Chapter 3
”Alright, I’ve been dying to know,” Cam said across the table after the waiter came with their drinks and left with their orders. “So how does a stunning woman like yourself end up kicking a half-naked man out of her room before the dinner rush?”
Emma picked up her water, one eye giving Cam a playful and irritated twitch at the compliment. She reminded herself the one-night stand distraction was old news and this was going to stay a friendly dinner with a stranger, albeit an incredibly handsome one. Choosing to ignore the stunning part, she took a drink before responding.
“I’d like to use this moment to put full blame on my ex-boyfriend,” she finally said.
Cam’s head tilted. “That was your ex?”
She laughed. “Ew. No. Absolutely not. I have standards.”
His brow quirked.
Emma rolled her eyes and laughed. “Fine, I’ll give you the detailed version.”
She leaned forward on the table, propping her chin in one hand and tapping her fingers on the water glass with the other. Cam did his best to hide his smile at her nonchalant demeanor.
“I was looking for a distraction.”
Cam waited. Nothing. “That’s it? That’s the detailed version?”
Her face squinted up as she thought. “Ehh,” she said. “I’m thinking about how much I want to share. If I scare you off then I’m stuck here eating dinner alone and left to my foreboding.”
He chuckled before taking a swig of his drink. “I promise I won’t judge. A distraction from what?”
“Fine,” she dragged out playfully. “I’m leaving for vacation this weekend, and I’m dreading it.”
“Why?” Again, he admired her casual manner as she spoke.
“Because my ex will be there.”
Cam made a face of distaste. “I could see how that would suck. Did you end badly?”
“Not really.”
“Did you break up with him?” Everyone knew that could be just as awkward.
“Nope. He dumped me.”
He wasn’t seeing the problem, considering she said it with all the emotion that one might say his shirt was black.
“So why are you going?” he asked.
“Because I had already committed and he wasn’t supposed to be going.” Emma sat back up and took another drink of her water. She should’ve ordered a glass of wine or another vodka tonic, but she didn’t want to send the wrong message. She didn’t want Cam to think this was anything fancy. But if she was going to have to face what her upcoming week entailed, then she should’ve ordered something besides water, she thought.
“Oh, okay.” He nodded in understanding. “So it’s a group trip then. With your friends?”
“Not exactly,” Emma replied.
Cam’s head dropped between his shoulders, an exasperated look on his face when he raised it. “You’re killing me, Emma. You’ve got to give me something.”
It felt weird hearing another man say her name. Of course, other guys had said it since the breakup, but none over dinner and with such attention. In fact, she hadn’t dated much since.
She sighed. “Every year I go on a vacation with my best friend and her family because they’d always been like a second family to me. Her dad insists on still doing family vacations even though we’re all grown.” She gave a small smile. “I actually grew up here,” she admitted, though she moved for college and never came back. Once she left, so did her aunt.
Aunt Mel had always wanted to check out the Carolina beaches, and once she did, she decided that was home. Which was perfect because Emma loved having her only family member nearby, and although she’d never admit it, it was what drove her to look in that direction for schools when she submitted her applications. She hadn’t cared so much about where she went after Dallas, just that she wanted something new. She had been craving change.
She appreciated the sacrifices her aunt had made to raise her and that she never took her away from the only stability she had when she moved in with her, part of which was school and her friends. But she was glad her aunt was living out her dreams now.
Emma sighed, then continued her explanation. “I hesitated this year but once I knew Asher, my ex, wasn’t going, I said yes.” She rolled her eyes. “But after I had made my arrangements and booked my flight here, I found out he was going too. If I backed out after the fact, that’d make me look–”
“Here’s your food,” their waiter said, having approached out of nowhere with two giant plates. “Be careful, they’re hot.” He sat everything down. “Is there anything else I can get you?”
They both shook their heads no, offering their thanks before he set off again.
Emma looked down at her massive load of shrimp ravioli, a huge grin spreading across her face as she inhaled its delicious scent. “You’re heaven-sent,” she purred, picking up her fork.
She had heard Cam place the order for her and he’d received her nod of approval, but taking in her vibrant smile and the sheer joy radiating from her–something he’d been noticing she encompassed all night–he couldn’t help but feel a spark of pride. He liked putting that smile on her face, even if it was by merely ordering her dinner.
As he cut into his steak, also appreciative of her selection, he prodded her to keep going. “So you were worried it’d make you look like you were still hung up on him or something?” he asked.
“Yes and no,” she supplied between bites. “I was afraid it’d make me look bad, I guess.” She took another bite before continuing. “I didn’t want him or anyone to think that I was petty and unable to be an adult about it.”
Cam could see her point. “But why is he going?”
This was the part Emma was dreading facing all week. She sat down her utensils and looked across the table at Cam, his blue eyes genuine, and the way he was looking at her sent an unwelcome fluttering down her spine. She reached across the table and grabbed his old-fashioned before tilting it back and drinking down a big gulp. If he was phased, it only showed by the small lift of one side of his mouth.
“Because he’s dating my best friend’s little sister.”
“Shit.” He didn’t mean to say it out loud, but yeah, that sucked. He pushed the glass back toward her. They both laughed before she picked it up for another drink.
“So let me get this straight,” Cam started. “Your ex dumped you, then started dating your best friend’s little sister, and now you have to spend the weekend with them?”
She nodded but clarified. “We leave this weekend but it’s a week-long vacation. And technically he proposed to me before dumping me.”
He gave her a look that said she couldn’t leave him hanging on that piece of information. Emma groaned, her hands covering her face before rubbing down the front of it. Cam laughed as she slumped back against her seat and explained further.
“We’d been together a couple of years and then eight months ago, he got this bright idea to propose.”
“You weren’t expecting it?” Cam asked.
“I don’t know.” She massaged her temples. “Like I know that we were in a serious relationship and it was always a possibility, but we’d never actually discussed it. Don’t couples talk about that sort of thing first?”
Cam shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never wanted to propose to someone before, but I think I’d only do it if I knew the answer was going to be yes. Then again, I used to be friends with a guy who only proposed because he was feeling threatened after his girlfriend dumped him and caught the attention of another man.”
Emma perked up in interest. “What happened there?”
“Long story short is that she ended up with the other guy and is happily married and they’re pregnant with their first.” He saw a twinkle in her eye as he told her.
“Good for her,” Emma said.
“So what happened with you and Asher after he proposed?” He brought them back to her story.
“Ugh,” she said, once again slumping back. “I said I wasn’t ready and needed time, which led to him saying that if we were going to take time then it needed to be apart. So he moved his belongings out and crashed at a friend’s.”
“Were you still talking?”
“At first, but it was hard since we weren’t living together anymore.” Emma picked up her fork realizing she’d better finish eating before her pasta went cold. One thing she couldn’t stand reheated was shrimp. “We’d both be so busy with work, so without automatically seeing one another at night it was different. Slowly the communication faded out.”
“Were you sad?” The question came out before he thought twice about it. Emma was so easy to talk to that he felt like he could say or ask her anything. It was as though he’d known her a long time.
She looked up at him, once again noticing those piercing blue eyes, as if he could see deep down within her most secret corners. “Honestly, no,” she admitted. “It was almost a relief once I realized we hadn’t spoken in weeks. I had been drowning in guilt over not saying yes, that the silence felt freeing.”
Wow, he thought. He’d never gone through something like that.
“Two months later, I saw Lauren, my best friend’s little sister, posting a selfie of them on social media. She’s a big lifestyle influencer, so she’s always posting her life and updates,” she said. “Talk about a shocker.”
“No kidding. I couldn’t imagine. Are you close with her?”
“I mean, yeah. Growing up, she was always around. Like I said, they were like a second family. We were never best friends whenever we were younger, but we still all went shopping together and hung out. As we all got older, the three of us felt like sisters and still do.”
He shook his head. “Damn. So is this vacation going to be hard?”
Emma let out a sigh. “I would have loved to avoid it, but since I’m stuck going, I’ll just have to manage. Asher and I haven’t spoken since a lame text he sent after her post, letting me know he moved on and it wasn’t planned that he’d fall for Lauren. Since we have busy schedules, I don’t get to see her as much, except on the occasional trip, if us girls get together, or on these vacations. But we still talk often, or at least we did before they started dating.”
She stopped and Cam could see the wheels turning.
“Honestly, she’s always been so kind and genuine that I think it’ll only make it worse. I actually like her. It’s not like he moved on with some trashy mean girl that I could just avoid. No, he had to pick someone I liked and am friends with.”
“Is that what bothers you?” Cam asked, picking up on what she was saying.
“I guess so. I’m fine with him moving on, I just wish it didn’t have to be someone so pretty and fun and perky.” She stabbed her ravioli. “And younger,” she added. “It feels like being traded in for a newer model when I haven’t even taken anything out for a test drive.”
Cam burst out in laughter at that. He highly doubted Emma needed to be worried about being traded in for a newer or prettier model. Still, he could understand where she was coming from. “Is that where the half-naked man comes in?” he asked. “A test drive?” Again, he couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him.
Emma tried not to look amused but his laughter was contagious and her smile won out in the end. “Shut up,” she said. “Yes, that’s where Tony comes in, the guy you saw in his skivvies outside my door. I came down for an early dinner to avoid people and sat at the bar when he came over and offered to buy me another drink. I figured a little distraction from my dread might be nice and thought maybe if I got laid before having to see Asher again then I wouldn’t be so bothered.”
There was something about Emma bringing up getting laid that ceased his laughter and replaced it with something more protective. Suddenly, he didn’t find Tony in his underwear outside her door as humorous. In fact, he didn’t much like the half-naked man anymore and wished she’d made him leave without both socks after all.
“I asked if he’d like to join me for dinner, but he’d been a bit more upfront about skipping to dessert. I thought what the hell, why not? Except then I realized he was just a cheap ass who feared getting suckered into paying for a stranger’s dinner. The moment we crossed the threshold of my door, he was telling me we could order room service and have them leave it outside while I called him Mr. Carlson in the bedroom.” She didn’t realize she was fuming until she looked down and saw how hard she was gripping her fork.
“I had already paid for my drink that he’d offered to buy,” she said as if someone had asked. “But the way he was trying to be sly and how he was talking…” She let out a huff. “Absolutely not. I don’t deal with sleazeballs.”
Cam stifled his remark at the term sleazeballs, seeing how she was already worked up. He was about to say something else when she kept going.
“And no man will tell me what I call him in the bedroom,” she stated with such force he dared not interrupt. “He’ll be lucky to be invited into my bed and then he better do a damned good job that I am too busy screaming and clawing to think of what name I’m calling him.”
Cam swallowed, knowing this beautiful creature across from him had no idea what her words were doing to him. He scratched the back of his neck while he tried to think of anything besides the intoxicating picture Emma just painted for him.
This was a purely platonic dinner, he reminded himself. His mind had no business going there, nor did his cock which was more than eager to live up to her expectations.
Cam only nodded because he couldn’t think of what to say. He was used to taking women to dinner, and even though his friends liked to tease him about being a romantic, he still enjoyed getting laid as much as the next guy. However, he actually liked the process of getting to know a woman and trying to impress and woo her. He liked buying flowers and picking her up for dinner.
But this wasn’t supposed to be that. He would never see Emma again, so he needed his mind and his body to get on the same page so that he could finish this meal. She made it clear she wouldn’t be sleeping with him, and though it was somehow surprising to a lot of women, he wasn’t a one-night stand kind of man.
“Anyways,” Emma pulled him from his thoughts. “That’s how it’s my ex-boyfriend’s fault that you had to witness that whole thing earlier,” she said with a straight face. Then she laughed. “Just kidding, I guess I can’t blame my bad ideas on other people. But all in all, I’d say it worked out for the best.”
“Why’s that?” Cam asked, trying to focus on the conversation so that all other thoughts would leave.
“I’m having fun with you,” Emma admitted. “This has been nice.”
Cam felt himself relax at that. “Yeah,” he agreed with a smile. “Me too. I’m glad I asked the crazy stranger across the hall to dinner.”
Emma broke out in laughter, and once again he found that feeling of excitement skittering through his body, lighting him up from within. He’d never see her again, he silently reminded himself, trying to stop whatever it was before it took shape.