by Rita Sawyer
“I’m glad you like it.” He chuckled and spun his fork in his spaghetti.
“It’s great. Where’d you get it?” Before he could tell her he made it himself, she said, “Sam’s going to flip now that someone’s going to give her some competition. How far did you have to drive?”
“Actually, I made it myself.” She held her fork inches from her mouth and stared at him.
He watched as her wide eyes narrowed. “You’re serious?”
“As a heart attack. We have something in common, you know?”
“What’s that?” She asked taking another huge bite of her pasta.
“We both have sisters that are chefs.” He bet there was a lot more, too. “I’m sure Sam’s made sure each of you can cook.”
“More or less.” She laughed and shrugged her shoulders. “Sam likes to be control in the kitchen since Jessie is everywhere else.”
Oh, that one statement told him more about her than anything she’d said since the day he met her. It wasn’t just what she said, but the way she said it. Control was a big thing in her family. If she thought it was just Jessie and Sam who liked to be in charge, she needed to get to know herself a little better. Being in command of her office and all her clients gave her the same sense of power her sisters probably felt when running the family and kitchen.
“Is there any more? I’d like to bring some home for Sam.”
“Sure. I’ll make her up a little care package,” he offered, glad she liked it enough to want to share.
“You sure you don’t mind, because Sam’ll be pestering you for the recipe.”
“I think I already proved I can handle your sisters.” She gave him look he couldn’t read.
“They took it easy on you.” Her voice was flat and serious, not a hint of teasing to be heard.
“Are you sure?”
She nodded and said, “If you don’t believe me, ask Victor or Trent about the first time they were invited to a family meal.”
“But Trent is Victor’s brother, and Victor is married to Jessie. Why would your sisters give Trent a hard time?” It didn’t make sense to him.
“We’d just found out Victor was married to Jessie, and we needed to see just how serious Trent was about Sam.” Joey explained.
Hopefully, he’d get the whole story some other time.
“I can understand. My sisters and nieces will probably fillet and grill any woman I bring home.” She’d warned him, so he figured it was only fair to return the gesture.
“Will? So I take it you don’t bring many women home to meet the family?” Now, there was the teasingly sarcastic tone he was becoming so used to.
“One in high school and one in college.” It wasn’t that he hadn’t had women since that, but he hadn’t met one had worth introducing to his mother. Not until Joey, that is.
“So you’re the only boy, huh?” She lifted her glass and took a sniff of the wine before taking a sip.
“I’m the baby, too.” He’d used that fact a few times to dig himself out and get them into trouble.
“Lord above, your sisters must have hated you.” She laughed as she shook her head.
“There were times when I feared for my life. They enjoyed the torture they put me through, but mostly they tolerated me.”
“Tortured?” She sounded a little too happy for his taste.
“They had this thing about trying new makeup colors and styles out on me before wearing them themselves.”
She laughed so hard her whole body shook with the force of it. For years, the threat of his sisters telling anyone about them doing that to him had kept him at their beck and call. Once he learned that being a male—the kind who wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty—gave him more power, the tables had turned. His sisters instantly became nicer to him, yet they were far from the docile, sweet girls everyone else thought them to be. Still, they’d grown closer over the years. And even though he was the youngest by two and a half years, he’d quickly taken on the role of protector once they started bringing guys home.
“How old are your sisters?”
“Lara is thirty, and Kirsten is thirty-one. They’re so close in age and looks, people often thought they were twins growing up. I’m sure there were times they loved it, but more often than not, I remember them hating it.”
Joey nodded and a slight smile curved her lips. “I can sympathize. There were times when we were little that Georgie and I pretended the other wasn’t there. It never lasted more than a few hours, though, because we couldn’t live without each other.”
“Do you think you could now?” Her head snapped up, her gaze locking with his. “What I meant was what if one of you was offered an amazing job overseas or something?”
“Just because we wouldn’t be living together doesn’t mean we’d be living without each other. I do see your point, though. I guess we’d discuss it and maybe the other would look for a job there, as well.”
“All right, here’s another scenario. What if one of you fell in love? Say you decided to get married and have a dozen babies?”
“Any man who marries one of us better plan on the other being around a lot, otherwise, he can forget it. As for the babies, which wouldn’t quite be a dozen, it would be like they had an extra mom around all the time.”
“So, how many babies do you plan on having?” Oh yeah, that was slick, he thought, until she laughed at him.
“I don’t know. How many do you plan on having, Cameron?” The exaggerated batting of her eyes and the way she turned the tables so quickly told him she was fully aware he was digging for more information.
Cameron decided since she opened the door he was more than willing to march right in. “I’d like a couple. Maybe even four.”
“Good, sound number.” He wasn’t sure it was the answer he wanted.
Maybe somewhere in the recesses of his mind he’d been trying to scare her. A lot of women would have considered four kids a lot. Considering she came from a big family, he should have probably gone with a much bigger number for it to even make her nervous.
“I’ve been thinking about it more and more lately.” He noticed the way her knuckles whitened as she tightened her grip on the fork as she spun it around.
Joey could try to hide the way she felt from him, but if he was vigilant he could catch the small signs that gave her away. He knew he probably gave off his own signals she was catching. Good or bad, he knew plenty of couples who had a silent way of communicating. A look, or maybe the way they moved, could tell the other person a lot, so he figured they were ahead of the curve in that respect.
“Why?” she asked, breaking into his private thoughts.
“I’m not getting any younger, and I’m ready to settle down.”
“Really? No more roaming the country, taking pictures of whatever strikes you?”
“No more living out of a backpack,” he said, but she didn’t look convinced. “I told you I had something I wanted to talk to you about. I’ve been offered a teaching position at a university.”
“Which university? Here?”
“Yes, here.” He told himself it was only right that she be shocked.
“And you’re considering it?” She asked staring him.
“No,” He shook his head. “I’m done considering it.” He just hadn’t told anyone yet.
“And?” He was glad she didn’t hide her interest in his decision.
“Well, it depends on you.”
“Me?” He almost laughed at the panic he heard in her tone.
He could have drawn it out and let her think he meant personally, but he didn’t want to send her running. “Yes. See, I need you to break it down and tell me how this is going to affect me tax-wise.”
“Do you have some kind of written offer?” He nodded, and she continued, “I’ll need to look everything thing over. We should get started.”
She got to her feet and carried her empty plate to the sink. The instant change that came over her was scary. Cameron hadn’t me
ant to bring it up yet, and now he was kicking himself. The smiles and laughter vanished, and in their place was a look of deep thought. Any chance he had at seduction was gone. He’d ruined the moment, and there was no getting it back.
As she walked into the office, obviously expecting him to follow, he thought about the chocolate and strawberry trifle he made for dessert. It really sucked that it was going to go to waste. It could hold a day, but after that, it lost its punch. He wasn’t about to let that happen. Joey may not get the full impact of him delivering it to the table and serving them, but she was going to at least taste it.
“I’ll be right there,” he called out.
Cameron made quick work storing what was left of their dinner. Then he grabbed the two glass bowls he’d bought in town and spooned a huge helping of the trifle into each one. He squirted them with whipped cream and topped them with a slice of fresh strawberry. If he was lucky, this may swing her attention back to him, but he doubted it. So much for suggesting they eat these in bed.
Chapter Ten
Joey had a plan, and this wasn’t part of it. With some prodding, she had finally decided to give herself permission to enjoy Cameron’s attention. When she walked in and found him serving them dinner, she almost jumped him right then, but her manners and something a little deeper had stopped her. Now this bomb he dropped made her think it was a good thing she hadn’t. Yet.
The old adage never mix business with pleasure was already broken, so she was going to go with her own rule: make sure business was done before indulging in pleasure. If Cameron ever got his sexy ass in there, they could whip through what she had already done. Then they could talk about his teaching offer from the college, which she’d needed to spend some time really going over. Hopefully, after that she’d have worked up enough nerve to tell him she wanted him. If he still wanted her then, they had a couple of things to discuss before she ravaged him.
Of course, the ravaging would only come into play if he understood and agreed to her stipulations. He may even have a few of his own if he really planned on taking this job offer. After all, it wouldn’t be good for parents or students to think their professor was promiscuous. Then again, he was a guy, so most people probably wouldn’t think twice. Still, she wanted it known while they were together, they were only seeing each other. And since most of the people in town were already talking like they were a couple, she may as well let them believe it for now.
It wasn’t like anyone was going to believe her when she told them they weren’t. She knew the harder she denied it, the more people would think it was true. Even her sisters would start thinking something was going on, if they didn’t already. So the best thing to do was get the rules, which she’d spent the better part of her day making up, straight right from the start. In fact she’d been so distracted she almost missed two very important calls. Another reason why they, okay, she, needed very clear boundaries.
If neither of them crossed the lines, then neither of them would be any worse off when this dangerous game they were playing was finished. She wasn’t out to make him suffer because it would only put her through the same torture. Since she wasn’t a masochist, she wasn’t going to hold back any more, or longer, than utterly necessary.
Joey turned her laptop on and turned to pull the files she’d been working on out of her bag.
She heard Cameron clear his throat behind her. “Are you ready to get down to business?”
“Not yet.” She hadn’t been expecting that to be his answer, and it pissed her off.
She spun around in her chair ready to blast him, only to find him stand there holding a bowl in each hand. “I don’t know about you, but I want to enjoy my dessert before we get too buried in work to enjoy it.”
Joey looked at the chocolate and strawberry concoction, and her mouth actually watered.
“If you’re not sure, I could go eat in the kitchen and let you get started without me.” Cameron extended his arm, holding the bowl in front of her for a few seconds before pulling it away.
He turned to go, and with the speed of a hungry cheetah, she lurched to her feet and grabbed his arm. “Teasing a woman with chocolate can cause bodily injury.”
“I wasn’t teasing. I was offering.” She took the dish from him and walked back to her chair. “You were the one who wanted to get right to work.”
She shrugged her shoulders as she slipped back into her chair. “I guess work can wait a few more minutes.”
“Or work can wait until tomorrow, and we could take the night off.” Cameron followed his quick suggestion with a wink.
Joey didn’t respond right away. She took a few bites of the chocolaty goodness and let him sit there and wonder if she’d take him up on his offer. He probably figured she wouldn’t, but she’d been fighting this long enough. The time had come for her to charge and move things in the direction she wanted them to go.
“You know, sometimes I think you really don’t want to get this completed.” She knew he did, but there were times it seemed as if he was dragging his heels.
“I do. I just want to spend some time with you, too.” At least he didn’t deny it.
He probably would have choked or fallen off his chair if she admitted she wanted to spend time with him, too. Switching tactics so quickly would make her think someone was playing with her, and that wasn’t what she wanted. So slowly dropping hints and laying down the rules seemed the right way to go. It was a good thing that her sisters never believed that Cameron was just a client. This also posed a few problems for him.
Her sisters were bound to launch a full-scale investigation into his life. They wouldn’t stop until they were sure they knew every little detail about him, especially after the huge misunderstanding that just happened between Frankie and Hal. Her only hope was Georgie. She may agree to be the buffer she needed between Cameron and her other sisters. Of course, that wouldn’t help when it came to her brothers-in-law or Jake. It might be a really good idea to let Cameron know exactly what he was getting into if he did let things between them progress.
“We spend plenty of time together. If we spend any more time together, my family is going to get the impression we’ve moved on from a professional relationship to something more personal.” Just because they had didn’t mean everyone had to know it.
Cameron put his dish on the table with a hard clunk. “Are you saying what we did, right here on this very floor, wasn’t personal?”
“No. It was intensely personal.” She smiled and licked then sucked the chocolate sauce off her spoon watching his eyes widen as she did it. “I’m just saying they’re not going to let it go unnoticed.”
“I thought I passed their inspection the other day?”
“Oh, for a client you managed incredibly well,” She gave a little shrug of her shoulders, “but as a”
“Lover,” he said, filling the void before she could.
“Okay.” she looked at him from under her lashes and smiled. “As my lover, they’re going to want more than surface material. They are going to want to know every intimate detail of your life.”
“So if I have any secrets, it’d be smart to lay them on the table now. Is that what you’re saying?”
“Cameron, if you’re hiding anything it’s your business. I’m just telling you how things work in my family.”
“I had a very impromptu meeting with Jake Gurion today, so I think I have a really good idea how your family works.”
“Jake’s like family, but it’s not official.” They all knew it would be someday unless something drastic happened.
“I take it your little sister would like to change that?” He must have seen them together to get that impression.
“It’s just a matter of time. We all see it, but Jake’s still fighting it. The age thing is worrying him.”
“He doesn’t look that much older.” Cam figured him to be around his age, which was pretty young to be running a police department. “Is it really that big of a difference?”
“Only in his eyes. So this meeting…What did Jake want?”
“He had a few questions about my background.”
“I’m sure he passed on a few warnings as well.” She laughed when he nodded.
“He did, but I’m wondering now if they weren’t just meant as friendly advice.”
“It’s possible.” She pointed her spoon at him and waving it as she spoke. “But I’m sure there would be consequences if you ignored him.”
“Then I guess you and I need to have a talk.”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
“Really?” The tilt of his head and the way his eyes narrowed ever so slightly made her want to laugh.
“Yes.” She nodded as she put her now empty bowl on the table next to his. “Since we’ve already proved we’re not going to keep things professional, I think there are a few things we need to agree on.”
“I think you may want to hear what I have to say before we discuss this.”
Whatever he had to say wasn’t going to make her change her mind. Joey knew it was important to let him know that before he tried to feed her any bull.
“Actually, I think you should hear what I have to say because it might make what you’re about to say irrelevant.”
He shook his head but said, “Okay, you go first.”
Joey took a deep breath, hoping this didn’t come out sounding too cold or harsh. “If we decide to go forward, then I need to make sure we follow a few rules.”
“Rules?” His eyebrows rose a little with his question.
“Yeah, rules. I have a business to run, and we’re making some huge changes up at the lodge. I just can’t let my personal life get in the way.” She hoped that was a nice lead into what she had to say.
“I see. Go on.” He didn’t sound happy, but at least he was still listening.
“During working hours, say seven in the morning until six in the evening I need to stay focused. So do you. So everything stays strictly business. I propose we keep our distance if possible. No phone calls or any other sappy nonsense.” That didn’t sound too controlling to her.
He glanced down, and she waited for him to say she was being unreasonable. “Is there more?”