Page 82 of See You Again
“She’s his mother.”
“That’s the thing. She’s not. Not biologically. Jax is her sister’s baby. Opal died when Jax was an infant, and since Felix, that’s his dad, took off, Madison has been raising him.”
James stroked his thumb across the top of her hand. “Does she want you to drop the case?”
“Yeah,” Cami whispered.
“Why don’t you? There are plenty of other cases out there. You’ve only done a handful of episodes so far. You could make an excuse. From what I’ve seen, you have a pretty loyal listener base. They’ll forgive you.”
Even before the look of frustration crossed her face, James knew she wouldn’t consider it.
“I can’t let this go. I don’t know why it resonates so deeply with me. But after everything I’ve learned… Matt’s connection to Amy… all the other deaths… I’m worried he will keep getting away with it. Maybe even hurt someone else. And why? Because he has money? Plus, I refuse to let him intimidate me.” Cami’s full lips folded into an angry line.
James’s fingers tightened on hers. “Don’t risk anything on my account.” He caught and held her gaze, tension suddenly swirling in the air between them. “It’s not worth it. Not if it puts you at risk.”
Her lips parted at his fierce tone. Her eyes softened. “James?—”
“Can I get you dessert?” Their server interrupted. “We have homemade tiramisu, as well as chocolate ganache cake and a variety of gelatos.”
Cami moved to pull her hand back, but James held tight. “I don’t think?—”
“We’ll have the tiramisu and the ganache. Don’t even pretend you don’t want dessert,” he added, when the server walked away.
“I don’t. But if you do?—”
James laughed. “I’m not sure who you think you’re talking to. I don’t think there was a single time we went out you didn’t devour whatever I ordered.”
“I did not!”
“You absolutely did.” He grinned.
She yanked her hand back. James suspected she wanted to argue further, but the desserts appeared, forcing her to settle for narrowed eyes.
“I brought two spoons just in case.”
“Smart man.” James picked up one spoon. He took a large bite of the tiramisu and let out an exaggerated moan. He nodded at the spoon laying on the table. “Come on, you know you want some.”
Cami glared at him, but her eyes sparkled as they tracked the motion of his spoon. She crossed her arms across her chest, shoving her breasts up in the neckline of her dress. His hand froze halfway to his mouth at the sight.
“It’s not fair,” James heard her mutter. He jerked his eyes to her face. Had she caught him leering at her?
“What’s not fair?” He put the bite of decadent dessert in his mouth to cover his hoarseness.
“That you can eat all the delicious stuff and look like that.” Cami gestured up and down at his torso. “If I ate the way I wanted to, I’d weigh five hundred pounds and be made of 90% sugar!”
James blinked. She actually sounded upset. He stared at her a minute, then dug into the dessert, pulling out a heaping spoonful and leaned forward. He stopped with the spoon brushing her lips.
“Open.”
“James.”
“You are perfect. Now open your mouth and take the bite.”
Her mouth opened, and he slid the spoon past her lips. She closed her eyes and moaned. Fire licked along his veins, starting in his groin where suddenly his pants were now painfully tight, and spreading through the rest of his body. He scooped another bite of the dessert and lifted it again.
“I can feed myself,” she murmured, but dutifully opened her mouth. A flush crept up her neck as he placed the sweet dessert on her tongue, her eyes darkening until they rivaled the ganache cake in front of them.
A crash of glass broke the intensity between them, and they both turned, looking for the source. Justin leaped to his feet to avoid the wine, spilling from a broken glass over his table and onto the floor. Noticing that the entire restaurant was watching, he turned a deep shade of red as the restaurant staff began mopping up the spill.