Free Caught on Camera by Kim Law

involved a man.
    Feeling suddenly guilty for poking at her past, and not sure he wanted to know the details anyway, he changed the subject before she found the courage to answer.
    He lowered his voice, hoping she would shift closer to hear. “Then how about this one? I believe I made it perfectly clear yesterday what I’m after. I don’t recall hiding behind the fact that I find you very attractive.” He picked up her glass and drained it. “Did you somehow miss that?”
    The smooth skin of her throat rolled with a gulp, but she attacked the change of subject with fervor. “You also said you’d reconsider my idea. Are you telling me that was a ruse? That you never intended to hear me out?”
    He studied her mouth as she talked. “I heard you out. That’s what you’ve been so diligently doing instead of simply enjoying the excellent meal before you.” He slipped his hand over hers, startled at the spark that spiked up his arm but managing not to show his surprise. “But I’m sorry to say—” He stopped, held one finger up.
    “What?” She flipped her hand over, their palms touching, and he couldn’t keep from caressing his thumb into the dip of her hand.
    He shrugged. “You almost caught me, there. Total honesty, right?”
    She nodded. “Always.”
    “Then, I’m not sorry to say, you won’t be following me around with a camera anytime soon, sweetheart. My unequivocal answer is no.”
    Her lids lowered, and air slid from between parted lips. He called upon all the control he’d learned over the years not to close the distance between them and press his mouth to hers right then and there.
    “Let me ask you, then.” She pierced him with a narrowed gaze. “Did you really give it serious consideration?” The lady did not give up easily. “You see, I think we’re about to prove my point after all. You brought me over here, promising reconsideration.”
    He stilled. She did have him there, but his nature refused to let him back down. “The better question is, did you really expect me to?”
    The truth flashed through her eyes, along with embarrassment. She glanced away, and seeming to realize for the first time that her hand was under his, she yanked it away to smooth over the very lovely skirt she’d worn just for him.
    “I had hoped you would, of course,” she spoke softly.
    His smile arched farther up his face. “But you didn’t really think I would, did you?”
    She wanted to lie. He would bet both his Atlanta and New York penthouses on it. She wanted to lie more than anything she’d ever done. But would Ms. What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get do it? And when she did, should he call her out on the fact that she was no different than anyone else?
    Pink suddenly colored her high cheekbones. She crossed her arms over her chest and met him head-on. “No. Honestly, I did not think you would seriously consider it. I had hoped, had wished, even, but when it came right down to it, you’re a Davenport, a politician .” She practically sneered the last word. “So no, I didn’t really believe I would be given a fair chance.”
    The slur against his family name should have made him furious. Any other time and with any other person, it would have. But instead, as she sat trembling with rage, he was able to see past the insult to catch something else she probably didn’t mean to share. Hurt.
    Pain and agony screamed back at him from every inch of her. From her too-wide gaze, her rigid jaw, to the overly taunt tension running through her from head to toe. Whoever had hurt her in the past had done a real number on her.
    He didn’t want to know.
    Opening his mouth, he tried to find the right words to end the evening and call off the games he’d apparently been the only one playing, but instead found that he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t casually shove her out the door when she was hurting so badly. He had to help.
    Reaching one hand out, he had no real idea what he intended to do, but stopped at her upraised