Chapter 2
Cameron
The afternoon heat settles in, the day merely getting started. Though I’ve been up for hours now, I’m finally getting a chance to take a break. Grab a bite to eat. Maybe take a boat out for a short sail around the island.
Badminton, my subconscious reminds me.
My mouth turns up into a scowl thinking about it.
“Cameron!”
Looking up, I spot one of the guests. I’ve never been good with names, but I don’t forget faces.
She and her fiancé are getting married this weekend.
Normally, I’m not involved with any part of weddings here at Whispering Tide, but they needed a boat rental for the ceremony.
I’m not sure whose idea it was for a cruise to the ceremony for the groom and his groomsmen, but it wasn’t a request I couldn’t oblige.
Though the man’s face was green nearly talking about being on the boat.
Should make for an interesting entrance, something I’ll make sure not to miss.
I stride closer to where she stands with her fiancé and another woman.
My eyes scan up the back of the unfamiliar guest. Floral leggings cling to the toned legs, leading to a trimmed waist. A hoodie’s tied around her waist, covering the way the leggings must mold to her ass.
The graphic on the back of her T-shirt touts something about “book boyfriends.” Her hair’s pulled off her exposed neck in a sloppy bun.
I try to decipher the length, but it’s nearly impossible with the way it’s twisted.
Stopping a few feet from the group of three, the woman spins around.
Fully turned toward me, she gasps, the sound achingly familiar.
I take in the rest of her expression—wide, light brown eyes, petite nose, rosy cheeks.
She has a recognizable quality about her, almost as if I knew her in the past. My eyes squint as I work to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear she kinda looks like a feminine, blond version of our CFO . . .
The realization of who she is forces my feet backward. Catching myself from falling, I’m definitely not prepared for this grown-up version of Juliana Langley.
“Came.” The nickname is but a whisper on her glossed lips. And it brings me back to the past, a time in my youth I’d all but forgotten. Though not on purpose. No, I didn’t try to put all things Juliana behind me. It kinda happened over the years.
“Juliana?” Her name gets caught in my throat, a name I haven’t muttered in over a decade. Possibly closer to fourteen years.
“Ju-Juli,” she stutters, her own name a surprise to her.
My brain tries to reconcile the woman in front of me with Juliana, my friend’s kid sister. Though she wasn’t much younger than me, she was definitely Preston’s “little” sister in all ways.
Until she wasn’t.
I snap out of my trance, pulling her into me. She stiffens but doesn’t put up a fight, coming easily into my arms. Deflecting away the memories of the past, I resort to frivolous humor. It’s what I know best.
“How the hell are you? What are you doing here? Does Preston know you’re here?”
“Um, Juli? Do you know this man who’s accosting you? I know he works here, but if you need me to call security on him, I will.”
Eyes as slits, I slide my gaze to the bride. Call security on me? At a resort I not only work at, but have an ownership share? Isn’t it clear she knows me?
A deep chuckle rumbles from behind her. “I think she’s good, babe.”
Exactly. She’s good. We do not need security.
Juli stays in my arms for a few seconds, her body never letting go of the tension. It should be more off-putting than it is. I can’t read into what exactly that means before my arms are suddenly empty.
“I’m here for the wedding of these two. Figured I’d surprise Preston.” Her lips press into a firm line before she adds, “And you, too. Surprise. It’s been so long.”
The other woman steps closer. She addresses me, but her focus stays on Juli. “How do you know each other?”
Juli doesn’t give me a chance to answer. “From when we were kids. He’s one of Preston’s friends. Another owner of the resort.”
Her attention swinging toward me, the woman’s gasp is louder than Juli’s from moments ago. “You own this place? I thought you were the recreation director. My bad.” The tone of her voice contradicts her actual words. She’s not sorry in the slightest. Which normally wouldn’t bother me.
I don’t pretend to be someone I’m not, but I play the part of “owner of a luxury five-star resort” well.
Mostly because my share of ownership came from an anonymous investor, who I’m positive is Preston, though he denies it every time.
Yet, he’s the only person who it could be, the only person in the world to offer me this opportunity of a lifetime a few years ago.
“Guilty.” I stick my hand out to shake hers.
“Cameron Fairbanks, pleased to make your acquaintance.” I’m hopeful she’ll take my outstretched hand.
Though we’ve technically been introduced, wheels are turning in her head, trying to make sense of this new information she’s gleaned.
I’d like to be able to remember her name.
Finally, she grasps my awkwardly awaiting hand and pumps it up and down once. “Nice to meet you. Again.” To my chagrin, she doesn’t offer her name. Instead, she goes back to Juli. “Lunch? Or do you want to get settled in your room first and then meet us down by the pool in a bit?”
Juli hedges her answer. I can’t be certain it’s on my account, but on the slim chance it is, I give her an out. “It was great to see you, Juliana. Maybe we can grab a drink while you’re here. Catch up on our lives.”
A tinge of pink dots her cheeks, and the tip of her tongue darts out of her mouth. I only notice it because my eyes are trained on her glossy lips.
Her head bobs first. “Yeah, I’d like that.” Her lips widen into a grin.
“Great. I’ll find you.” I don’t wait for a response, nor say goodbye to her friends. Probably not my best move, but this unexpected run-in with Juli has me a bit rattled.
No, more than a bit.
A lot rattled.
So much so, I’ve completely forgotten where it was I was going before running into them or what I was supposed to be doing.
Oh, right. Nothing pressing because I’m taking a break until the badminton tournament.
I’m barely past the front doors when footsteps sound behind me.
“Wait up.” I don’t have to turn around to know it’s Juli, but I do all the same.
It would be rude to keep walking, even though the wise choice would be not to listen to her.
She stops right in front of me, her hand resting on my arm.
A jolt of electricity sizzles through, a feeling I haven’t experienced in what feels like forever. “Hey.”
I can’t help the laugh at her greeting. “Hey.”
“Don’t tell Preston, okay? I want to surprise him, make him take me to dinner, but I need to see the look on his face when I do it.”
I can’t say no to her earnest request. Among other reasons. “Sure thing, Jude.”
Her brows raise. “Wow. Talk about a blast from the past.”
I take one step closer. Not wanting to scare her off, I don’t say all the things I want to say. There’ll be a time and place for that. Hopefully. But I lean in a little closer. “It’s only fair. Since you still won’t let the ‘Came’ go, will ya?”
I wasn’t entirely sure it’s what she said a few minutes ago, but the way her breath hitches confirms it for me. It definitely shouldn’t elicit the feelings being stirred up inside. Not then, and not now. She’s still Preston’s “little” sister. Lines shouldn’t be crossed.
Not again.
Beats of tense silence surround us. I’ll wait her out, wondering how she’s going to answer my question. If she’ll answer my question.
Juli’s the first to break the silence. “Honestly, I haven’t given much thought to the nickname in over a decade. But seeing you, it popped out. Though I’m not ashamed. Are you?”
There’s a silent challenge issued in her question. I’m not sure what to make of it.
“I don’t remember you being so rebellious.”
“Maybe it’s because I wasn’t that memorable.
” Her voice catches at the end, a hint of surprise she uttered the comment.
To make up for it, she stands a little taller, trying to stretch beyond her petite height.
Squaring her shoulders, she holds her finger out in front of her.
“Not a word to Preston. Can I trust you to remember that?”
Damn, Juli Langley grew up to be a firecracker. Why did I ever lose touch with her?
“Yep. Scout’s honor.” I hold up four fingers, an homage to our pledge from the STEM camp where I first met Preston.
“Right. I should probably get back to my friends. But I want to catch up. I’m here until Monday morning. Wedding’s Saturday. Fit me in before I need to recover from a massive hangover, k?”
Without waiting for an answer, she struts away, her hips swaying slightly, the arms of the tied hoodie swinging by her sides.
As a teenager, she brought out a different side of me.
I didn’t have to be the funny one when she was around.
I could let my guard down and be myself, but I couldn’t let her know I was attracted to her.
I had nothing to offer her, a girl who was born into wealth and every luxury her family’s money afforded her, while I was the scholarship kid.
But for one night, beyond the walls of her family’s pool house, she wasn’t ever the wiser. I made sure of it.
My friendship with Preston changed once we aged out of the program, though we stayed in touch.
I wouldn’t be here if I had completely lost touch.
His sister was a different story. Not often, but there are certainly times I wonder what she’s up to.
Mostly when Preston mentions something about his family or home, my only connection to his sister.
“Hey.”
A new voice pulls me out of memories of the past, though my eyes remain staring straight ahead. Juli’s long disappeared into the resort, but she’s left her mark.
“Hey.”
“Where’s Zane working today? You have time to grab a bite?” Silas, another owner and our operations and marketing manager, asks.
“Marsh & Garden. And yes.”
My position hasn’t changed, and he waves his hand in front of my face.
“Fall off the jet ski again?”
That garners my attention. “No. Fuck off.”
“Then why do you look like this?”
I face him, schooling my expression into something other than wonderment. Or at least I try to. Thoughts of Juli Langley spiral through my mind, tumbling around looking for a place to land.
“It would be wrong to grab a beer in the middle of the workday, right?”
Silas shrugs. “Wrong, but not unacceptable. As long as you’re actually not going out on the water this afternoon.”
I shake my head. “Overseeing the badminton tournament.” I groan at the thought of what a boring event it’s going to be. “Two beers should take the edge off, dull the pain of watching guests attempt to play a game that should never have been invented.”
Silas cackles, a few guests turning their heads toward us. “Tell me how you really feel.” He slaps my back, his hand resting there as he encourages me forward.
He’s referring to my feelings about badminton, but my thoughts are stuck on a certain blond. One I shouldn’t know on such an intimate level.
If only I could convince myself that another time would be wrong in so many ways.