by Rita Sawyer
“Do you really think that was the best way to handle that?” At the soft sound of Georgie’s voice, she closed her eyes and wondered just how much she’d heard.
Chapter Six
Cameron hadn’t slept much, and his mood showed it. Two cups of coffee had gotten him moving, but it hadn’t stopped him from snapping at his sister when she called to check up on him. Of course, he’d apologized and explained to her that he was just having a bad day. It was true, but he just didn’t tell her it was because he spent the night fuming over Joey’s threat.
How the hell did she expect him to deal with her ultimatum? There was no way he was going to promise anything as stupid as keeping things professional. It had taken a lot of explaining from both him and Alec to get Jake to give him some time to work things out. Jake had granted him a short reprieve, but there had been conditions. Cameron had been reminded just how much he hated people telling him what he could and couldn’t do. It was one of the reasons he loved his job.
He could come and go as he pleased. Never had to answer to anyone, unless he wanted to. He did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. Cam was amazed how that had all changed in the blink of an eye. Now here he was with a cat and six kittens depending on him. There was a woman who drove him insane with her tidy perfection that he wanted to get something at least semi-serious started with. For now, he was going purely on instinct. It might not have been the wisest choice since his impulses didn’t always turn out to be the way he should have gone.
When he’d called Joey and asked her to meet him in town for breakfast, he knew his half-baked plan might fail before he even got a chance to put it in motion. Still, it was the only thing he could come up with, so he had to give it a shot. She’d been a little tentative, even surprised, at first, but finally after a little cajoling, she’d agreed to meet him.
So now here he was, sitting there waiting for her to show up so he could launch step one of however many steps it was going to take to achieve his goals. Part one of that goal was to do primarily what she dared him to do—get her in his bed. Part two was to keep her coming back as long as he could. Preferably until one or both of them admitted the truth. He had a pretty good feeling this first step was going to be the easiest since it required so little of him.
All Cameron had to do was basically be himself. Not to say that wasn’t a risk because who knew what people’s reactions to him were going to be. If he was being honest, it was her sisters he was worried about. Mildred walked over and filled his coffee mug for the third time.
“I should switch you to decaf.” She laughed as she leaned down, and then, in a soft tone only he could hear, said, “Your nervousness wouldn’t have anything to do with a particular Brazen woman who just pulled into the parking lot, would it?”
Cam just smiled at her and winked. He leaned back in his chair and waited for Joey to come in. She walked through the door and headed straight for him. The cool, collected determination was there in her eyes. The greenish-blue shirt and black slacks looked good on her but not right. Something was off. Not by a little, either. Whatever the difference was, it was something major. He suddenly realized he didn’t feel the constant urge to mess up her tidy appearance. All the facts brought him to the only logical conclusion.
She stopped in front of the table, and he lurched to his feet. “You must be Georgie.”
“I am. Joey will be here shortly. She’s having some trouble finding her keys.” He pulled out the chair, and she sat down.
“I have plenty of time to wait for her.” He took his seat across from her and waited for her to respond.
“My sister Sam is bringing her the spare set from the lodge.” He assumed the keys she dropped next to his mug were the ones in question.
“I’m not sure why we’re meeting like this.” He knew whatever she had in mind probably wasn’t going to be pleasant. “But it’s nice to meet you.”
“We’ll see about that. I want to know what you think you’re doing with my sister.” Her demand would have seemed reasonable and easily answered a few days ago, but now there was no way he could tell her what he was up to.
“She’s helping get my accounts in order, if that’s what you mean.” He knew it wasn’t.
“That’s what she says, too.” Georgie gave him a smile that made him think she knew they were both lying.
“At least we agree on something.” He shrugged, pretending Joey’s lack of interest wasn’t a strike to his ego.
Her sudden boisterous laughter had people turning and staring. “You have something else in common.”
“What’s that?” Cameron would take anything he could get at this point.
She turned and wiggled her fingers at a few people before answering him. “Neither of you can lie worth a damn.”
Great. Obviously, she wasn’t about to let him off the hook. He wondered if she’d called Joey on it, too. Would she be here confronting him if she had? Twins were supposed to have some kind of special bond, so maybe there’d been no need to.
“She was really pissed about Alec calling Jake.” Her voice curbed his distraction and brought his mind back to the matter at hand.
“I didn’t mean to make her mad.” Shit, the last thing he wanted to do was upset her any more than she already was.
“Yeah, it was just a lucky side effect.” He grimaced, and she chuckled. “I also know that she called you and, somehow, you and Alec managed to get Jake to back off.”
“Alec made a call, but from the sound of Joey’s voice this morning, she still wasn’t happy.”
“Maybe not with you, but we were all happy this morning. It seems our sister Frankie may be getting married.” If she was telling the truth about things working out, then Alec had been right.
He shouldn’t be surprised. The son of a bitch usually was. “So everything worked out okay with the guy she was seeing?”
“Yeah. Now the question is will everything work out okay with you?” She was smiling, but there was something about the way she looked at him unnerved him.
“I’m not sure I know what you mean.” The second the words were out of his mouth he realized it might have been foolish to admit it.
“If you don’t now, you will soon. Anyway, I think my job here is done.”
“What was your job?” Somewhere deep down he knew he needed to know.
“I got a few calls this morning from some friends of ours hinting that Joey might have a new guy. Of course, there was a couple that straight out asked who the hell you were. So, my job as a loving sister was to find out who you were.” Georgie and Joey may be identical, but Georgie’s smile didn’t pack the punch.
“What did you learn about me in the past ten minutes?” This he had to hear.
“Nothing new.” He opened his mouth to ask what she meant by that, but she spoke before he could get anything out. “I should probably tell you I have access to all her files. I knew every detail Joey has on you before I walked out the door this morning.”
“So, you knew, yet you came anyway.” That surprised him, but maybe she needed the face to face contact to make a better judgment.
“For purely selfish motives,” she said flashing him a quick smile.
“Care to tell me what they are?”
“I wanted to meet the man who managed to get Joey so riled up.” She shrugged her shoulders as if it was no big deal, which he didn’t believe for a second. “Besides, I figured since you asked Joey to meet you in a very public place you were ready for some exposure.”
She looked around the room and smiled. Oh, fuck! How the hell had he missed it? This could turn out to be bad or really, really good. She had no clue what he was planning, but hopefully her actions would only strengthen his position.
“I take it our meeting is going to have people talking?” If so, it most likely meant Alec would be back on his case.
“Probably.” She did that little shrug thing with her shoulders again. “But it’ll just have people wondering if you really are just a cli
ent like Joey claims.”
“It doesn’t matter what people think. I’m going to do whatever I have to do to stay her client.” Telling her he was hoping it would turn into more didn’t seem like a prudent thing to do.
“Good. Let me know if I can help in any way.” She got to her feet, and he followed.
“It was nice to meet you after all.” He offered her his hand, but she ignored it and stepped into his personal space and kissed his cheek.
“That was to really make them wonder.” She laughed as she walked away.
Cameron stood there until she was gone. Not just out the door, but gone out of his sight completely. He’d just sat back down and started replaying their conversation when Joey walked in. Her black slacks and pristine white shirt were very similar to her sister’s. She wore her hair the same way, in a ponytail high on her head. They truly were identical, but something about them was so different.
Cam got to his feet as she reached the table. “Hi.”
“Good morning, Mr. Elwood.” She didn’t smile as she sat in the chair he held out for her.
As he took his seat, he reached out and covered her hand. “Joey, can we call a truce, please.”
She didn’t pull away, but she didn’t say anything, either. He held on until her gaze met his. Her green eyes glistened, and he wondered if she was going to burst into tears. Cameron felt a surge of unexpected emotions. Fear, lust, and anger were present, but above all of them was the urge to protect her. From what, though? The only thing he knew that could cause her trouble was him. The inclination to turn away roiled within him. He couldn’t help but notice how quiet the place had gotten since she walked in.
“Joey, I don’t want to cause trouble for you.” He kept his voice low hoping no one else would hear.
“It’s a bit late for that.” Her laugh sounded empty to him.
“I know, but I’d like to make it up to you.” He’d come up with a few ideas in the wee hours of the morning that might get him back on her good side.
“Believe me, you’ll be compensating me very well when this is over.” She had no idea how right she was.
Cameron had managed to talk his publisher into paying her a bonus. After all, they recommend the assistant he hired, so they should foot the bill. They must have agreed because he hadn’t had to push them that hard.
“I have no doubt about that.” He feigned an exaggerated grimace, and this time the laughter he coaxed out of her seemed lighter.
Mildred must have decided they had enough time alone because she chose that moment then to appear at the table. “Morning, Josephine. You hungry, or did Sam make you eat before you left the house?”
“Actually, she was still sleeping, and Trent refused to let me wake her up on her morning off.” Joey quickly slid her hand out from under his and grabbed the menu.
“You poor baby.” Mildred teased and pulled her order pad from her apron pocket.
“Nah, it’s all good.” Joey reached into her pocket pulled out a key ring and jiggled it in the air. “I got the keys to his brand new SUV in the deal.”
“Oh, your sister was here. She dropped these off.” Cameron slid her keys across the table.
“So, what’ll it be?” Mildred came to his rescue, distracting Joey before she could ask him any questions.
* * * *
Joey couldn’t get rid of the feeling that this was all some kind of elaborate setup, yet she was enjoying herself. She’d felt awkward walking in the door. She didn’t know how to deal with him, but he’d done what she asked him to, so she couldn’t refuse to meet with him until she figured it out.
Even though she had threatened to quit, she really hadn’t expected him or Alec to be able to get Jake off his case. She had planned on calling him last night and letting him off the hook after she helped her sisters handle Frankie’s double-dealing boyfriend, but then things had taken another drastic change in direction.
It turned out Hal had been deceitful, but not in the way any of them thought. His lies had been more like secrets, and not the type that could have hurt anyone. Frankie had forgiven him and the whole bunch of them had spent the night getting to know the real Hal and his family. Cameron had fleetingly crossed her mind a few times, but each time, instead of being angry, she wished he was there. She wasn’t about to tell him that, though.
Instead, she latched on to the first thing she could. “I’m sure delivering my keys was just an excuse for Georgie to meet you.”
“She told me everything worked out with your sister last night.” He lifted his cup and took a sip of his coffee.
Joey told him all about it, pausing briefly when Mildred brought them their breakfasts. The second she walked away, Joey lurched back into her story. Cam made appropriate noises and asked plenty of questions.
She felt so comfortable sitting there talking, almost like she would with one of her friends. She even found herself inquiring about his trip. He told her his meetings had been so boring he’d almost fallen asleep, but he did bring back some more of the documents she’d requested. Then he went on to tell her that he’d stopped by to visit his thirteen- and fourteen-year-old nieces, rescuing them from a punishment worse than death. Having once been a teenage girl, she took a wild guess that the punishment had been cleaning their rooms. He seemed genuinely shocked that she guessed it so easily.
She told him that she could remember the thousands of times her father had sworn he was going to put everything she and Georgie owned in trash bags and take it to the dump if they didn’t clean it up. Again, he switched the conversation back to her, asking questions that just a week ago she would have avoided answering. This time, though, the answers flowed willingly from her lips.
Soon, their plates were empty and they were arguing over who was going to pay the bill. Unlike some guys she had dated, he refused to let her pay. Even though she told him she could write it off as a business expense, he countered he could, too. As they stood at the counter waiting for Mildred or one of the teenyboppers staring at Cameron to ring them out, she realized how much fun she’d had. Of course, it was then she noticed the covert looks the other diners were giving them.
Had they all thought this was some kind of date? It wasn’t. It was strictly business. Okay, so they’d talked about personal stuff, but theirs was a business relationship, and she needed to keep it that way. Somewhere along the line, she came to the realization that it didn’t mean they couldn’t at least be friendly, but she’d made a huge mistake by meeting him in public. Word was going to get to her sisters within the hour. They still might buy that he’s just a client, but that wasn’t going to stop them from finding out every little detail about him that they could dig up.
Sooner or later, he was going to have to meet her sisters in person. She had doubts that they were going to love putting him on the spot. She figured Georgie had decided as her twin, she had the right to go first, and without telling her. Cam didn’t seem too freaked out, so her inquiries couldn’t have been too harsh. But that wasn’t going to last. Maybe after Sam and Jessie got their hands on him, he’d rethink his intentions about getting involved any deeper with her. Not that it mattered, because she wasn’t going to let it happen.
“You can get the next one,” Cam offered, breaking into her thoughts as Mildred took his money.
“Who says they’ll be a next time,” she taunted as she headed for the door.
Cameron hot on her heels reached around her and yanked the door open. “I can hope, can’t I?”
Joey’s shoulder brushed his chest as she walked past. The slight friction the touch caused was enough to make her step away. Cameron’s smothered chuckle hinted that he knew why. Neither of them spoke as he walked her to her brother-in-law’s SUV. Joey knew his next comment was either going to piss her off or make her laugh. She didn’t think he did it to her on purpose. It seemed to be part of his nature. Being the only person other than Alec he was spending time with just made her a lucky recipient of his witty and witless comments. They
stopped next to the shiny blue car, and she pressed the button on the key ring. The car’s headlights blinked, and it set off a few bleep noises.
Cameron didn’t stop her when she opened the door. He just said, “Hey, instead of you coming out to the cabin tomorrow, can I meet you at your office with the documents I brought back?”
His request took her by surprise. “Umm… I guess that’ll be fine.”
“Great.” He opened the door for her, and she moved to get in. “I won’t be able to stay long.”
“Why?” The question was out of her mouth before she even thought about it.
He smiled, and she thought she even saw a blush coat his cheeks. “I made an appointment for Mrs. Whiskers and her babies with the vet.”
“Have you decided what you’re going to do with them once you’re ready to leave?” She hoped he had something in mind.
He nodded. “My nieces are each coming to pick out a kitten when they’re old enough. Mrs. Whiskers and the rest are welcome to stay as long as they want since I don’t plan on leaving for quite a while.”
“What about your work?” She hoped he didn’t hear the distinct note of panic in her voice.
“I’ve been thinking about going in a different direction. It’s one of the things I want to go over with you.” The shrug of his shoulders should have meant it was no big deal, but the tone of his voice proved otherwise.
“Why me?” Deep down, she didn’t want to be responsible for his future, or maybe she was just afraid.
“Because you’re my financial guru, and I want to make sure this is a sound business decision.” His reason was sound, and she was glad he wasn’t just jumping into whatever he was considering doing.
“Fine. Why don’t you drop off the folders in the morning, and I’ll squeeze in an hour later in the afternoon to discuss it.” She slipped into the car, almost sighing at how comfortable the cushy leather seat felt.