When You Are Mine(3)

She returned his inspection, noting the dark green eyes under thick,  well-shaped brows. The sculpted blade of a nose. The high cheekbones  jutting to create hollows above his jaw. His tanned skin stretched taut  over the regal bones of his face. He wore jeans, a green polo shirt, and  leather moccasins, but he carried an air of careless glamour only money  could achieve. He was a slumming prince, and the strong male beauty of  him snagged the breath in her throat. The rest of the room dissolved  into a peripheral blur.

She wasn't sure if she was supposed to speak, or if it was his turn. She  wanted to speak, make small talk, but speech and sense had fled. She  was naturally reticent. Slow to share much about herself. Some might  even call her shy. But somehow she knew this man could trample her  defenses and dismantle her like a ticking bomb.

"So you two finally met." A familiar male voice a few feet away snapped the invisible thread tugging her closer by the second.

Kerris looked over her shoulder, coming back to herself and finally  absorbing something beyond him. Cam walked up, making her smile. He made  smiling an involuntary action, like blinking or sneezing. Something you  just couldn't hold back.

Cam slid an arm around her waist, leaning down to kiss her cheek. She  forced herself to give him her full attention, willing Mr. Mountain to  drift away.

"This is the guy I've been trying to get you to meet for the last year,  but he's been all over the globe saving orphans. This is my best friend  in the world, Walsh Bennett."

Oh. Freaking. No.

Kerris's only consolation was that Walsh looked just as disconcerted  before disciplining his features into a polite mask, as if that moment  hadn't happened. Maybe it had been her imagination. Feeling a wordless,  mindless connection that strong with your boyfriend's best friend would  border on tragic.

"I was just congratulating Kerris on her award. My mom practically  threatened to disown me if I didn't." Walsh split his glance between the  two of them. "I had no idea Mom's star scholar was the girl you've been  raving about."

Jo sidled up and slipped her arm through the crook of Walsh's.

"I'm just glad someone made Cam work for it."

"I finally found a girl worth working for." Cam's half-serious look rested on Kerris.

He placed a kiss on her unsuspecting lips, surprising her when his  tongue made a quick foray into her mouth. She willed herself not to jerk  away. Cam knew how difficult physical affection was for her in private,  much less in a room full of people. Her discomfort deepened in front of  him.

"I'm glad to finally have you both in the same state," Cam said. "This  summer's gonna be great. The two people I love most in the world. Sorry,  Jo. Make that three."

"Whatever," Jo said, her laugh good-natured. "Are we going to celebrate  the scholar or what? The food at this reception looks delish."

"Um, remember I kind of had a private celebration planned for Kerris and  me." Cam offered a sheepish grin, squeezing Kerris's hand.

"What'd you have in mind?" Kerris found a smile she hoped passed for normal.

"You'll have to wait and see." Cam's look asked Jo and Walsh to  understand. "You guys don't mind if we skip the reception, right? I'll  see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Walsh glanced at Kerris before looking back at Cam.

"Just some of us getting together at the river to kick off the summer," Jo said. "Grill some food. Swim. You in, Walsh?"                       
       
           



       

"Sounds like fun. If you don't mind me sleeping half the time. Jet lag's kicking my ass."

"Sleep as much as you want." Jo leaned her head against Walsh's shoulder. "We just want you around. We've missed you, man."

"Yeah, great having you home. Can't wait to catch up." Cam turned to  Kerris. "But right now, we're gonna head on out. Ready, Ker?"

Kerris watched the interaction between the longtime friends. The feeling  was finally returning to each body part Walsh had so closely inspected  moments before.

"Oh, sure," she said. Cam pulled her toward the door, but she glanced  over her shoulder one last time. "Nice to finally meet you, Walsh."

Before she turned away, Walsh's eyes held hers for an extra beat of her  heart. That same jolt struck right down the middle of her soul. The  intensity of that stare left her insides crackling.

* * *



Walsh watched until the crowd swallowed Kerris's scarlet silk. He felt  like someone had shaken him from a coma, and he'd awakened disoriented  in a world that was familiar, but changed in ways vast and  indiscernible.

"Hellooooo." Jo waved a hand in front of his face. "What were you looking at?"

"Nothing." Walsh carefully hid his churning emotions beneath a  protective layer of composure. The trick he'd learned over the years  didn't usually work on his sharp-eyed cousin, but it was worth a try.

"I can tell when you're attracted to a girl, and the look you just gave  Kerris was way beyond that. Forget it. She's taken. By your best friend,  I might add."

"The girl's beautiful." Walsh did his best to look directly into the censure of Jo's eyes. "Can't blame a guy just for looking."

"Keep it that way." Skepticism twisted Jo's mouth, lifting one side and not bothering with the other.

"You think Cam's serious about this girl?" Walsh deliberately kept his  voice casual and devoid of the rabid curiosity gnawing through his mind.

"Serious? That plan of his?" Jo paused as if giving Walsh time to  prepare for what she'd say next. "Tonight he's asking her to marry him."

The word "marry" punched Walsh in the throat, the breath soughing  through his nose. He had glimpsed a great prize behind the curtain, only  to have it snatched away. A cruel sleight of hand. He reminded himself  he had exchanged only a handful of words with the girl. His strong  response to the possibility of Cam marrying her was because he didn't  know her, and only wanted the best for Cam. For Cam to be happy. That  was the reason.

A shame he couldn't convince himself.





Chapter Three



Cam and Kerris pulled up the cobbled driveway leading to his lovely,  stacked stone cottage. A wide front porch with a swing looked like a  holdover from a time long gone.

"You're so lucky to live here rent-free, Cam." Kerris pulled off her  seat belt and eyed the charming house she fell a little bit more in love  with every time she visited.

"Yeah, Ms. Kristeene won't take my money, which is fine with me since I  don't have much." He angled a grin her way in the dim light of the car.  "This cottage has been in their family for probably sixty years, but  since they all live at the house closer to town, it works out."

Kristeene would have done a lot more for Cam if he'd let her. Kerris  admired his fierce pride and determination to make his own way. She  followed him to the front door and through the house, and couldn't help  but be glad he'd at least accepted this beautiful cottage. He squeezed  her hand and smiled over his shoulder every few seconds. Anticipation  lit his eyes like it was Christmas morning.

A screened-in porch led to a well-manicured backyard. Small, sand-filled  bags lit with votives marked a clear path on the ground, directing them  toward the center of the backyard. Looking at the multicolored quilt  spread across the grass, with lanterns at each edge to bathe it in warm  light, another corner of Kerris's heart softened.

"Cam, how'd you do all this? It's beautiful."

"Jo definitely got involved. The Walsh family cook made the food." Cam  smiled, shy and bold all at once. "I had help, but the idea for a  candlelit picnic was all mine."                       
       
           



       

"It's absolutely perfect." So few things had been perfect for Kerris, and these moments, this gesture, was one of them.

"Sit down." He took her hand, settling her onto one of the overstuffed  satin-covered cushions in the center of the quilt. "I'm glad you were  fine skipping the reception. I knew this was waiting for us."

"I'm glad, too." Kerris lifted the silver domes covering the dishes to  reveal roast chicken with vegetables, risotto, and snow peas. The aroma  of freshly baked bread wafted from beneath linen napkins, luring her to  dive into the feast.

They ate with only a few comments, laughter and the sounds of silverware  scraping plates punctuating their companionable silence.

"I'm stuffed."

Kerris lay back on the soft cushion supporting her and patted her tummy.  Eyes heavy-lidded, she listened to the crickets' chatter and the  river's rumbling just over the hill. The late-night lullaby could have  easily lulled her to sleep if Cam hadn't leaned down beside her, propped  on one elbow. She peered up at him, smiling and wondering when he had  become so dear. She traced the dark slant of his brows.