“But you do have a family. You have Clem. And me.”
“And I don’t deserve either.”
He uttered that sentence with such conviction that it tore into Vivi’s heart. How could he still believe that? He’d come out of a dreadful situation to become an amazing man, a great human being. It was easy to be successful when you had the benefits of a supportive family and a good education. He’d had none of that, yet he’d been determined to better himself. She was crazy about him—possibly in love with him—but she also admired the hell out of him. And respected him more than that.
“I can’t fix my past, Viv.”
“Nobody is asking you to do that.” Vivi rested her hands on his chest. “But you can focus on the positive aspects of your past, the fact that you changed your life around, that you had the guts to do that. Give Clem the love and support you missed. Break the McNeal cycle.”
“I don’t know if I can.”
Of course, he could, Vivi wanted to tell him. He already had. Why couldn’t he see that? He was tough, bold, wonderful. She didn’t understand how he could look at himself and see a failure. But didn’t she do the same? Didn’t she refuse all offers of help, reject anything that threatened her independence because she was still living in the past? Because she was still allowing her mother to control her actions?
So, wow. Light-bulb moment.
But this wasn’t about her right now. This was about Camden. She could sit here and tell him he was being unbelievably hard on himself, that she pretty much thought the sun rose and set with him, that she wanted to see where this went. But she knew that nothing she said would make him change his mind.
But maybe she could show him.
Yeah, sometimes actions spoke so much louder than words.
Vivi stood up and walked over to her badass billionaire and rested her hands on his hips, her forehead on his chest. She felt the tension seep from him, just a little, and she traced the hard ridges of his stomach. Nuzzling her nose into the gap between his first and second button, she inhaled his spicy, masculine Cam smell. Wanting more, she pulled his shirt from the waistband of his pants and placed her hands on his hot skin, up over his ribs, his nipples and up to his powerful shoulders.
Needing more, she tugged his shirt up and over his head, sighing her pleasure when she had unrestricted access to his chest, his back, his stomach. After licking his flat, dusky nipple until it formed a tiny peak, she tracked her mouth over his shoulder and dipped her tongue into the deep groove between his muscled shoulder blades, then traced her lips over a scar on his back. She smiled when his hands came up to touch her thighs.
“I thought we were fighting,” Cam said, his voice low and rough.
Vivi wrapped her hands around his erection, hard beneath the fabric of his chinos.
“You were trying to pick a fight with me, but I wouldn’t let you,” Vivi told him, keeping her voice soft. “You’re not ready to believe anything I have to say. So I thought I’d try something different.” Vivi dropped kisses on his spine, bending her knees to kiss the hollow of his back, just above the waistband of his pants held up by a thin leather belt.
She frowned and tugged at the offending object. “Crocodile, McNeal? Uh, no.”
“What’s wrong with the belt?” Cam demanded and she finally, finally, heard a note of amusement in his voice.
“It’s a reptile! Ick.” Vivi ducked around him and took off the belt. She dragged her thumb up his hard erection and smiled at his quiet shudder. After attacking the button, she pulled the zipper down and looked into Cam’s beautiful, confused face. Good. Confusion was better than his relentless quest for control.
“You are so very beautiful, Camden McNeal.”
Cam blushed, leaving Vivi to wonder if anyone had bothered to compliment him before. She cupped his face in her hands and stood on her tiptoes. “Your body is magnificent, your face is too sexy for words, but, man—” she tapped her fingers against his temple “this brain of yours slays me.”
Vivi dropped back down to her toes and kissed his chest, somewhere in the region of his heart. “And your heart is as big as the Texas sky. You just don’t want anyone to know that.”