by Stacey Lynn
My chest heaved and my shoulders shook as everything I’d realized began crashing down on me, a weight hitting my shoulders that seemed to want to force me to my knees.
I hadn’t done anything wrong, and yet I was still screwed. Still forced to now think of a way to move on and get over this damn hurdle.
It might have been small compared to other difficulties I’d faced…
But when in the hell would life turn easy for me?
I left the park, trudging along the path where I’d just run, and ripped my earbuds out of my ears. The fast-speed hip-hop playlist I ran to was suddenly no match for my mood.
With tears streaking down my cheeks, I didn’t bother brushing them away as I reached the main drag and headed for home. I had new plans to make, lists to create, and it wouldn’t do me well to waste a moment of time feeling sorry for myself.
A loud honk from behind startled me and I jumped, turning to look at the car that had made the noise.
“Shit,” I muttered as I saw David behind the wheel of his Escalade. He pulled up to a stop right next to me, and I lost the thin strand of thought I’d been grasping.
“What happened? Why aren’t you at work?” he shouted over the roar of his engine through the passenger-side window.
He must have seen the tears on my face because he leaned over and threw open the door, making me jump back to avoid it smacking me in the face.
“Get inside, Camden.”
I shook my head and swiped across my cheeks. “I need to walk.”
“Camden.” His eyes narrowed. “Get in the car. Or I’m following you home and all the cars behind me will be pissed.”
I looked behind him. There were only three, but the woman in a red MINI Cooper seemed to be two seconds away from blaring on her little car’s horn.
“I’d really like to walk.”
“You’re crying and in no condition to be alone. I’d really like you to get into my fucking car before I throw you into it.”
It was a three-mile walk back home and I was exhausted. I wanted the air, but I really, really didn’t want to cause a scene.
“Fine,” I grumbled and climbed in. When I pulled the door shut and buckled my seatbelt, David pulled back into the street.
Chapter 22
David
“Talk.”
I should have known the command wouldn’t work on Camden.
She huffed in response and glared out the window like I’d somehow been the one to piss her off and make her cry within the span of a few hours since I’d seen her last.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she muttered.
A low boil started in my gut, that same sensation I had felt this morning when she didn’t want to talk about work. I knew not to shove her over the edge of a cliff to get her over her fears, but I was past the point of guiding gently. I’d give her time to talk about the things she struggled with, but I’d had to share my past and my regrets with her.
At some point, she was going to have to start showing me she had some small amount of trust in me.
“Why aren’t you at work, Camden?” My jaw hurt from clenching my teeth.
Sensing my frustration, which felt like a living, breathing animal in my SUV, she huffed another breath.
“I got fired today.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
I jolted from the shock and had to fight not to slam on the brakes in the middle of the road. “What? Why?”
Her chin wobbled as I looked at her. I gave her a moment to compose herself and turned down the street to her place. I’d been on my way to Fireside to help Declan out with the lunch rush, but I would call him to let him know I wasn’t going to make it.
Business had started picking up, and fall was a busy time, but he’d still forgive me. Plus, his bartender Jeremiah was almost as good as me.
“Why, Camden?” I softened the question, forcing myself to take a calming breath.
I pulled into her driveway. She jumped out of her seat the moment I stopped. “Not fired,” she said, “I guess. I was put on a leave of absence, so I quit and walked out.”
She headed for the front door, and I didn’t waste any time. I followed her inside her house, pressing close to her back. No way was I giving her the space to tell me she didn’t want to talk about it again.
“You okay?” I wrapped my arm around her stomach and squeezed as she maneuvered the door and removed her key from the lock.
“No.” She tilted her head back. The tears and pain in her eyes were my kryptonite.
Before she could explain, I spun her around and wrapped my arms around her back. She was hot, her shirt clung to her back from her run, and sweat beaded her hairline. I resisted the urge to undo her hair from her ponytail and take the band. My hand slid to the back of her head and I pressed her to my shoulder.
“It’s okay,” I crooned, as she fell apart in my hold. Her shoulders violently shook and her breath caught, making a gasping sound. “It’ll be okay, Camden.”
“You know what sucks?” she cried, pulling back from me and wiping her tears. “It’s that I didn’t actually do anything wrong. Someone else did, and for some damn stupid reason, I’m going to be the one taking the fall for it. It’s so unfair, but there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it, and I hate it. I hate it, and I’m so fucking tired of life being unfair. That people who go about life minding their own business, keeping their head down, and just doing the right thing…that we’re the ones who are punished. That we’re the scapegoats and the victims, and all the evil people, all the predators and assholes, they get away with whatever they want because they can.”
Shocked at her outburst and the venom in her voice, I stayed rooted to my spot while she paced her living room.
“It’s not right, David. It’s not fair, and it’s not okay, and I’m so sick and tired of all the bullshit falling on my shoulders. How much more do I have to bear? How much more do I have to take?”
“Hey,” I called, forcing my steps to carry me forward. I reached for her but she jumped back, like a wild animal too skittish and scared to be touched. “Talk to me, Cam. You can tell me anything.”
She shook her head, tugging on her ponytail. With a violent heave of breath, her shoulders fell and like a miracle…her expression shuttered.
What the hell?
When she spoke again, her voice was robotic. It scared the shit out of me. “I’ll be fine. I’m always fine, you know? And this will be no different. Not really.”
“Camden—”
She stepped away and toward the kitchen. I followed her without hesitating. What in the hell was going on?
When she reached the kitchen table, she placed her hand on a stack of files. I’d seen them this morning when she left for work. Now she scowled at them as if the use of trees to create so much paper infuriated her.
“Someone’s been stealing money from my company. Unfortunately, that someone is the CEO’s nephew and a huge pain in my ass.”
Shit.
“Even more unfortunately, they tried to place me on leave while they investigate. Most of the clients who have claimed money missing have been mine.”
“Fuck.”
“Yep.”
“How do you know it’s this nephew?”
“Because I know him. He’s greasy and smelly and he’s been completely useless.”
“That’s quite the accusation.”
Her glare speared me to my spot. I raised my hands in surrender. “I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m saying it’s a huge accusation without proof.”
“I have it.” She tapped the files. “I always print out monthly statements and general ledgers. Everyone makes fun of me for keeping a paper trail, but I have the accounts and I have the records. And I have the electronic files that show when my clients’ accounts were accessed, and what was moved. That wasn’t from me.”
“Can’t you just show him the proof, then? Be vindicated?”
“Right, David.” She rolled her eyes. “Becau
se the CEO doesn’t want this public, he’s investigating it himself. He’s looking into it. But if I’m the one being accused of it, and it’s his nephew doing it, who’s going to be the one in trouble here?”
I opened my mouth to tell her that maybe the CEO was a stand-up guy and would do the right thing but quickly shut my mouth. I didn’t know the man. She needed me on her side right now.
“What are you going to do?”
She dropped her gaze from mine to the files. Then she looked out the window above her kitchen sink and shrugged. “I quit. It’s done. I’ll keep this in case it backfires on me somehow, but my guess is now that I’m no longer in the picture, Jameson Peters will cover up the mess somehow and everyone will move on.”
“What will you do about a job?”
She shrugged and tugged on the tip of her ponytail. God, I wanted her close to me. In my arms so I could soothe away her pain.
“Find a new one. I have some savings. I’ll be good for a few months without having to cut back on anything.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to prove your innocence and go back to work?”
So much for being on her side. The look she shot me skewered me in my chest.
“Let’s say they find out it’s Gordon, the nephew, and apologize for thinking it was really me. How do I go back and work in a place that would do that? That would treat me so unfairly, judge me so quickly?” She shivered visibly and turned back to me. “Why is it that just because I come from a trashy area and a trashy home, people are always so quick to assume that I am trash?”
It was a dig at me. For judging her initially, too. But it went deeper than that, and the pain I saw slice across her face was more visible than anything I’d ever seen on anyone’s face before.
“Camden.” I closed the space between us in two long strides and pulled her to my chest. She shivered in my arms. “What do you need? And what can I do?”
As she melted into my arms, I took her weight until I picked her up and sat down, pulling her into my lap.
“How can I help you, Camden?”
Her forehead brushed back and forth on my shoulder and slowly, as if she’d been trying to resist but finally caved, her arms slid around my back and squeezed me tightly to her. She didn’t answer for several moments, and when she finally spoke again, she’d lost the freaky robotic, emotionless voice.
“I need to take some time to figure out what I’m going to do. Then I need to shower all the sweat off me.” She tilted her head back and flashed me a shaky smile. I knew that years from now, this would be the moment I knew I was falling in love with her. And what she said next shocked me to my core, and I knew I’d never get over Camden. I’d never want to get over Camden. “Then I need you to take me out like we planned and help me forget this mess, even if it’s just for the night.”
The perfect idea came to mind. She’d always thought people were too quick to judge her and make assumptions. I wanted her to be around people who were the exact opposite.
“Go shower,” I murmured, and gave her a quick kiss on her lips. “Take the time you need. I’ll hang out and wait for you here.”
At least then she’d get the space I knew she wanted, too.
“Don’t you have anything to do today?”
“Nothing more important than being here for you.”
Her chin quivered and more tears filled her eyes. I kissed her again before she could argue, before she could lose the tight thread I knew she was grasping to keep from losing it in front of me.
She kissed me back. I tasted her tears on her lips before sweeping my tongue inside. I tasted every inch of her mouth, until her body relaxed and went pliable in my lap before pulling back. I wanted to be the one to kiss away the stress of her life, every day.
“Go,” I said, sliding my hands to her hips and slowly pushing her off my lap. “Go get ready.”
I held on to her until I knew she was steady.
She shot me a softened smile that burned my chest. God, when Camden let down her walls, when she was vulnerable and not hiding, she was the most spectacularly beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her voice hoarse and weak.
“Go.” I tilted my head in the direction of the stairs. “Take all the time you need. I’ve got some calls to make anyway.”
She stepped back and turned to head upstairs. Before she walked away, she twisted back around and leaned over me. Her lips hit mine in a hot, searing kiss. It was fast and over too quickly, before I could take control and show her what I wanted to do and how I felt about her. “Camden,” I groaned when she pulled back.
“Thank you, David, for being here.” She stepped back and her smile wobbled. “Thank you for being you.”
She dashed out of the hallway and around the corner.
I sat back in the kitchen chair and pulled out my phone, grinning. She liked me too. A lot.
I made two calls while Camden was upstairs showering and changing her clothes.
Like I suspected, Declan didn’t mind that I wasn’t going to be able to make it in.
As I also suspected, when my mom heard I was bringing someone over to her Friday night family dinner that I avoided more than attended, she was ecstatic.
Chapter 23
Camden
I made several decisions throughout the course of the day. While I showered and cleaned up after my run, I thought of David downstairs. David, who was patient and kind and yet never hesitated in sharing how much he wanted me. His openness, especially now that I knew who he really was, only made the kind of guy he was more obvious.
I wanted him.
I wanted him in the deepest parts of me, and most of all, I wanted him to be proud of me.
Instead of the way I’d normally react, I forced myself to not think about my job, or what would await me on Monday. For now, I chose to follow what I’d done in Jamaica…enjoy myself, enjoy my life, have fun with David. I would let life happen the way it was supposed to instead of feeling the clawing need to write out a list of possibilities.
I’d deal with whatever happened like a normal person—when it happened and when I had to face it.
It wasn’t easy. Several times while blow-drying my hair I had to force my eyes off the notepad on my nightstand that screamed for its attention, for the scribble of ink on paper and the satisfaction of a well-thought-out decision.
I chose to trust David.
I chose to believe he could do what he seemed to be so good at doing—getting my attention focused on nothing but him.
I rethought all of it as he drove me through a neighborhood in Brookhaven, just west of Detroit and thirty minutes away from Latham Hills. He’d told me we were going for dinner and to dress casually.
Knowing he was in jeans, black dress shoes, and a short-sleeved polo shirt that stretched over his curved chest, I had thrown on a navy-blue wrap dress and nude heels. It was nothing fancy, just a step up from wearing jeans myself.
“We’re not going to a restaurant in this neighborhood, are we?” I asked, my eyes wide open and my jaw slack.
The homes I saw out my window weren’t homes but mansions. The size of a small hotel, with gated entrances and pine trees lining the roads for privacy. Homes were set so far back, I could only glimpse them as David drove slowly down the street.
I was in a neighborhood fancier than any I’d ever seen, and my pulse ratcheted up a thousand notches when he had to announce himself at a security gate.
I reached out and covered his wrist, not dragging my shocked gaze off the window. “David. Where are you taking me?”
He chuckled.
I was going to punch him.
He wasn’t taking me out.
He was taking me home.
“Relax, Camden. Have I ever steered you wrong before?”
“Just forcing me off a cliff and swimming with sharks. No biggie.”
His laugh grew louder, and he moved his hand where I held his wrist until our palms pressed together. The
heat of his skin did nothing to calm the riot inside me. “And you survived. You’ll survive this, too.”
“Dinner with your mother?” I turned to him so fast I felt the sting of my hair whipping across my cheeks. “That’s where you’re taking me? On our first real date?”
He held up a finger right before he pulled into a driveway. “Hold that thought.”
Rolling down his window, he punched in a series of numbers on a keypad and the gate in front of us groaned open.
“You’re shitting me. You live in a castle behind a security guard and a gate and I’m supposed to stay calm? Did you leave your brain back at your place?”
His shoulders shook with poorly concealed laughter. His hand in mine tightened.
“I’m going to kill you,” I muttered, glaring at him. My pulse pounded.
His mother. He took me to his mom’s house. On a date? It was too soon. He was insane. Worse than me.
That had to be it.
“You keep threatening,” he said, grinning. “Yet it hasn’t happened.”
“It will,” I assured him. “Holy shit.” I leaned forward and peered out the windshield as the castle he called a home came into view. Peaks and gables and brick and turrets. He had turrets. At his house.
My brain couldn’t compute such a possibility.
“Now, as you were saying, for one, this isn’t our first date.” I twisted and stared at him. He was making fun of me. Of this. I was meeting his mom and he was trying to give me a heart attack first. Murderous thoughts ran through my mind.
“You—”
“And, you’re not having dinner with my mom.” He opened his door and jumped out, his smile widening. “You’re having dinner with my entire crazy and wacky family.”
My jaw fell to the console between us and I stared at him as he hurried around the front of his Escalade. He was at my door before I remembered how to speak. Opening my door before I could think. Unbuckling my belt and plucking me out of my seat before I could blink.
