He walked out and Cam closed the door, locked it, and hobbled over to the toilet.
“You know what I think?” Luke called through the bathroom door.
“Gee, I don’t have a clue. What?”
“You know that guy you were having the e-mail argument with? I think you should meet him in person.”
“So I can punch him in the nose?”
He didn’t answer right away. “Did you really think he was full of himself?”
“He was a know-it-all, holier-than-thou, arrogant son of a bitch.”
Luke said nothing to that.
“And if I ever do meet him in person, I will cram his laptop down his throat.” She snorted. “He’s probably five feet three and four hundred pounds, bald as an eagle, and wears Coke bottles for glasses.”
“He really pissed you off, didn’t he?” Luke said softly.
Done taking care of business, Camry hobbled to the sink, looked in the mirror, and screamed.
The doorknob rattled. “What’s wrong? Did you fall?”
“No, I just looked in the mirror,” she said with a slightly hysterical laugh, carefully touching her swollen eye.
It sounded like Luke thunked his head against the door. “Dammit, you just scared the hell out of me!”
“I just scared the hell out of myself.” She washed and dried her hands, quickly ran her fingers through her rumpled hair, and unlocked the door.
Luke stumbled into the room when she opened it.
“Your turn,” she said.
“I just need to wash my hands and throw some water on my face.”
“Why?”
He grinned crookedly. “I peed out the window.”
“I was kidding.”
“You were taking too long,” he said, stepping around her to use the sink.
She’d give him credit, he didn’t scream when he looked in the mirror, but he did gasp.
“Aren’t we a pair?” she asked, smiling at him in the mirror. “At least we’ve got two good eyes between us, and you can walk and I can . . . I can . . .” She hung her head. “I can never go into another bar. Every time I get into trouble, it’s in a bar.”
He lifted her chin with his finger. “You can go with me. I won’t let you get into trouble.”
“Said the spider to the fly.”
“Smile again.”
“No. It hurts my face.”
“Because of your shiner, or just when you’re around men in general?”
“Hey, I am a happyperson, dammit.”
“Wow, that pill sure wore off fast. Should I ask Fiona to give you another one?”
Camry reached up and grabbed his ears, pulled down his head, then kissed him full on the mouth. “There!” she snapped. “Is thathappy enough for you?”
He pulled her into his arms, cradled her head against his shoulder, and kissed her back—a bit more forcefully, quite a bit longer, and definitely . . .
Okay, he didn’t keep losing girlfriends because he bombed in the bedroom. This guy could kiss.
But then, so could she. As a matter of fact, she had perfected kissing.
Camry went weak in the knees—especially the one holding her weight—and sagged against him when his tongue started doing delicious things to hers. She nearly burst into tears when he suddenly pulled away.
“Christ, you’re scary,” he rasped, his blue eyes locked on hers.
Her head spun in confusion. “Scary?” she repeated, running her fingertip over his jaw. “How’s that?”
He tilted her head back again and started kissing her cheek, then trailed soft, shivering kisses down her neck.
Camry trembled with blossoming passion. Yup, he definitelyrang her bell.
No, wait, there was a realbell ringing somewhere.
She pulled away. “Oh my God, what time is it? That’s my mother!”
“You have a mother?” Luke muttered, trying to kiss her again, the evidence of his own blossoming passion poking her belly. “She’ll call back.”
Camry untangled herself from his embrace and hobbled toward her bed. “But if I don’t answer, she’ll call my lab.” She suddenly changed directions when she realized her cell phone wasn’t on her nightstand. “Come on, where in hell are you?” She looked around the room, honed in on the bureau, and snatched up her purse.
“Hi, Mom,” she said as soon as she flipped open her cell phone. “Gee, is it Monday already? I’ve been so involved in my work, I don’t even know what day it is.”
She jumped when Luke took hold of her arm, then let him help her to the bed so she could sit down. “Really?” she said into the phone as she waved him away. “Three feet? It’s early for that much snow, isn’t it? But it’s good for the ski business.”
She frowned at Luke when, instead of leaving, he walked around and sat down on his side of the bed and started eating her orange.
“Um, Mom? Could you hold on a minute? Someone just walked in. Stay on the line—this will only take a minute.”
She found the Mute button and held it down with her thumb, then snatched her orange from him. “Can’t you see I’m having a personal conversation here? Go back to your own bed.”
“But it’s small. And the damn thing’s too short for me.” He picked up the toast on her plate of scrambled eggs and dismissed her with a wave. “Don’t let me stop you. I’m just going to finish my breakfast and have a nap.”
“You are not sleeping in my bed.”
“It’ll be easier for Fiona if we’re both in the same room.”
She arched a brow. “So you wouldn’t mind if yourbaby sister took care of two virtual strangers sharing the same bed?”
He scowled at her, then stuffed his mouth full of toast.
Camry released the Mute button and held the phone back to her ear. “Can I call you back later, Mom? There’s something going on here that needs my undivided attention. What?” She sighed. “Yeah, I’m afraid I still can’t make it home for the solstice. I know, but better than anyone, you should understand how this work goes. I really don’t dare lose my focus for that long. And I can’t work at home during the holidays because of all the chaos. Okay, I’ll talk to you later. Yes, I love you, too. Bye, Mom. Tell Daddy I love him,” she said in a rush, just before hitting the End button.
“You’re not going home for Christmas?” Luke asked, taking another bite of toast.
Camry stuffed what was left of her orange in her mouth.
“Wait, you said if you didn’t answer, your mom would call your lab. You have a lab?” He made a production of looking at all the doors in the room, then pointed at the closet door. “Is it in there? What kind of lab is it?” He gasped dramatically. “Not a methlab!” He shook his head. “And you’re worried about what impression our being in the same bed will have on Fiona.”
“Will you get real? Better yet, get out of here.”
“What kind of lab were you talking about, MacKeage?”
She settled back against the headboard with a sigh, and pushed around her eggs with a fork. “I used to be a rocket propulsion physicist.”
“You’re a rocket scientist? For real? Wait, you said used to be. As in you’re nota physicist anymore?” He grinned. “What happened, did you suddenly forget how to count past ten without undressing your feet?”
She glared over at him. “No, I got stuck.”
“Stuck?” He snorted. “Real scientists don’t get stuck, MacKeage. We hit brick walls sometimes, but we either find a way around them or start digging through them. Wait,” he said, snapping his fingers. “Did your brick wall have anything to do with that guy you were having the e-mail argument with?”
“The arrogant bastard sent me an equation that completely contradicted three years of my work,” she growled, throwing the fork across the room, where it hit the wall and clattered to the floor. “And then he had the audacity to suggest we should work on the problem together.”