Kiss Cam (With A Kiss Book 1)

by Anie Michaels

  “Man, you’ve got it so bad.” Justin’s voice was full of laughter, obviously finding a lot of joy in my situation.

  “You should talk. Your eyes about fell out of your head when Hadley sat down next to you.” I took another pull of my beer, but it had gone warm and didn’t taste nearly as good as Riley’s mouth.

  “That woman is on another level of hot.”

  My hackles rose almost immediately. “Justin, man, you don’t get to talk about Riley and how hot she is.”

  “No. Not Riley. Although, yeah, she’s hot too. I’m talking about Hadley.”

  My shoulders fell with relief. “Ah. Well, it was obvious to everyone in the room how you felt about her. But you’re not wrong. She’s pretty good-looking.”

  “And these two girls just happened to sit next to you at a Renegades game?”

  “Pretty fucking epic, right?”

  “Yeah. It’s no wonder Sophia dumped your ass that night. You probably couldn’t keep your eyes off them.”

  His words made me think about how differently everything could have turned out. If Sophia hadn’t dumped me, or even if Justin had gone to the game with me instead, Riley and I might not have ever even spoken that night. And if I hadn’t broken up with Sophia, there was no way I would have kissed her when the Kiss Cam hit us. I didn’t really like Sophia, but I wouldn’t have ever cheated on her.

  “I guess it is pretty unbelievable how it all turned out.”

  “I’ve never seen you like this over a woman.” Justin’s tone was more serious, the humor gone from his eyes.

  “She’s different, I think. I hope. I don’t know. It’s only been a few days since we’ve officially started dating, but she’s all I can think about. It’s maddening. And exciting. And scary as hell.”

  “Well, if it’s any consolation, she looked just as smitten with you as you did her. It seemed like you were both on the same page.”

  “Thanks, man. That does make me feel a little better.” We were quiet for a moment before I braved the question that was blaring in my mind. “You want me to put in a good word for you with Hadley?”

  “Nah. I can work my own magic.”

  “Okay,” I said, laughing. “You never know. Maybe at the game tomorrow they’ll put you up on the Kiss Cam with someone equally as hot.”

  “Lightning that good never strikes twice in the same spot, man. Don’t worry about me though. I’m not looking to drop my anchor anytime soon.”

  “Drop your anchor?” I scoffed. “That’s the best euphemism you could come up with?”

  Chapter Seven

  Riley

  The only thing that got me through the rehearsal dinner Thursday night was the thought of seeing Camden the following evening.

  The bride wasn’t particularly terrible, just in love with her vision and naïve about how difficult it would actually be to change a venue last minute. Luckily, it seemed as though the rehearsal dinner would be the biggest and hopefully last speed bump of that particular event.

  Camden had a last-minute lunch meeting pop up Friday, so happy hour was the only time he was able to meet me. It made me smile when he suggested we go back to the Tank for our little mini date.

  When I walked in I was treated to the three-piece-suit look from the back as he stood at the bar, making conversation with George like they were old friends. I came up behind him, letting my hand on his back tell him I’d arrived. He turned at my touch, smile already on his face, and looked down at me with eyes sparkling.

  “Hey.” He leaned down and kissed me sweetly, causing all sorts of butterflies to take flight in my belly. He pulled away saying, “I’m sorry about this afternoon.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “I see you decided to make me stick out like a sore thumb in my business attire.” His gaze slid down my body as he spoke, taking in my casual outfit.

  “After this I head to the wedding site to set up. No clients will be there, so jeans and a T-shirt are a must.”

  “You won’t be there by yourself, will you?”

  “Oh, no,” I say, waving away his concern. “There will be a whole team of people plus vendors. I will most definitely not be alone.”

  Camden nodded, seeming satisfied with my answer, then turned back to the bar, getting George’s attention. “Can I get a Hef for my girl?”

  George smiled at me and I gave him a shy wave. Something about Camden calling me his girl turned me into putty.

  “How’s Annalise doing?” I asked when he put my beer down on the bar and placed a lemon wedge on the edge of the glass.

  “She’s really tired of being pregnant. Can’t see her feet anymore.”

  “Poor girl. Make sure you give her a hug for me, and a foot rub.”

  “Will do,” he said, laughing.

  “Come on,” Camden said, taking my hand and gently leading me to the back of the bar. It was much busier than it had been the first time we’d met there. He guided us through the crowd, finding a single high-top table free in the far corner. I couldn’t help but smile when the Skee-Ball game came into view, remembering the way he’d sharked me.

  We both settled into our high stools and I watched as he took a drink of his beer, loving the way his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. He still had stubble covering his face and throat, and I wondered if he was trying to grow it out or if designer stubble was just a look he was going for. He totally rocked it, so I wasn’t complaining.

  “How’s work been?” I asked instead of jumping over the table and licking his throat like I wanted to.

  He shrugged. “It’s work. Nothing terribly exciting. Sounds like your job is pretty hectic.”

  “It can be,” I said, nodding. “Hopefully that will change next week though.”

  “Right, your promotion. Working less weddings, right?”

  “Yeah. Clients who hire event planners for weddings usually aren’t return customers. They’ll drop a lot of money for a wedding, but nothing else in their life really calls for professional event planning services. Corporations though, especially non-profits, will use event planners repeatedly for putting on galas and fundraisers. Since they are higher profile events and have the potential to be returning clients, my boss usually only gives those jobs to people who’ve proven themselves. So, it’s something I’ve been working toward for a while.”

  “Sounds like you’re very good at your job.”

  “I had no idea what I wanted to be when I was younger, but I always loved throwing parties. It didn’t occur to me until I was already in college that I could parlay that into a job, or even a career. There’s something extremely rewarding about throwing a great event, especially if it’s for a good cause.”

  “So you like the non-profit work?”

  “There are definitely certain organizations that I enjoy working with more than others.”

  “My job doesn’t have one ounce of philanthropy to it. It is, quite literally, laden with greed.”

  “That’s not uncommon. Capitalism is what drives our economy. And I’m sure your job has its moments. You’re about protecting your artists, right? That’s not all greed and gloom. Artists deserve fair pay and compensation.”

  “Maybe you should have been a lawyer too,” he said with a smile.

  “Nah, lawyers are assholes.” I gave him a wink and laughed when his hand came up to cover his heart.

  “You wound me.”

  “If it makes you feel any better, you’re my favorite lawyer.”

  “Hey, that’s cool, ’cause you’re my favorite party planner.”

  “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

  “Just you, babe.”

  “God,” I said on a rushed breath. “I love flirting with you.” The words came out and I instantly regretted them, worried I’d said too much too soon, but his immediate smile made me feel a little better. “I mean, I don’t love you…. I mean, you’re great… oh, shit.” My head fell into my hands and I let out a groan. I heard Camden’s deep, throaty laughter fr
om across the table, but didn’t dare to look up at him. “I swear I’m not as creepy as I always come off.”

  His laugh started again, only louder, and then he tugged on my hand, forcing me to look up at him. Instead of letting my hand go, he laced his fingers through mine. “You’re not creepy. Promise. What you are is funny and cute, which is sexy as hell.”

  I was grateful he wasn’t making me feel worse about what I’d said, but I wasn’t surprised. He’d proven to be a class act since the day I met him. The blush spread across my face in a wave of warmth, and I decided we needed a change of subject.

  “Justin seemed like a really great guy. You guys are good friends?”

  “Yeah,” he answered, still holding my hand on top of the table. “We both started at the firm at the same time and we’re about the same age. Most of my friends from my childhood moved away around college, but I still see them occasionally. My best friend, Greg, lives on the east coast, but we don’t see each other too often. His wife just had their second baby, so he’s pretty much stationary. Traveling across the country with two children apparently is every parent’s worst nightmare.”

  “I can only imagine.”

  “I think Justin was pretty enamored by Hadley, though.”

  “Yeah,” I said with a laugh. “She has that effect on guys sometimes.”

  “I thought he was going to lose the ability to form words.”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

  “Have you been friends long?”

  “A while. Hadley and I were assigned to be dorm roommates back in college our freshman year. It was totally random that we were paired together, and now she’s one of my best friends.”

  “And what about your family? Do they live nearby?”

  “My mom lives in Arizona now. We lived in Oregon until I was about fourteen, but then my parents divorced and my mom moved my brother and me to Arizona with her. I went to high school there, but moved back as soon as I was old enough.” I hated talking about Arizona and my time there, and I hoped my voice didn’t give away my discomfort. Besides my mom and my brother, who lived through those four years with me, only Hadley knew what had happened there and why I loathed it so much.

  “And it’s only you and your brother? No other siblings or family nearby?”

  “Just us two. But he’s pretty busy, so I don’t see him often. My aunt, my mom’s sister, lives in Arizona as well. But that’s it.”

  “And what about your father?” His tone was so soft and careful, as though he were afraid he’d break me with his question.

  “My father left one day and never looked back. Haven’t heard from him in about ten years.” I pushed the words out quickly, wanting to get the conversation over with, looking for any way to steer the conversation in another direction. I took a drink, trying to steel myself to ask him about his family. His family, and their wealth and status, was still a source of anxiety for me. He’d proved himself different than I thought he’d be, but that didn’t mean I’d feel differently about the staggering economic and social differences between us. “Your parents have to be pretty local, your father being the mayor and all.”

  “Stepfather,” he corrected right before taking a pull of his own beer. “And he and my mother live on the west side in the hills.”

  I tried not to let my reaction show on my face. The West Hills was a notoriously wealthy part of town, filled with mansions and expensive cars. In fact, I would put money on the idea that Camden’s parents were neighbors to at least one of the Renegades players. Portland didn’t have many professional athletes, but you could bet some of them live in The West Hills.

  “Can I ask about your biological father? Is that a sore subject?”

  “You can ask me anything,” he said with a staggering amount of honesty in his voice. “My father died when I was six. Car accident.”

  “I’m so sorry. That’s terrible.”

  “It is what it is,” he said with a shrug. “I only have a few vivid memories of him. That’s either a blessing or a curse—I haven’t decided which and I probably never will. It was only me and my mom until I was twelve. I’d gotten used to being the man of the house and taking care of my mom, which is why my stepdad and I didn’t get along. He kind of bulldozed his way into our lives. I know for my mom it was sort of a fairy tale, swept her off her feet situation. She was a lonely single mother, and he was a rich, single man with a good standing in a large city, on track to carry a political office.

  “He wasn’t necessarily a bad guy, he just wasn’t taking any of my shit, and I was operating under a similar MO.” He shrugged with that final statement and I wanted to know so much more, to understand his seemingly deep-seated resentment toward the man, but I didn’t want to push the topic or turn our quick date into a tense situation.

  “What’s the craziest place you’ve ever had sex?”

  Camden choked on his beer, covering his mouth as he coughed, then chuckled, smiling at me as he wiped his mouth with a napkin from the dispenser on top of our table.

  “Jesus, Riley. That’s a pretty sharp change in the direction of conversation.”

  “Hey, I need to know these kinds of things.”

  “Okay,” he said as he laughed and shook his head. “I think I’m going to go with the bleachers at my high school.”

  I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

  “No one was there. It’s not like a football game was going on. There was a pep rally inside and my girlfriend and I snuck away to make out, but things got a little out of control.” He said the words with a laugh, but a blush crept over his face, glowing bright red under his stubble.

  “Ah, young love,” I teased, batting my eyelashes at him.

  “What about you?”

  “I have never had sex in a crazy place. Unless you count, like, the living room. You and me in the alley the other night was possibly the most risqué thing I’ve ever done in the sexy department.”

  “The fact that our first kiss was broadcasted to twenty thousand people is really starting to seem like fate to me.” His thumb traced a circle over the back of my hand and goose bumps spread all over my arms.

  “No wonder you wouldn’t let me walk away,” I said with a teasing laugh.

  “Hmmm.” His stare was intense. “So you’ve never had sex outside of your own home?”

  “Nope. The opportunity never presented itself.” I watched as his expression steeled, and if I didn’t know any better, I would have thought he took my last statement as a challenge. “Plus, I don’t feel as though the majority of people have.”

  “Oh, I think you’re wrong,” he said with a laugh.

  “Have there been more instances than just the bleachers?” I asked, leaning in, intrigued by the idea of Camden having exhibitionistic tendencies. He leaned back in his chair, smirking at me. “There have been,” I practically squealed. The thought both surprised and excited me. Suddenly all I could see in my mind was Camden laying me down on the Skee-Ball game and tearing my clothes off, giving everyone in the bar a show. Of course, in real life I would never allow that to happen, but fantasy Riley? She very much enjoyed scoring on the Skee-Ball table. “Interesting,” I said, giving him a knowing smile.

  “There’s nothing wrong with a little excitement now and then.”

  “This is a regular occurrence?”

  “No,” he said, laughing. “It’s happened a few times. It’s not like I need an audience to get off. Clearly I proved that earlier this week,” he said, lowering his voice and leaning toward me. Images of Camden over me, naked and sweaty, firm body against mine, made me blush. It also made my thighs press together under the table. I needed to change the subject again. I didn’t want to go to work all wound up, especially since I knew I wouldn’t be seeing Cam again until the next day.

  “And when’s the last time you attended church?” His laugh was immediate and loud. “You should probably know I’m not a religious person. Spiritual is a better word to describe me.”

  Aft
er he’d finished laughing, he responded. “I think technically I’m Baptist, but I haven’t been to church in a long while.”

  One more thing to tick off on the compatibility checklist.

  I smiled at him as I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

  “Shit,” I said, looking at the time. “I should probably get going.” I drank the last of my beer and hopped off my stool. “I’m sorry it was so short.”

  “Hey, don’t worry about it. Work gets in the way sometimes.” He smiled at me and then finished his own beer. “Let me pay the tab and then I’ll walk you out.”

  He took my hand and we walked through the bar, even more crowded than it was when we arrived. I said good-bye to George, loving the way Camden pulled me to his side as he paid the bill. We’d only been dating for a week, but it was clear he felt comfortable enough to claim me in a crowded bar, making it clear to everyone that we were together. And I didn’t mind it one bit. Quite the opposite, in fact. Even though it had been scary in the beginning, his obvious and blatant want for me was stupidly attractive. It had never occurred to me how sexy it would be to feel wanted. Or even needed. When his hand tightened around my waist, pulling me closer still, my breath caught. And when he leaned down and pressed a small kiss against the side of my neck, well, everything inside me bloomed.

  Damn him.

  We didn’t talk as we left, just held hands and walked in comfortable silence. But when we came to my car, I suddenly found myself pushed up against it and Camden’s arms caging me in.

  “You certainly like to push me up against any vertical surface you can find,” I said, letting my hands rest on his waist.

  “I like kissing you, and other things. And I like it when I’m sure you can’t get away. You’ve run from me a few times, and I’m just taking advantage of my surroundings.”

  I knew he was joking, but I also knew the humor was coming from some sort of truth. I had run from him and I had pushed him away. So, I let my hands slip around his body, pulling him in to me, doing the exact opposite of what he was afraid of.