Page 15 of Best Laid Plans (Rock Harbor #1)

Refusing to look at him, she turned around and closed the few feet of space until she stood in front of the prep table.

She didn’t want to give him her attention for another second.

And with her absolute focus on the food in front of her, she realized something.

Small bites. That’s what Cam was doing. It became clear, as she looked at the individual scallops, the shrimp that were stuffed with crackers and… maybe tarragon?

Seafood tapas, basically. It was brilliant and would set them apart from the other restaurants at the festival.

For as much as he frustrated her, she could admit that it was a good idea. And then her ire against him started to wane, just like it always seemed to do.

She felt him, then, enveloped by his scent as much as his presence.

If she leaned back an inch, she’d be pressed up against all that solidness, and she couldn’t promise herself that she wouldn’t let it hold her up.

“What do you have against me using my skills and experience to be helpful?” he asked quietly, his lips ghosting along the shell of her ear.

She felt his words everywhere, rushing through her body, her nerve endings alight and impossibly sensitive. And still, he stayed where he was, his chest brushing against her back as he breathed evenly.

They shouldn’t be this close, she thought dimly, unable to move. And he needed to stop talking about his ‘skills and experience’ when he could easily slip his arm around her and pull her against him, working those fingers into where she was throbbing.

He was attractive. And clearly competent in the kitchen. And, for whatever reason, insistent on pushing every one of Elle’s nerves. But if that included her clit, it might be worth the frustration.

“It’s the way you do it,” she breathed out, remembering that she hadn’t answered him. “So annoying.”

Elle’s breath caught in her throat when Cam’s arm wrapped around her, his right hand splaying against her hip. He held her in place as he reached around with his other arm to pluck one of the freshly dressed scallops off the plate. “Try it. Tell me what you think.”

He lifted the scallop to her mouth with a confidence that spoke of him already knowing the answer, his thumb running along her bottom lip as she bit into the firm sear.

Elle moaned when the flavors hit her tongue, and she felt Cam’s hand grip tighter against her hip, fingertips digging into the exposed skin between her shorts and t-shirt.

She was throbbing, unable to process how they’d gone from zero-to-sixty in the blink of an eye.

But it felt so fucking good. And she didn’t want it to stop.

She didn’t know if she could make herself stop.

“So good,” she breathed out, the press of Cam’s body drawing her closer.

His hand inched inward along her thigh, her clit beginning to pulse with the possibility of relief. “Does this mean you’re not mad at me anymore?” he asked, his fingers stopping, waiting for her answer.

Elle pressed her ass against him, needing to find some relief for the pressure that was building through her body, winding her up tighter and tighter.

And when she was met with the hardened swell in his pants, she could feel wetness dripping down the inside of her thighs.

“Not mad,” she pushed out, willing Cam to start moving his hands again. “Annoyed.”

Cam slid his fingers down to the hem of her shorts and played with the edges of the fabric. “Are you still annoyed?”

Her knees buckled, his strong arm the only thing keeping her standing. “Cam,” she panted, self-control forgotten. She was seconds away from begging him to fuck her, to fill the aching, wanting feeling in her center.

She scratched lightly down the arm he had her bracketed with. When she reached his hand, she pressed hers on top of his, silently asking him to keep touching her. His hand started moving to unclasp the button on her shorts, about to give her what she so desperately needed.

“It smells amazing in here,” her dad’s voice boomed from the front of the restaurant.

Cam stood up straight and removed his hand, and she immediately felt the loss. The heat still licked through her body, and she struggled to come back to planet Earth and accept the moment was over.

They had a few seconds before her dad would be in the kitchen, and she turned quickly then. “That was…”

“A mistake,” Cam finished. His eyes were dark, the seriousness of his words aligned with the hard set of his jaw. “I’m sorry. That shouldn’t have happened. I shouldn’t have let that happen.”

Elle didn’t have time to respond before her dad waltzed into the kitchen.

She took a step away from Cam, not that it looked like they’d been in the middle of Cam making her come.

Fully clothed and working to return her breathing to normal, her flush could easily be explained by the heat of the kitchen.

She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and shot Cam a look, which he refused to acknowledge.

Instead, he walked over to the sink and started washing his hands.

Which from a cleanliness perspective made all the sense in the world, but she couldn’t ignore the anger that seeped into her bones at how quickly he was moving past what had happened.

And that, according to him, wasn’t going to happen again.

She let out a puff of frustrated air. Great, he was back to being a menace to her sanity.

Unsure of what to do with her own hands, which still trembled as she tried to come down from her arousal, she waved awkwardly and pasted on a smile that she hoped was believable. “Hey, dad. Didn’t know you were stopping by today.”