“Oh my, yes. It’s so beautiful here!” The words burst out too exuberantly, and she felt like a sixteen-year-old.
“Glad you like it.” His eyes trailed over her casual dress. “Are you comfortable working out in that?”
Cambree’s face flared. She should’ve changed into workout gear. “Wow, didn’t know the bossy man was already putting me to work.”
He grinned. “Don’t worry. I’ll go easy on you.”
“You’d better not. I paid heaps of hard-earned money so you could kick my tush into shape.” Now her face warmed further at her mention of how expensive this camp was.
Emmett didn’t seem bothered by her comment at all. Score another point for the superstar. “You look like you’re already in fabulous shape.”
Cambree acknowledged the compliment with a chin nod. “But it’s your lucky job to take my body to the next level so I can be number one this year.”
“Challenge accepted.” He grinned.
Britney strode up to Emmett and placed her hand on his arm, interrupting their conversation. Cambree would’ve liked to chitchat with the superstar longer, but she understood everyone wanted his attention and she worried that she’d say something offensive to him. Britney had all the composure and confidence you’d expect from a supermodel. Cambree was sure it wouldn’t be hard for any man to give her attention. Cambree saw a lot of different workout apparel worn at Warrior races, but she didn’t know they made shorts as short as Britney wore them. Her cheeks were literally hanging out.
“You think you can take my body to the next level?” Britney purred.
Cambree’s face reddened again. When she’d asked Emmett to take her to the next level, she’d meant her fitness, not her shape or any other … things to do with her body. She hoped it hadn’t sounded like an innuendo. Yikes. She was so out of her league socially. She was a solo Warrior racer, and that’s the way she trained as well. These people probably weren’t going to interact like her sixth graders, who thought she was funny when she put her foot in her mouth.
“Maybe he can give her a swift kick where her shorts should be,” Nana Lucy said in Cambree’s ear.
Cambree laughed, almost more from surprise than amusement, and instantly felt bad as Britney glared over at them, not releasing her hold on Emmett.
Emmett clapped his hands together, gently dislodging Britney’s arm, and said, “Looks like everybody’s here and ready to get started.”
Cambree hadn’t noticed Troy and Gunner. She looked over her right shoulder. Gunner waved, friendly and cute as ever. Troy leered at her and ran his tongue over his lips. Cambree flipped back around. Competing in a co-ed sport, she’d had more than her share of men hitting on her. Sometimes it was a compliment, and sometimes it was just terrifying.
She looked back at Emmett and noticed his jaw tightening as he glared at Troy. Could it be possible Emmett Hawk was interested in her? No. That was crazy thinking. He was a billionaire hunk with hundreds of times more women pursuing him than the zeros in his net worth. Cambree was nowhere on the radar of a Hawk brother. She was born to a single mom who had absolutely no social graces. Her mom made Cambree’s errant tongue sound like a church choir.
No, Cambree could never date someone like Emmett Hawk. He was probably annoyed with Troy because he didn’t want any romances going on this week when they should be focusing on transforming their bodies and learning how to push their fitness to the next level.
“It’s a small group this round,” Emmett continued. “Crazily enough, the other fifteen participants dropped out for one reason or another.”
Cambree wondered how strong of a reason she would need to back out of this dream opportunity. Besides a death in the family, she really couldn’t think of anything. Emmett seemed a little embarrassed the others had dropped out. Surely he didn’t think it was a reflection on him? Anyone with a brain between their ears would want to be near him.
“So we’ll keep it pretty informal. Let’s go around and introduce ourselves and what we hope to achieve this week.” He smiled. “I’ll start. I’m Emmett Hawk.”
“We all know who you are.” Britney smiled at him, and Cambree could see why she was such a fabulous model. Any woman would want to imitate her sultry yet somehow innocent look, and any man would buy anything Britney was selling.
“If I have to listen to her say one more word, I’m going to vomit,” Lucy said.
Cambree shushed her with a finger to her lips. She thought the older lady’s snark was funny, but Cambree tried never to put someone in a cage simply because they were beautiful or famous, no matter that her ex-fiancé, Nolan, had explained in great detail that Cambree would never be on their level. She didn’t understand the social elite world, but was it their fault they were born to money and prestige any more than it was Cambree’s fault she was born in a trailer park? Britney probably had lots of depth to her; she just wasn’t … showing it as well as she was showing her cleavage up front and in the behind.
“So I guess you all know I’m a wide receiver for the Titans?” Emmett smirked, and Cambree thought he was absolutely exquisite. Confident, but not cocky.
“Rookie of the year. Highest-paid rookie ever,” Gunner called out. “Yeah, we know all about you and are struggling with the hero worship, man.” He gave a thumbs-up.
Cambree was glad Gunner was here. He was friendly, and everything he said was positive. She caught a glance of Troy’s sneer. Maybe he didn’t appreciate Gunner’s cheerleader style.
Lucy and Britney both clapped and said, “Go Titans!” at the same time. Britney giggled adorably. Lucy shook her head. “Ay bendito, now I’m a groupie.”
Emmett chuckled. “So you’ve probably also heard that I ripped out every ligament in my knee at the all-star event, and …” He looked down. “I’m not gonna lie, the recovery has been rough, but I’ll get back.”
Silence blanketed the group, and Cambree’s heart went out to Emmett. She could only imagine how hard he’d worked to be where he was, and to be injured, to have to start all over? That was brutal.
“Ah, man, sorry to hear it,” Gunner said. “But if anyone can get back, it’ll be you. You’re a Hawk, right?”
Everyone murmured their agreement.
“Thanks.” Emmett moved on quickly. “So I started this camp because I want to give back, and I couldn’t stand the thought of just sitting around dealing with physical therapists.”
They all laughed.
“This is my fourth week of the Titans fitness camp and my first with adults. The first two weeks were sixteen- to eighteen-year-olds. Last week was college athletes. I guess the college group can be considered adults.”
“Naw, we don’t want to grow up,” Gunner said.
Cambree couldn’t imagine how Gunner could ever grow up. He reminded her of the carefree attitude of her eighteen-year-old brother, who their mother worried would amount to nothing but dating the town’s rodeo queen. He had a construction job, though, so Cambree tried to remind her mom of that.
“This week,” Emmett said, “I wanted to focus on adult athletes and on adults who simply want to increase their fitness level and be healthier.”
“Old farts like me,” Lucy said.
“I’d never say that, ma’am.” Emmett grinned, the teasing lilt to his voice and his smile were both irresistible.
“I really just signed up to have him grin at me like that,” Lucy muttered so only Cambree could hear. Cambree laughed softly and completely agreed. That smile aimed her direction was more than worth the twenty-thousand-dollar price tag. She sobered up quickly. No, she had to focus and excel this week, not just be smitten by Emmett Hawk’s smile, though any woman would struggle to not be smitten.
“It’s crazy that we had so many dropouts this week. The past camps had none, except for one little guy who broke his arm skateboarding the day before he came, but I think for each of you this will be an amazing opportunity.” He gestured to the trainers standing around him. “You’ll each get individ
ual training most of the week. We’ll still do some things in groups, but mostly we’ll work one-on-one so we can maximize your time here and focus on exactly what you want to achieve.” He spread his hands. “So it’s your turn. Tell us who you are and what you’re here to accomplish.” He inclined his chin to Britney, who was still standing so close to him that the blond trainer had been displaced from his spot. The guy seemed to be struggling to keep his eyes off of Britney’s backside.
“Hi, I’m Britney.” She smiled that sweet smile of hers. “You probably all recognize me.”
Lucy muttered, “Maybe if you’d take all your clothes off we could recognize you better.”
Britney’s smile drooped.
“Hush that tongue,” Cambree said. “There’s no call to be low-down mean.”
Lucy looked surprised at the retort. Cambree wondered if she’d gone too far, but she didn’t like bullies in any form. The entire group stared at her, but it was Emmett’s warm gaze that made her feel like she’d done all right standing up for Britney.
The silence seemed to lengthen.
“So your goals are?” Emmett prompted Britney.
“I’m here to have you make my body even more perfect.” Britney looked worshipfully at Emmett. “And I loved the idea of a fitness retreat. Who doesn’t love to be pampered? Right, girls?” She grinned broadly at Cambree as if they were close friends.
Cambree forced a smile because she wanted to be friends with everyone at the camp, but she had never been pampered a day in her life, so she didn’t really know how to commiserate. As the oldest of six children with a single mom who worked hard cleaning wealthy people’s homes to make ends meet, Cambree couldn’t remember a day, besides Sundays, she hadn’t either babysat and kept things in line at home, or helped her mom at a cleaning job. Her family had been super proud when she’d graduated from CSU and gotten a teaching job. She was the first one to have a college degree of any of her relations.
“You can rub my bunions later,” Lucy joked.
Everyone laughed, and Cambree hoped any hard feelings between Britney and Lucy would be gone.
Britney wrinkled her delicate nose. “I’m sure they have people who do that.”
“We do, actually,” Emmett interjected. “After you work hard every day, we have a full spa where you will get massages, pedicures, facials, whatever you want.”
“Yes!” Lucy pumped her fist in the air. “Now if I can just get through the ‘work hard’ part.”
Emmett smiled. “What’s your story, Nana Lucy?”
“Just wanting to perfect my body so I’m ready when Sports Illustrated calls me up.” She winked at Britney, but it wasn’t a friendly wink, too mocking.
The female trainer, Tracy, laughed. Emmett gave the woman a quick look, then turned back to Lucy, folding his impressive arms across his even more impressive chest. “I want the truth now. We’re going to get close this week, and I want us cheering each other on, not tearing down. I just shared my biggest fear with you: not being able to play … the first few games of this season. Please drop the snark and tell us why you’re here.”
“Sorry, Britney.” Lucy actually sounded repentant, and Britney gave her a nod of acknowledgment. “Snark is my only defense.” She sighed and then pushed out, “My husband of thirty-one years cheated on me with a twenty-two-year-old swimsuit model.”
Britney’s eyes widened and she took a step back, planting her foot on one of the tall male trainers. He steadied her and smiled.
“I’ve always worked hard to take care of myself, stay attractive for my husband.” She shook her head. “I came this week to find me again, see if I had any toughness and grit left in me that that jerkbait Tim didn’t steal when he busted my illusions of a happy marriage and loving each other forever.”
Silence fell on the group. No wonder Lucy was such a smart aleck. It was to protect her battered heart. Cambree turned and wrapped the woman up in a hug. “You look super tough to me,” she said.
Lucy squeezed her back. “Thanks.” She straightened her shoulders and Cambree let her go. “It was either this or plastic surgery. This seemed less painful.” She grinned and was back to her playful self.
Cambree appreciated the insight into the older lady, and it definitely made sense why she struggled with Britney. Cambree wondered if Britney didn’t have a sad story she wasn’t sharing. Everybody had been through hard things, right?
“And you?” Lucy stared at Cambree.
Cambree smiled at everyone in the group, anxious to get to know the trainers as well as the participants. “I’m a sixth-grade teacher and a Warrior racer. I made it into the elite category last year, but crashed and burned hard on my pursuit of number one.” She took a breath and continued, encouraged by Emmett’s friendly smile and that she hadn’t said anything too honest or embarrassing yet. “My students helped me raise the fat wad of cash to get here.” Britney’s eyebrows rose at that, and Cambree rushed on to finish. “With Emmett Hawk training me, I’m going to hit number one at the Breckenridge race, which is in my hometown. I’ll be a hometown hero!”
She punched a fist in the air, and then felt kind of stupid until Gunner whooped and started clapping. Lucy and Britney joined him, and then the trainers and Emmett did as well. The only one who didn’t cheer was Troy. He simply looked at her like she was a prime rib dinner.
When the cheering died down, Emmett said, “Good for you, Cambree. I’m excited to work with you.” The moment went sticky and slow between them as their eyes met. Was this for real? Was Emmett Hawk really staring into her eyes? Score one for Cambree.
Lucy broke the interaction with a low whistle. “I haven’t seen that much sparks and fire since the chemistry lab at Texas A&M exploded.”
“Much more fun than a fire.” Cambree blushed and looked away when everyone’s eyebrows rose.
“Gunner?” Emmett said in a gruff voice.
“You know my story, man: hoping to make the NFL so I need to rock my senior year at Florida State.”
“You’ve come to the right place. We know football.” Emmett grinned. “Jacob played for Auburn and Beau for Alabama. Don’t worry, they try to be civil to each other.”
“Roll Tide,” said the trainer near Britney. One of the other trainers said something about a war eagle.
“What about you, Troy?” asked Emmett.
“Same as Gunner,” he grunted.
“All right.” Emmett nodded around the group. “Happy to have you all here. I for one am stoked that our numbers are so small. We can personalize each of your programs, and even though a week isn’t a lot of time, it’s enough to push you to the next level as well as teach you how to push yourself and help you establish successful habits.” He gestured behind him. “Tracy?”
The pretty brunette smiled. “I specialize in fitness competitions and working with models and actresses, so Britney and I will have a lot of one-on-one time.”
Britney smiled but didn’t look thrilled. She kept staring at Emmett, but he didn’t focus on her at all.
The dark-haired Jacob stepped forward. “Like Emmett said, Beau and I—” Beau simply raised his hand. “—both played college ball, so we’ll be working closely with Gunner and Troy.”
Gunner gave them the hang-loose sign. Troy looked like he wanted to flash them a different gesture, but simply clenched his arms tighter across his broad chest.
Mark smiled. He had a California surfer look with blue eyes and longish blond hair. “And I am the expert at making the ex-husband wish he had never dumped such a beautiful lady.” He winked at Lucy.
“Oh yeah, man!” Lucy punched both fists in the air. “We’ll make him try to crawl back and then kick him square in the butt. I love you, Mark!”
Mark and everyone else laughed. Lucy was so funny that everyone could tease with her and it wouldn’t ever go to an inappropriate place—at least, Cambree hoped not.
“Well, no time like the present,” Emmett said. “Go get your workout gear on and we’ll go on a sho
rt run, then have lunch and a tour of the facility before we pair off and really get working.” His eyes gleamed, and Cambree could see he loved what he did.
As she walked away to her small cabin, she wondered if she was dreaming or if she was about to get paired off with Emmett Hawk. All the other trainers had basically claimed their trainees, but nobody had claimed her, and Emmett hadn’t claimed anyone. She clasped her palms together and prayed she’d done enough right in this world to be able to have one-on-one time with the handsomest of the famously perfect Hawk brothers.
Chapter Two
Emmett wanted to start the one-on-one training with Cambree immediately, but he worried he’d been too transparent during introductions. Lucy had called them out in front of the entire group, and he didn’t want anyone thinking he was playing favorites. Yet all of his trainers had played into his scheming perfectly, each claiming one of the other participants. Emmett wouldn’t mind doing some one-on-one with Troy or Gunner, but he wasn’t getting anywhere near Britney. He and his brothers got plenty of media exposure without having someone like Britney clinging to them. She was beautiful but not his type at all. He knew she loved to splay her body and her boyfriends all over the media. He had no desire to get caught in that trap.
His thoughts swung back around to Cambree easily, like a pendulum that wanted to settle on her beautiful face. The upside of everyone at the camp knowing he was attracted to Cambree was that maybe Britney would back off.
Cambree walked out of her cabin, and his heart pumped quicker. Now that was appealing. Her dark hair was pulled up in a ponytail that trailed down her back with riotous curls. Her smooth neck was revealed in a V-neck T-shirt, but it wasn’t low enough to show any kind of cleavage. Her toned legs were displayed perfectly by fitted black athletic shorts, but they covered her to mid-thigh and neither she nor Emmett would be uncomfortable if she bent over or squatted.
The Determined Groom: Texas Titan Romances Page 2