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I opened my mouth and screamed.

"YOUUUU IDIOTTTT!"

Chapter Fifteen

Cade

I rubbed my cheek, staring at the door as it slammed shut behind her. Camille was angrier than a hornets nest at a smokey barbeque. She was more riled up than a bear at a honey-eating contest.
 

She was more fired up than a wart on Satan's ass.

My eyes were still ringing from the scolding she'd given me. I hadn't been yelled at like that since I cut my cousin Leanna's ponytail off at the church social when I was five.

Camille was louder and meaner than all the church ladies combined!

The woman was a banshee. A she-devil risen up from Hades to torment men with her beauty and fierce tongue. She was the offspring of a prickly pear and porcupine.

She was mean.

It was hard to believe that someone who looked like an angel could have that many mean words stored up inside her. She should be full of ice cream and lollipops. Instead she was full of piss and vinegar.

She'd called me more bad names than I'd heard in a dog's age. Moron. Idiot. Player. Manwhore. Dillweed. Dickweed. Simpleton. Backwards hillbilly.

That last one had hurt. Even if it was true. Especially because it was true.

Screw that. I was a damn hillbilly and proud of it! I scowled at the mirror.

I was not backwards dammit.

Anyway, I'd accomplished my mission. I'd gotten the upper hand. The woman couldn't stay mad at me forever. Not after I'd made her come like that. She'd be back for more.
 

Soon I hoped.

I wanted her, even after three loads of daddy ice cream. More than I'd wanted any damn thing in my life. So what if I'd been a little underhanded about taking a shot at getting her pregnant?

I shrugged. I'd done it the old-fashioned way. Getting a lady knocked up was a time-honored way to seal the deal. If you wanted to keep a girl back home, you seeded her. That was just the way it was done.

Most women I knew would not be complaining about it either. But most women weren't Camille. She was one of a kind, that was for sure.

She'd come around. I was sure of it.

She had too.

A few days later I was literally going to go out of my mind after just seventy-two hours without seeing her. She had ignored my calls over the rest of the weekend, and hadn't come to spring training the past few days either. I was on the verge of going over there and demanding she get back into my bed.

But I wasn't so sure that would go over so well with the lady though
. Or
her papa. Not that I was afraid of either of them.

If I went over there though, she might sic her cat on me.

I wasn't embarrassed to admit that Uzuri scared me a little bit. If this kept up much longer, I was prepared to face down Camille, Mr. Rivers
and
the damn cat. I was going slightly out of my mind imagining Cami all along and angry at me. Cami crying. Or even worse, Cami running into the arms of that slick rich ex-boyfriend of hers.

I'd never obsessed over a woman like this. I'd never lost sleep over a skirt. Hell, I'd never even been jealous before.

I didn't like it.

Oh yeah, I was screwed. Never mind six ways from Sunday. I was screwed
sixty
ways from Sunday.

Luckily I had a little distraction coming my way this weekend. Five of 'em to be exact.

Lucy, Jenny, Craig, Shep and little Tammy were all coming to see me.
 

I just had to get Cami calmed down before then. Because she was going to meet all of 'em. Whether she wanted to or not.

Camille

I will kill him.

That's what I'd been thinking for days now. I'd been calmly contemplating murdering the idiot who'd put me in this position. I'd even considered different techniques before settling on feeding him to a pack of wild dogs. Or pushing him into a well. Or shipping him off to the tundra.

Basically anything that might happen in a Liam Neeson movie.

Cade Dupree better be enjoying his last few days on Earth, because I was going to kill the sonofabitch. Slowly. Just as soon as I took care of my little lapse in judgment.

I was even angrier with myself. I was not a stupid girl. I should have noticed.

I rubbed my forehead, wondering how the hell I had let this happen. Cade had worked his way under my skin and into my panties. Not just that either, he'd shown me the time of my life. It had been by far the best sex I'd ever had. It wasn't even in the same category.

And then he'd ruined it by pulling this caveman stunt.

He'd tried to impregnate me! Deliberately! He'd as much as said it was on purpose. He wanted to trap me somehow. Mark me as his own. Breed me like an animal!

It made me so angry I could scream!

Actually, I had screamed.

I cracked a smile at the memory of Cade Dupree cowering from a woman half his size. I'd really let loose with every foul word I could come up with. And then I'd made up a few of my own.

He wasn't the only one who had a way with words.

I sighed. I would take care of this. As for Cade, I had no idea what I would do about him.

I couldn't think about that. About how I would resist him if he came calling again. And judging from his texts and phone calls, he wasn't going to just give up and go away.

One thing at a time, Camille.

I was sitting in my doctor's office, waiting for them to bring me the drugs I requested. I came in for the morning after pill. But it was taking too long.

Something was wrong.

I sat there, fuming. I wanted to cut Cade up into little bitty pieces with a machete. I wanted to-

"Miss Rivers, sorry about the delay."

He sat behind his desk and gave me an odd look.

"I'm sorry, but after looking over your chart, I cannot prescribe this medication for you. It's not safe."

I stared at my doctor.
 

"What do you mean I can't take the morning after pill?"

"Well Camille, you had that deep vein thrombosis back in your teens… I'm afraid it's just not the solution for you. I spoke to your doctor in New York and she agrees."

"I was on an eighteen hour flight when that happened! It was a fluke."

"I'm sorry but I can't allow it. Have you thought about using condoms instead?"

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming. The man was an idiot.

All men were idiots.

"Yes of course I have. This was a one time thing."

"Well, it only takes once you know."

I almost slapped my forehead in annoyance. My voice sounded strained as I ground the words out. I added the doctor to my kill list.

"That is why I am here."

He smiled reassuringly. Like he thought he was calming me down. It had the opposite effect.

"Well, if you do find yourself pregnant, we can do something about that. But not until later I'm afraid."

It was like a splash of cold water. I sat there, realizing how trapped I was. If that was the only answer…

"An abortion."

I felt sick as I said the words. It's not that I didn't believe in a woman's right to choose, I just never imagined that woman would be me.

I wasn't sure I could go through with it.

Which meant… Cade may have really screwed me. In more ways than one.

"If that's what you want. Take some time to think about it. It might not even come up."

I nodded numbly and stood up. I would just have to wait and see. I had a strange certainty that I was pregnant already. That was ridiculous though. You couldn't tell after a few days, could you?

I felt so stupid as I walked to my car. Cade was just another misogynistic caveman. An impossibly handsome, funny, talented as hell caveman.
 

But that didn't change the fact that I'd fallen for his act. Not just his
act
either.

I was pretty sure I'd fallen for
him
. I hadn't meant to. I'd done my best to resist him, but it had been impossible. And once he'd put his hands on me… I was lost.

I was literally putty in his huge, manly hands.

I shivered, imagining all the things he'd done to me with those hands. And his lips. And his tongue.

And his-

I turned the AC on, leaning towards it to cool my face. Just the thought of what we'd done together was getting me hot and bothered. If he had been in the car with me at that moment, I wouldn't have known whether to kiss him or smack him.

Or both.

Oh yes. Camille Rivers was in trouble.

Chapter Sixteen

Cade

"What do you want Cade?"

Finally. Finally she answers the phone and this is what I get. I'd even called her at the office this time. I was pretty surprised she'd taken my call at all if this was how she was going to be.

"Come on sweetheart, let's talk… I want to see you again."

For a minute she was silent. I wondered if she was trying to resist me or reach through the phone and strangle me. Possibly both.

"You will see me. You have an event this weekend, remember?"

"The country club thing right?"

"Yes Cade, the country club thing. It's one of the most profitable events we have all year."

She sighed heavily, using her schoolteacher voice again. It should have annoyed me but instead it made me horny as hell. I had a vision of her in a prim, tight fitting dress. She'd have a ruler in her hand. And glasses. Then she'd make me stay after school…

Her voice snapped me out of it.

"Cade? Did you fall into a well?"

I almost laughed at her snippy tone. I guess I deserved it. I had pulled quite a surprise on her. But the woman was so hard to pin down, she hardly gave me a choice!

"Alright, well I'm bringing guests. I can't wait for you to meet them."

"Guests? How many?"

"Five. You'll love 'em, just wait."

I almost said,
you'll learn to love me too dammit
but I didn't want to sound desperate. No need for her to know how hard I'd fallen. And what sort of desperate measures I would stoop too.

Starting by sweetening her up with my adorable siblings. Maybe she'd hop right on board the baby train. She'd come to me, begging me to give it to her good. She'd pray each day for a baby from my loins.

She'd-

CLICK.

The damn woman hung up on me! I cursed, staring at the phone. I knew I was out of my depth with Camille. Probably out of my league too.

She was too fancy for a backwoods boy like me. But I didn't care. She liked me dammit. Our parts had fit together in a miraculous way. She would learn to love me dammit.
 

Or at least beg for my cock on a regular basis.

That would be a good start. Yes, that would fit the bill just fine. But so far, she was being more ornery than a drunken squirrel about it!

I smiled for a second, remembering how the squirrels back home all got foxed on fermented fruit berries come August. All through September, if it was warm enough. They'd run around chattering and screaming and falling out of the trees like tiny drunk sailors.
 

We called it Squirrel Mardi Gras.

My smile faded as I considered the Camille problem. She was being difficult. I was getting real lonely for her. I'd never had to wait on a woman before and I didn't like it one bit.

I was Cade Dupree dammit! Nobody turned me down! I was big and mean and-

DING DONG.

I walked to the door, imagining that maybe Camille had come around already. But she hadn't had time to drive over here, even in that Italian sports car of hers. I peered through the door to see an empty hallway. I looked down and saw a bare ass pointing right at me.

I smiled, knowing who that small white ass belonged to before I even opened the door. I'd wiped it often enough. My baby brother had a fondness for dropping trou. I opened the door, barking in my best drill sergeant voice.

"Shepard, pull those pants up boy!"
 

Sure enough, Shep was bent over, his hands on his knees. He turned and yanked up his pants as the four other kids launched themselves onto me at once.

"CADE!"

I grinned, my arms full of wild unruly children.

The Dupree brood had arrived early.

Camille

I walked through the event space, looking for problems to solve. The floral arrangements were lovely. The staff was in place, trays of champagne in hand.
 

The doors were about to open.

But where was Cade?

I felt unaccountably nervous about seeing him. And it had nothing to do with the event. Yes, this was one of our biggest events. And yes, the members of the club had deep pockets, especially where sick children were involved.

But I was nervous for another reason.

I was afraid Cade Dupree was going to try and talk me into bed again.

And I was afraid it was going to work.

In fact, I'd barely slept a wink all week, worrying about his effect on me. He hadn't given up either, even after I tore into him last weekend. He'd gone on sending me flirty texts and calling me as if we hadn't just made a monumental error in judgment.

I still couldn't believe how careless I'd been. Or that he'd tricked me into having unprotected sex. Well, not tricked exactly. He'd driven me wild with lust and then proceeded without further discussion.

Which felt like a trick to me!

I sighed, rubbing my hands together. I grabbed a glass of champagne, hoping it would steady my nerves. I sipped it, catching my reflection in one of the huge mirrors over the bar.

I looked pale and nervous in my sapphire blue silk dress. I had a thin matching blue lace jacket on top but I was still chilled by the AC. My eyes were huge in my face. I looked tired.

"You look beautiful Princess."

I turned to find Cade right behind me. He was grinning ear to ear. I couldn't help it. My heart warmed at the sight of him.

Then he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me against him.

"Cade!"

He lifted me up and smothered my words with his lips. I started to melt into him just when the hooting started. I opened my eyes but Cade kept on kissing me.