Walking over toward her table, I watched as she stood up quickly, as if trying to escape. She scooted her chair back and turned her body right into mine, her hazel eyes even prettier than I remembered.
“Cammie.” I smiled and couldn’t stop myself from taking in the length of her body in that red dress. She looked fucking incredible; her legs were still a mile long. How could one person still look so much the same, yet so different all at once?
She shifted her weight and glanced toward my hands before saying, “Hi, Dalton. It’s, uh, been a long time.”
When I opened my arms, she stepped into them, and a tiny ball of pressure lifted from my shoulders, just from having her near. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her tight. She fit against my body perfectly, like she was made for me. Twenty-seven-year-old Cammie was built to fit with twenty-eight-year-old Dalton. My dick sure seemed to agree.
“You look beautiful, Cammie,” I whispered against her hair, and breathed her in as my pants immediately tightened.
Being a guy had only a few downfalls; the complete lack of control when it came to our dicks was one of them. I didn’t want to let her go, but knew that I needed to before something either pressed against her thigh, or she thought I was a lunatic who couldn’t keep his hands off her. Not that I wanted to. My hands belonged all over that body.
“Thank you. You look really good yourself,” she said, but her voice sounded off. It was too chipper, too forced.
“Dalton, dude! Where have you been?”
A guy I couldn’t place interrupted us, and as I glanced around the room at all of the people, I realized that if I wanted to talk to Cammie at all, I would have to get her the hell out of here.
I looked back at the guy and shook his hand. “I’ve been in New York. I’ll come talk to you in a bit; I want to catch up with Cammie first.”
He looked between us and raised his beer. “Oh, sorry. Okay. Come find me.”
“Still so popular.” She smiled, and I resisted the urge to cover her red lips with mine. Being near her was like being near a warm pool of water. I wanted to dive right in and let her completely engulf me.
“Cammie, I—” I started to say when I heard my name being repeated through the speaker system.
“Dalton Thomas, come say a few words, please. You were our class president. Get up here! It’s your duty.”
I looked at Cammie and pulled at my hair, making my annoyance perfectly clear. “Shit, Cammie, I’m sorry. Don’t go anywhere. Promise me you won’t go anywhere,” I pleaded, not caring how desperate I sounded. This was my one chance to get on the right foot with her, and I refused to blow it.
“Go. Say good shit.” She winked as she patted my shoulder.
“Promise you won’t leave,” I demanded, refusing to move from her side until she did. I didn’t want to give a fucking speech to my old classmates. The only speech I wanted to give was to the girl currently standing in front of me, and I didn’t have anything written down.
“I won’t go anywhere,” she said, and I swear I saw a flicker of something in her eyes.
“You gotta promise me, Cammie.”
She gave me a big smile, a genuine one, and my whole world fell into place. “I promise.”
“I’ll be right back,” I said as I reluctantly walked away from her and made my way to the front of the room where Lisa Reynolds stood with a cordless microphone. She gave me a hug and whispered something inappropriate in my ear before shoving the mic into my hand.
Feeling awkward as hell, I held the mic in front of me and cleared my throat. “Uh, well, I wasn’t expecting to have to give a speech tonight, but I get it. Presidential duties have no statute of limitations, I’m told. First of all—”
I searched the room for Cammie’s face. As soon as I found her hazel eyes, I locked on them and started talking.
“I’m really sorry I’m late. Secondly, I just wanted to thank you for coming. I know that none of us had to be here. It was a choice, an option, but I’m glad you chose to come because I came here to see you too. I’ve missed you. And, uh . . .”
I stumbled on my words as Cammie’s expression softened and her smile widened. I looked away; I had to.
“That’s it. Have a good time tonight. Don’t drink and drive; I’d hate to have to arrest you.” I smirked before shoving the microphone back at Lisa and making a beeline straight back to the girl I came here for.
“Cute speech,” Cammie said in a teasing tone. Her tone had lightened, grown more comfortable in those few minutes, and I was grateful. “So you’re a cop?”
I nodded, wondering what her reaction would be. A thousand thoughts raced through my brain as I waited for her to say something else. Me being a cop might throw her, and I was well aware that she might not be okay with it.
“I can see that.” Her lips pressed together as her eyes focused somewhere over my shoulder, and I could see her mind drifting. “It suits you.”
“How so?” I asked, finding myself hoping that she would say good and complimentary things. Fuck it if I didn’t need a little ego stroking from her right about now.
“Well, you were always great with people, and you were a good leader. And you were always a stand-up guy. So it makes sense that you would want to be one of the good ones.”
I wanted to tell her that I’d chosen that career path because of her. She had just given me the perfect lead-in, but I’d be damned if I’d have this conversation with her in the middle of a crowded ballroom with cheesy old school music playing in the background. No, confessions like this needed privacy.