CHAPTER THREE
How was she supposed to live out her wildest sexual fantasy if these damned people kept ruining her plans? It was as if there was some grand universal scheme to keep her from stepping out of the vanilla world she was trapped in for a place where orgasms came with screams.
Hope shot a frustrated look at Cameron, wondering how he could look so easy and calm in the face of this stupid bachelor auction. Maybe it was part of his bad boy charm. Maybe he was so used to being in tight, uncomfortable, potentially dangerous situations that being in this one didn’t even merit a scowl.
No wonder he’d became a SEAL.
“So what’s the deal with the auction?” he asked, sounding about as interested as he would be in the weather.
“Rae is on the community center committee,” Hope explained, pacing in time with her words. Her heels clacked on the cobblestone with each step, the sound echoing her irritation. “She’s on the side that wants to keep it an adults only venue, though. She tried to block my every effort to fund the play areas and teen center. The question is, why’d she put forward an idea that will bring in a lot more donations, and do it behind my back?”
“Knowing Rae, she’d only do it if there was something in it she wanted.”
“I’m sure there is.” Hope glanced at Cam as he leaned against the wrought iron railing, the bleeding colors of the garden framed behind him like watercolor at night. He was so damned gorgeous. Sexy and, even though she knew he’d protest the term, sweet.
But it was the sexy she knew Rae was after.
“She wants you.”
Cam just laughed and shrugged before reaching out to grab her as she paced past.
“Damn, sweetheart. You do have a way of moving that grabs my attention. Then there’s your nice ass.”
“Cam.” Hope shivered with a sharp kind of heat at his touch. He’d never really touched her before, and had only mildly flirted. She laid her hand on his arm. Oh, my, he was hard. Before she gave in to the urge to see just how hard, and in how many places, she made herself resume pacing. “This is serious.”
“Not really.” He shrugged off her concerns with an easy assurance. “I won’t agree to be auctioned.”
Hope wished it could be that simple.
“But Rae’s right. You did agree to volunteer.” Hope nodded to save him the effort of pointing out that volunteering had limits, and that it wasn’t binding. Because as sick as it made her feel, she had to convince him to go through with it.
“Here’s the thing,” she said slowly, weighing each word as if it might explode. “Even my most optimistic expectation for this fundraiser will raise just enough for the center. If donations fall short—even by a few dollars—we’ll lose the kids programs, the teen center, everything my mother had hoped for.”
“What are you hoping for?”
Hope frowned. Had anyone ever asked her that question? She could only think of two things. The first was to be done with her responsibilities to this town so she could leave. And, of course, the second was to be with Cameron.
But she couldn’t say either aloud.
“I guess I’m hoping to force the town to fulfill my mother’s vision of the Community Center instead of hijacking it with arbitrary rules and red tape.” Rules that could still derail that vision unless she raised enough money. Hope’s stomach tightened with dread, but she forced herself to continue. “I know Rae’s intention was purely selfish since she wants to suck you down like a lollipop, but the auction will bring in enough money to ensure that goal is met.”
“This benefit should do that?”
“Well…” It was slated to. But the council could be tricky. Hope took a deep breath, then feeling as if she were giving up a fantasy for a dream, she offered her most beseeching look. “Will you do it, please? Take part in the auction. For me.”
Damn it.
Damn it all to hell and back.
Cam wanted to say no. Actually, he wanted to say hell, no. But he couldn’t.
Not when faced with the look on Hope’s face.
But he’d be damned if he was going to put his virtue—such as it was—on a platter for Rae Burton to ravage.
Cam tilted his head toward the private walled garden on the other side of the decorative fence, then started walking. As he’d expected, Hope hurried to catch up.
By the time they’d reached its relative privacy, he’d made up his mind.
“I’ll tell you what you’re going to do.” He trapped Hope between his body and the wall, planting his palms, one on either side of her head. He leaned closer until they were eye to eye. “You’re going to outbid her. If I have to be a prize, then you have to win me.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
Cam watched Hope’s face closely, loving the way the emotions raced over her without artifice. She was seriously sweet. And more to the point, she was seriously turned on.
And so was he.
Cam leaned in, trapping Hope’s body between his and the wall. Her curves gave way to the hard length of him, breasts pressing temptingly to his chest, her hips cradling his in an erotic welcome.
One hand still on the wall, Cam slid the other into the silken fall of hair framing her face, tilting her head back to the exact angle he wanted it.
Then he took her lips.
Their mouths fit as if they’d been custom made for each other. Their lips moved together in an easy dance that started slowly, gently, gliding together as soft as a breeze.
He could feel her heart speed up, her breath coming faster against his mouth. Need tightened and built, strong and insistent. Cam deepened the kiss, teeth and tongue demanding more. She met his demand with one of her own, sucking his tongue deep into her mouth.
Cam groaned. He thrust, his tongue sliding, tangling with hers. She pressed closer, her fingers gripping tight on his shoulders, sending shafts of need through his body. He wanted to feel those fingers on his naked skin. He had to have them wrapped around the throbbing length of him.
Just the thought was enough to make him rock hard.
A noise triggered the alarm in the back of his head, reminding him that they weren’t alone. That this probably wasn’t the place to imagine Hope touching him.
But it wasn’t the sound of raucous laughter that made him pull away. It was the thought of how Hope would feel being caught making out in the garden.
As her breath came, fast and soft over his face, Cam waited for her eyes to focus again.
When they did, he smiled.
The slow, wicked smile that’d earned him his bad boy reputation when he’d run wild in Diver’s Cove.
“Just a taste of what you’ll be getting when you outbid her,” he murmured, his fingers tracing the delicate curve of her ear. “Just think of how good it’ll feel.”
He brushed his thumb over her swollen bottom lip, imagined how it’d feel when he repeated the move on a few other delicious parts of her body.
“It’s going to be amazing,” he promised, replacing his thumb with his mouth again so the words rubbed against her lips. “It’ll be the best you’ve ever had. A memory that’ll last you a lifetime.”
He waited a beat, letting that sink in.
Because a memory was all he could promise her.
It’d be a hot memory.
If she was up for it, it’d be wild memory.
They’d get their fill and they’d say satisfied goodbyes.
Because that’s how Cam lived his life.
He got what he wanted, and he left.
And he wanted Hope.
But he wanted her to know what she was getting.
“Or are you scared to let people know you’re hot for that bad boy, Drake?” He nipped her lower lip, then stepped away.
“Are you too afraid that bidding on me will ruin that sweet reputation of yours?”
As confusion clouded those dark eyes, a frown tight between her brows, Hope reached out as if to stop him. But Cam did what he had to do.
He walked away.
This was a decision she had to make on her own.