The Stubborn Suitor: Book 1 (The Stubborn Suitor #1)

by Alexa Wilder

  She wondered for a moment whether or not she would even consider walking around a strange mansion in the middle of the night barely dressed if she was completely sober. Probably not, she decided, but headed down the stairs anyway.

  She chugged an entire bottle of water while standing in front of the fridge, than grabbed a second bottle to take back up to her room. If she didn’t end up drinking it, Maggie probably would.

  Cami was just turning to go, when she came face-to-face with Drew, who was just entering the kitchen. They stood silently for a moment, eyes hungrily roving over each other’s body.

  Drew looked completely rumpled and unkempt—it was the sexiest that Cami had ever seen him. He was still wearing his clothes from the previous evening, though his shirt was untucked and partially unbuttoned, with the sleeves rolled up past the elbow. And his tie seemed to have had disappeared. His dark hair was sticking out in every direction, as if he’d been running his hands through it.

  Or someone else had been running her hands through it. The picture of Drew and Analise frolicking on the beach—just like Cami and Drew had the other night—flickered through her mind.

  “Excuse me,” Cami said angrily, trying to push past Drew. But he was a solid form against her, all toned hard muscle, refusing to let her through.

  “Cami,” he whispered, pushing further into her. “It’s just…a really bad time.” His breath hitched as his chest pressed against her breasts—which were only covered by a slim slip of silk. “It’s a bad time for me to meet a girl I really like.”

  “I’m sorry to hear you and Analise are having problems,” she snarled, trying her best to move around him towards the door.

  “Fuck Analise,” she heard him whisper under his breath.

  And then he was all over her. His hot mouth claimed hers, kissing and licking at her lips until she opened for him. His hands wound down her body until they reached the perky flesh of her ass. After squeezing tightly, he used his grip to pull her up as if she weighed nothing, closer to his mouth. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his waist and allowed him to press her against the wall.

  His tongue continued to dominate her mouth as he ground his hardening length against her crotch. Cami couldn’t help but press back, while all of her common sense washed away by the surge of adrenalin and want.

  Once Cami was securely pressed against the wall, Drew released her ass and allowed his hands to explore her body, moving up until they were cupping and squeezing the ample flesh of her soft breasts. She moaned and pressed into his touch, relishing the way his thumbs made delicious circles over her swollen, aching nipples.

  Drew’s mouth moved from her lips, trailing kisses down her neck and cleavage. He licked at the bead of sweat clinging between her breasts before moving further down to mouth at her nipples through the thin silk of her camisole.

  Cami was going crazy. She wanted nothing more than to reach down and release his cock, so that he could fuck her right there in the middle of the kitchen, pressed against the wall.

  It was that crazy thought that finally snapped Cami out of her alcohol and hormone induced craze.

  “What am I doing?” she asked herself, pushing against Drew’s chest until he backed up and allowed her to slide down his body until her feet touched the floor. She quickly maneuvered past him and ran towards the stairs.

  “Cami, wait,” Drew called after her, but Cami didn’t stop until she was back in her and Maggie’s bedroom, the door safely locked behind her.

  Once there, with Maggie still sleeping soundly on the bed next to her, Cami finally allowed herself to take a shaky breath. Her legs were suddenly wobbly, and she began to slide down until she was sitting on the floor, with her back against the wall. She drew her knees up and pressed her face against them.

  “What am I doing?” she asked herself again.

  The man was obviously crazy. He was hot and cold—he didn’t know his own mind. He had another woman—possibly his girlfriend—hanging off him half the time. Then he would look at her in a way that made her body catch on fire, and the next thing she knew they’d be grinding together like horny teenagers.

  She had more self-respect than that. She deserved a man who would value her. Cami’s mind wondered back to the scene between Drew and his sister earlier that day. He’d told her almost that exact same thing. He’d seemed so sweet and caring at the time—a good older brother.

  God, she wanted that Drew. Why couldn’t she have that Drew?

  “Because the man is crazy,” she said aloud. “Maybe he has a multiple-personality disorder.”

  “What?” Maggie asked, suddenly sitting up in bed and glaring at Cami. Her hair was sticking up in every direction again and there was dried drool in the corner of her mouth.

  “You’re going to make some man very happy one day,” Cami quipped playfully.

  “What?” Maggie asked again, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

  “Nothing. Sorry. Go back to sleep,” Cami said soothingly.

  “Why are you on the floor?” Maggie asked.

  “No reason. Just go back to sleep.”

  Maggie continued to stare at her questioningly for a moment, then zoned out. Falling back against the comforter, she immediately fell back to sleep—apparent by the gentle snores reverberating though the room.

  Cami remained seated on the floor for a long time, deep in thought. With everything she was going through with her ex and Madison, the last thing she needed was some stupid guy sending her mixed signals.

  But, try as she might, she just couldn’t get Drew out of her head.

  11

  CAMI

  Cami was physically and emotionally exhausted the following morning as she and Maggie climbed into the back of a town car for the long ride home. Despite her best effort the night before, Cami was much more hung over than she was hoping to be.

  Cami didn’t actually drink much on a regular basis—just a glass of wine here or a cocktail there. She reckoned that she’d drank more this weekend than she had the entire year prior. And she was paying for it today.

  On top of the physical repercussions, Cami was also feeling disgusted with herself, as well as Drew. She couldn’t believe she’d let him make out with her again last night. She felt used, though she wasn’t even sure why.

  Not surprisingly, Maggie was even more hung over than Cami and was in absolutely no mood to talk on the ride home. The women sat in silence, faces pressed against opposite windows as the car slowly made its way back to the city.

  Cami arrived home by early afternoon and wasn’t scheduled to pick of Madison until later in the evening. She knew better than to show up early—not with the way Ken had been acting. Instead, she took a long, hot bath, followed by a nap.

  She was still not back to her normal self by the time she arrived at Ken’s door at seven sharp, but the beautiful face of her smiling baby girl made everything better.

  The sight of Natalie carrying Madison out of the house was a little upsetting, but Cami quickly pushed that thought aside to take her daughter into her arms.

  “Mom!” Madison squealed in delight.

  Cami felt like she could squeal with joy as well, though she refrained from it in front of her ex and his fiancé.

  Ken was acting uncharacteristically nice. He even smiled as he handed Cami Madison’s diaper bag.

  “See you this week,” he said as she walked towards the car.

  She only nodded coldly. Like she needed to be reminded that she would soon have to fight for custody of her daughter.

  Madison had already eaten dinner at Ken’s house, so Cami simply gave her a bath before tucking her into bed next to her. She read a few goodnight stories as her daughter clung to her more tightly than usual. She wondered if Ken had said something to her about spending more time with them, or if she was simply picking up on Cami’s emotions.

  Either way, Madison fell asleep with her face pressed against her mother’s chest, Cami gently stroking her soft little cur
ls. Cami didn’t even consider getting up to put her daughter to bed in her own room, opting instead to drift off to sleep with the little angel in her arms.

  By the following morning, the little angel had turned into a little monster.

  “I don’t want to go to Nana’s house,” Madison sobbed, kicking and fighting as Cami tried to buckle her into her car seat.

  It broke Cami’s heart knowing that her daughter was just as exhausted as she was and wanted nothing more than to spend the day at home with her mommy.

  But Madison lacked the vocabulary to understand that while she’d been away from Mommy all weekend, mommy hadn’t actually been at work, and she was required to go in today. This was one of the reasons why she hated any rotation in which her days off fell on the weekend. Most nurses loved those rotations, but to Cami, they simply meant she didn’t get to spend her days off with her daughter every other week.

  Madison cried all the way to Cami’s mother’s house and was still sobbing when Cami brought her inside.

  “What’s wrong?” her mom asked as she took the little girl into her arms and rocked her soothingly.

  “She didn’t want to come today,” Cami admitted, though she knew her mother would give her a hard time.

  “Then don’t go to work,” she replied. “Take the day off to spend with your daughter.”

  “You know I can’t, Mom.”

  “Yes, you can. Call in sick.”

  “I can’t, Mom. I can’t afford it. I only have four shifts a week. I can’t give one up.”

  “Yes you can, Camilla,” her mother chided, though she was still whispering soothingly against Madison’s ear between chastisements to Cami.

  One thing Cami really could commend her mother for was how great she was with Madison. It was the reason why she continued to use her mother as a babysitter, despite her criticisms—that and the fact that she watched Madison for free, of course.

  “I really can’t. Not right now,” Cami replied.

  Her mother must have heard the seriousness in her voice, because she looked up from where she was soothing Madison to sleep in order to meet Cami’s eyes.

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “Ken is suing for more custody. He’s engaged and he thinks that his new stay-at-home wife would be a better option for Madison than me.”

  Cami held her breath, half expecting her mother to side with Ken. Her mom had just been on her case because she worked too much and she’d always valued Ken’s money.

  “That rat bastard,” her mother growled, surprising Cami. Madison stirred a little, but her mom continued to rock her as she spoke to Cami. “He seriously thinks some bimbo is a better caregiver for Madison than her own mother and grandmother?”

  “He’s crazy, Mom,” Madison replied. Sinking down on the sofa beside her.

  “Exactly. He’s crazy. You have nothing to worry about.”

  “But I do. Ken has money and lawyers and connections. I can barely afford the lawyer I used during the divorce. He’s going to screw me now just like he screwed me then.”

  Tears began to slide down Cami’s face as she finally admitted that there was a chance she could lose the case—a chance that she could lose primary custody of her daughter.

  “Oh, honey,” her mom singsonged, leaning forward to wrap the arm around Cami. “Don’t worry, kiddo. We’ll figure something out. We’ll make sure we don’t lose Madison.”

  After the surprisingly cathartic conversation with her mother, Cami’s day improved. The emergency room was slow, but not slow enough to make the day drag. There were no fatalities, and everything ran along smoothly.

  On her first break, she found that she had a voice mail from her lawyer, letting her know that he had called Ken’s attorney and scheduled a preliminary meeting for Friday. She called him back and they discussed what Cami should expect from the meeting. They were just going to go over the different custody options, the lawyer explained. No changes were actually going to be made during the meeting, he assured her. He seemed confident, so Cami felt better.

  On Tuesday, Maggie was scheduled for the same shift as Cami, which always made the day go by faster. They even made plans to take their lunch break at the same time.

  “So…” Maggie began over a bowl or beef stir-fry in the hospital cafeteria. “Have you heard from Drew?”

  Cami’s mouth fell open mid-bite and her broccoli fell from her fork onto the table. How had Maggie known about Drew? She’d never mentioned anything to her. And why would she think that Drew would call her?

  “Why would you think I’d hear from Drew?” Cami asked, trying to sound casual. From the smirk on Maggie’s face, she could tell that she’d failed.

  “I don’t know,” Maggie said mischievously. “It seemed like the two of you really hit if off.”

  “What makes you think that?” Cami demanded, her voice actually getting a little loud.

  She didn’t mean to be so defensive, but she’d spent the last two days trying to forget about Drew Sloane and she didn’t understand why Maggie was suddenly bringing him up.

  Maggie looked away, an odd look on her face. She bit her lip as if she was contemplating saying something. Unless Cami was mistaken—which she never was when it came to her best friend—Maggie almost looked guilty.

  “What?” Cami asked, though she wasn’t sure if she even wanted to know the answer at this point.

  “Don’t be mad, okay?” Maggie said after a moment. “I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to be mad.”

  “I can’t promise that,” Cami replied, growing more worried by the minute. “There’s a large chance that whatever you’re about to say actually will make me mad, and then I’ll be a liar.”

  “Fine,” Maggie said, letting out a sigh. “Just promise you won’t freak out… and that you’ll give me a chance to explain myself.”

  “Sure. Now spill,” Cami demanded, trying to mentally prepare herself for whatever Maggie had to say.

  “So… Grant and I had this idea, right? We talked about it last week at family dinner.”

  “What idea?” Cami growled.

  “Calm down,” Maggie snapped. “You promised you’d listen.”

  “I am listening!” Cami replied with a scowl. But she then shut her mouth and motioned for Maggie to continue.

  “You see, Grant and Drew have been friends forever and we just thought the two or you may hit it off—you and Drew, I mean. So this weekend was supposed to be, like, an unofficial set-up.”

  “What?!” Cami shouted.

  Half the heads in the cafeteria turned towards her and she sank into her seat, embarrassed. But she was still scowling at Maggie through gritted teeth.

  “How was it a setup if we didn’t even know we were being set up? Wait… did Drew know? Was I the only one who didn’t know?”

  “No!” Maggie said emphatically, leaning forward in her seat. “I promise. Neither one of you were told. I wouldn’t do that to you. Grant and I just kind of…pushed you two together. That was my idea, to be honest.” Maggie actually had the audacity to look proud of herself as she continued. “I thought it might be awkward to let the two of you know you were being set up. Then there’d be all of this…expectation. And you would probably overthink everything.”

  “Not necessarily,” Cami interjected.

  Maggie simply raised an eyebrow questioningly. “Anyway,” she continued. “We wanted you guys to be able to meet and get to know each other without any pressure or expectation. And you seemed to hit it off. I even went to bed early so that you could spend some more time with him.”

  “You did that on purpose?” Cami growled. “Seriously? You could have saved me from making a huge mistake.”

  Maggie’s eyes shot up. She studied Cami closely, and Cami suddenly regretted opening her big mouth.

  “Mistake? What mistake? I didn’t hear about any mistake.”

  “That’s because I didn’t tell you,” Cami replied grumpily.

  “Well, you’re telling me
now!” Maggie demanded, a look of utter glee spreading across her face at the chance for fresh gossip. She looked like she was about to rubbing her hands now.

  “The first night we were there,” Cami began, “Friday night, you went off to bed early—or were pretending to, so I’d be forced to spend time with Drew. And so I did. We went for a walk on the beach and shared a bottle of wine. We’d both already been drinking and we had a little too much. One thing led to another—”

  “You had sex?” Maggie interrupted, much louder than she’d probably intended.

  Once again, multiple eyes turned to them.

  “No,” I whispered, leaning in for a little more privacy. “And keep your voice down! We didn’t have sex. But we did make out and fool around a little bit.”

  “What do you mean, ‘fool around’?” Maggie asked.

  “I’m not giving you details, you perv,” Cami muttered through gritted teeth.

  Maggie sat back, looking utterly satisfied with herself. “So we were right, you and Drew did hit it off.”

  “No we didn’t,” Cami snapped. Maggie just lifted another eyebrow questioningly. Cami was a little jealous of Maggie’s ability to speak with her eyebrows, but she continued. “It was weird…like, sometimes we’d hit it off, and he’d seem super amazing. But other times he’d act like a complete jerk. Then I realized he had a girlfriend, so…”

  “Drew doesn’t have a girlfriend,” Maggie said confidently.

  “He does too…that model chick—Analise.”

  Maggie actually laughed at that statement.

  “Drew is not dating Analise. Trust me. He doesn’t even like her. He just puts up with her because her dad is some important big wig. I don’t know the details. But I do know that Drew has absolutely no interest in Analise and is completely infatuated with you.”