From Best Friend to Bride - Jules Bennett

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was nothing he could do; he’d tried denying it, tried ignoring it. Unfortunately, Megan had embedded herself so deeply into his life that he had no clue how to function with all of these lies.

      Yeah, a walk was definitely what he needed to get his head on straight because losing himself in his thoughts where Megan was concerned was only throwing fuel on the proverbial fire. Too often when they were close together in a car, on her sofa watching a movie, he’d fought not to kiss her, not to touch her. The struggle he battled with himself was a daily occurrence, but he’d sacrifice anything, even his desires and his sanity, to keep her happy and safe.

      Lust, love or anything other than a simple friendship had no room in the well-secured bond they’d honed and perfected since childhood.

      So focusing on this case from hell that had just taken a turn for the worse was the only thing he had time to dwell on. Because in the end, no matter his feelings for Megan, she would hate him for standing by and watching her brother make mistake after mistake, for waiting to take down him and his criminal friends. But Cameron didn’t have a choice. His job had to come before his feelings for Megan.

      * * *

      Clothes were strewn around her room, hanging over the treadmill, draped across her bed, adorning the floor mirror in the corner. Pretty much every stationary object had taken a hit from the purging of her closet.

      Megan tugged on the black tank-style dress that used to be her favorite. When she gave a pull to cover her rear end, it pulled the scoop neck down. When she tried to pull the material up over her breasts, her butt nearly popped out.

      Damn that new Ben & Jerry’s flavor. Ice cream was her weakness, and now she’d discovered something else to feed her addiction...and her thighs.

      So here she was, going through her closet because she needed to de-clutter. Nobody needed this many clothes, and she’d gained a few pounds, so why keep all this stuff? If she ended up losing the extra weight, she deserved a shopping spree, anyway. And if she opted to take that new job in Memphis, she would want to start fresh. That meant getting rid of this too-tight, hoochie-mama-looking dress.

      Besides, reorganizing her overflowing closet was a great stress reliever and a good way to keep her mind off Cameron.

      With a laugh, she fingered through the pile of too-small clothes on her bed. Like Cameron was ever off her mind. She’d nearly slipped up and bared her soul to him earlier when he’d declared he wanted her to have all she’d ever desired. Could the man be so blind that he couldn’t see she desired him? Did he pay no attention to the fact she rarely dated and when she did it was only one date because nobody could ever compare with Cam?

      She knew why he didn’t go out with women. He was married to his job. But he’d never questioned her on why her social life was nonexistent.

      Or perhaps she was the blind one. Maybe she wasn’t ready to face the fact that he truly didn’t want anyone in his life, and even if he did, she would only be a friend to him.

      Though he had given her a visual sampling when he’d first seen her before the christening. That was a good sign...right? Or maybe he’d just had indigestion from all the garbage he ate the night before. Who knew?

      Groaning, she started to attempt to get out of the body-hugging dress when she heard her back door open and close. Jerking around, she tried to listen to the footsteps.

      Evan? Cameron? Either way she was clearly not dressed for company.

      “You wearing pants?”

      A slight sigh of relief swept through her as she laughed at Cameron echoing her earlier question to him. Her body was half hanging out, but extra pounds or not, men usually just saw skin and got excited. Could this work to her advantage? Maybe being a bit more out there, literally, would get Cameron to wake up.

      “Actually, no,” she called back, then stepped into the hall to tell him she’d be right out.

      As soon as she left her room, she ran into Cameron’s solid chest. Firm, strong hands immediately came up and gripped her shoulders. Her breasts, already spilling out of her dress, pressed against his hard pecs. Megan sucked in a breath, unable to think of anything but how nicely they molded together in all the perfectly delicious ways.

      The way his eyes widened, his nostrils flared and his fingertips bit into her bare skin told her he wasn’t so unaffected by her femininity.

       Game on.

      Holy—

      Cameron couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t form a damn thought with Megan’s curvy body pressed against his. This was his best friend, yet with the way her breasts were all but spilling out of her barely-there black dress, his thoughts weren’t very friend-like at the moment.

      Hadn’t he just pep-talked himself into trying to keep his thoughts out of the gutter?

      “Wh-what are you doing here?” she asked.

      Why was her voice all breathy and sultry?

      Cameron dropped his hands and took a step back, but that didn’t help his hormones settle down. Now he was able to see just how hot she looked wearing that second-skin dress that hit her upper thigh at a very indecent level and scooped low enough to show off her breasts.

      Jealousy ripped through him. “Where the hell are you going like that?”

      She flinched. Maybe he’d sounded a tad gruff, but seriously? Every visual that came to mind involved a bedroom.

      Megan lifted her chin defiantly as she crossed her arms, doing nothing to help her cause of breast spillage. “For your information, I’m cleaning my closet and trying things on. Now, why are you here and not home asleep?”

      He was starting to question that himself. “I couldn’t sleep.”

      Not that he’d tried, but she didn’t need to know that. He glanced into her room and laughed. Megan always had everything in its place, but something tragic had transpired with her clothes. He wasn’t dumb enough to make a comment because he was pretty sure that some rage had been unleashed in that room.

      “Not a word,” she growled, as if daring him to comment on the chaos. “Let me change real quick.”

      Before she turned away, the back door opened and closed. Cameron nearly groaned. Nobody else would just walk in other than him or Evan.

      Megan let out a sigh. “Be nice,” she whispered. “I’ll go change.”

      Cameron turned away just as Evan rounded the hall corner. His disheveled hair and black eye were so predictable. He looked like a deadbeat who’d obviously been on the wrong end of one of his “friends’” fists. Cameron wouldn’t allow him to come in here and make Megan feel like crap.

      “Am I interrupting something?” Evan asked, his narrowed eyes darting between Cameron and Megan.

      Cameron wanted to tell the guy yes, but he didn’t figure Evan would leave and the lie would only make Megan upset. No matter what, he was treading a fine line because if this weren’t Megan’s only living relative, Cameron wouldn’t think twice about hauling his butt in if for nothing else than to shake him up a bit.

      Megan stepped into her room and came out seconds later tying a robe around her waist. At least she was covered now. Cameron didn’t like that judgmental glance that Evan had thrown at them. Even if Cameron and Megan had been doing something intimate, that wouldn’t have been Evan’s business...or anyone else’s for that matter.

      “What happened?” Megan asked, stepping toward her brother.

      Evan waved a hand, his eyes still moving between Cameron and Megan. “Nothing for you to worry about.”

      Cameron knew those blow-off comments hurt Megan. The woman obviously cared for her brother, and Evan didn’t even acknowledge

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