The Right Wish Page 14

  “I’m getting hungry,” I said. “I missed breakfast. Would you come keep me company and have an early lunch with me?”

  “Sure.” She smiled, looking equal parts surprised and pleased. “Just let me get my shoes on.”

  Tiptoeing across the room, she left the door open. I stepped inside and watched her. Reaching the bed, she grabbed her cell and then slid her dainty feet into her flip-flops.

  She spun around, and seeing me behind her, her eyes widened and her hand flew to her throat. “Oh.”

  “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.” I glanced around. The only evidence that the room was occupied was a wrinkle on the beige coverlet. “Do you have everything you need?”

  “Yes. Thank you.”

  “You don’t need to thank me. I like having you here.”

  “Truthfully?” She tilted her head, and all that glorious black hair slid to the side.

  I knew now how silky soft it was, and more than ever, wanted to feel the glide of it across my naked skin.

  “Yes, truly, Cam. I speak the truth, even when maybe I should soften it.”

  She gave me a tight nod. “Most of the time I appreciate that quality.”

  I wondered if she was remembering the harsh truth I’d spoken back in that motel room. It just hadn’t been the whole truth.

  “We’ll walk, if that’s okay?” I asked.

  “Sure. I like walking.”

  I nodded. “Restaurants. Grocery store. Nearly everything’s close by. Even the beach and a dedicated path that goes all the way to Rush’s place. What are you in the mood to eat?”

  “I’m not really hungry. You choose.”

  I thought quickly. She cooked a lot what everyone else wanted, but when she wasn’t cooking for the group, she chose seafood.

  “How about fish tacos?”

  “Sure.” Her expression brightened.

  “Done.”

  She gestured to the door. “Lead the way.”

  “I never thought I would hear you speak those words to me,” I said in a teasing tone, and got an immediate smile that made me feel better than I did when I closed Coralee’s deal.

  “Funny.” Cam shook her head.

  “I can be.” Purposefully, I dipped my gaze to her pretty mouth, then lifted it to her eyes. “And I will endeavor to be amusing more often to get another one of your pretty smiles.”

  “Thank you.” She looked away, the surface of her eyes glistening from a simple compliment that obviously meant a lot to her.

  Because I gave it, or because she’d received so few of them? My guess was the latter. I made a mental note to give her lots of them.

  “Shall we go?” I offered her my arm, holding my breath until she placed her hand on it. A bolt of satisfaction surged through me.

  “So formal.” She peered up at me through her long lashes.

  “Are you not a formal kind of girl?” I kept with the questions, asking but not demanding, though this answer I already knew from observing her.

  She shook her head. “Did you think I was?” Her perfectly arched brows drew together.

  “No,” I said emphatically, starting for the stairs with her in tow.

  On the steps down, I covered her hand with mine, experiencing more than a surge of satisfaction when she didn’t immediately pull away.

  I needed to gain her trust slowly. Small steps first, then bigger ones. She was here now, at the top of my priority list, once I’d shifted my responsibilities to put her there.

  “But when I’m formal with you, it’s the best way I know to show you that you’re important.”

  “I’m not.”

  “You are.” Stepping off the last stair into the main living space, I turned, placing my hands on her shoulders and gently turning her to face me. “And I know a whole bunch of other people who have been affected by your kindness, care about you, and would wholeheartedly agree with me.” Holding her, I felt the sudden stillness that froze her.

  “My mother’s wish,” she whispered, her lips trembling.

  “You mentioned your mother before. She sounds wise.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “She was wise, beautiful, smart, kind, and caring.”

  “Oh, Cam. She sounds like a special woman. You miss her.” Pressure built behind my own eyes at witnessing her grief. “I’m sorry.”

  “So am I. Every day that I have to go on without her.”

  “Hey.” I tugged Cam into a hug. “For what it’s worth, I’m here.”

  I wanted to take her sadness from her, make it my own, and carry it so it wouldn’t burden her. But I knew from standing beside Rush as he lost both his parents that some burdens had to be carried alone.

  “You can lean on me.” Offering what I could, I wrapped my arms around Cam, sharing my concern, my comfort, and my strength, but wishing I could give her more.

  Chapter 22

  * * *

  Camaro

  I melted into Brad, inhaling deeply.

  With his arrogance dialed back to quiet confidence, and his care and consideration at the forefront, I could fall for him so easily. All the way. Irrevocably. But I’d fallen for the wrong men before. My judgment when it came to affairs of the heart wasn’t reliable.

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” I pulled back, way back, and swiped my tears away. “The next time I come apart at the seams, you’ll be the first one I call. Well, after Jewel. Unless the situation involves a big guy like Pete.”

  I gave Brad a wobbly smile, but he didn’t return it. He continued to look serious, and maybe a little disappointed. His cell beeped several notifications from his slacks pocket, one after the other.

  I glanced down. “Someone seems to be trying to get your attention.”

  “It’s work. I’ll attend to it later,” he said gruffly. “Right now, I’m talking to you.”

  “Okay.” I bobbed my head. “Did you still want to go eat?”

  “I want . . .” He shook his head and raked a hand through his hair while staring at me with his piercing gaze. “I want you not to be so sad, but that’s not within my power. What is within my power, I’ve offered to you sincerely.”

  “I appreciate it.”

  “You give kindness, receiving the greater gift when you make someone else happy. Did I get that right?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “I think that’s a beautiful sentiment. It’s just what I’m offering, and the gift of making you smile is all I expect in return.”

  “I understand.” If this was the talk he wanted to have to refute the accusations I’d made before the tour bus departed, I believed him.

  “Good.” He gave me a firm nod. “Remember this conversation, should you ever need me.”

  “I will.”

  “So agreeable.” He shook his head.

  “You’re being so unusually not pushy.”

  “Glad you noticed. It does take some effort.”

  I cocked my head. His eyes were pinched at the edges, and his muscles also seemed tense. “It’s driving you nuts.”

  “Oh yeah.” He nodded. “It’s a lot more difficult than I thought it would be.”

  “Why do it?”

  He exhaled, giving me a hard look. “Sierra suggested me being less bossy would improve the dynamic between us.”

  “Ah.” I smiled. “She’s right. I like her.”

  “I do too. Most of the time.” He stepped around me, grabbed a set of keys from a bowl on the kitchen island, then offered me his arm again.

  I placed my hand on his sleeve without hesitating. The heat of him fast-tracked through his clothing to my skin, the rippling current of attraction and his compelling scent making me light-headed as usual. But I powered through the temptation, understanding that my taking what he offered was important to him.

  Nodding approvingly, he escorted me down the second staircase and through the garage. Outside, he tucked my hand more firmly around his arm and pointed. “We’re headed just up the street.”

  “All right.” I fell
into step beside him, proud to be on his arm, and surprised when I probably shouldn’t have been that he thoughtfully shortened the length of his strides once again. “You surprised me today.”

  “Good surprise?” he asked.

  “Yes. You let me drive your car, and you’re taking me to lunch. You’re being thoughtful and nice.”

  “Friendship with me might be a good gig, huh?”

  “Time will tell.”

  “Yes, it will. Count on it.” ” He glanced at me, his expression serious. Before I could think of a response, he tugged my arm. “We’re here.”

  “You weren’t kidding. It is close.”

  Nodding, he released me to hold open the door. “My lady.” He gestured grandly toward the interior. “After you.”

  “Thank you,” I murmured, stepping inside and noting as I had while we were out on the sidewalk that the restaurant was basically open to the street and that many eyes were watching us.

  “Yo, boss dude.” A young guy at the counter wearing a paper hat that read MB Taco Stand lifted his finger. “How’s it going?”

  “Good, Trevor,” Brad said. “How are things with you?”

  “Can’t complain too much. I’m off at three. Cold front came in last night, and waves are supposed to be killer. You surfing today?”

  “Not today. I have work later.”

  Brad surfed? I glanced at him sharply, and he noticed.

  “I do other things besides work,” he muttered.

  “I’m becoming aware.”

  “Aren’t you going to introduce me to the babe?” Trevor asked.

  Brad frowned. “Camaro, Trevor. Trevor, Camaro.” He waved his hand between us, his expensive watch flashing as it reflected the overhead lights as he made the grudging introductions.

  “Nice to meet you.” Trevor grinned. “Bitchin’ name. Cool shirt. Smoking bod. You wanna go out sometime?”

  “Um, I . . .” I hadn’t been asked out by a non-paying customer in so long, I really wasn’t sure how to react.

  “Trevor,” Brad said in his managerial tone that sent everyone scurrying. “I’m standing right here, and she’s with me. You feel me?”

  “Got it. No offense intended, boss dude. Just wanted to make a play before anyone else, if a play was open.”

  “No plays are open.”

  “Roger that.” Trevor blinked fast, looking a little ill. “Will it be the usual today?”

  “Yeah, two.” Brad put his arm around me, and I did my best not to swoon. “Turbo spice or regular seasoning, Cam?” he said, turning his head to glance at me.

  “What’s your usual?”

  Trevor answered for Brad with his pencil poised over a paper pad. “Three mahi tacos, turbo spice, coleslaw, large lemon vitamin water.”

  “Sounds good,” I said. “I’ll take the same, only regular on the spice.”

  “You got it.” Trevor nodded, tore the paper from his pad, and turned around to give the order to the kitchen.

  “Where would you like to sit?” Brad asked. “By the window okay?”

  “Sure.” I nodded. “Nice you give your possession a choice.”

  “Not the way I meant that.” His brow furrowed. “You’re under my protection. If Trevor wants to ask you out, he needs to run it by me first.”

  “Oh.” That sounded okay.

  “Did you want to go out with him?” Brad asked the question casually, but there was nothing casual about the bright intensity in his gaze.

  “No, of course not. He’s just a kid.”

  “You’re twenty-one, right?”

  I nodded.

  “Trevor’s two years older than you.”

  “I feel older.”

  “I do too. I’m twenty-seven, but I feel middle-aged most days. Hard choices and responsibilities have a way of making you feel older.”

  I nodded, agreeing for sure.

  Brad gestured to a pub-height table by the windows, which really weren’t actual windows, just steel bars for the garage doors that were currently up and open. I took a seat on the stool he pulled out for me. He accepted my thanks with a nod and moved to the opposite side of the table.

  “Are you . . .” I lost my train of thought as he unbuttoned his jacket and shrugged out of it. All those chiseled muscles barely restrained by fine cotton made it hard to think, let alone speak coherently.

  “Am I what?” He raised an inquiring brow while hanging his jacket on a hook by our table.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, watching him unbutton his sleeves.

  “Prepping.”

  “Prepping for what?” I skated off into a fantasy, imagining him ripping off my clothes and taking me here in the crowded restaurant.

  “Preparing to eat. Tacos are messy.”

  Unfortunately, that explanation didn’t help douse my imagination. His rolled-up sleeves revealed muscular forearms dusted with golden hair.

  Catching me staring at him with my mouth parted, his brow rose. “You were saying?”

  What had I been saying? I covered my cheeks with my hands. I felt flushed. “Are you going to be home for dinner tonight?” I asked, sounding out of breath.

  “Sadly, no. I need to attend a performance by a client. Without a plus-one, I’ll have to go alone, and I hate going to work functions by myself. Would you consider going with me?”

  Chapter 23

  * * *

  Bradley

  Cam agreed to go with me. I could hardly believe it, especially after I’d revealed that Coralee’s big debut was an invite-only black-tie event.

  Correction. I gripped the steering wheel of the Z harder and flicked on the blinker to make my turn. She said yes and didn’t take it back when I told her I had to leave to go to the event early, and she would have to meet me there.

  Frowning, I entered the freeway and hit the Bluetooth voice command button. “Call Camaro,” I said and held my breath through several rings.

  “Hello?” She answered in her sweet voice that amplified beautifully over the Bose sound system.

  My cock instantly went hard.

  “Hey, I’m just checking in on you. How’s it going?”

  “I’m just now stepping out of the Lyft in front of Nordstrom.”

  “Right. Good. So, Maurice is on the second floor.”

  “I remember the name of your personal shopper and where to find him.”

  “Yes, but if you can’t find him, have him paged.”

  “Brad, trust me. I know I have my head in the clouds a lot, and I’m not usually a fancy girl, but this isn’t a difficult task for me.”

  “The gown, the shoes, the, um . . . accessories.” I nearly rammed into the car in front of me as I imagined Cam in a dressing room trying on lingerie.

  “My hair and makeup too. I know, and just in case I might forget, you texted me a list.” She let out a long, exaggerated sigh. “I can handle this.”

  “Trust is hard for me,” I said, surprising myself when I blurted out the admission.

  “I noticed.”

  “I’m accustomed to being the one in charge.” It was like I wanted to give her privileged insight into me.

  “That isn’t news to me.”

  “Right. Probably not. Look, this is an important event. Lots of influential people will be there.”

  “You mentioned that too.”

  “It’s not that I don’t think you’re capable. It’s just that it’s difficult for me to delegate.” Mistakes could happen. Wins could become losses.

  “Difficult meaning nearly impossible, apparently.” Teasing overrode the grumble of complaint in her voice. “I’m going to tell you what your sister did when you put her on speaker at lunch.”

  “I got this, big brother,” I said, mimicking Sierra for her. “Quit calling me. Back off.”

  “Yeah, minus the brother part. That’s exactly what I would say.”

  I could hear the smile in Cam’s voice, and I loved it, even if it was at my expense.

  “I’m a little uptight,”
I said as I put on the blinker to exit on Ninth Street.

  “You’re a lot uptight. I’ve never met a more uptight person.”

  “Nor a more good-looking, amazing, and all-around brilliant person either, I’m sure.”

  “One with an ego as big as yours? No, definitely not.”

  My lips curved. I enjoyed bantering with her. “I deserve my big ego.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  “Truly?” I asked eagerly.

  “No. No way.”

  “Shoot.”

  “Shoot me for agreeing to this,” she muttered.

  “Promise me you won’t back out,” I said in a low voice. I’d been looking forward to it since she’d agreed to come with me.

  The line went silent.

  “You still there?” I asked.

  “I’m here. I just almost tripped. You really shouldn’t . . . never mind. I promise, if you promise to give me some space.”

  “You’ve got it.” I’d just check on her through Maurice. That was still space, right?

  “Awesome. A little slack on my leash. It’s almost a miracle, considering it’s you.”

  “Ha-ha,” I deadpanned. “But what were you going to say? You didn’t complete your thought earlier.”

  “Oh, that? It was nothing.”

  “Didn’t sound like nothing. Sounded like you were going to tell me something but chickened out.”

  “I didn’t chicken out.”

  “Tell me if you’re not afraid.” I used a cajoling tone, hoping it would work.

  “It’s your voice.” She sighed, the type of sigh that made the fine hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, and the rest of me buzz as if I were connected to a surging power circuit.

  “What about it?”

  “When you lower it, you sound like Rush does when he sings his ballads. It’s . . . distracting.”

  “Sexy, you mean. Irresistible.”

  “I’m hanging up now, Mr. Arrogance. I’ve arrived at the second floor, and I have things to do other than stroke your ginormous ego.”

  The call ended, but I broke out into a ridiculously pleased grin that didn’t fade until I entered the building and ran straight into Coralee’s mom, unfortunately.