At least Preston the Bastard had the grace to look ashamed. He stood up so fast, his stool scraped across the floor. “You should get back to the reception, honey.” He tugged on Lark’s hand. “I’ll be upstairs when you’re done.”
Coward. Cam’s fingers curled into a fist and he worked to loosen them, although the ball-less, lying, cheating jackass deserved nothing more than to lose a few teeth—especially since he was now scowling at the way Cam’s arm wrapped protectively around Eva. Like he still had any right to her at all. Hah.
But that flash of jealousy gave Cam an excellent idea. He shifted behind Eva and wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her back against him and nuzzling her hair before breathing in her ear, “Play along.”
Her spine stiffened, but only for a split second before she caught on to his game. She relaxed against him and reached back to tangle her fingers in his hair in a possessive way that all but screamed, “Mine!” The gentle tug at his scalp sent blood rushing southward.
Damn. Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea after all.
“Congratulations,” she said to Lark, and give the lady an Oscar because she sounded genuinely happy for the couple. “Do you have a date set? I’ve always wanted a spring wedding myself, but if someone doesn’t ask me soon, we’re not going to have time to plan.”
Cam summoned up his most indulgent smile. “I’m working up to it.”
“Oh my God,” Lark said. “I had no idea you two were a couple.”
“We’ve kept it quiet.” Eva dropped her hand from his hair to stroke her fingers affectionately back and forth over his forearm. “We used to work together and our relationship wasn’t exactly condoned.”
“But now that I’m no longer with MPD, there’s no need for secrecy anymore,” Cam added and watched Preston do the mental calculations. The guy’s eyes bugged as he realized that, according to their fictional timeline, Eva had been “cheating” on him at the same time he had been seeing Lark behind her back.
Yeah, pal, how do you like that little taste of your own medicine? Going down hard, isn’t it?
“I need to go,” Preston said. “I have a bit of work to do and Lark, shouldn’t you be getting back to the wedding?”
“You’re right, I should.” She smiled and lifted her face for a goodbye kiss.
Cam sure as hell didn’t want Eva seeing that, so he spun her seat around to face him and did the first thing that came to mind—he dropped his mouth to hers.
He almost thought she’d shove him away. Maybe punch him for good measure. But she didn’t. In fact, she didn’t offer any resistance at all. She looped her arms around his neck and threw herself into the kiss with the same ferocity that she did everything else. It was the kind of kiss that promised x-rated fun in his future, and the semi-erection he’d been fighting all day demanded instant attention. A distant part of his consciousness noticed Lark dragging away her very dismayed fiancé—but then he didn’t give a damn anymore and shut his eyes, melting into the kiss and giving as good as he got. Eva’s tongue met and parried with his, fighting for dominance, and a thrill rippled through him. Going to bed with her wouldn’t be sweet or gentle. It would be more like hand to hand combat, with each of them fighting to come out on top.
It was exactly what he’d always wanted from her.
Wait. What was he thinking? This kiss was a ruse. It wasn’t real. He was simply doing her a favor, being a good friend by helping her make her ex jealous to soothe her wounded pride.
Fuck, he really hated being stuck in the friend category.
Cam opened his eyes to stare down at her. It took another moment before Eva realized he’d stopped participating in the fake kiss and she pulled away, a question in her caramel colored eyes.
“They’re gone now,” he said by way of explanation, his voice far rougher than it should have been for a friend.
“Oh.” Her lips, wet from the kiss, parted on a soft exhale and his cock jumped, pressing painfully against the fly of his shorts. He needed to reach down and adjust things to make it more comfortable, but—well, this was Eva. He’d spent the last five years hiding this kind of reaction from her, and the last thing he wanted was to draw attention to it.
She dropped her hands from his shoulders and spun toward the bar. “Okay, that was weird.”
Cam winced. Kissing her had been a lot of things, but for him, weird was nowhere on that list. “Yeah. Weird. Right.” He sat down on the stool beside her and took the opportunity to do some below-the-belt adjusting. “I need a shot of something strong. Want a shot?”
She nodded, but wouldn’t look at him. Goddammit.