Wilde for Her (A Wilde Security Novel) (Entangled Brazen) by Tonya Burrows Page B

day.
    The city had all but shut down.
    This cannot be happening!
    “But I have to go home. Shelby—she’s there by herself. What if the electricity goes out? Worse, what if she decides to throw a no-holds Snow-pocaypse party?”
    “Doubt anyone would show if she did.” Cam’s tone was so reasonable she wanted to throw something at him. How could he be so calm? He slid out of his shoes and returned to his seat on the reclining end of the couch. His laptop sat on the side table next to his bottle of water and a bowl of baby carrots. He popped a carrot in his mouth and grabbed the laptop. “I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
    “Remember last time I left her home alone for a weekend? Five fire departments responded. Five .”
    “Because the neighbor’s house burned down.”
    “Because Shelby’s a walking jinx with no common sense!”
    “She’ll be fine,” Cam said again, still sounding oh-so-reasonable.
    “But work—I have to write up the report and—”
    “Eva.” He finally looked up from his laptop screen. “Give it a rest. You need to shower and sleep, which we both know you were going to do at the station and not at home. Shelby will be fine and the report can wait until the worst of the storm passes. Like you said, Soup’s death was a straight-forward drug overdose. Not exactly a high priority rush case. So go shower, borrow some of my sweats to change into. I’ll make up your bed.” He jerked a thumb toward the high ceiling, where a loft area overhung the living room. The condo had three bedrooms, but he and Vaughn used the third for a weight room, so the office loft had doubled as a guest bedroom whenever she needed to crash at their place.
    She hesitated. This was all so…normal. Same as she’d done a hundred times before. Seemed like it shouldn’t be this easy to fall back into the patterns of their friendship—not after what happened between them in Key West. But Cam was just so…Cam. Easy-going. Rock-steady. It was hard not to relax around him, and the tightness eased out of her shoulders.
    “Fine. Is your comfy Redskins jersey clean?”
    “Top drawer.” He smiled and there was no heat in his eyes at all, as if that one night had never happened. So he did plan on ignoring the sexual tension between them. He did value their friendship more than the sex.
    Thank God.
    Okay, she could handle this Cam. This Cam wouldn’t slam her against the wall and kiss her until she lost all sense of reason. This Cam wouldn’t trap her under his big body and make her feel things that had to be illegal in most states. This Cam wouldn’t force her to forfeit her control.
    “All right. Thanks,” she said and started down the hall. “I’ll be out in a few.”
    In the bedroom, his scent, a mix between his cinnamon gum and the spicy musk unique to him, infused the air. His practical style showed in the no-frills, dark red comforter spread neatly on the king-sized bed. His dresser matched the solid oak of his headboard and he kept his clothes in the wide drawers in no discernible order that she could see, with jeans and T-shirts intermixed with socks and underwear. But, hey, at least he took the time to fold them, which was more than Preston had ever done.
    Shit. She didn’t want to think about Preston or his plea for a second chance.
    Moving fast, she gathered some clothes from the top drawer and scooted into the bathroom, which looked as much like Cam as his bedroom. His scent was stronger in here. A white sink marbled with gray rested on a black cabinet in the center of the room. On the wall over the sink hung a mirror framed in the same black painted wood, and his shaving gear lined the counter underneath it in a tidy row. A nearly full bottle of her favorite brand of hair gel still sat in the exact same spot she’d left it after the last time she’d crashed here. She never thought about it before, but it was sweet of him to buy the gel and the other essentials—disposable razors, deodorant, and even a