The Rules
THE RULES
CAM
It felt like the longest and most awkward amount of time before Rachel spoke. She had pushed herself up and stared at me with those lovely eyes of hers.
“I’m going to check your pulse if you don’t say something soon,” I said.
“Your brother and your ex … are going … to this wedding?”
“Yeah.” I rolled to my back so I didn’t get caught staring at her thighs shifting under her. “And that’s why I had initially refused to go.”
She slid off the bed and my heart sank.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“I should go. You’re looking better.”
I flipped the covers off and followed her out of the room. “Why? Because of what I said?”
“So you inviting me to this wedding is to get back at Britt?”
“No, not at all. I don’t even want to go. This is more about my mom than anything.” Her frown suggested that this was still not the answer she was hoping for. I seemed to be digging myself into a hole when I hadn’t even realized I’d picked up a shovel.
“Your mom?” she asked.
“C’mon,” I said, reaching for her hand. “I’m going to get more of that delicious Pedialyte, and I’ll make you a drink. Are you hungry?”
She hesitated and then her shoulders relaxed. “No, but I could go for one drink, I guess.”
“Tito’s and tonic.”
She perked up a little. “That’s right. Thank you.”
I can’t remember the last time I made a drink for a woman while only in my underwear. Normally, I would have gotten dressed, but the way Rachel looked at me made me feel warm. I loved catching her checking me out. It felt good to be noticed like that.
“Thank you,” she said, taking her drink. She squeezed the lime I had cut for it and took a long swig. “So, tell me how bringing me to this wedding is not to make Britt jealous.”
“It’s not, but does the thought of that upset you? You did do that with me after all.”
Her expression softened, and she hopped up into a leather bar chair. “I know, I did the same thing … I …”
I took a few gulps of water. “What?”
When she leaned over the counter, her full breasts were begging to escape that dress.
She was killing me.
“Nothing,” she said. “It’s fine. You said this was for your mom.”
I ripped open the pack of saltines. “It would mean a lot to my mom if I made an appearance to support my cousin, Jill. Mom thought that if I had a plus one, it would be easier for me. Since I was your plus one today, I was hoping you might be willing to be my plus one for this.”
“Some plus one you were,” she said, her lips grazing the rim of the glass. “I didn’t even get a piece of cake.”
“Hey, you failed to warn me about the shrimp before leaving me unsupervised. Rude.”
She huffed and swept her hair off her shoulder. “Fine. Maybe we should be each other’s plus ones when we need it.”
“I’m listening.”
“Saves us from the singles table,” she said, finishing her drink and sliding the glass back to me. “Make me another drink and let’s talk this out.”
“Yes, ma’am.” After I squeezed a little lime into the glass, I excused myself to put on some clothes. I was having a hard time not thinking with my dick every time I looked at her, so thought that I better put on a few more layers to hide any reactions that may arise tonight. I pulled on a white T and some joggers. “All right. Let’s get down to business. What’re the rules?”
She stuck her index finger in the air. “Rule one: No matter the occasion, we have to agree to the plus one.”
“Oh? Coming on strong out of the gate. Wait.” I lowered my glass of water after taking a sip. “What’s your next occasion?”
“A dinner party at the end of the month with some terrible married couples.”
“No.”
“Hey, I’m entertaining the idea of traveling to the Cayman Islands with you. My event is down the street.”
“Right. Sure,” I said, taking a seat at the chair next to her.
“So you’ll go?” she asked.
I put my hands up. “Let’s get through one event at a time.”
She sat back in her chair and swung her lovely legs back and forth. “And what do we tell people we are? Everyone will think we’re dating, which we’re absolutely not going to do.”
“If anyone asks, we say we’re friends. Let’s make that rule two: These aren’t dates and we’re just friends.”
“Yes. You’ve made that very clear. Although I’ll have you know, I’m extremely datable. You’re going to have a hard time sticking to that rule.”
I glanced away and drew in a sharp breath. I knew she might be right.
“No one is falling in love here. Make that rule three.”
“Done,” I said with a nod though I could feel my heart contract a little.
“What’s our accepted level of physical contact?”
I almost closed my eyes because an image of me pushing up the skirt of her dress while plunging my mouth on her full lips blew into my mind. I shook my head and cleared my throat. “Let’s not complicate things.”
“And sex always complicates things,” she said, her expression crestfallen as she briefly glanced at the floor. She then met my eyes. “So rule four: no smooching or sexing or anything that will cause us to break rule three.”
I almost snorted. “Sm… smooching? And sexing? Well, I definitely want to avoid those.”
“Should we be getting these in writing?”
“I’ll draft a contract tomorrow if you’d prefer something more concrete.”
“Our verbal word is fine.”
“Anything else? Maybe rule five … since we’re friends, if we do actually find a different plus one, no hard feelings?”
My stomach lurched and, no, it wasn’t the lingering effects of the shrimp. The thought of Rachel with another plus one was about as enjoyable as stepping on LEGOs in the dark. “No hard feelings,” I managed to say.
“Excellent,” she said, bouncing up and down in her seat. “I mean, I’m okay going to things alone. That way, I can leave or stay as long as I want, but it will be nice to have company for a change.”
“I agree.”
“And what happens if we break the rules?” she asked.
My gaze dropped as I contemplated the question. “Then we stop. We call it over and then we go back to going alone.”
“Sounds good to me,” she said.
“So, I’ll send you all the details about the Cayman trip?”
“I still haven’t officially accepted your offer.”
“Once you see where we’re staying you will. Even though Britt and Roman will be there, the scenery will more than make up for seeing them during the ceremony, and I’m using miles so we’re in first class.”
“Sounds intriguing. Send me the dates again, and I suppose I do need to make sure I can take off work. That would be the only hurdle.”
I glanced around trying to find my phone. “I’ll do it right now.”
“I set your phone on the desk charger when we came in,” she said.
“Thanks.”
She followed me into my home office and leaned against the doorway. “Is that your cousin in that picture?”
“What?” I asked as I scrolled through my phone, taking screenshots of all the necessary details. “Oh, yes, that’s Jill. She lives in Miami now with her fiancé, but we grew up here together.”
“She’s beautiful,” she said. “Well, I better let you rest.”
I glanced up, not quite ready to let her go. “Are you sure? It’s only seven. Wasn’t I supposed to be your plus one until ten or so? We could get dinner and watch a movie …”
She smiled. “I officially relieve you of your duties. I texted Emily to come pick me up. She asked me to grab a bite with her and Laura.”
“Are you afraid that you’re going to break a bunch of the new rules the longer you stay here?”
“Uh, I’m afraid that you wouldn’t be able to keep your hands to yourself if we watched a movie.”
“I assure you, I have more self-control than that,” I lied.