“Come here. Change of plans.” He sat calmly, waiting for her to give in.
Stiffening, she asked, “Are we canceling the cocktail party? Because if we are, you really should have mentioned that before I spent the last hour boiling and shelling shrimp. Or maybe the hour before that when I was making all the hors d’oeuvres. Or hey, maybe even when I was baking the desserts starting around 6am. That would have been nice.” Her hands were on her hips as her frustration mounted.
He chuckled. “No, Cammie, the cocktail party is still on. We’re changing the wedding plans.”
“Oh, that,” she sighed and walked over and collapsed in the love seat across from him while she stretched out and collected herself.
“We’re going to do an engagement party here. Well, by here, I mean at my loft. It has the best set up. And then the wedding will be a very intimate destination wedding. We’ll have you come with us to cater it. Somewhere exotic. That’s all I know. Either way, we’ll probably plan the food here as much as possible, while recognizing that it could be impossible to transport food…huh. Customs.” He leaned back while he thought for a moment. Then he beamed. “Hawaii. Or The Keys.” He rubbed his hands together as he considered the possibilities.
“Do Sam and Haley know that you have changed their wedding?” She asked seriously. “No, I mean it.”
“Yeah.” He clapped his hands together. He was torn. He felt this intimacy with her that maybe he shouldn’t because she was so quick to push him away, but he felt so…comfortable with her that he couldn’t help himself. Once again, he found himself speaking to her in confidence. “You’ve been to weddings, right?” He asked seriously.
“Yes. Sometimes…even as a guest with other people waiting on me.” She nodded and looked at him with wide serious eyes.
He scowled. “Haley lost her family in an accident a few years back. She has no one, no other family. While Sam and I have no family left, we have a huge support system in place. The big traditional wedding could be really painful. In fact, Haley’s reaction has suggested already that it might be. So, Sam and I talked and think that a nice intimate destination wedding would be perfect. And we’d still like to have you cater. What do you think?” He stared at her and met her gorgeous eyes with his own pleading look.
Frowning, Cammie nodded. He wondered why she reacted the way she did, but he didn’t have to think about it for long. Suddenly, it all just came gushing out of her. “My heart breaks for her. She’s so…sweet, so special. I hate that anything bad has ever happened to her.”
“I know,” Adam agreed. “Believe me, I know.”
Hours later when everyone was dressed and the house was ready, the food prepared and set out according to Cammie’s instructions, Sam pulled them together to talk before the rest of the guests arrived. “I’m so glad that you have all been here this weekend,” he began.
“Here he goes, trying to take credit again when I invited him.” He nudged Cammie as he smirked at Sam.
“As I was saying, before my brother so rudely interrupted…as usual…was that Haley and I have decided to have an engagement party in two weeks…and then invite you all to go with us to get married in Key West.” He studied them all for a reaction.
Cammie smiled. “Sounds lovely. I can make it super special, the wedding of your dreams. I promise.”
Haley beamed at her. “Oh, I don’t doubt that, which is why I wanted to make sure that you were there. Thank you, Cammie. I think this will be more…manageable for us with everything going on in the coming weeks…” She frowned. “Especially since we have to be in Philly in just a couple of days.” She sighed.
They hugged, like sisters should. For some reason, that warmed Adam more than anything else had all day. Seeing both of them get something that they clearly so desperately needed. It was wonderful. Then the doorbell rang. The cocktail party was about to officially begin.
Even by the most stringent standards, the cocktail party was a success. It was a comfortable evening. The food was plentiful, flavorful, and the right temperature. The cold food was cold. The hot food was hot. Cammie was the picture of experience and professionalism. Adam watched her work the room with pride. She managed to make it look like she was the hostess without breaking a sweat as the caterer. She was simply amazing. He felt a warm rush of emotion every time he looked at her. As it stood now, he could look forward to seeing her at least two more times. It wasn’t enough, but he had high hopes that she would then have a difficult time staying away. All he had to do was create a bond. Normally, the sex would have done that, but she had yet to succumb to his charms. There had to be something he was missing, something else he could try.
Then it came to him. He had to make things right with her sister. It was because he had hurt her sister that she hesitated when he wanted nothing more than to be close to her. Fix things with the mystery sister and then maybe, just maybe Cammie would come around. The only problem with that was he couldn’t ask her. He couldn’t question who this sister was. It would only plant some horrible seed. There had to be another way.
He was still lost in thought sitting by the fire when she came over and sat across from him. He glanced over at her, flushed with excitement, and completely luminous. “Thank you. The party was better than I could have hoped. How did you make out?” He asked with a smile.
“Well…I booked three parties and an intimate dinner. I would call that a success.” She smiled happily.
“An intimate dinner?” Adam questioned. “You mean, like a date.” He could feel his face growing hotter at the thought of her having a date with someone else.
“Yup,” she beamed.
His fist clenched and unclenched, which was strange, since he was not the fighting kind. No, he had always joked that he was too pretty to risk marring his face for anyone. Only, now he was reconsidering that stance. “Who?” He sputtered.
She grabbed her phone and started looking through it. “Ah, his name is Joel Markham. Do you know him well?” She was looking at him, waiting for a response.
“I know Joel. He’s the worst kind of guy. He will use you and abuse you and spit you out. You should stay away from him.” He scowled.
Cammie frowned. “But he wants to offer me an obscene amount of money to make dinner at his place so he can pop the question!” She looked bothered.
Of course, her explanation calmed him down immediately. “Proposing? Good for him.” He said enthusiastically. “I always knew that he just needed the right woman in his life to give him the guidance he needs.” He rubbed his hands together happily.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, I’m going to head out first thing in the morning.” She started to get up.
“Wait!” He yelped. “How am I getting home?”
She laughed. “Your brother is here. I have to get ready. The question popping dinner is tomorrow night. I have to prepare for it.” She shrugged and headed out of the room.
Adam was left to stare at the fire once more alone. Sure, Sam and Haley could bring him back to the city, but he wanted to go with her. He wanted an hour and a half of forced togetherness. He wanted to talk. He wanted to know when he was going to see her again.
He felt so…weak. Somehow, no matter what he did, she was running this relationship. It felt like Adam the player was constantly getting played.
Walking briskly down the hall, determined to speak to her once more, they nearly collided when she rushed from her room, too. Her phone dropped to the floor and bounced in its protective case. Without thinking, the both squatted to picked it up, fumbling hands, and while laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, bumped heads.
“Ow, you brute,” she joked while laying her hand on her forehead. “That hurt! If I get an egg because of you and my business is ruined, then what will I do?” She rubbed the spot around her hairline where their heads had met.
Reaching out, Adam tried to feel for any indication of swelling. Finding nothing he decided to proclaim his findings. “You’re fine! And if your busines
s is ruined, you can come live with me. I have a spare room.”
“I thought Kiki was in your spare room.” She smirked.
“Oh, she’s long gone. Don’t you worry. And hey…I’ll even install bunk beds to make you feel more at home.” He offered her a genuine smile.
“Wow, your spare room? Really? You spoil me.” She leaned in seductively for a moment, her lips so close they were almost touching his. “What if I wanted to stay somewhere else?” She winked.
His heart started pounding rapidly in his chest. He needed to hear her say it. “Where would you like to stay? Because you can stay…anywhere you want.” He gave her a reassuring smile.
“Great…because I could really use your kitchen.” She smiled patiently at him.
He let out a sigh. “What?”
“You saw my place. How the hell am I supposed to build a catering business with no kitchen. Could I impose? I’ll make it worth it…” She batted her eyelashes at him playfully.
In that moment he would have given her anything she wanted. ANYTHING. All she wanted was his kitchen. He sighed. This woman was absolutely exasperating. He had never sighed so much in his life. Still, though hope was quickly fading…she had offered to sweeten the deal. Dare he hope? He leaned in and pasted a smile on his face. “How do you propose to do that?” He asked.
“Well, I have a tendency to overcook. So, I’ll need you to be my official taster. And I’ll give you loads of food…” She was looking at him so seriously that he knew he had to say something.
“Well, if you have a gig tomorrow night, and you need my kitchen I think you probably need me to come home with you. He stood, looking down at her.
“Fine,” she said with a shrug. Just be ready to leave at 8am. I need to get to the market early.” With that proclamation, she stood and headed back into his old room.
A thought occurred to him. He stood and followed her into the room, catching the door before she could shut it behind her. She looked at him ready to protest or object or even question his presence, but he said simply, “This is my insurance so I know you won’t leave me. You can take top.”
He could just feel that she wanted to say something, wanted to protest, but he was standing firm. She couldn’t run everything. Yet from the way she had handled everything to date, he knew she could. Worse, he knew that whether she realized it or not, she was running him, too.
“I won’t leave you,” she muttered under her breath.
“I heard that,” he said calmly. “And while I would love to believe you, I can’t. After all, you were the one who admitted there is no trust here.” He marched over to the bathroom door to finish getting ready for bed. Before closing it behind him, he shot her one last annoyed look. Though he couldn’t say with absolute certainty, he was confident that he had just heard her say…touché.
Cammie woke him bright and early by puttering around the room, gathering her belongings, and heading into the shower. Adam needed a shower, too. If he had his way, if things were different between them, he’d be in there with her. He could almost picture it, how he’d stand behind her and kiss down the back of her long slender neck. He’d turn her to face him, nip at those perfect lobes of hers, and bury his face in that sexy hollow. By then his hands would have slid up to cup her perfect full breasts. His thumbs would be flicking her nipples and he knew just how she’d respond. By the time he entered her, she’d be all wet and hot and ready for him. Great. Now his morning wood was really wood. Soon enough, she’d see it. Think. Concentrate. Who is the ugliest girl he’d ever slept with? He smiled. There were never any ugly girls. He left before the liquor goggles could wear off. He had never suffered from the coyote ugly affliction of some of his peers. He chuckled at his own cleverness and relaxed. That helped. Then Cammie pranced out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel…in her hair.
“God dammit, woman,” he growled as he pushed past her for the shower, partially bent over.
Was he always this miserable in the mornings? She tried to recall. It didn’t seem that way. She dressed in comfy driving clothes…her black yoga pants and a long sleeved v-neck tight fitting shirt. It was going to be a long drive unless she could repair whatever damage she had managed to do already this morning.
Soon her packed bags were near the door, the bedroom was so neat it was as if they had never been there and she had laid out clothes for Adam. She was just being nice. Okay, and this time she was snooping. The corner of the list was peeking out of the drawer again, so she opened it…because the man would need socks…and clean underwear. She could hear that the shower was still running, so she felt comfortable skimming the list once more.
Damn, the man was thorough. He now had a title on the page: Chicks I’ve Done, Groped and Kissed. It was almost laughable. Once more, she realized that her sister wasn’t on the list. Sure there was the possibility that he simply couldn’t remember her name, but he had several girls there only labeled with a description like…shamrock bikini panties from the St. Patty’s day Pub Crawl and the ho ho whore from the office holiday party. Then she saw it. At the very bottom of the page, he had a new heading: Ladies I’ve Made Love With. There was only one name. Her heart was pounding against her rib cage so hard that she was convinced it was nearly visible. He had written ever so neatly…Cammie.
Below that, one last heading: Ladies I Could Love the Rest of My Life. She clapped a hand over her mouth. There was only her name once more. At first, all of the giddiness of her teenage years came rushing back to her. She had nursed a crush on him for so long. Yet he had disappointed her.
Her mind was reeling. Then it came to her. This was a test, a joke. He simply wanted to see if she was a snooper. Aha! Caught her. If she said something, he would know. If she said nothing…then maybe all would be revealed in time. She was dying to know if Cin’s absence from the list was an oversight, or just another part of that same test. She’d just wait and see what the drive home held in store for her.
There was a definite tension between them as they began the drive back to the city. Though Adam believed there was something to be said for having someone in his life that he could be comfortable with in silence, this wasn’t currently the case. Cammie was tense and he had to know if he was the cause of it. “What troubles you, doll?” He asked playfully.
“Oh, the usual…world peace, the national debt, and how to make this dinner the perfect proposal so I get loads of referral business.” She shrugged. “You are pretty quiet yourself. What’s up?”
At least she seemed more amiable now that she was getting to share. He could relax some. “I was just worried that I had somehow pissed you off. I have a way of doing that. I should have known better, though. You are all business. No room for anything else.” He shook his head and glanced out the window at the passing scenery. It was such a pretty drive in the early mornings where the rest of the world slept.
“I have to be,” she said, as if that was explanation enough. He stared at her long enough to show that he needed more and she finally broke down. “I have a ten year plan. I can’t afford to mess it up.”
“And just how far into this ten year plan are you?” He asked mirthfully.
She narrowed her eyes. “Are you laughing at me?”
He chuckled. “Maybe just a little.”
“Adam,” she began, looking at him sideways while driving, “do you even have a plan?”
He made a face. “No, actually. I like the unplanned life. I like the spontaneity. I like the freedom.” He nodded.
“And you are pretty proud of yourself. You can look back and think that this is good, this meaningless existence?” She was surprised.
“I wouldn’t call it meaningless…” he began seriously.
Suddenly she was rattling off the Robert Louis Stevenson definition of success, “A man is a success who lives well, laughs often, and loves much, who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of children, who leaves the world better than he found it, whether by a perfect poppy, an imp
roved poem, or a rescued soul.” She studied him for a minute. “So how successful are you?”
He balanced his face in his hand, “Well, when you put it that way…” He frowned. “So, the fact that I’m so rich is meaningless? Well, that sucks. I was kinda counting on that to pull me through.” He slumped in his seat.
“You’re serious.” She smirked.
“Yeah. I’m a trust fund baby and I know it.” He sang that to Gangnam Style.
“I know that has always worked for you in the past. That’s not who I am. Adam, you are funny, you are sweet, but you are a lump.” She sighed. “And I’m…not.”
“If you are going to think of me as a lump, couldn’t you consider me a lump of clay? I like to think that the right woman could mold me into something special.” He gave her a hopeful look. He really did mean it.
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