Caught Looking In San Diego (Oasis Gila Monsters #1)

Chapter 1

I guess I set a world record for errors.

Camdyn Gallegos stood in shocked silence.

Her eyes did not lie. She knew that, but it took a moment for her normally sharp brain to comprehend the scene directly in front of her.

Her boyfriend of six months, the same boyfriend who had relentlessly pursued her for nearly a year prior, was cheating on her with their co-worker.

She eased back and quietly fled. She didn’t need to see anything more.

She had come up to the executive level of his family’s law firm, where they both worked, because a case had been misassigned to her.

It was Friday, so she wanted to mention it before everyone left for the weekend.

It was common knowledge that by one p.m. all the partners and executive leadership broke for lunch, and they would not return to the office until Monday.

But today, it seemed quitting time had come earlier, because the place was vacant, except for the couple she’d just seen.

As she backtracked past empty offices and through a silent reception to the elevators, she tried to process what just happened.

Ricky, also known as Richard Anderson Jr.—now known to Camdyn as her cheating ex—had been leaning against the side of his father’s desk.

His father’s admin assistant, Cecily, was on her knees in front of him, and what Cam had seen would probably haunt her.

No wonder Cecily was always so abrasive and unpleasant to her.

She didn’t know what kind of game Ricky thought he was playing, but she was nobody’s pawn.

If there was one phrase that Camdyn’s grandpa had drilled into her, it was that “Life is like a game of chess, and every action deserves a counteraction”.

Ricky was about to become acquainted with that saying.

Once she made it safely back to her own small office on the lower floor with the other entry-level associates, she sat at her desk and crafted a letter of resignation.

She wished that she could just walk out, but she was a professional and had a reputation to maintain.

Unfortunately, she’d have to work out her notice for the Anderson Law Firm, and that would be a full month.

Why had she put herself in this position?

She hadn’t needed a job here. Her own family had a dynastic law firm in Arizona.

Her plan had always been to join her family’s firm in her hometown of Oasis, but then she’d interned with Ricky’s father while finishing law school in Phoenix and he’d persuaded her to stay on.

Richard Anderson Sr. was a hustler, and so was she. They got along splendidly, and she’d learned a lot from him. He was a great mentor, so deciding to stay had seemed practical. Later, he’d convinced her to give his smitten son a chance, and now, here she was.

Joining Anderson hadn’t been a bad career decision.

It had brought her a multitude of experiences, knowledge, and contacts that she’d be able to use when she moved on.

However, it had been a huge disappointment for her grandpa and her uncle when she’d decided not to join them at Callahan Family Law.

She knew they’d be thrilled about her leaving Anderson and joining them, but it was going to be embarrassing for her.

She could just break up with Ricky and stay on at Anderson, but the idea of that didn’t sit right. She’d just have to deal with the consequences of her decision. After all, it was never too late to change course and admit that you were wrong. And she had definitely been wrong about Ricky.

He was smart, successful, and handsome, but if she was being honest with herself, she’d regretted ever agreeing to date him.

He’d lost his appeal very quickly, and she’d been unhappy with him for at least a couple of months, but she hadn’t been able to figure out how to break things off without upsetting his father or her work life.

She admired her boss and thought he was a talented lawyer.

He was fair, a wonderful mentor, and a truly good person.

So she had assumed his son would be a good person, too.

Initially, Ricky had pursued her relentlessly.

He had been completely devoted to impressing her and convincing her to give him a shot, but that interest had just been an act.

Within a couple of months, he’d become indifferent.

And she’d thought maybe that was the newness wearing off, that maybe this was them settling into a comfortable routine together.

But as time went by, she realized they didn’t share any interests outside of work.

Rarely did they talk about anything else, and their dates were usually dinners or events they needed to attend for their jobs.

He’d become dull and she’d felt like arm candy. A beautiful, successful young woman who came from a respectable family whose name meant something in the Arizona law community. A trophy he could pull out of the case occasionally.

She really shouldn’t be upset, because she would have already broken up with him if not for the complication of Richard Sr. Not that she ever would have ignored Ricky cheating, but using his indiscretion against him for her benefit was a relief.

It was a more than valid reason for their breakup.

She wouldn’t be the bad guy. However, that did not negate the anger she felt that he’d dared to betray her.

It took only a few minutes to draft her resignation email.

She left it up on her computer while she packed her tote with anything she might need for working over the weekend, if she decided to do any.

She shot off a text to her grandpa and her uncle to give them a brief on the situation and let them know that she’d call them later, then she turned her phone off and slid it into her bag.

The fallout would begin as soon as she hit send on the resignation email and she wanted to be out of the building and unreachable before either Richard read it.

She was checking it for any errors when a tap sounded on her door, and none other than Ricky pushed it open.

“Camdyn, why don’t you take a break so we can grab lunch?” he said as if nothing had happened. It made her wonder how long he’d been fooling around with Cecily. Then again, he was adept at bending the truth to fit any narrative, just like she was. It came with the territory of their occupation.

She looked at Ricky, really looked at him.

He stood tall and lean, at least a foot taller than her five four.

His blond hair was perfectly styled. A navy pinstripe suit that had been custom-tailored fit him to perfection.

And his blue eyes were looking at her with what was obviously faux concern because she hadn't responded.

The performance of it all just made her more angry.

She couldn’t stop staring at him like he was a specimen she could dissect.

She wrangled down the rage trying to bubble to the surface, and with a straight, unaffected face said, “No, Ricky. We won’t be having lunch together today, or ever again, unless it’s a work obligation.

I’m aware of your relationship with Cecily, so I’m ending ours. ”

The transformation of his expression from concerned to panicked was almost comical. He quickly masked it, but he needed to work on that.

“I don’t know what you’ve heard, but someone is telling lies. I don’t have a relationship with Cecily.” He said the last sentence with such disgust that, had she not seen them with her own eyes, she might have questioned what she knew.

She threw her hand up. “Stop. Don’t tell me lies. I saw the two of you in your father’s office not twenty minutes ago.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he insisted.

“Sure you don’t,” she continued. “We’re done. Our relationship is over and I’ve decided to resign from Anderson.”

His panic returned. “What? Camdyn, let’s go to lunch and talk about what you think you saw. I promise it wasn’t what you thought. And even if you do break up with me, don’t resign. You belong here.“

She let out a humorless laugh. “I know what I saw; it was kind of hard to mistake.”

His eyes shut for a moment, and he drew a deep breath before opening them and changing tactics. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry. I came straight down here because I regret that mistake.”

She needed to get out of the office before her rage won. “Came straight down here and blatantly lied.”

“I was frustrated, and it was a moment of weakness. I hate that you know how weak I am, but it’ll never happen again. I can be better. Please remember how good things are between us. We’re a power couple together. Unstoppable,“ he pleaded.

“It doesn’t matter what promises you make or how much you apologize. I’ve made up my mind. You can explain to your father why I’ve decided to resign and why we’re over.” She reached down and clicked send. It was done. No taking it back now.

His begging continued. “Camdyn, please stop. Just listen to me.”

She picked up her bag, clicked off her computer, and headed for the door. She was not going to waste another moment of her time on him. “We’re over, Ricky. Let me go and leave me alone.”

As Camdyn left the building, he followed behind her all the way to the parking garage, pitifully trying to convince her to listen to his excuses and lies, but Camdyn was decisive, and she always learned from her mistakes. She would not give him more of her time.

As she drove away with him reflected in her rearview mirror, Camdyn felt lighter.

She should have broken up with him months ago.

She took a deep, steadying breath and drove on towards her place, but she knew she couldn’t stay there.

She needed to escape Phoenix for the weekend.

She would not put it past Ricky to come over in an attempt to love bomb her.

She now recognized his previous relentless pursuit as just that.

Funny how she hadn’t recognized that narcissistic trait when he’d begun to devalue her in their relationship.

They say love is blind, but she hadn’t loved him.

She didn’t know why she’d been blinded, but it didn’t matter now.

She would not re-engage or give him an opportunity to coerce her. She’d be gone when he came around.

She could always go home to Oasis. It was only a few hours away, and her parents would be delighted to see her, but they’d have questions.

So would the extended family; her grandpa and uncle would be over as soon as they heard she was in town, and she didn’t want to talk about what had happened yet.

She needed to process. Camdyn didn’t make bad decisions, so it was hard to swallow that her judgment had been so poor.

She needed a little time to herself to regroup and plan, then she’d catch everyone up.

She could go to Oasis and stay with her bestie, Izzy, but Izzy’s man normally worked out of town, and he was home this week. She didn’t want to intrude on their time. And her family would still track her down at Izzy’s if they heard she was in Oasis.

Her younger brother, Callahan, lived in Phoenix, like her.

She could go to his place and lay low, but he was on the road.

Cal was a professional baseball pitcher and she was pretty sure he’d be ending a three-game series tonight in San Diego.

She’d been a lousy sister lately. Here it was, the end of May, and she hadn’t been to any of his games other than opening day, back in March.

That reminded her of another reason she and Ricky didn’t work.

Ricky didn’t like baseball, a fact that had every person in her family giving the guy a side-eye.

She should have ended things with him in March when he’d complained all throughout the season opener.

Instead, she’d just avoided the games she enjoyed attending to make him happy.

Where had her backbone been for the last few months?

Why had she been sacrificing her happiness? Never again would she do that.

If she went straight home and threw some clothes in a bag, she could make it to San Diego before the first pitch.

She could message Cal, and he’d reserve her a ticket.

He could probably book her a room at the hotel he was staying at, too.

A refreshing weekend in SoCal sounded like just what she needed.