Read Online Be Mine Forever by Kennedy Ryan - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kennedy Ryan
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smirk giving him away. She slapped his arm with her clutch, laughing and turning to open the door.
“You had me going there for a minute,” she said, ushering him into the foyer.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” His straight face just made her laugh more. “Now please point the way toward this literal coffee. It sounds delicious.”
“Jo, is that you?” her father called from the sitting room.
“Didn’t think Daddy would still be up.” She linked her elbow through Peter’s and pulled him with her. “Come see him.”
“Daddy, you remember Peter, he—”
Jo didn’t finish her sentence. She hadn’t expected to see Cam sitting across from her father, poised to steal his queen. Chess had always been their thing. You could never get Walsh to sit down long enough for a game of chess. Cam, though, despite the raw energy that snapped, crackled, and popped around him, especially when he was painting, could be downright restive. He and Daddy would play sometimes for hours. Maybe they were just getting started. She didn’t want to stick around long enough to find out.
“Sorry, Daddy. Didn’t realize you had someone with you.” She skidded her glance over Cam, making sure not to linger on the too-long hair tousled by his own fingers. A sure sign he and Daddy had been at it for a while. “Cam, welcome home. Shaundra thought you weren’t flying in until tomorrow.”
“She must have gotten the dates mixed up.” Cam’s eyes shifted between Jo and Peter. He bent his lips into a smile that would have fooled anyone else. Jo, though, knew every smile that had ever graced Cam’s face. This was his three-dollar-bill smile. He couldn’t pass it off on her as the real thing.
“Cam, this is Peter Halstead, director of our international adoption program.” Jo gestured between the two men. “Peter, Cam Mitchell. Cam’s like a…like a brother to me.”
Jo let the words settle in her mouth, weighing and testing them. As a woman who valued truth above all else, the lie felt foreign and heavy on her tongue. But this lie was a necessary evil. The sooner she accepted that Cam would never be more than a brother to her, the better. And why not start with Peter and the ballet.
“I’ve seen your work. It’s brilliant.” Peter walked deeper into the room, extending his hand to Cam. “We’re all excited you’ll have your exhibit at the Walsh House.”
Cam eyed Peter as if he were a nail and Cam the hammer. He and Walsh always played Big Bad Brother with the men she dated. She’d once fooled herself into believing it was more for Cam. Maybe jealousy, but he’d quickly disabused her of that notion by sleeping with some girl from her dorm. Cam glanced from Peter’s hand back to the affable expression on his even features before, a mere hairsbreadth shy of rudeness, he accepted and shook.
“Thank you.” Cam glanced at Jo again, his dark brows lifted in a question. “Adoption program? You didn’t tell me you were branching out into adoptions.”
“We haven’t really spoken much lately, though, have we?” Jo tapped her clutch against her hip, shaping her face into indifference and holding Cam’s stare.
“True.” Cam nodded before turning back to Daddy, who had snatched yet another pawn. “So how was the ballet?”
Peter answered before Jo could.
“It was as astoundingly boring as I had anticipated.” Peter dropped amused eyes to Jo’s face. “And I got exactly what I wanted. A night with this beautiful woman, which made it completely worth it.”
Jo had pulled her mouth into a hard line as soon as she saw Cam sitting with her father. She could feel her mouth relaxing. Feel it yielding to a smile. Feel all that was held tight loosening a little. She needed to fall for this guy. It was as obvious as the sun in the morning and the moon at night. And yet her body and everything inside her was tuned to the dark-haired man watching them when he wasn’t watching the board.
“You’re
“You had me going there for a minute,” she said, ushering him into the foyer.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” His straight face just made her laugh more. “Now please point the way toward this literal coffee. It sounds delicious.”
“Jo, is that you?” her father called from the sitting room.
“Didn’t think Daddy would still be up.” She linked her elbow through Peter’s and pulled him with her. “Come see him.”
“Daddy, you remember Peter, he—”
Jo didn’t finish her sentence. She hadn’t expected to see Cam sitting across from her father, poised to steal his queen. Chess had always been their thing. You could never get Walsh to sit down long enough for a game of chess. Cam, though, despite the raw energy that snapped, crackled, and popped around him, especially when he was painting, could be downright restive. He and Daddy would play sometimes for hours. Maybe they were just getting started. She didn’t want to stick around long enough to find out.
“Sorry, Daddy. Didn’t realize you had someone with you.” She skidded her glance over Cam, making sure not to linger on the too-long hair tousled by his own fingers. A sure sign he and Daddy had been at it for a while. “Cam, welcome home. Shaundra thought you weren’t flying in until tomorrow.”
“She must have gotten the dates mixed up.” Cam’s eyes shifted between Jo and Peter. He bent his lips into a smile that would have fooled anyone else. Jo, though, knew every smile that had ever graced Cam’s face. This was his three-dollar-bill smile. He couldn’t pass it off on her as the real thing.
“Cam, this is Peter Halstead, director of our international adoption program.” Jo gestured between the two men. “Peter, Cam Mitchell. Cam’s like a…like a brother to me.”
Jo let the words settle in her mouth, weighing and testing them. As a woman who valued truth above all else, the lie felt foreign and heavy on her tongue. But this lie was a necessary evil. The sooner she accepted that Cam would never be more than a brother to her, the better. And why not start with Peter and the ballet.
“I’ve seen your work. It’s brilliant.” Peter walked deeper into the room, extending his hand to Cam. “We’re all excited you’ll have your exhibit at the Walsh House.”
Cam eyed Peter as if he were a nail and Cam the hammer. He and Walsh always played Big Bad Brother with the men she dated. She’d once fooled herself into believing it was more for Cam. Maybe jealousy, but he’d quickly disabused her of that notion by sleeping with some girl from her dorm. Cam glanced from Peter’s hand back to the affable expression on his even features before, a mere hairsbreadth shy of rudeness, he accepted and shook.
“Thank you.” Cam glanced at Jo again, his dark brows lifted in a question. “Adoption program? You didn’t tell me you were branching out into adoptions.”
“We haven’t really spoken much lately, though, have we?” Jo tapped her clutch against her hip, shaping her face into indifference and holding Cam’s stare.
“True.” Cam nodded before turning back to Daddy, who had snatched yet another pawn. “So how was the ballet?”
Peter answered before Jo could.
“It was as astoundingly boring as I had anticipated.” Peter dropped amused eyes to Jo’s face. “And I got exactly what I wanted. A night with this beautiful woman, which made it completely worth it.”
Jo had pulled her mouth into a hard line as soon as she saw Cam sitting with her father. She could feel her mouth relaxing. Feel it yielding to a smile. Feel all that was held tight loosening a little. She needed to fall for this guy. It was as obvious as the sun in the morning and the moon at night. And yet her body and everything inside her was tuned to the dark-haired man watching them when he wasn’t watching the board.
“You’re
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