The Right Wish

by Mankin, Michelle

“I’m always right.” I grinned, knowing if Cam heard me, she would argue with that. I held out my arm to Coralee. “I’m so proud of you. Would you like an escort to center stage where you belong?”

  “I would.”

  “Then you have it.” I patted her hand when she placed it on my sleeve. Affirming her worked wonders. I’d seen it work positively on Cam too.

  When we stepped out into the hall, Carol pushed away from the cinderblock wall.

  “She’s on in five.” I held up a hand, waving her back. “I’ll announce her. You need to find your seat.”

  Carol glared at me but moved away, which didn’t surprise me. Most people responded when I used that no-nonsense tone.

  But not Cam.

  Chapter 26

  * * *

  Camaro

  “This dress, the makeup, sitting in the front row, I felt like a princess tonight.” I leaned my head back onto the passenger seat of the Z and watched Brad as he drove, a handsome prince in his tux with his crown of golden hair. “Thank you for inviting me. I had an amazing time.”

  “You look beautiful, like a princess.”

  “Any girl would after a day at Nordstrom.”

  “Not any girl. You.”

  I glanced away. They were too tempting, his compliments and the man who gave them, the city lights twinkling on him like celebratory after-party confetti.

  Watching the city pass by, I said, “Maurice told me since you’re a VIP customer, there won’t be any charge if I send the dress back first thing in the morning.”

  “You should keep the dress.” Brad flicked on the blinker and cautiously checked his side mirror before changing lanes.

  “I’m not keeping a twenty-thousand-dollar Ernie Caballero gown.” My tone reflected my incredulousness. “I don’t need to keep it. Where would I wear it, the grocery store?”

  “You could wear it to another function. I have one or two nearly every week. Some are performances by my clients like tonight’s was. Others are marketing opportunities.” He exited the freeway. Braking at the bottom of the ramp, he glanced over at me, probably wondering why I didn’t speak. “They’re usually a chore to attend alone, but I very much enjoyed attending this one with you.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Would you consider going to another one with me?”

  “Pretend to be your girlfriend like tonight?” I held my breath for his answer.

  “Not if you don’t want to.” He was evasive rather than direct, not the usual response from him.

  “I want to help you, Brad.”

  But pretending for me with him was a dangerous game. Better to pretend alone using my imagination. It was certainly safer. Tonight felt too much like a prelude to something I very much wanted, something I’d always wanted with him. Something real.

  He glanced at me again. “You have reservations.”

  “Yes, I do.” And all of them ended with me getting hurt.

  “Your time is valuable.” The leather-wrapped steering wheel creaked in his tightened grip.

  “It’s not that.” Did he think I was so vain?

  He didn’t say another word, nor did he look at me as he slowed to turn onto a residential street. Landmarks starting to look somewhat familiar, and knowing we were fast approaching the end to an evening that had been magical for me, my stomach churned.

  I’d wanted him to ask me what my reservations were. I needed to know he was interested in them—in me—before I took a chance and made myself vulnerable with him again.

  “I don’t want you to feel like I’m taking advantage of our friendship,” he said so softly, I almost didn’t hear him. “How about if I pay you?”

  That I very clearly heard. As abruptly as the screech of tires on asphalt, the magic of the evening ended.

  Stupid, I’d been so stupid. Mortification crawled like bugs all over my skin.

  Would a friend, a genuine one who respected me, suggest anything like that?

  Only, I wasn’t respectable anymore.

  “I’d rather clean your toilets,” I said with my cheeks burning.

  “Pretending to be my girlfriend was that unpleasant, huh?” His teeth were clenched so tightly, I could see a muscle in his jaw jumping from the strain.

  “No, of course not.”

  It had been wonderful to be at his side, too wonderful to feel like I could belong there. But that was all over now. He was staring straight ahead. He didn’t see me, couldn’t see and had never seen how much I longed to be his real girlfriend, not his pretend one. Stinging from his rejection, I longed for it even now.

  “How much will it take?” He made one final turn. After steering the Z to its spot in his driveway, he cut the ignition, severing my foolish hopes and dreams right along with it.

  “How much are you offering?” I asked dully. How much he offered would reveal how badly I’d misinterpreted every caress and affirming word.

  “Rush is paying you a thousand dollars a month to housesit. How about a thousand per event?”

  “That seems like a lot.”

  He frowned at me. “You undervalue yourself. I wish you wouldn’t do that.”

  I wished he wouldn’t undervalue me too. I felt smaller than the narrowed slit of his gaze.

  “Yes, you mentioned that to me once before.” I dropped my chin.

  What did I have to lose? It was only practical to say yes. I certainly had nothing to gain but cash.

  “Okay, Bradley.”

  “Brad,” he said.

  “I think Bradley is best, or Mr. Marshall. We can pretend in public, but let’s not lie when we don’t have to, when money isn’t involved. Right?”

  “Cam, that’s not what this is, not what I want.”

  I reached for the door handle, fumbling for it through the sheen of my tears. From the heights of hope to the depths of despair, like when I’d found out that my stepmother had paid Chris to take me away from my father. I’d plummeted many times since then, but those crash landings had never been this jarring.

  “Stay.” He threw his arm to the side in front of me, and I flinched back into my seat. “I’m not through discussing this.”

  “I agreed. What’s left to discuss? Do you have additional services you’d like included in your nightly fee?”

  “Of course not. I want to spend time with you. My intention was to facilitate that while also making it worth your while financially.”

  “Tonight was worth my while because it helped you.” I lifted my head and glared through my tears at him. “A friend helping a friend without money involved is a gift rather than a business transaction. You not recognizing that reflects badly on both of us, I’m afraid.”

  Chapter 27

  * * *

  Bradley

  “I fucked up. I fucked up big with her.” My cell to my ear, I paced the length of my bedroom, feeling like a wild animal in a cage, which was how I’d felt since Cam had run up the stairs to her room and slammed the door. “I made her cry. Insulted her. And I don’t know how to fix it.”

  “Whoa, man,” Rush said. “Hold on. What the hell’s going on, and who are we talking about?”

  “Cam.”

  “Oh fuck.”

  “You’re getting the picture.”

  “Yeah? I’m not so sure, but let me step out of the back lounge of the bus and go to the front so you can clue me in.”

  “Who is it?” Jewel asked sleepily.

  “Brad on the line,” Rush said, his words muffled. “Go back to sleep, babe.”

  “Mm-kay.”

  “Sorry. It’s late . . . I should’ve realized. I’ve been stewing for a while. Knew it was too late to call Sierra, but I should’ve checked the clock before I bothered you.”

  “Don’t care what time it is. Care that you’re upset. However, I don’t want Jewel getting wind of this until it’s necessary for her to get involved. I’m in the front lounge now, so talk.”

  “I like Cam. A lot.”

  “Dude, I know. My woman and I t
alk. Plus, I have eyes. I see how you are around her.”

  “How?” I raked a hand through my hair, avoiding my reflection in the dresser mirror.

  “Wired. Jittery. Worried anytime Ben or even Jack gets close to her. I was there myself once upon a time, so I recognize the pattern. Just stating facts, man. Not gonna give you shit about it.”

  “Appreciate it.” I let out a shaky exhale. “I spent the whole day with her, and it wasn’t enough. So I talked her into going with me to Coralee’s debut.”

  “You never invited Bree to any of those things.”

  “Bree would have made it about her. Cam was perfect, supportive of me and sweet to everyone she met.”

  “Sounds like her. So, what’d you do to fuck it up?”

  “Tried to back her into a corner, being greedy.” I squeezed my eyes shut, but it didn’t erase the image stuck in my brain of the hurt I’d caused her.

  “In a corner how?” he asked.

  “She wasn’t going to give me what I wanted.” I opened my eyes and shook my head at myself in the mirror. Scary, my hair was standing up all over the place. “I offered her cash to go out with me again.”

  The line went silent. I counted one condemning downbeat and then another before he gave his verdict.

  “You fucked up.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Did you take it back? Tell her you were sorry?”

  “I tried,” I said with a sigh. “She twisted my words.”

  “She doesn’t believe you.”

  “No.”

  “I do, but she doesn’t know you like I do.”

  “I was attempting to change that.”

  “Having her there with you at your house, you figured she had to get to know you.”

  “No chance now. She’s holed up in her room. Door’s shut.”

  “That’s pretty bad. I don’t know what to tell you, man. I’m no expert when it comes to women. Well, when it comes to relationships with them, I sure am fucking not.”

  “Me either. You know my history.”

  I was too much of a nerd in high school. Too tunnel-visioned in college, first with one major, then another. Too focused on being successful here in LA afterward.

  “Haven’t had a serious relationship until Bree,” I said, and was that ever a disaster. “All I learned from her was what not to do.”

  “I hear you. I’ve had rough spots with Jewel. Almost lost her, closing her out from what was going on inside me while holding on to her too tight.”

  Rush was lucky. I hadn’t even had a chance to hold Cam yet.

  “If she means something to you,” he said, “you gotta let her know. Give her what she needs, access to your thoughts and feelings.”

  “Shit.”

  “Yeah, it’s not easy.” Rush blew out a breath. “But worth it. So, listen, you know I’ve got your back in this and all things, and it’s you, so I probably shouldn’t even have to say it. But think first before pressing forward with Camaro. Fuck it up, and there’ll be major repercussions. She’s like a sister to Jewel.”

  “Yeah, I know.” I nodded thoughtfully, then startled as the room was plunged into complete darkness. “Oh shit.”

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “Power just went out.”

  “Your power’s always going out. Windy again?”

  “Yeah. I’d better check the fuse box to be sure the trouble’s not something on this end.”

  “Okay. Keep me in the loop about Camaro.”

  “Will do.”

  I hung up and found the flashlight function on my cell. Heading for the door, I stopped as it hit me. I was so twisted up about Cam, I hadn’t even asked Rush how the tour was going.

  A scream pierced the darkness, and my heart jumped up into my throat.

  “Cam!”

  All thoughts about a fuse box and the tour scattered. I yanked open my door and raced down the hall. Her door was closed, but I didn’t hesitate to throw it open. The doorknob banged into the wall.

  Cam whimpered, and I found her without shining the light on her. She was in the far corner of the room. No more princess in a ballgown, she was sexy as sin in a red silk chemise, but scared and trembling on the floor with her knees drawn to her chest.

  “It’s me. Brad.”

  “I know. I’m okay.” She shook her head as I advanced. “It’s just the dark. I woke up and thought I was somewhere else that they were . . .” Her teeth chattered. “Go b-b-back to your room.”

  “No fucking way.” In front of her now, I dropped to my knees. In the glow of my cell light, it was easy to see the tears in her eyes.

  “I don’t want you here.” Her pretty lips trembled like the rest of her did.

  “Maybe not, but I want to be here. So here I’ll stay.” Remembering how she’d panicked in the darkness before, I proceeded carefully. “I’m going to touch you, okay? Just your hair.”

  I dove my hand into the waterfall of black silk curtaining her lovely face. Brushing a long section back over her shoulder, my fingers skimmed her creamy soft skin. Maybe it was only subconsciously, but she seemed to turn her face into my hand.

  “Babe, let me hold you. You’re shivering.”

  “I c-can’t. You can’t.”

  “I can. If you’ll let me. I’m going to reach for you.” Setting my phone on the floor, I opened my arms to her. “I’m cold too.”

  And that was the fucking truth. It ripped me wide open to see her like this, battling her demons all by herself in the dark.

  A moment passed, then two, while she studied me with wide, wary eyes.

  “Please, Cam.” My brows drew together. “I screwed up earlier. I was scared too, scared of the very thing that happened. You shutting me out when I enjoy so much spending time with you.”

  “You can hold me.” She uncrossed her arms and placed her small hands in mine. “But me giving you permission to doesn’t mean anything.”

  “Of course it doesn’t,” I said, keeping my voice low and soft.

  But it did. It meant on some level she trusted me.

  It meant I had another chance.

  Chapter 28

  * * *

  Camaro

  “I’m going to lift you up.” Brad closed his large hands around my much smaller ones and gently squeezed. “I want you off the hard floor, and me on it instead.”

  Before I could protest, he picked me up as if I weighed nothing and arranged me so I sat on his lap sideways, my legs draped over one of his powerful thighs.

  “Better?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said softly, warming instantly.

  “Wrapping my arms around you now.”

  He did, and it was perfection.

  Engulfed in his strength, I stopped shivering and snuggled into him, yielding to his unbendable determination. I laid my cheek against the smooth surface of his chiseled chest. He stroked his hand along the length of my spine, leaving a trail of fire in my skin.

  “Safe and warm,” he said softly.

  Not safe. The dark seemed to be closing in on me, and it wasn’t my only concern. Brad wearing only pajama bottoms was. One tug at that drawstring, and I could have everything my body wanted. Unlike my heart, my body wasn’t bothered by his low opinion of me.

  “Brad . . . Bradley.” I squirmed on his lap. My body might not care, but the rest of me certainly did.

  He groaned, and I felt his cock twitching beneath me. He was thick, hot, and incredibly hard. My cheeks aflame, I stopped moving. Our minds and hearts were in disparate positions, but our bodies were eager to converge.

  “You feel amazing in my arms.” He stopped stroking. “But I’m not going to hurt you, Cam.” His hand was stationary, a brand marking the small of my back.

  “You told me that once before, a long time ago,” I whispered. Lifting my head, I looked into his gorgeous blue eyes and pretended I wasn’t affected by the concern I saw there. “You lied.”

  His brow furrowed. “You know that’s not what I meant.”
>
  “There are more ways to hurt someone than only physically.” I wiggled in his hold. “Let me go.”

  “No.” He frowned determinedly. “Not until we talk this through.”

  His strong arms tightened around me, but I wasn’t afraid of him. I knew he wasn’t a threat.

  Could he sense that an altogether different sort of tension seized me? I had little to no willpower where he was concerned. Even when I was mad or upset with him, he turned me on.

  Could he possibly know how much of my anger from earlier was self-directed? I should have flat-out refused him, not baited him. I’d been in my room awake long after we parted ways, trying to figure out how to fix things.

  “So, talk then.” I lifted my chin.

  “I made a mistake offering you money,” he said with a sigh. “I told you my reason, but it’s not an excuse, and I’m sorry. My intention wasn’t to insult you. I was trying to help, not hurt you.”

  “I accept your apology.” With his sincere expression and his steady piercing gaze, how could I not?

  “Thank you.” He lowered his head and pressed his lips to the crown of my head, an errant king bestowing favor to his troubled queen. A story idea fluttered onto the pages of my mind.

  His warm breath stirred wisps of hair at my scalp, sending a pleasurable shiver spiraling through me. “I know my saying I’m sorry doesn’t take away the damage I did. But it gives me another chance, and that’s all I need. I might have ended our evening wrong, but I right my wrongs, I assure you. But enough of me talking. Starting tomorrow, I’ll prove to you that I mean what I say.”

  “You can release me now.” I tapped his arm. It was like tapping a steel sculpture wrapped in rich layers of warm velvet.

  “I don’t think I will. I like holding you. And the power’s still out. How about I hold you until it comes back on?”

  I wasn’t afraid of the dark—I was afraid of the memories that lurked there. He’d witnessed my panic, not once but twice now. He was helping me without making me feel weak. A kindness, a gift, one very much appreciated.

  “Okay, just until then.”