Chapter 7
The entire way back to their rooms, Cam told himself to stay calm. No good would come of freaking out. Hell, no good would come of anything at this point because he was now stuck with this outrageous woman.
He’d always blown off the generalization that beautiful single women must be crazy. It was a horrible joke people threw around. Now he wondered if he should warn every person within shouting distance.
This was horrible. A total fucking mess.
He walked behind Emma down the hallway, his anger simmering like a pot of noodles. Did he really just stand there and wave goodbye with an arm around this perplexing stranger like they were all one big happy family?
Jeez. What did he get himself into? He was going to have to have serious words with Nate for putting the idea to search for adventure in his brain. Katie was right, he’d never take advice from him again.
He came to a halt behind Emma as she stopped between their rooms, turning to look at him, her face unbelievably calm compared to his current state of mind.
“I suppose we should come up with a plan or something. Your room or mine?”
“You suppose?” he asked, his voice a deep rumble.
She let out an exasperated sigh as her hands flew up at her sides and then back down. “It’s not like I planned this,” she said.
He laughed at that. Not a humorous one, but the kind that comes out involuntarily on the verge of turning into a growl or string of curses. She had to be kidding him.
Emma turned. “Fine. My room, I guess.” She unlocked the door and held it open for the puppy-dog-turned-brute of a man to follow her in. If she had pegged Cam for being the easygoing type, then apparently getting him stuck into a vacation with his boss and coworker was where the line was drawn.
She walked into the room and took a seat at the end of the bed, gesturing with her hand toward the desk chair for him to have a seat. She frowned when he paused on the threshold and took in her room.
“What?”
“Nothing,” he said. “I guess I would’ve suspected you for the messy type.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why would I be messy?”
He shrugged, walking to the chair.
“That’s not an answer.”
“Maybe because you seem like a messy person with all your lies that I’m surprised the room doesn’t match,” he snapped. He regretted it the moment he saw the recoil in her expression before she hid it.
“You could have said no,” she tried. “You didn’t have to go along with it.”
“What?” he asked incredulously. “When would I have said no? When you were pleading me with those big brown eyes, or when my boss was giving me his undivided attention about how I met the woman he considers a daughter?”
Emma raised and began pacing, her palms going up in surrender. “Okay, okay. You’re right. I dragged you into this mess, and I promise, I’ll figure it out.”
Cam groaned because he didn’t see a way around it, only through it. And that meant a week under the scrutiny of his boss and making nice with kind people that he would be lying to. The thought made him nauseous.
“I’m sorry,” he said. When Emma looked at him in question, he added, “For the messy comment.”
Emma waved her hand to brush it off. She’d never been a messy person concerning her surroundings, but she could see how her life would appear to be in chaos at the moment.
Cam took a deep breath. “The only way we’re going to survive this is if we approach it as a team.”
Emma paused her pacing. “I bet you’re a good boss,” she said.
He gave her an appreciative smile, then checked the time on his phone. It wasn’t too terribly late, and if he was going to be traveling first thing tomorrow, then maybe it was best to make some phone calls now.
“I need to make some calls,” he said.
Emma nodded. “I bet Lulu will be calling me as soon as she gets home.”
“How about I come over in an hour? Then we can figure out what we”re going to do.”
“Sounds good.” Emma watched him walk to the door. “And Cam?”
“Yeah?” he asked, looking over his shoulder.
“Thank you.”
“We’ll figure it out.” Then he was gone.
Emma plopped backward on the bed, her arms sprawling out by her head. She was so screwed, she thought. She was many things, but a liar wasn’t one of them. Until tonight.
She kept feeling like everyone could see her shame written all over her face. If she was worried about them pitying her before, that would be nothing compared to what they’d think if the truth came tumbling out.
Yeah, sure, there were all those wise people saying that the truth sets people free and whatnot, but she didn’t believe it. And she didn’t need freedom, she needed to survive this vacation.
What’s sad was she had been eager for it before finding out that Asher and Lauren would be there.
God. Asher and Lauren. The latter had been so joyous for her, which she’d always been anytime Emma had something good going on in her life. The former had been his same self. She knew eight months wasn’t that long but she’d expected him to somehow be different. The only difference though, was that he was next to Lauren instead of her.
Then the way he questioned her about backpacking and the workaholic comment. Ugh, she could’ve flipped him off. He had always been on her about how much time she spent on the road for work, especially when she flipped the bill for some of those jobs she took, which lowered the profit extensively. But he never understood it. It wasn’t always about the money and time, it was about opportunity. Her photography built her connections and chances to see parts of the world and exposure to cultures she’d never explore otherwise.
He’d always considered it a waste of her business degree, though what he didn’t understand was that she used that education plenty behind the scenes.
Besides, she doubted he was too bothered by Lauren’s travels and photo-taking if he was willing to date her. Lauren had built a huge influencer platform for herself, sharing content in a lifestyle format from clothes and skincare routines to daily vlogs and travel tips. She had that chic and glamorous aesthetic to her content that so many dreamed about.
Quite ironic for Asher to judge a career of photography and entrepreneurship to date another go-getter woman who was also building a life for herself. It didn’t matter if one woman was behind the camera and the other was in front of it. They were both smart, savvy, and hard workers, so she just hoped he was smart enough to not harp on Lauren as he had her.
Emma put a hand over her eyes. What was she doing lying here worrying about how Asher was treating Lauren? Maybe looking out for Lauren like a little sister was such second nature to her now that she couldn’t stop, even if they were all grown.
The vibrating of her phone stole her attention and she found herself thanking Lulu for the impeccable timing.
“Are you calling to tell me how pathetic I am?”
Lulu’s laughter rang out over the phone. “Girl, I have no words. No freaking words.”
“Ugh,” Emma groaned into the phone. “Me either. I’m so stupid.”
“Stop that. But I am curious how this came about? Because I know you and Cam aren’t dating. Right?”
Emma laughed. “I’ve known him twenty-four hours if you can even call a dinner that.”
“What? How’d you guys have dinner together? And where’d you pull that story about meeting him from? Besides your ass, because I know you would’ve mentioned him to me before tonight if that’d been true.”
Emma launched into the details of last night and her failed attempt at a distraction that led her to dinner with Cam and then proceeded to explain the panic that gripped her when they arrived and she pulled Cam into her horrible lie. She let out another groan when Lulu wouldn’t stop laughing multiple times.
“Of all the people in this world, I can’t believe it’s Cam,” Lulu finally said.
A thought skirted through Emma’s mind. “You’re not mad, are you? You didn’t have your eye on him or something, did you?” Shit, she’d seen their surprise at seeing each other but did her nerves keep her from reading the situation more clearly?
“No, no, no,” Lulu quickly assured. “Although, he is a hottie,” she admitted. “But I would never consider dating anyone from work. Too complicated, and I’m already trying to prove myself.”
Emma refrained from rolling her eyes, even though she knew her friend couldn’t see her. She was always determined to prove herself, yet she failed to realize she already had and then some. “Yeah, he is kind of sexy, isn’t he?” They both laughed.
“So what are you going to do? Where is he?”
“Making some calls then we’ll talk.”
“Probably squaring away work stuff if I had to guess.”
It hit Emma that Lulu knew Cam better than she did. Damn, she was screwed. “I think you’re right.”
“Well, at least this week should prove fun, and now you’ll have the perfect distraction to keep you from trying to bail out last minute.”
Again, Lulu laughed, but Emma tensed. She had been honest with her best friend about not looking forward to Asher being there, but it was still a hard line to navigate. She didn’t want Lulu to think she had an issue with him and her sister because Emma would never speak poorly of Lulu’s family, her family.
That didn’t stop her friend from knowing it was a hard position for Emma to be in.
“I think bailing has definitely been removed from the equation. I’m worried Cam might be a flight risk, though.”
Lulu thought it over. “Nah. I think he’ll stick around.” She hesitated. “But try to take it easy on him. Dad’s like a loving father to you, but Cam knows him as an intimidating bigwig from work, and Cam’s known for being a good guy and having integrity. He probably thinks this has career failure written all over it.”
Emma chewed on her bottom lip. Lulu was right and Cam had already hinted at that. She’d have to be extra careful that they didn’t get caught. “Thanks, Lu,” she said and meant it.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. I need to finish packing.”
“I’ll be the one with bags under my eyes from not being able to sleep,” Emma joked.
“That guilty conscience of yours might find that this bundle of deceit turns into something a bit more scandalous,” Lulu purred.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She could practically hear the eye roll over the phone. “It means that you just secured yourself a week-long vacation in the same room with a total ten.”
Emma’s world stopped spinning. One room? She hadn’t even thought that far ahead. Of course Cam would be joining her in her room, especially with the last-minute invite and everyone would expect as much, but she hadn’t actually had a chance to navigate all of those details.
“You still there?” Lulu asked.
“Just processing.” Lulu’s laugh was her only response and Emma shook her head. “I think you’re overestimating me if you think I can have Cam doing anything besides hating me for dragging him into this.”
“Please,” Lulu said. “More like you’re underestimating yourself.”
“Anyways, that’s not even what this is about. There will be no sexy or scandalous getaway. This is now a mission to survive the week without the truth coming out or humiliating myself. Or Cam,” she added.
“Keep telling yourself that.”
“Get off the phone already. I’ll see you at the airport.”
Lulu giggled before saying goodbye and hanging up. If Emma thought the phone call was going to make her feel better, she had been wrong. She was only more anxious for her talk with Cam now that she realized what all this week would include.
An entire week stuck together. Him and her.