~Cami~
“What’s up with you?” Addie asks me as I walk into the office and close the door behind me. I stop and look over my shoulder, as if she might be talking to someone else. “Yes, you.”
“Well, I was going to balance our corporate checkbook,” I reply, and walk over to my desk. “And I need to write a check out to the newspaper for the ad we bought. I also need to balance the tills from last night.”
“Not that,” Addie says, and rolls her eyes. She sits in the chair by my desk and crosses her legs. “The other stuff.”
“What other stuff?”
“I noticed it at Riley’s party on Sunday,” she says, watching me closely. “When you get quiet¸ it’s because your brain is in overdrive.”
“It is?” I frown and sit back, thinking over the past four days. “I thought I just got quiet.”
“Yeah, because you’re thinking.” She smiles. “Spill it.”
“Well, this is new information,” I reply.
“Are you happy?”
“Yes.” I think about all of the time I get to spend with Landon. I love my house. I love my job. I even have a cat that’s beginning to tolerate me. “I have no complaints.”
“Okay, good. But something is bothering you.”
I frown and sigh. “So, things with Landon are good.”
“It looked like it, if the way he looks at you and can’t keep his hands off of you is any indication,” she replies with a wink. “But I can hear a big, fat but at the end of that sentence.”
“It’s a little but.”
“Okay, hit me with it.”
“But when’s the other shoe going to drop?” I ask, and sigh in relief. I didn’t even realize that I’d been agonizing over it, I just knew that there was something that was bothering me.
“The designer heel, or the steel-toed work boot?” she asks.
“I don’t have any shoes to drop,” I reply, spreading my hands wide. “He knows all about my past. It’s no secret.”
“And you think he has secrets?”
“I don’t know.” I stand and pace the large office that we all share. “Maybe. Probably not secrets per se, but there’s things that bother me.”
“Like?”
“Like the Navy,” I reply, spinning to look at her. “He loved the Navy. He loved to fly, to live all over the world, and now he has to settle for being here, and what if he gets tired of being here?”
“How do you know he will get tired of being here?” she asks.
“Landon’s always had a wandering soul. He’s talked about living in far-off places for as long as we’ve known him. I like it here, Addie. I don’t want to move away. I don’t think I could. I have a home and a business to run.”
“Whoa, Cami. He hasn’t even said anything about moving away.”
I blow out a breath. “I know, I’m overthinking it.”
“What are you really worried about?”
I bite my lip and feel the tears that I’ve been trying so hard to keep at bay fill my eyes. “What if he doesn’t feel the way I do?”
“How do you feel?”
“I love him. But I’m afraid to tell him because what if it sends him running?”
“Sometimes you just have to take the risk,” Addie says.
“I’m not a risk taker, Addie. I always play it safe. I’m the numbers girl. But being with Landon has been the biggest risk I’ve taken because I’ve fallen completely in love with him, and not in a childish crush way, and he could just be in it because I’m a distraction that he needs. This whole thing makes me very, very nervous.”
“I think you’re way overthinking all of this,” Addie says. “Which shouldn’t surprise me because you’ve always been an overthinker. Cami, he’s always cared about you. Always. You’re the one that he’d pull aside to ask your advice, or hang out with. And the way he looked at you at my house on Sunday? A guy doesn’t look at a girl like that if she’s just a convenience.”
“Maybe.”
“I’m not blowing smoke up your ass.”
“Well, that’s a relief, because that just sounds uncomfortable.”
Addie smirks. “Right? I don’t understand that expression.”
We laugh and glance at the door as Riley comes inside and looks back and forth between us. “Did I interrupt something?”
“Just me trying to talk some sense into her,” Addie says.
“Did you lose your sense?” Riley asks. “Because I can help.”
“She thinks that Landon’s just biding time with her.”
“That’s not exactly what I said,” I reply, glaring at Addie. “I said it all makes me nervous.”
“Girl, he looks at you like you’re an ice cream cone and he wants to lick you all day long.”
I purse my lips. “He is good with his tongue.”
“Atta girl,” Addie says, giving me a high five. “Is he good with the other stuff too?”
“Why does this feel icky?” Riley says, her face pinched like she smelled something gross.
“Because it’s Landon and he’s like a brother to us,” Addie says. “But, he’s her man, so we have to still ask the questions.”
“He’s good at all of it,” I reply. “Better than anything I might have daydreamed about over the years.”
“That must be good because you’ve had a lot of time to daydream,” Riley says, smiling. “I’m happy for you. And I know you. Don’t overthink it. Just enjoy him. Take it one day at a time. Don’t worry about what might happen, because you’re not a psychic. You don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“That’s a lot of advice,” I reply. “And how is it that you all knew I overthink everything and I didn’t know it?”
“Because we’ve known you forever,” Addie says. “And we love you.”
“We pay attention,” Riley agrees.
“I have one more thing,” Addie adds. “If you love him, tell him. Life’s short, and sometimes even the girl who doesn’t take risks needs to make the leap. Just be honest.”
“I’ll think about it,” I reply. “Thank you.”
“Can we have chocolate now?” Addie asks hopefully.
“We can always have chocolate.”
I go to the safe and pull out the deposit bag for yesterday. Each evening, the last waitress and bartender on shift close out the tills, put the cash and credit-card receipts in this bag, and stow it in the safe. I reconcile it the next day.
Riley and Addie are chatting about going shopping for baby clothes and Addie wants us to come over later to help her design the nursery. I’m listening with half an ear as I count the money for the fourth time.
It’s still short by eighty dollars.
I frown and count it again, still coming up eighty dollars short.
“What’s wrong?” Riley asks.
“The bar till is short eighty dollars.” I glance up at the girls, then back down at the cash and receipts on my desk. This is weird. The numbers always add up. We may be a dollar short here and there, but never this much. “It’s so odd. This is the fourth time this week. I’m losing it, guys. I can’t even balance the damn daily till. I’m supposed to be the numbers girl, and all I am is a big, giant mess!”
“Take a deep breath there, tiger,” Addie says, and stands to come look over my shoulder. “Want me to count?”
“Sure, a second pair of eyes is never a bad thing.” I stand so she can take my chair and add all of the money, coming up with the same conclusion. “Seriously, what’s wrong with me? My personal life may be in chaos, but the numbers always add up. I’m losing it.”
“You’re not losing it,” Addie says as she counts the money. “You’ve been working your ass off, and we’re only doing as well as we are because of you.”
“She’s right,” Riley adds. “Take a deep breath and give yourself a break.”
“Is it always the same amount?” Addie asks.
“No, but it’s never big. It varies from forty to a hundred.”
“You don’t think the new girl, Leah, is stealing from us, do you?” Addie asks with a frown.
“Maybe she doesn’t know how to count back change?” Riley asks diplomatically.
“I don’t know, but we should talk to Kat about it,” Addie says.
“Leah’s here now, so I’ll text Kat to come in here,” I reply, thumbing out a message to Kat. A few seconds later, she walks through the door and we tell her what we’ve found.
Kat’s eyes narrow. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this right now. I won’t tolerate this in our place.”
She stomps away, out the door, and we all look at each other, then hurry to follow her into the bar.
There are no customers right now. We haven’t opened for lunch yet.
“Leah,” Kat says as she walks behind the bar toward the petite blonde. “Are you stealing from me?”
Leave it to Kat to just lay it all out there.
Leah’s eyes widen in shock. “What? No!” She glances over at us, then back to Kat. “I would never do that.”
“Cami, can you please tell Leah what you found?” Kat asks, her eyes pinned to the girl’s. Leah’s reaction seems sincere.
“The tills have been short after you’ve been on shift,” I say, and show her the reports from each day, how much there should be, and how short it is. “Do you know where the money could have gone?”
She shrugs, looking thoroughly perplexed.
“Could you be giving back too much change?” I ask, grasping at straws.
“No, the register tells me how much to give, and I always count it out.” She bites her lip and looks at Kat imploringly. “Honestly, I’m not taking money that doesn’t belong to me. At the end of my shift, I take my cash tips, and I add up the credit-card tips and take those too.”
“Wait.” I hold my hand up, stopping her. “You take your credit-card tips at the end of the shift?”
“Yes.”
“That’s it,” Kat says, her whole body sagging in relief. “I must not have told you, Leah, but the credit-card tips are added up during the pay period and added to your paychecks.”
“Oh!” Leah clasps her hands over her mouth. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay,” Addie says with a nod. “Now you do. Crisis averted.”
THE NEXT MORNING, Landon and I are having coffee and getting ready for our day ahead when his phone rings. I make myself busy feeding Scoot, trying not to eavesdrop.
Who am I kidding? I’m totally eavesdropping.
“Are you kidding me?” he asks, a frown on his handsome face. “They couldn’t have caught this before I left Italy?” He sits back in his chair and scowls at his coffee. “So I have to take a day off of work and drive two hundred miles out of my way because someone else fucked up.”
Uh-oh.
He’s quiet for a moment, and then says, “I’ll be there this afternoon.”
He hangs up and sighs. “What do you have going on today?”
“Just the usual, why? What’s wrong?”
“I have to go up to the Naval base north of Seattle to sign some paperwork that the morons in Italy forgot.”
“You have to go all the way to the base? They can’t fax it to you?”
“No, I have to sign it in person.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “Come with me.”
“Sure, I’ll just blow off work and go up to Seattle with you.”
“Great.”
“You’re serious.”
“Absolutely,” he replies, and smiles. “Let’s make a night of it.”
He wants me to spend the night in Seattle with him. In the middle of the week. I bite my lip while I think about work. I don’t have anything that won’t keep a couple of days.
“What do you say?” he asks.
“Let’s do it. I’ll make some calls.”
“Great.” He tugs me into his lap and kisses me firmly. “I get you all to myself for a while.”
“I’ll be a captive audience in the car,” I reply with a laugh.
“Good.”
In less than an hour, I’ve called Addie and Kat to fill them in, and Kat agreed to stop by to feed Scoot tonight. I packed an overnight bag and we are on our way north. Thankfully, there is no winter weather to speak of, so it should be a smooth ride.
Landon lets me choose the music, and we sit in silence for about an hour, listening to music, holding hands, just being with each other. Sometimes, these are my favorite moments with him. When we just are.
He squeezes my hand and I look up to find him smiling at me. “Doing okay?” he asks.
“I’m great.” I lean in and kiss his shoulder. “You?”
“I’m great too. A bit irritated that we have to take a trip up for this.”
“So, this is paperwork that they should have had you sign before you came home?”
“Yes. Pain in the ass.” He shakes his head and then offers me a smile. “You’re welcome to sleep if you want.”
“I know, but I’m fine.” I shrug and look out the window, watching western Washington pass us by. “It’s been a mild winter.”
“I prefer it that way,” he replies. “Makes it easier to work.”
“How much longer until the restaurant is done?”
“Just a couple of weeks. The floors are going in today. It’ll be mostly finishing work for a bit, and rehabbing Mia’s kitchen. Odds and ends.”
“I’m so excited,” I reply. “You guys have done great. What’s next?”
We spend the next hour talking about work, until he pulls up to the gate of the Naval base. “You don’t have to bring me with you. You can drop me off at the hotel.”
“No need, this will only take a minute,” he replies, and asks for my driver’s license to show the armed guard at the gate. We’re cleared through and he drives to a simple building and parks. “Come on.”
Once we’re inside, he’s recognized by several guys, and Landon waves or says hello as he leads me to an office where a man in uniform is sitting at his desk. He waves us in.
“It’s good to see you, Palazzo.”
“Sir,” Landon replies, his Navy voice sounding very hot. “Do you have the paperwork?”
“I do,” the man replies, and opens a file, then sets one paper before Landon. “I’m sorry you had to come all this way.”
“It should have been handled,” Landon says, sounding not pleased at all. “Are you sure this is the last of it?”
“It is.” Landon signs and passes the paper back. “Thanks for coming in.”
“You’re welcome, sir.”
And with that, we turn right around and leave. We’re back in the car less than ten minutes after we parked it.
“We seriously came all the way up here so you could sign one piece of paper?” I ask.
“Gotta love the Navy,” Landon replies grimly. “Shall we go find lunch?”
“Maybe we can check into the hotel early?” I suggest, my wheels turning. “The men in that office recognized you.”
“I was stationed up here for a couple of years,” he replies. “Some of them worked here then.”
“Do you miss it?” I ask, turning in my seat so I can see him.
“Living up here? No. The weather is worse than in Portland.”
“That’s not what I mean. Do you miss the Navy?”
Landon sighs and rubs his fingers over his lips. “There are days that I miss it a lot,” he replies honestly. “I miss some of the guys. There are things about Italy that I loved. And it’s only been a couple of months, so I guess it’s safe to say that I’m still adjusting.”
He pulls into the hotel parking lot before I can ask any more questions. We check in and find our room, which is nicer than any room I’ve stayed in before.
“You booked us a suite,” I say in surprise.
“Might as well make it worth the drive,” he replies with a wink, then pulls me to him and hugs me close. “Okay, spill it. What’s going on in that gorgeous brain of yours?”
“What if I’m just a stand-in for the Navy? I don’t want to be a replacement to keep you busy because you’re sad about what you lost.” I can’t believe the words came out of my mouth. I look up to find Landon frowning thoughtfully, watching me closely. “I’m not saying that that’s how you’re making me feel. You’ve been so great. But the thought is there. I just don’t want you to wake up one morning and realize that this thing between you and me has been fun, but it’s served its purpose.”
“Come here.” He takes my hand and leads me to the sofa on the far side of the room, and doesn’t just sit next to me, he tugs me into his lap and wraps his arms around me tightly. “Cami, it’s recently occurred to me that joining the Navy and moving away was a replacement for you.” My gaze whips up to his in surprise. “You were too young for me, and going into the Navy was the right thing to do, but you were what I wanted. I had such a crush on you.”
“No way.”
He raises a brow. “I’m not lying to you. I won’t lie to you. You didn’t know because it was easy to keep my feelings to myself from thousands of miles away.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything, sweetheart. I’m simply trying to reassure you that you are not a replacement for the Navy, or for flying. Do I miss it? Sometimes, yes. But I have you. I have my family, and a job that I surprisingly enjoy for now. I’m not discontent, and I don’t want you to think that I am, even for a minute. You are way more than a diversion, Camille.”
I grin. “I hate that name.”
“I don’t.”
I drag my fingertips down his face, feeling as if the world has been lifted off of my shoulders. “I’ve always envied the way you take risks.”
“I probably take too many risks,” he murmurs. “And you rarely take them at all.”
“That seems to be changing lately,” I reply, and grin as a genius idea occurs to me. I kiss his cheek, then his neck. “Maybe you’re a bad influence on me.”
“Oh, I can pretty much guarantee that’s true,” he replies, then sighs when I nibble on his collarbone. I slip off his lap and onto my knees, between his legs, and lift his shirt up, exposing his stellar abs.
“These are delicious.” I lick him, from sternum to navel, and smile when he groans. My fingers slip inside the waist of his jeans, then unfasten them and spread them open. He’s already hard. “No underwear?”
“You’ve been a bad influence on me too,” he replies, his blue eyes hot with lust. He licks his lips as I drag my lips from his scrotum, up the thick vein in his cock to the head, and then I lick him lightly. “Holy shit.”
“I have oral skills I haven’t showed you yet,” I inform him as he shimmies his jeans down his hips and I take him in my hand firmly. “Don’t make me stop.”
“Oh, honey, I’m not going to make you stop.”
“I mean, when you’re close, don’t make me stop. I want to taste you.”
“Fuck me,” he groans as I sink down on him, just taking the head in my mouth and running my tongue over the tip, then around the rim. I watch him bite his lip and throw his head back as I sink farther and swallow around him, massaging him with my mouth.
Oral sex is empowering. I love watching his face as awe, surprise, and pure unadulterated lust wash through him. His hips begin to move, slow at first, then picking up their rhythm as he fucks my mouth. I slip one hand under his balls, massaging gently, and rubbing my finger over the sensitive skin beneath, while my other hand continues to jack him and I suck him.
His hands dive into my hair, but he doesn’t force me down, he simply holds on, as if he doesn’t know what else to do with his hands. He’s completely lost to me, and it’s the most powerful thing I’ve ever done in my life.
“I want to fuck you now, Cami,” he says, but I don’t stop. I keep sucking and licking, hard and then soft, driving him mad. I can taste the little drops of dew that escape, and I know that he’s close.
“I know you don’t want to stop, but damn it, Cami, I want to come inside you, not in your mouth.” He gasps when I drag my teeth up his shaft. “Please.”
I pull back and grin, release him, and free myself from my jeans, then climb on top of him and lower myself onto him.
“God, you’re so wet.”
“Going down on you is sexy,” I reply, and wrap my arms around his neck. “You taste amazing.”
“Jesus, Cam,” he groans. He plants his hands on my hips and guides me up and down, his eyes pinned to mine. When I circle my hips, he grins and glides his hands to the globes of my ass.
“You like my ass,” I say as I lean in and kiss his lips.
“I like all of you,” he replies. “Every glorious fucking inch.”
I push down and clench hard, rocking back and forth, and his eyes close. He pushes up hard, and I slip one hand down so I can play with my clit, and that’s it. We’re a mess of sweaty limbs as we both come, crying out, watching each other.
When we’re both spent, but still breathing hard, he stands, still inside me, and wraps my legs around his waist.
“Where are we going?” I ask with a laugh.
“Shower,” he replies. “Let’s clean up.”
“And then get dirty again?”
“Have I mentioned how fond of you I am?” he asks with a laugh, and moans when I laugh with him, squeezing his still-semihard dick.
“Once or twice,” I reply. “But you’re welcome to keep reminding me.”
“Don’t mind if I do.”