Free Causing Havoc by Lori Foster Page B

him.
    Somewhere deep inside her was a kernel of memory, a hint of closeness that had never died.
    More than once she'd heard Lorna talk about their Uncle Grover. By al accounts, the man was
    crude, irresponsible, and without concern for others.
    Yet he'd raised Dean.
    Had his life been horrible? Had he thought of her, of Jacki, and missed them? Had he wished to
    come home, but known he wasn't welcome?
    The questions ate her up, and final y, she couldn't take it any more. "Dean?"
    "Hmm?" He looked up from his plate. "'Would you like dessert?"
    "No." She wanted, needed, to talk. She had to explain the inexplicable. If Aunt Lorna had deliberately kept them apart, she wanted to know and somehow apologize.
    "I'm going to order tiramisu." He laid his fork on his plate and folded his hands over his hard
    abdomen. "Love the stuff, and what the hel , tonight is special right? I can indulge. Jacki, how about you?"
    To Cam's surprise, Jacki nodded. "I'm partial to the zabaglione, but it's pricey so we can't usual y
    afford it."
    He flashed her a fat smile. "I can afford it."
    She laughed. "Hey, if you're buying, I'm eating."
    "Knock yourself out." He winked at her, then turned to Lorna. "What about you, Lorna? You up for something sweet?"
    "Thank you, no."
    "Watching the figure, huh?"
    Lorna looked ready to leap across the table to cut out Dean's heart. Why was there so much
    animosity there? Okay, so Cam knew Lorna was a man-hater. Early disappointments in romantic
    involvements had left her very bitter. She and Grover had never gotten along because their
    personalities were too dissimilar. But that shouldn't include Dean. He'd done nothing to her.
    Knowing things had gotten way out of hand, Cam gave him a light kick under the table.
    Incredulous at her audacity, he said, "Was that to get my attention?"
    "Yes." Cam could feel her face heating, but she wouldn't let him rile her. She sat a little straighter.
    "We have more to talk about, and it'l be better accomplished if you aren't baiting Aunt Lorna."
    "Why don't I just cut to the chase?"
    Uh oh. Had he been stewing the whole time he ate? It looked like it. "Okay."
    "I don't want your house. Do whatever you want with it; it's not my concern. I don't want anything in the house. Divide it up, sel it, throw it in the trash."
    Jacki said, "Wel that's harsh."
    "Sentiment clutters the closets. Who needs it?"
    "I'l take his share."
    Cam glared at her and Jacki said, "What? You're not seriously going to trash it, right?"
    Dean paid no attention to her. "It's just one more thing to store, to move when I move—and I move a
    lot. Believe me when I tel you, there's absolutely nothing of the past or the present that I want. Let it go."
    He couldn't mean that, Cam thought.
    But he looked like he did.
    "Now, with that settled, you sure you don't want dessert?"
    Jacki elbowed her. "Come on. Cam. Eat the dessert."
    Head pounding, Cam declined. If she put a single bite in her mouth, she'd gag. "No, thank you. I'l
    take a coffee though."
    "You got it."
    The waiter had just departed with their orders when Dean looked up—and his gaze became fixed on
    something across the room.
    Seeing him so enrapt, Cam turned in her seat to look, too. and found Eve and a man at the bar.
    They were both dressed nicely, shoulders touching, in close conversation.
    Oops.
    Gone was Dean's expression of careless disregard. He looked . . . She didn't know. Not happy. But
    then, she hadn't seen him look happy, yet. Distant, that she'd seen. Polite, amused, even a little wary
    once or twice. But excesses of emotion were not his forte.
    "Probably a client," Cam told him.
    He narrowed his eyes but didn't look away. And when Cam twisted around again, she saw Eve
    suddenly stiffen and slowly pivot on the stool to look in their direction. Her gaze locked on Dean's and
    even from the distance separating them, Cam could have sworn she saw sparks snapping in the air.
    Interesting.
    The seconds ticked by and they continued to eye each