The truck slowed and turned into a parking lot.

Denny's. He was actually going to bring her to a Denny's.

"Nope!" she said. Actually shouted.

"Eh, nope," she repeated in a lower voice. "Nope, nope, nope. That is a big nope Cam Walker. Nope, nope, nope. You can drive me home, thank you very much."

She tried to shake her finger at the air for emphasis but her extremities were off doing their own thing at the moment, numb to her instructions, and she ended up awkwardly slapping his bicep instead with the back of her hand.

His extremely firm bicep.

"Oh wow," she gasped. Wait, did she just say that out loud?

"I am going to drive you home Miss Park, I promise," Cam said in a soothing voice, like a parent trying to calm a raging toddler. "Just as soon as we get some food in you. I can't cook like my dad does, and besides, he says you don't have much in your refrigerator at the moment."

"Denny's?" she said helplessly. From the tone of his voice it was clear she didn't have much choice in the matter. And she did too have stuff in her refrigerator. Sort of.

The truck pulled up in front of the brightly lit glass doors, the restaurant's cheerful fluorescence a lone beacon of light in the dark outskirts of town. With the engine turned off she could hear the aggressive chirping of crickets, so many damn crickets. When she had first moved there it had been the crickets that had kept her awake at night, louder than the honking horns and steady drone of traffic she had left behind.

"Afraid there isn't much else left open," Cam replied, swinging his door open and ducking out with his cowboy hat on. He came around to her side, opened her door, and waited for her to step out of the truck. "I didn't think you'd want to go to Dairy Queen."

She groaned at that thought. No, definitely not.

"Fine, I'll eat some eggs and then you have to take me home," she muttered, brushing him away when he offered her an arm. No way she was going to lose herself again in how solid and strong he felt. "I'm fine. God, there better not be any more of you in there."

Cam laughed at this, a full, deep chested laugh that reminder her of his father's. She sure had a knack at keeping the Walker men amused, if nothing else.

"What's the matter Miss Park? You don't like running into your old students?"

Before she could reply he had opened the door for her and ushered her inside. A cranky older woman in a Denny's uniform waited patiently to greet them, two menus in hand. She blew a bubble of pale pink gum and popped it.

"Welcome to Denny's," the hostess drawled, then walked off without another word to show them to their booth. There was nothing particularly friendly about a Texas accent. It always sounded slightly menacing, even when the person speaking was being friendly. She could never shake the feeling since moving there that a subterranean stream of violence coursed right below the surface of every interaction; the speed with which Cam had whipped out his rifle earlier that day had only served to underscore her suspicion.

At least where she was from people were just rude to your face.

"Hi Cam! Hi Miss Park!" A very familiar voice trilled in greeting right after they had settled into their corner booth. She looked up in panic at the waitress who had just materialized out of nowhere.

"Madysen!" she cried out, not even trying to hide her dismay. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here Miss Park. Been working here since before graduation. I graduated by the way," Madysen chirped in her unnaturally high voice. It always reminded her of the high-pitched shrieks made by birds of prey as they circled in on their kill.

"Yes, I heard," she said, trying to stage a smile. "Congratulations Madysen."

Madysen jutted out one hip and eyed her former teacher and former classmate, as if noticing them both for the first time. An awkward silence ballooned between them, Cam apparently too absorbed by his menu to involve himself in the conversation at hand.

"Can I get y'all something to drink?" Madysen said at last. If she found their presence together there strange her flat blue eyes didn't show it. Then again, those eyes rarely showed much of anything, and she could never decide if Madysen's lack of affect was fascinating or disturbing.

Suddenly she felt how she looked, "drunk as a skunk" as Cam had put it, probably smelling a lot like the floor of Charley's, and slumped in a Denny's booth past midnight with a very young, very handsome former student.

Who was now smirking at her evident discomfort. She glowered at him and then picked up her menu so that she could hide behind it.

"Coffee please," Cam said. "Two of them."

"You got it. Good to see you Cam," and Madysen was gone, at least for a few minutes. 

"You knew she would be here," she hissed at him. He was smiling openly now, struggling not to laugh.

"What?" he said, "I figured you'd want to congratulate your second favorite student on her big accomplishment! I know how hard you worked with Madysen to make sure she graduated. How committed you were Miss Park."

"Oh will you shut up Cameron Walker," she grumbled, returning to her menu. It disarmed her to realize he had seen right through her and her dedication to helping Madysen pass Senior English. She thought he had been too busy ignoring English class and trading crass jokes with his friends in the back row.

"Remember how you used to tutor her during study hall every week?" he continued, still smiling.

She ignored him and continued to peruse her menu, although she had lost her appetite for eggs. All she could think about was being at Denny's with Cam and what Madysen would have to say about it to her friends. To her mother. And then with a sinking feeling she remembered that Madysen's mother had already seen him carry her out of Charley's sloppy drunk. She groaned inwardly at that as Cam continued talking.

"Did you hear what I just said Miss Park?" he said, gently pushing her menu down from her face.

"What? Yes, I used to tutor Madysen," she snapped at him. "I was there too, remember?"

"No, then I said that I always wished it was me you were tutoring." Cam wasn't smiling anymore, his gaze even and unflinching.

"Oh," she whispered, the heat rising to her face. She tried to think of a snappy comeback but her still inebriated brain failed her; instead she said nothing and simply looked down at her hands spread out on the table top. The seconds ticked by in silence and she could feel his eyes on her, the way they made her body feel, the tight feeling in her abdomen, the twinge between her legs.

"Here you go Miss Park!" Madysen was back, plunking down a mug of coffee before her.

"Oh thank you so much Madysen," she gushed, unexpectedly relieved by her presence and now anxious to keep her around.

"What are your plans now that you've graduated? Do you have any plans? I'm so excited for you, you worked so hard in my class!" She was babbling now, probably sounded drunk, but she didn't care. Anything to keep Madysen firmly planted between them.

But Madysen just shrugged, as though the idea of plans that didn't include waitressing at Denny's had never occurred to her. Madysen glanced at Cam, who was now shaking packets of sugar into his cup of coffee.

"Y'all know what you want to order yet?" Madysen asked him. As though her former English teacher was too incapacitated to order for herself. Or as though ... as though they were a couple, and he was the man and thus in charge of the proceedings.

"Yes ma'am," he said in a low, sexy voice that sent a shiver through her. Now he was looking up at Madysen and smirking. "She'll have two eggs, scrambled, side of bacon, toast."

"Pancakes," she muttered. Inanely.

Cam didn't miss a beat.

"And a short stack," he added.

"What about yourself Cam?" Madysen said. "I hear you've been helping out at your Daddy's ranch a lot more now that you're done with school. Look how big those muscles are, you probably need to eat a lot to keep up with everything."

Was Madysen flirting with him?

"Yeah, something like that," he said. "Nah, I'm good."

He took her menu and handed both of them to Madysen, signaling that she was dismissed. For a second time Madysen openly glanced back and forth between them, then turned and walked away.

Again they were alone. Cam crossed his arms on the table and leaned forward. She went back to studying her hands.

"Miss Park," he whispered. "Earth to Miss Park. Why don't you want to look at me?"

He said it in a way that made clear he knew exactly why she didn't want to look at him.

She felt lightheaded again, and leaned her forehead against one of her hands. In defeat.

"What is it Cam? What is it you want from me?" she said. She felt like crying, though she wasn't sure why. She breathed in his scent, his delicious, sexy scent. No more crying though, there had been quite enough of that the last few days.

"All I want is to see your eyes Miss Park," he said. "All I want you is to look at me. Right now."

So she did. She raised her head and met his gaze with her own. Then faltered and broke away again. It was too much, that look in his eyes. Too much for her.