Risky Pleasures (Forged of Steele #4)

A sleepy feminine voice answered after three rings. “Hello, Lena, how are you? May I speak with Morgan for a minute?”

It took another minute for him to get on the phone. “Vanessa, it’s almost midnight. What is it that can’t wait until you see me at the office in the morning?”

“I hope to be on my way to Texas by then.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m going to Austin and I need Cameron’s address. Hold on, let me grab a pen.”

A few minutes later, she ended her call with Morgan. She believed she was worthy of Cameron’s love. Now she had to make sure he still believed it, as well.

Chapter 18

“Cam?”

Cameron glanced up from the papers he’d been reading and saw both Xavier and Kurt standing in the doorway to his office. It was late afternoon and the three of them were working at his Austin home. So far, since his meeting with McMurray a few weeks ago, things had been running smoothly at Global Petroleum and he hoped they continued to do so.

“I thought the two of you were leaving to pick up dinner.”

Kurt cleared his throat. “We were, but you got a visitor.”

Cameron frowned, wondering who it could be. Very few people knew about the small ranch-style home he had inherited from his grandfather. He had to assume his visitor was one of the neighbors. Lately, more than one had come forth offering to buy his house mainly to get the land, which consisted of over ten acres. “Tell whoever it is that I’m busy.”

“I don’t think you want us to do that,” Xavier said with a smirk on his face.

“Why not?” Cameron asked, not understanding just what was wrong with his two friends.

Kurt grinned. “Maybe you ought to see for yourself and then I think you’ll understand.”

“Fine,” Cameron said angrily, tossing the report on his desk. He stood. “Where’s this person?”

“In your living room.”

Cameron left the office with Xavier and Kurt right on his heels. He’d taken a few steps and then turned around with an arched brow. “Just what the hell has gotten into you two?”

Kurt gave a sly chuckle. “Ask us that after seeing your visitor.”

Cameron frowned, thinking he really didn’t have time for this.

He walked into the living room and stopped dead in his tracks. The first thought that came into his mind was that he did have time for this. Vanessa was standing in the middle of his living room wearing that black skirt he didn’t like, the one she had purchased in Jamaica. His throat went dry and his gaze traveled the full length of her, up and down her legs, her thighs…Speaking of her thighs, the skirt barely covered them.

Their gazes connected. He felt the heat. It didn’t matter why she had come, all he cared about was that the woman he loved was here in his place, invading his space, affecting the very air he was breathing.

“Now you understand what we meant, Cam?”

He blinked, suddenly remembering Xavier and Kurt. He quickly turned to them. “Leave!”

Kurt, being the smart-ass, said, “Are you sure? She could be an enemy. Maybe we ought to search her first.”

“Touch her and I’ll have to kill you,” he said through clenched teeth. “Leave and don’t come back.”

Xavier raised a curious brow. “I thought we had a lot of work to do. You said we’d be working well into the night.”

“Out!”

He watched the two men make a beeline for the door, and, as soon as the door shut behind them, Cameron turned his attention back to his visitor.

He took a couple of steps forward. “I never liked that skirt on you.”

Vanessa met his heated gaze and said, “Then take it off me. But I need to warn you it’s the only thing I have to wear.”

He frowned. “You wore that all the way from Charlotte?”

She shook her head. “No, but I did wear it from the hotel in downtown Austin. I had that full-length raincoat over it,” she said, indicating the yellow slicker tossed across a chair. “A lot of people stared since the sun was shining outside.”

He released a deep sigh. “Thank God for that.”

“For what? That the sun was shining outside?”