“I’m thinking about leaving town.”

Cam rose up on his elbows and stared at Arden. She lay beside him on her side, face serious, eyes still showing the effects of the sweet ride they’d taken the minute they entered his place.

Now they were tangled up in the sheets, coming down off of their orgasmic high and she drops a bomb.

“You’re what?”

She sighed and rolled onto her back, glaring up at the ceiling. He ached to touch her, but he wanted her to clear up that shit she’d said.

“What do you mean you might be leaving town?” He struggled to rein in the panic. “This is your home.”

“No.” She shook her head, but still didn’t look at him. “This is my father’s home, it isn’t mine.”

“What the hell are you saying?” He curled his fingers against the urge to shake her.

“I shouldn’t have come here,” she said. “If I hadn’t been in trouble I would’ve never come to Ridgefield.”

What kind of trouble was she talking about? “If you hadn’t come here we wouldn’t have met.”

She looked at him then, expression tender and sweet. “I know. But a quick romp between the sheets to quell our urges isn’t enough to keep me in this town.”

A red haze covered his vision and Cam had to blink multiple times. “Is that how you see this? A fucking romp?” His voice rose. “Is that what you think is happening here?”

She scrambled to a sitting position, tits bouncing, light dancing off her dark skin. “You tell me what this is then, Cam.” She faced him squarely. “Six months you watched me with your brother and you did nothing but ice me out. The second you find out we’re done you come charging in, but you never talk about anything except how you want to fuck me.” She brushed her hair from her eyes. “Where are the words, huh? Should I read your fucking mind?”

He narrowed his eyes. “I never pegged you for one who responded to pretty words. Thought action worked best for you.”

That familiar rebellion flickered in her eyes. “Sometimes we all need to hear the words. Don’t assume I can read your mind, Mr. Mercer. You and your brother have this hostile thing happening, and it takes a whole lot for me not to think that this whole thing is to get back at him for whatever he did to you.”

He shifted closer to her. “I don’t need to use you to get back at my brother. This isn’t about him, only us.”

“Yeah?” She lifted her chin. “Then speak your shit, Mercer.”

He grinned. “Do you know there are certain times when your East Coast accent comes out?” Trailing a finger down her cheek, he said, “I find it damn sexy.”

“Start talking.”

He cupped her cheek and slid his thumb back and forth over her jaw. “I want to explore this thing between us,” he said.

Her lashes fluttered.

His stomach clenched. “I want to see where this can lead. I’ve wanted you for six months,” he confessed. “Now that I have you, I want to take you out. Hold your hand in public. All the things normal people do.”

Her lips curved. “Never took you for the normal sort.”

“I can be whatever you need me to be.” He kissed her forehead. “It will be my pleasure to grant your wishes.”

She was shaking her head before he finished speaking. “Nah, I think I like you the way you are. Bay Boy Mercer, grumpy and antisocial.”

“I’ll be that.”

“Yes, you will.” She dragged her palm across his chest. “I want the same thing you do, except I’m thinking there’s gonna be a backlash. In a huge fucking way.”

“You have a very filthy vocabulary, you know that?”

“I do.” She looked up at him through her lashes. “But you like it, especially when you’re fucking me.”

Just like that he was fully erect again. “Hell, yeah.”

“Cool.” She stretched out on the mattress, pulling the sheet up and covering her nakedness. “Here’s your chance to tell me about the feud you have with your brother.” Cam opened his mouth to protest, but she continued. “A feud I’m now officially in the middle of.”

She was right; she had every right to know. He sat with his back against the headboard and began.

“Clark and I were really close until we turned about eighteen or so. We went from the best of friends to competitors in a blink. Fighting over everything. I was always the more experienced of the two of us, always the one getting in trouble with the local cops. Everyone down at the station knew me by name.”

Arden put her head in his lap and he slid his fingers through her hair. “I always knew no matter what the hell I got my ass into, my mom and dad would bail me out. We’re Mercers, untouchable. Clark was the good kid and I was the fuck up, always getting in trouble for some shit or the other. I resented that. Resented that he was so damn pristine.”

“What happened?”

“I got pulled over for speeding one night. I argued with the cop even though I knew damn well I was speeding.” Cam closed his eyes. He remembered where he was going and why and he couldn’t bring himself to voice it. “He thought I was drunk and arrested me. He searched my vehicle and found a bag of coke.” Not just a small baggie, but enough to really make the law stand up and pay attention.

Arden gasped.

Cam chuckled, but there’d been nothing funny about the situation at the time. “Yeah, my sentiments exactly. Especially since the most hardcore thing I’d ever put in my body was alcohol and even then, it was rarely. It was Clark’s, he’d borrowed my car and returned it only minutes before.”

“Fuck.”

“No amount of denials could save me. I was brought downtown and booked. I called my mom and dad. I thought they’d come through for me, but no one showed up. I sat in lock-up until I saw the judge the next morning and my parents were there, waiting to talk to me.”

The memory of that meeting still brought an ache to his throat and burned his eyes. “Clark had confessed to the drugs, they said, but he was such a good kid. He had his whole future ahead of him. This was an accident and would ruin any plans Clark had of getting into the Ivy League college he’d applied for. I was told to cop to the charges, say it was mine, do it for the family.” His voice shook.

In his lap, Arden stared up at him with incredulity.

“What about your future?” she asked. “What about your plans?”

Cam shrugged. “No one cared about my plans. Clark was the golden child; his future was bright while I’m sure all they saw in mine was trips to the pen and high lawyer fees. It was all about the family and it was my turn to sacrifice. Be a Mercer, take it on the chin and move on.”

Arden took his balled fist in her palm and kissed it. He touched her nose, her cheek. Skin so soft and silky.

“I was nineteen. None of us remembered it was my third strike as an adult. I was assed-out, shipped off to state prison on a drug charge while they patted me on the back and told me to be strong. I had three years and it was hell. People knew my family, knew we had money and I was assaulted almost daily.”

Arden touched tentative fingertips to the scars on the left side of his body.

“This?”

He nodded. “Got caught in the laundry room. Someone came after me with a makeshift weapon.”

Her jaw dropped.

“I bled and bled, thought I was gonna die and no came to see me. Not Clark. Not my mom or my dad.”

“Fucking cold.”

“I got out early for good behavior and wouldn’t you know, I had to learn then that my father had died six months before in a car crash.” That wasn’t all he’d learn upon his return home. Cam’s throat burned and he swallowed. “He’d changed his will, left the majority of Mercer Holdings to me.”

“The fuck?” Arden bolted upright, shock in her eyes. “Are you serious?”

Cam nodded. “I own fifty-one percent of everything Mercer.” Not that he wanted it.

“Dude, that’s…wow.” Arden shook her head. “Was that his way of apologizing?”

“Maybe.” He shrugged. “I’ll never know. My mother was surprised, but she accepted it. Clark, not so much.” Damn understatement right there.

“What did he do?”

“What didn’t he do? He contested the will, had it tied up in litigation for two years before everything was all said and done and in the end, he lost.” The look in Clark’s eyes that day would’ve had a smaller man running scared, but Cam had dealt with men ten times deadlier than his twin and survived to tell the tale.

“I had no idea,” Arden muttered. “I thought he was worth more. Not that I cared one way or the other, but he’s always talking about his money and what he owns.”

“Clark is and has always been a show off. He only has fifteen percent so of course he’s always on the lookout for more.”

Arden gazed up at him. “Was I a part of that? Was I part of your brother’s scheme to fatten his coffers?”

Cam’s heart broke at the uncertainty in her eyes. “I don’t know.” He hugged her to him, squeezing her tight. “I honestly don’t know. I don’t think so, though, otherwise he wouldn’t have called things off. Right?”

“I don’t know either.” Arden kissed his shoulder. “I’m just glad I got out.”

“Me too.” Can’t deny that.

“So, if you’re almost as rich as my father, why are you living in a three room apartment above a repair shop and driving a beat-up old truck?”

“Hey, don’t diss my truck.” He sobered and spoke quietly. “I swore to myself I’d never touch that money. And I haven’t. I bought this place for a steal and made the money back twice over since then. I live off what I make in the shop and yes, I do all the board stuff like vote and shit, but I don’t go in to the office or anything like that. It’s all taken care off through my lawyers.”

“Dude.” Arden gazed at him like she didn’t recognize the person before her.

Cam chuckled. “What?”

She climbed onto his lap and wrapped her legs around him. “You’re deep, aren’t you?”

“I’ve been known to be at times.” He held her against him and rolled his hips.

“Fuck.” Arden moaned and bit her lip. “You’re hot when you get deep and I just want to cream all over your cock.”

Sounded like a solid plan to him.

* * *

A soft kiss on her nape woke Arden and she rolled onto her back with a sigh. An arm slid around her waist, pulling her tighter into the hard body generating intense heat next to her. She kept her eyes closed, a smile hovering on her lips as Cam dropped kisses along her neck and shoulder. Her body ached and between her legs were sticky and sore, all in a good way.

There was nothing like a good, hard fuck.

But it was more than that now. This thing between them had progressed from simply getting some to getting it all. Cam wanted to explore their relationship and the idea thrilled her. There was so much about the man kneading her breasts that she didn’t know, so much yet to discover.

His disclosure last night about Clark was a shocker, but she didn’t doubt it. If she was honest with herself, she’d agree that Clark had his flaws, many of them major and destructive.

“Good morning,” Cam whispered against her belly button.

His hot breath tickled her skin and she wiggled under him. He pushed his stiffened tongue into her navel and her stomach growled.

They laughed.

“I think you need to feed me before you have your way with me, Mr. Mercer.”

“I will if I must.” He rolled off her and pulled on the tight, black shorts he’d discarded the night before. “I have eggs, bagels and maybe coffee.”

She sat upright with a shrug. “Doesn’t matter, although we’ll have to expand your supply sometime.”

He held her gaze for a moment, emotions deep and stark in his eyes, and then headed to the kitchen. Arden flopped back onto the bed. When he looked at her like that, when he touched her like he did last night, greedy yet reverent, she could think about a future with him. She could see herself caring for him way more than she should.

After what she’d been through, given her track record with men, she should be cautious, take her time. Yet she felt herself hurtling heart-first into another relationship. This time she didn’t have to rationalize; she didn’t have to explain her actions to anyone. Cam was different.

In so many ways.

She got off the bed and slipped into his t-shirt from last night. After washing her face and using the extra toothbrush at the sink, she padded into the kitchen on bare feet. He stood at the stove in only those black shorts hugging his ass so tight, muscles in his back bulging and rippling as he moved.

Arden ran her fingers through her hair as she stood in the doorway, eye-fucking him. Damn man was too sexy, too hot. Hell, she’d never survive him.

She walked up to him and dropped a kiss on his shoulder blade. Circling his waist, she asked, “Do you need help?”

He shook his head. “No, thanks. I’m almost done.”

She moved away and sat at the table, memories of their first time together flooded her mind. Damn. She bit her lip as he placed a plate with scrambled eggs, toasted bagels, and a sliced grapefruit.

“No coffee,” he apologized. “Only OJ.” He filled both their glasses then sat opposite her.

Arden raised an eyebrow. “Where’s your plate?”

He produced a fork with a grin. “We’re sharing.”

“Huh.”

Cam chuckled and they dug in.

“It’s great to have someone who can burn,” Arden said as she chewed. “Thank fuck, else I’d be starving.”

“You don’t cook?” Cam forked some eggs into his mouth.

“Hell, no.” She cut her eyes at him. “If you had any plans of having me cook and clean for you, you can discard that shit. I’m foreign, never domestic.”

Cam guffawed as she frowned at him. What the hell was funny?

“This side of you, I like it.” His soft gaze caressed her face. “There’s no one quite like you, Arden Windham.”

Her body heated, tightened. “As long as you know.”

“Last night you talked about maybe going back to New York—”

“I changed my mind.”

“But why did you want to leave in the first place?” he asked. “What’s the deal with you and your dad?”

Appetite gone, Arden took a sip of her juice and sat back. “My dad and I never really knew each other. My mother divorced him when I was still a baby. He cheated on her.”

“With the woman he’s with now?”

“Hell, no.” Arden scoffed. “Sandra isn’t even in the top five of the women he’s been with since my mom. I was born here, but she moved back to New York with me after the divorce. He didn’t fight to have me stay with him.”

“Why not?”

Arden glanced away so Cam couldn’t see the hurt in her eyes. Much as she liked to pretend she didn’t care anymore, that shit still hurt. To know her own father hadn’t fought to keep her around still cut deep.

“He didn’t have time for me. He was doing his thing, making his money and a kid would only get in the way. He called on my birthday, sent presents and postcards, but I never saw him face to face until my mother’s funeral. I was twelve.”

Cam took her hand in his, caressing and squeezing her fingers.

“I’m so sorry.”

She nodded. “Me too. She had breast cancer. My dad and I barely spoke two words to each other the two days he was around. I never knew I could hate someone until I heard him telling my grandparents he had no room in his life for a twelve year old. He’d pay them considerably to take care of me.”

“Son of a bitch.”

“I was fortunate to have grandparents who loved me and they told him where to shove his money. We continued as we’d been, phone calls and postcards until college. He paid for that, but I rarely heard from him. Those sparse phone calls trickled down to nothing.”

Her voice cracked. “I’d read about him in papers. His company was expanding, growing off the charts. He was photographed with a different woman on his arm all the time, but I was nowhere in the picture. I hated him.” She sniffed and slapped away the tears from her eyes. “I hated him, but when I turned twenty one I was suddenly flushed with money. I came into my inheritance he’d set up for me. I wasted no time spending it.”

Cam leaned over the table and peered into her face. “Exactly how much are you worth, Ms. Windham?”

She shrugged, trying to maintain an air of indifference even as her lips curved. “Not as much as you, sugar-daddy.” She bit her lip. “I would give it all away in a heartbeat if I could get my father to see me as his daughter and an adult.”

“What makes you think he doesn’t?” Cam asked.

“I got into a bit of trouble back in New York.” Cam stayed silent and she continued. “The person I thought I was in love with turned out to be one of the major drug sellers on campus.”

“Shit.” Cam sat back in his chair, expression stunned.

“Yeah. Everyone appeared to be in the know except me. Our apartment was raided and we had marijuana and cocaine stashed all over the place. Could’ve knocked me over with a fucking feather.” Anger bubbled up, at herself and Justin. She got up, fists bunching as she paced the small kitchen. “We were in a huge mess, my money couldn’t get it out of it, so I did what I’d never done before.”

“You called your dad.”

She stopped mid-pace and looked over at Cam. He regarded her calmly, gaze gentle, compassionate. He surprised her all the time and Arden loved it.

Damn.

“I called my father.” She nodded. “He came running right away, surprising the hell out of me, but I don’t think he believed my protests of innocence at all. Before he got me released he dropped the ultimatums.”

She barked a laugh that sounded suspiciously like a sob. “I was to finish NYU, stay my ass out of trouble, and then immediately move back here to live with him. He wanted to keep an eye on me. I was not to embarrass him like I did in New York; I was supposed to keep my ass in my place. I had to agree in order to attain my freedom. My own father. Up to now, I have no idea what he did, who he bribed, but he got me out.”

Cam came to her, folded her into his strong arms, and she put her head on his naked chest.

“I told him the other day that Clark and I were over and he had the nerve to tell me Clark would take me back if I agreed to change my ways.”

“What ways?” Cam’s words rumbled under her ear.

“That’s what I’d like to know. If he likes Clark so much the two of them can get together. I’m moving out his house, though, I can’t stay there anymore.”

“Where will you go?” Cam tugged her head back, his curious gaze meeting hers.

“Indy is going to find me a place and in the meantime I’ll crash with her.”

He kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry about all this.”

Arden shrugged. “It is what it is. We can’t choose our parents.”

“As much as we wish we could,” he muttered.

A knocking downstairs interrupted them, and Arden pulled away from him. “I think you have a customer.”

He shook his head. “Nah, everyone knows I don’t open this early.” Moving to the window overlooking the shop’s entrance he peered out then cursed severely.

“What?” She rushed to his side and Cam grabbed her arm.

“It’s my mom.”

“Oh, fuck!” Arden’s heart dropped to her feet.

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly.” His gaze flew around the room.

“We need to get you out of the way of being seen.”

“No.” She touched his arm. “We may as well stop drawing it out.”

His brow creased. “What are you saying, princess?”

Yeah, what the fuck am I saying? Arden pursed her lips. “I think—I think I’m saying, let’s not hide anymore.”

“You want to out us to my mother?” Incredulity darkened Cam’s eyes. “Now?”

Arden nodded. “Um, yes.”

His mother knocked again and Cam stared at Arden. “Are you sure about this? Be very sure about this, princess.”

She kissed his cheek. “I’m sure. Don’t keep your mom waiting.”

Cam leaned out the window and yelled at his mother to move around to the other door, which was unlocked. He went into the bedroom, coming back out with a pair of jeans on.

“Arden.”

She moistened her dry lips. “I’m okay.” But nope, not really, she wasn’t. Her heart thudded as loud as Genevieve’s footsteps. She dreaded the judgments she’d get for being with Cam, but as she wiped her sweaty palms on the t-shirt she wore, she realized she wasn’t afraid.

She welcomed the talk. Let the people who don’t know how wonderful Cam was, or how he made her feel, talk that talk.

The door pushed open and Genevieve stepped in, looking amazing in a dark blue skirt suit, dark hair pinned up, and simple pearls at her ears and throat. As always she looked nothing like a women in her late fifties.

“Cameron, we need to talk.” Genevieve didn’t appear to notice Arden sitting at the table. “That dust-up with your brother last night was unacceptable.”

Cam’s jaw ticked. He held himself still and Arden got to her feet.

“Hello, Gen.”

“Hi, honey.” Genevieve spared her a glance then went back to Cam before swinging back to Arden. “Arden! What are you doing here?” Her eyes couldn’t get any wider.

Cam moved closer to Arden, shoulder brushing hers. “Arden spent the night with me.”

Genevieve’s jaw dropped, eyes bulging.

“We’re together,” Arden said. The weight of words weren’t lost on her. Or Cam. He looked at her, those eyes she’d once considered so cold now spitting out flames of desire.

For her.

She wanted to melt into him. Have him lick her up.

“What are you saying?”

They both turned back to Genevieve whose complexion had turned a vibrant red. “Cameron, what are you saying?” she cried.

“Mom, please.” Cam went to her, touching her arm. “Calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” Genevieve lashed out. “You’re sleeping with your brother’s ex. Do you know what that will do to him? How could you?” She turned to Arden. “How could you?”

“Gen, please.” Arden held up her hands to placate her friend, but Genevieve seemed to grow even angrier.

“Don’t take your anger out on her, it’s all me,” Cam’s voice rose. “I pursued her.”

“She could have said no.” Genevieve advanced on Arden. “You could have said no. You have no idea what this will do to Clark.”

“Clark is a grown man.” Was she missing something? Because honestly, Arden couldn’t really see what the big deal was. They were all adults.

“This isn’t about, Clark, Mom.” A muscle ticked away in Cam’s jaw as he eyed his mother with a narrowed stare. The two spoke within that one look, communicating silently.

Arden glanced back and forth between them. Something else was in play here, but what? Cam had already told her what went down with his brother so why did she feel like she was being left out of the loop?

“Gen.” She stepped up to Cam’s mother’s side. “We’re not trying to hurt anybody, we’re just enjoying each other. Being with each other.”

Genevieve glared at her, scarlet covering her face and neck, then backhanded Arden.

“Oh!” Arden cried out as she jerked backwards, hand going to her face. Her cheek felt like it was on fire.

“Mom!” Cam grabbed his mother and ushered her to the door. “This is our lives, our relationship, and no one but us has any say.” He yanked open the door, almost taking it off its hinges and pushed her over the threshold. “You and Clark have no say.”

“You’re taking this eye for an eye thing too far, Cameron.” Genevieve reached out to him and he moved away. “When will it end? You can’t punish him forever. It takes two, you know that.”

“Goodbye, Mom.” Cam closed the door in her face and raced to Arden’s side. “Are you okay?”

She nodded and he cupped her cheek, kissed her forehead and pulled her into his arms. She burrowed into him.

“I’m sorry.” His apology was harsh, hands trembling where he cupped her nape. “I’m so sorry.”

The sting of Genevieve’s surprisingly strong blow faded and Arden held him tight. She did not anticipate act two of this mess with her father, but she figured the sooner they dealt with it the sooner they could move on.

She inhaled Cam’s delicious musk and stepped away. “I can’t believe your mother hit me.”

“I know.” Cam shook his head. “It shouldn’t have happened, but really, I’m not surprised. Clark’s her baby and she doesn’t like to see him hurt.” The emotion on his face just about wrecked Arden. He didn’t speak it, but he missed his mother’s affection. He yearned for it and she’d probably just obliterated any hope of him ever having his mother in his life.

She hugged him close, nose pressed to him. “I’m here,” she whispered. “You have me.”

He exhaled. The muscles in his chest flexed. “And you have me.” Those words, a growled promise, grounded and centered her, and she found the strength to step back and meet his gaze.

“Take me to my father’s to get my stuff.”