LITMIR.BIZ

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lower body came to life in a big way. Did it really matter, in that moment, what his mother had done? No. He’d deal with Mom later. Much later.

      Right now he had his hands on a lovely, skimpily dressed woman. A sexy woman he’d once known in the most intimate way a man could know a woman.

      Holding her close, he again caught that intriguing fragrance of orange blossoms along with something deeper, something exotic. He’d never forgotten her, never forgotten her scent, despite his every effort to do so.

      He could still remember meeting her that first time. Talk about lust at first sight.

      It all happened after his mother had discovered Cupcake, Julia’s bakery in Old Town Dunsmuir. Mom had tried her pastries and cupcakes and had insisted that her sons try them for themselves. They all agreed that her products were incredible and soon thereafter, the Duke resorts began carrying Julia’s line of pastries, cookies and breads.

      Julia had been invited to attend a one-day vendor orientation at one of the Duke resorts up the coast. She’d planned to stay through the long weekend as a guest of the Dukes. That was where Cameron first saw her, walking across the lobby on her way to the hotel lounge. He’d approached, she’d shown equal interest, and they’d ended up spending that long weekend together.

      And that had been the end of it.

      She’d haunted his dreams on more than one occasion, but Cameron had refused to contact her again. He had a steadfast rule when it came to women. Once the affair was over, he always made a clean break. He never went back, never looked back. It was safer that way, and simpler. For both parties. Otherwise, women tended to get the wrong idea and hold out hope of a relationship growing. Cameron didn’t want to hurt anyone so he stuck to short-term affairs with women who knew the score.

      He remembered receiving a few emails from Julia, asking him to call her. He’d thought about it, wanted to, but personal experience had taught him that renewing the affair would only lead to disaster. For her sake as well as his own, Cameron had ignored her requests and eventually, she stopped contacting him.

      But here she was, he thought, a year and a half later. In his hotel suite. Wearing those sexy shorts and a practically see-through top. And a belly ring. She gazed up at him with her startling blue eyes and in that moment, he wanted nothing more than to watch those eyes go dark with passion, to taste her lush lips again as well as every other part of her stunning body. Was he honestly going to kick her out of his suite?

      Was he nuts?

      “Look, I’m sorry,” he said in a soothing tone as he ran his hands up and down her arms. “My people must’ve forgotten I was coming home today. It’s late. We can both stay here tonight and I’ll find you a room in the morning.”

      Her eyes clouded with worry. “I suppose I could sleep on the couch.”

      “We can talk about sleeping arrangements later,” he said easily, moving closer. “It’s great to see you, Julia.”

      Smiling tentatively, she said, “Really?”

      He skimmed his lips along her hairline and breathed in her fresh scent. “Yeah.”

      She sighed and closed her eyes, clearly swayed. “But what about your rule?”

      Watching her closely, he lowered his head toward hers. “What rule is that?”

      Her eyes fluttered open as she whispered, “Once you’ve finished with a woman, you never go back.”

      Cameron frowned. “I told you that?”

      Nodding solemnly, she said, “It was the last time I saw you. You said you had a great time but you wouldn’t call. You said you didn’t want me to get the wrong idea.” Her voice quavered as his lips hovered within millimeters of hers.

      “I’m an idiot,” he said, cupping the nape of her neck in his hand.

      With a smile, she gazed into his eyes. “You said it’s a long-standing rule of yours.”

      “Rules are made to be broken,” he murmured, and covered her mouth with his.

      A soft moan escaped her throat as she melted against him. He used his tongue to urge her to open for him and she relented. He thrust into her warmth and felt as though he’d come home. The problems of his world faded and all that mattered was her taste and his need for more.

      Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed herself even closer. Sweet, was all he could think. Sweet and warm and passionate. He’d missed her, he realized. He shoved that thought away as her tongue teased and tangled with his.

      He heard whimpering and wanted to hear more. Wanted to hear her shout his name. Wanted to hear her begging, demanding, crying out for …

       Crying?

      Cameron stiffened. Yes, that was definitely the sound of someone crying somewhere. Outside? Next door? That was odd, since it was almost impossible to hear anything going on outside the suite. The walls of all the rooms were reinforced and soundproofed.

      But there it was again, muffled but discernible. He eased back a few inches to make eye contact with her. “Did you hear that?”

      “Yes, I did,” Julia said, pushing him away and glancing around. Her eyes were sharp as she seemed to be waiting for it to happen again. But there was nothing, and after a moment, Cameron pulled her back into his arms.

      “Must’ve been next door,” he whispered, then proceeded to plant soft kisses on her lips, across her cheek, grazing her ear before moving to taste her sexy neck.

      She groaned as Cameron maneuvered his hands down her back until he gripped her supple bottom. He pressed his rigid length against her as his mouth devoured hers, then began to guide her toward the bed. He was hot, hard and ready for her.

      “Oh, Cameron,” she whispered.

      “Yeah, baby, I know.” He sat on the edge of the bed and eased her closer until she was standing between his legs. He reached for the hem of her T-shirt and began to pull it up, just as a sudden, wailing scream filled the hotel suite.

      Julia moaned loudly as she eased out of Cameron’s arms. A million and one thoughts raced through her mind all at once. First, the baby needed attention. She’d foolishly left the baby monitor in the master bathroom when she was so rudely interrupted by Cameron, but she knew that if little Jake was fussy, she’d hear him from anywhere in the suite. After that initial scream for attention, he was quiet, but experience had taught her that he wouldn’t remain so for long.

      Her other million thoughts were all centered around the realization that Cameron would finally meet Jake. She knew it would’ve happened eventually, but since he hadn’t brought up the subject tonight, she was fairly certain that Cameron, stubborn to the end, had never looked at her emails and therefore, had no idea about the baby. Well, she really hoped he liked surprises.

      She headed down the hall toward the bedroom door to face the inevitable. “I’d better take care of this.”

      “Take care of what?” Cameron asked, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

      “The noise you heard before? The crying?”

      “The noise from next door? I don’t hear it now,” he said, and continued his sensual onslaught by kissing her neck, then nibbling that most sensitive spot behind her ear.

      She couldn’t help but sigh deeply. Her skin tingled everywhere Cameron’s amazing lips touched her. As his hands worked their magic over her body, Julia recalled that everything about Cameron Duke excited and delighted her.

      But why in the world had she trusted Cameron’s staff when they’d promised he would be away this whole time? But even his mother had insisted it was safe to stay in the suite. Julia should’ve known by the twinkle in the older woman’s eye when she insisted that Julia stay in Cameron’s suite, that she was being set up.

      Her first instinct had been to leave Jake

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