Lord Have Mercy (Southern Gentleman 2)

She made a gagging sound, and I pulled her into my chest before dropping a kiss to her shoulder.

She picked up the helmets that I’d transferred to one hand and then gestured at Dooley. “You might want to get him inside before he tries to follow us back to my place.”

I grunted in reply but started back up the walk, calling out to Dooley on the way.

She whistled at me when I bent over to give him a good scratch.

“You’re getting hair on your nice pants!” she called out.

I looked down and sure enough, I had hair all over me.

Shrugging, I urged Dooley inside and then closed the door, locking it with the key before setting the alarm on my phone.

Once I was back on my bike with Camryn wrapped around me once more, I said, “Hopefully it all flies off with all the wind we’re about to get.”

She laughed, thinking I was joking. I wasn’t.Chapter 12I ordered a chicken and an egg from Amazon. I’ll let you know.

-Text from Camryn to Flint

Flint

“Your cheeks are all windburned,” I teased.

She touched her fingertips to her face and only ended up smearing barbeque sauce all over herself.

We were at one of the fanciest places that I’d willingly walk into in town—I wasn’t really all that excited about going out to eat at a restaurant that I couldn’t enjoy because I was worried about the goddamn people staring at me rather than eating.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked warily.

I gestured toward her face with my chin. “You just rubbed barbeque sauce all over your cheeks, and I’m contemplating licking it off.” I paused. “If my chief wasn’t two tables over, I might.”

She looked over at my chief, who we’d greeted when we’d arrived.

Two tables on our opposite side sat Nivea and none other than Carver, the man I’d wanted to kill since he’d started showing interest in Camryn.

It hadn’t mattered that I was seeing Nivea—I’d wanted Camryn.

Unfortunately, at the time, I knew that if I did anything with Camryn, dating or even a one-night stand, I wouldn’t be able to get her out of my head.

And I was right.

I hadn’t.

All it’d taken was one single time with her and I knew that I wouldn’t ever be able to let go.

Not that I wanted to—at least not anymore.

Before Camryn—BC as I liked to call it—I’d been adamant that I needed to remain unattached so I could grow my business. I just had way too much to do with the gym, working full-time at the school, as well as picking up oddball shifts here and there at the station.

I didn’t think that a girlfriend could fit into that.

But I was wrong.

Camryn fit so seamlessly that it was like she was always there…like she was meant to be.

“Your chief is looking over here again,” she muttered. “And Nivea hasn’t looked away since we walked in the door. Do you think she’s looking at you thinking she wants to do you, or do you think she’s looking at me thinking she wants to pull my nipples off and shove them up my nose?”

I frowned. “Ummm…”

She burst out laughing, throwing her head back and really letting go.

I watched her, loving the way her hair was flowing around her face, and couldn’t help myself.

I had to kiss her.

And I did.

Right on the mouth that was still covered in barbeque sauce.

I licked my lips once I pulled back, and her eyes followed the movement.

My eyes dropped down to the dot of barbeque sauce, and I had to physically grab ahold of my chair with both hands to keep myself from leaning forward and licking it off.

I wasn’t a big fan of barbeque sauce, but coming from Camryn’s skin? I most definitely was a fan of that.

“I think that she’s jealous of me,” Camryn murmured, sounding breathless. “She hates me.”

I looked over at Nivea, who was playing on her phone while also glaring a hole into us each time she lifted her gaze to aim toward our table.

“Maybe,” I shrugged. “But I told her from the beginning that we weren’t going to be anything more than what we were. I’m not sure why she’s acting like this, to be honest.”

“Let’s put it this way.” Camryn lifted her napkin to her face and cleaned her skin free of any sauce. “If you were standing next to someone and a person was choosing between you and that someone to win a million dollars, and the other person won it because she’s cooler, would you be mad?”

“Are you thinking that I’m the million dollars?” I asked. “And did you just say that you were cooler than Nivea?”

Camryn grinned. “If the shoe fits.”

I just shook my head, unable to help the grin that tilted up the corner of my mouth. “Did you decide what you were having yet?”