Page 60 of See You Again

“You wouldn’t answer a simple question about whether or not you have stepbrothers.” She lifted her chin, refusing to back down.

“You wouldn’t say why you wanted to know,” he challenged, his body shifting slightly forward. Not exactly touching her, but close enough that the currents of air shifted around them. Her nose caught a whiff of his cologne. Subtle but spicy, the scent set off a throb between her legs. Her breath caught, and her heart hammered against her chest in a way that had nothing to do with the anger inside her.

Her tongue flicked out to wet her dry lips, and his gaze fell to her mouth. He angled his head closer. His lips were only inches from hers now. In the moonlight, James’s gray eyes glittered.

“Why are you so fucking stubborn?” His warm breath crested across her cheek, and she closed her eyes against the sensations that shot through her body.

No!

Her eyes popped open.

He is not going to distract me!

“I’m only trying to give you the courtesy of a heads-up before I pursue this line of inquiry.” Cami didn’t think he caught the slight tremor in her voice.

Her words acted like a bucket of cold water. James stepped back, a confused look on his face, and she instantly missed the heat of his body so close to hers.

“What line of inquiry?”

Originally, Cami had hoped to broach the subject gently, but they were past that now. “There is a connection between your stepbrother and Amy’s case. I plan on pursuing it as an angle.”

James’s jaw dropped open, but the immediate denials she expected didn’t come. “Explain.”

Cami’s eyebrows rose at the barked order, and his face softened slightly, but the urgency in his eyes remained. She considered for a minute. How much to tell him without tipping her hand? Cami still didn’t know if James would give Matt Crawford a heads up.

“Do you want to come in? This is going to take a few minutes.”

James nodded, but she could tell his mind was far away. Cami took a seat on the sofa, but James remained standing.

“Do you want something to drink? Coffee? Wine?”

“I want you to tell me what the hell Trey and Matt have to do with your case.”

“First, I want to know how close you are. I can’t afford for you to contact them on your way home and warn them to avoid my calls.”

“Your calls?”

“I’m hoping to interview Matt.”

James’s nostrils flared. “No.”

“Do you think that just because we are pretending to be a couple, I’m not going to do my job? Even if you were my real boyfriend, I would never allow you to tell me what to do.” Disappointment that he would ask crushed her.

James shook his head again as he paced back and forth. “I’m not telling you what to do.”

“That’s not what it sounded like.”

James thrust his hands back into his hair, betraying his agitation. For a man who valued his control, James appeared to be losing it.

“You don’t understand. He’s dangerous. Dahlia has some awful stories.”

Cami’s forehead wrinkled in confusion.

“Lia Everton, Luke’s girlfriend,” James clarified. “Matt’s a predator that uses my father’s fortune to protect himself. I don’t want you anywhere near him. Much less alone.”

Goosebumps rose on her arms. Predator? “What did he do to her?”

James stared sightlessly at the wall.