He crossed to his dad and introduced him to Jane.
“Nice to meet you, young lady,” his dad said, giving her hand a hearty shake. Then he leaned close to Cameron. “Are you doing all right? Your mother told me what happened, but all my calls went to voicemail.”
“I turned off my phone for a while, but I’m fine,” Cameron said. “Actually, better than fine.”
His dad’s gaze shifted to Jane, then back to Cameron. There was a mischievous gleam in his eyes. “You look better than I thought you would. Your mother gave me strict orders to keep an eye on you, but I think you’re in good hands.”
“Oh, there’s Mr. Richardson,” Cameron said, trying to distract his dad from saying anything that might be overheard by other guests. It worked.
“I’ll catch up with you later,” his dad said and moved past them to talk to his friend.
“Sorry about that,” Cameron said, turning to Jane. “My dad is a great businessman, but sometimes he can be a bit goofy.”
Jane smiled. “I don’t mind.”
They walked past a couple of auction items. “Anything catch your eye?” he asked.
Jane looked at him, her green eyes reflecting the glow from the lights about the room. “Are we shopping?”
He chuckled. “In a manner of speaking. But no golf packages.”
“You don’t like golf?” Jane asked as they stopped in front of a basket filled with golf balls and a certificate for a game of four.
“I do, but that’s how I met Crystal—we both bid on the same golf package at a charity event.” He shrugged. “I conceded after a few bidding rounds, and she invited me to join her. She’s actually a terrible golfer, so I should have seen that as a red flag. Why would someone who couldn’t golf bid on a package?”
“To get a date with you?” Jane said.
“It was clever, I guess.”
Jane stepped closer and looked down at the certificate. “Sounds like a nice package. Do you think some of these are recycled? I mean, the auction items are so similar at these events, not that I’ve been to a ton of them.”
“Oh, I’m sure some of them are,” Cameron said, pointing at a football that was signed by an NFL player. “I’ve seen that football at least three times.”
Jane laughed. “I guess if it’s all in the name of charity, it works.”
“Especially this one,” he said, and they continued to move along the table, looking at the auction items. “What about this Blendtec? Do you need one?”
“No,” Jane said. “My mom has one, and it sounds like a giant train is plowing through the house when you turn it on.”
“Good to know,” Cameron said. “What about the Hawaii vacation?”
“That would be amazing,” Jane said. “But it’s a little forward for a second date.”
Cameron smirked. “Ah,” he said, eyeing the next item. “This is more my style.” The gift basket included gourmet food items. “I’ll be snacking until Christmas.”
“Sounds good to me,” Jane said. “I love flavored honey.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” They stopped in front of another golf package. “I just can’t get away from these.”
She laughed. “I should probably let you know that I was on my high school’s golf team.”
“Really?” Cameron looked down at her. “That’s impressive.”
“Not exactly,” Jane said with a shrug. “Only one girl was even good enough to shoot below 80 consistently. I think my best was 82.”
“That’s decent...”
Jane narrowed her eyes. “You’d better not say, ‘for a girl.’”
He laughed. “I wasn’t going to.”
She shoved him in his arm, and he raised his hands. “I promise, I wasn’t going to say that.”
“I don’t believe you for a moment,” Jane said.
“You two are sure enjoying the evening,” a woman said, coming to stand on the other side of Cameron.
He looked over to see Lacey, a friend of Crystal’s, and the travel agent Crystal had been in cahoots with. She was a tall, willowy woman, and her eyes seemed to shoot daggers at Cameron. He knew he’d run into people who knew Crystal, he just didn’t expect it to be someone so directly involved.
“Have we met?” Lacey asked, her daggers going to Jane.
The woman glaring at Jane could have frozen Florida with her eyes.
“I’m Jane Morris,” she said, sticking out her hand.
The woman hesitated, then extended her hand. Yep, her hands were as cold as her personality.
“I’m Lacey. Crystal and I are best friends.”
Jane ignored the Crystal remark, although she practically heard Cameron grinding his teeth. “Nice to meet you,” Jane said in a cheerful tone because she suddenly wanted to irritate this Lacey person as much as possible. What she really wanted to say was, “Do you buy furniture with stolen credit cards too?”
Lacey was still staring at her, as if she were trying to place Jane. But they’d never met before. Jane had no doubt, however, that seconds after they parted ways Lacey would be texting Crystal and would find out that Jane was the cleaning lady.
“I hope you enjoy the evening,” Cameron told Lacey, obviously trying to end the conversation. He placed a hand on Jane’s elbow and steered her to the next table over.
But Lacey followed. “The deposit you made for your honeymoon didn’t clear. It said the credit card was denied. I require a nonrefundable deposit with every booking even if the booking is canceled. It reimburses me for my time investment.”
Cameron stopped and slowly turned to Lacey. “This isn’t the time or the place.”
Lacey’s lips twitched. “Don’t think you can stiff me, Cameron Vance. Grooms pay for the honeymoon.”
“I’m not trying to stiff anyone,” he said, his voice dead calm. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Lacey lifted her chin, staring at Cameron. Jane realized she was holding her own breath. Back down, she wanted to tell Lacey. The auction area was getting crowded, and more than one person had glanced over at them.
“If you don’t pay the nonrefundable deposit, I’ll have to go through legal channels,” Lacey said in a hard voice.
Cameron lifted one of his brows as he met her gaze, but said nothing else.
After a tense moment, Lacey puffed out a breath, then turned and walked away.
“Come on,” Cameron said, grasping Jane’s hand. He led her in the opposite direction that Lacey had gone.
Jane was stunned at Lacey’s audacity. Were these really the type of people Cameron associated with? Cameron was gripping her hand like he was a small child crossing a busy street with his mom, so she wasn’t about to question him right now. He greeted several people in a brisk tone on the way to their table.
Once they reached the table, Cameron pulled out a chair for her, but she could tell his thoughts were a million miles away. He took a seat next to her and pulled out his phone. He spent the next several minutes texting someone, so Jane didn’t say anything. She watched people mill about, greeting each other, laughing, talking, hugging.
Jane felt her heart tug toward Cameron as he sat in his small world of pain and frustration. She reached for the crystal water glass that was a part of the elegant place setting and filled it with ice water from the pitcher. She filled Cameron’s glass as well.
“Thanks,” he said, coming out of his fog. He swallowed down some water. “Sorry about Lacey. I’m sure the deposit isn’t very much, but the way she approached me was irritating. And she was rude to you.”
“Don’t worry about her,” Jane said. “She’s just sticking up for her friend. Besides, I don’t want you to spend the night apologizing to me.”
Cameron nodded. His gaze flitted over her face, and Jane wondered if she’d smeared her lipstick or anything.
“I need to make one more apology,” he said.
Jane lifted her brows, trying not to smile.
“I’m not myself,” he said. “Breaking the engagem
ent was absolutely the right decision, but now I’m questioning my judgment on many things over the last few months. I’m sorry that you’re in the middle of this firestorm when this should be an enjoyable evening.”
Jane opened her mouth to contradict him, but he held up his hand.
“I don’t know what else this evening has in store,” he continued, “but I would be a poor date if I didn’t ask you to dance.”
He was asking her to dance? Right now? She glanced over at the dance floor. The band was playing, but no one was dancing. “Now?” she asked, turning back look at him.
“After dinner.”
“Oh,” she said, her face warming. “That’s a relief.”
He smiled, and she felt relieved that he could smile at all.
“Here’s the invoice,” a woman said above them. Lacey had returned, and she slapped a piece of paper on the table in front of Cameron.
Jane stared at it in disbelief. Cameron was more quick to recover. He picked it up, and Jane could clearly see that the deposit was $450.00.
“I thought we decided to talk about this tomorrow,” he said without looking at Lacey.
She folded her arms. “I don’t know if I trust you to follow up on that, so I decided to hand deliver it.”
“You had the invoice with you?” Cameron said.
“It was in my car.”
Jane noticed that Lacey looked as if she’d gotten sprinkled on by the rain.
“Cash or check?” Cameron asked.
“Preferably cash, since I don’t really trust a check from you after what happened with the credit card,” Lacey said.
Jane wanted to tell Lacey exactly why Cameron had to cancel his card, but it wasn’t her place.
“All right,” Cameron said, standing up. He reached into his tuxedo jacket pocket and pulled out a thin wallet.
Jane watched as he counted out a series of fifty-dollar bills and handed over the invoice amount to Lacey.
“Four hundred fifty in cash,” Cameron said, then tore the invoice in half, and half again. He handed the ripped pieces to Lacey. “Deposit paid. I hope you enjoy the evening.” He turned to Jane and held out his hand.
She placed it in his and rose to her feet.
“Let’s go say hello to my mom,” Cameron said.
Jane nodded, and Lacey practically stalked away, gripping the fifty-dollar bills in her cold hands.
Cameron dropped Jane’s hand and motioned her to walk in front of him. “She’s over there by Selena.”
“Oh, I see them,” Jane said, catching sight of the two women standing near the doors that led to the terrace. She looked back at Cameron. “Do you always carry so much cash with you?”
“I planned to tip some of the workers here tonight,” he said. “They donate their time to help with the benefit so that there’s very little overhead.”
Jane didn’t have time to reply, because Cameron’s mom had spotted them and waved them over. She was all smiles when they approached.
“You look wonderful,” she said to Jane. “Your date looks all right too.”
Cameron leaned down and kissed his mom’s cheek. “Everything seems to be running smoothly,” he said. “You’ve brought in quite the crowd.”
“I have Selena to thank for that,” his mom said. “She was like a pit bull getting all the RSVPs secured.”
Selena winked at Jane. “Just doing my job, Louisa.”
“Are you two enjoying yourselves?” his mom asked. Although she was smiling, Jane knew the question carried weight.
“We ran into Crystal’s travel agent, but I don’t think she’ll be bothering me anymore.” Cameron grabbed an hors d’oeuvre from a passing waiter carrying a tray. “Do you want anything, Jane?”
“Maybe later,” she said, impressed at how quickly he could switch from complimenting his mom’s event, to talking about Lacey, to asking Jane if she wanted something.
Cameron took a bite of what looked like a mini chicken wrap. “Mmm. This is excellent.” He finished it off in one more bite. “You should really try it.”
Before Jane could protest, he called over the waiter, and with everyone watching, Jane picked up the chicken wrap, holding a napkin beneath it to protect her dress. She took a bite and chewed. It was delicious.
“Do you like it?” Cameron asked, watching her with interest.
Jane wasn’t entirely used to a guy like Cameron, or any guy for that matter, intently watching her eating.
“It’s good, really good,” she said, then caught his mom watching both of them with interest.
“Great.” Cameron grinned. “I was afraid you were a vegetarian or something.”
“No way.” Jane glanced quickly at his mom and Selena. “Not that there’s anything wrong with being a vegetarian.”
His mom just laughed. “We’re not vegetarians either. But Crystal is, and she was quick to complain at functions like this if special dietary meals weren’t to her liking.”
“Oh,” Jane said, and exhaled. “Well, I’m not picky, which will probably catch up with my waistline one day.”
Another waiter approached with a tray of shrimp appetizers. Jane didn’t hesitate to help herself this time.
“Have you seen your father?” Cameron’s mom asked him. “He’s supposed to be hosting the auctioneer, Mr. Broadbent, but I see Mr. Broadbent sitting at the table by himself.”
“We’ll go and speak with him while you find Dad,” Cameron said.
“Bless you, son,” his mom said, and the two shared a smile.
Jane nearly sighed aloud. Cameron might have had a terrible fiancée, but he had great parents. In Jane’s opinion, that could make up for a lot.
The more time Cameron spent with Jane, the more he forgot Crystal. And the more he wondered how he could have ever spent more than a few minutes with his ex-fiancée. Jane was everything Crystal wasn’t, and other people at the benefit were taking notice. Sweet, genuine, charming, intelligent, witty... that was Jane. If Cameron had come alone, he knew he wouldn’t have been greeted by so many of the guests—they were simply curious about Jane.
And once they met her, a few nodded their approval.
It was a heady feeling.
Except, Jane wasn’t his girlfriend. The date was just an arrangement, and she didn’t seem to treat him with any special interest above anyone else. Perhaps that was her charm. She became instant best friends with whomever she met, within two minutes of meeting them. And Cameron had been drawn in as well.
He must be on the rebound something fierce since all he wanted to do was keep Jane to himself and dance with her. No interruptions from anyone else. But the dancing was still a way off. Dinner was winding down, and Cameron had truly enjoyed watching Jane enjoy her food. She was definitely a foodie, which he found inordinate pleasure in.
The auction started out with gusto, and Cameron bid on a few things but didn’t get too aggressive until one of the baskets of gourmet food that included flavored honey came up for bid. He raised his number as the auctioneer requested a bid for one hundred dollars.
Jane turned to him. “You really don’t have to.”
He leaned toward her, catching the summer-blossom scent that had been plaguing him all night. “I like flavored honey too.”
She rolled her eyes but was smiling as she settled back in her chair.
He kept raising his number as the auctioneer drove the price. After $300, it was down to Cameron and his friend Dawson Harris bidding. Cameron caught Dawson’s smirk, and that only made Cameron bid higher. When it reached $625, Dawson finally caved.
“Sold!”
Cameron had won the basket, and he looked over at Jane in triumph. She was covering her mouth in disbelief. “It had better be good,” he said as the auctioneer rattled off the next item.
“Six twenty-five is crazy for a basket of honey,” she said, her eyes gleaming with amusement.
“I couldn’t let Dawson outbid me.”
“Who’s Dawson?” Jane asked.
&n
bsp; “A business associate who’s also a lawyer,” he said. “He’s helped my dad with a few things.”
Cameron hadn’t missed Dawson eying Jane from across the room, and that had only added more fuel to Cameron’s incentive to win the bid.
And... here came Jeff Finch, the realtor. The man was one of those guys who seemed to attract women wherever he went. And Cameron really shouldn’t be surprised he was curious about Jane. The last item had been auctioned off, and people had started to rise from the tables. Some would leave now; others would stay for the dancing.
“Cameron, I’m on my way out, but I wanted to say hi first,” Jeff said, arriving at their table and reaching out to shake Cameron’s hand.
“Nice to see you,” Cameron said. “This is Jane. You might remember her from the engagement party the other night.”
Jeff shook her hand as well.
“Jeff’s a local realtor,” Cameron supplied.
“I’ve seen your advertising,” Jane said with a smile. “I think the entire population of Pine Valley knows who you are.”
Jeff chuckled. “Well, thank you. Nice meeting you, and we’ll catch up later, Cameron.”
Cameron ignored the significant look Jeff threw at him. As Jeff walked away from the gala, Jane released an audible sigh. Cameron looked over at her. “Are you all right?”
“It’s just that your female friends glare at me, and your male friends are all smiles,” she said. “What’s up with that?”
“Do I need to explain the birds and the bees to you?” He felt guilty when she blushed, but only a little. He propped his elbows on the table and leaned close. “It’s all part of the singles game, you know.”
Her mouth quirked. “You mean if I didn’t spend my Saturday nights playing cards with eighty-year-old men, I’d be a little more aware of the jungle out there?”
“I wouldn’t exactly call it a jungle, more like a wilderness. With no water.”
When Jane’s brows arched in question, he clarified. “You, in that red dress, are like an oasis in a vast desert.”
“Hmm.” She linked her fingers together on the table top. “I think I’m more of a mirage. I could never afford a dress like this, not to mention the tickets to the gala, or the $625 gourmet basket.”
Where I Belong (Pine Valley Book 2) Page 6
