper lip I wanted to nip … amongst other things. I wondered what his mouth tasted like, how it would feel brushing butterfly kisses down my neck, tugging my nipple into its heat …

My body tightened, fire tingling in my cheeks and between my legs. I snapped my gaze back up and found that Cam’s own eyes had darkened, his body coiled with the tension.

I stood up abruptly. ‘I’d better go.’

Cam smoothly got to his feet as well. ‘Are you going to be okay going back up there?’

For a while he’d actually managed to make me forget that I’d attacked my mum not too long ago. I found myself shocked all over again. ‘How do I even … ?’

‘First …’ Cam approached me carefully and I had to contain the little shiver of want that rolled over me again when his rough hand grasped my chin to lift my eyes to his. When our eyes met, the pull between us grew stronger. I wanted to curl my nails into his skin, latch on and never let go, and the overwhelming need shook me to my very core. How had it happened that one conversation had changed everything? This Cam in front of me was someone new, someone good, someone I felt close to – closer to than anyone. And I found that I wanted in deeper, not satisfied with merely ‘close’.

The realization made me a little dizzy.

‘You get that guilt out of your head,’ Cam ordered softly. ‘Don’t dare apologize to her. Anyone would have done what you did. Look at what your uncle Mick did when he found out your dad was beating you. It’s instinct to protect those we care about. Sometimes instinct makes us do things we’d never imagine we’re capable of doing.’

‘Violence should never be the answer.’

‘Aye, in a perfect world. But sometimes animals don’t understand anything but their own language.’

‘I don’t want Cole to think what I did was right.’

‘He doesn’t,’ Cam assured me. ‘What you did was human. He thinks what you did, you did out of love.’ His hands dropped to curve around my shoulders and he tugged me a little closer, causing my breath to hitch. The expression in his eyes, the one I couldn’t quite understand, didn’t help my frayed nerves. ‘That kid could have been brought up like you – without a parent, without proper care and affection. Jo, you saved him from that. And he bloody well knows it.’

I felt the weight of today’s revelations settle on me, and I suddenly, desperately, wanted my bed. ‘Thank you, Cam.’

‘Nothing you told me leaves this room. I promise.’

‘Ditto with what you told me.’ I stepped back, needing a little physical distance from him. Something awful suddenly occurred to me. ‘I don’t know how I’m going to ever be able to leave Cole alone with her again.’