Where’s Camden? If Gemmi was asked that question one more time she would scream. She didn’t know where he was. It appeared that he and Rosalyn were the only ones not at the Brooks Family Reunion, and the dancing was about to start.
She’d come to be able to face a lot of things in the fifteen hours she had to confront this alone. She was sick of lying. Tired of feeling like she wasn’t enough, because she’d been cheated on and pitied. She was done with this. If she wanted to feel empowered, she was going to have to start somewhere.
She’d called True and asked her to let Camden’s brothers know what was going on. She didn’t want to hide anything anymore.
When Alec, True and Beau showed up in the main ballroom Gemmi watched them and the crowd’s interaction. Her family members knew who was supposed to be there and who wasn’t, and these people had never been seen before. One day she wouldn’t be in the middle of the scandal, but today she was. Her family must have gotten over their shock of the attractive group of people walking through their party, because she heard the chatter starting. The women in the party perked up like they were trying to get the attention of the two hot newcomers, but they were searching for Gemmi.
“Did you find out anything new?” True said when she reached Gemmi.
“No, I don’t know where Camden is. He left his phone and wallet in the room, and I haven’t seen him since about nine-thirty last night. They won’t look for him because he’s an adult and they won’t start until he’s been gone for over twenty-four hours. Camden came down here to help me, and I just don’t want anything to have happened to him.”
“I have a few connections down here I’ve been in contact with them, they are looking into what can be done.” Alec was on his phone calling someone while True waited to hear the results.
“I’m sorry to have dragged you down here,” she said to Beau.
“Hey, we offered to come and it’s only a couple hours away. We couldn’t leave you down here worrying about our brother by yourself. This isn’t like him, but I can’t imagine anything too terrible could have happened to him in this small town.” Beau tried to smile but it wasn’t as carefree as it usually was.
“Who’s working the bar?” Gemmi asked.
“It’s on limited service tonight. We’ll see how this goes before we make any decisions, but family comes first.”
A disheveled Camden wearing the same outfit she and everyone else in the room had seen yesterday walked quickly into the room. Rosalyn walked quickly to catch up, but he was going to fast into the banquet hall, and Gemmi knew then that karma was one mean son of a bitch. The gasping and nervous twitters throughout the room were magnified, but she was shocked she could hear it over the pounding of her heart in her ears. Two years running she’d been the laughing stock, and she couldn’t believe it.
“Wait for me, Camden,” said Rosalyn trying to catch up with him in her silky black lingerie and kitten heel pumps.
“Get away from me, Rosalyn, seriously.”
The music had stopped, and they were now the live entertainment.
“Gemmi, I am so sorry,” Camden whispered. She looked at the man she had cried over all night. She’d decided if she ever saw him again she would tell him what she was feeling, but the guilt on his face and the smirk on Rosalyn’s was more than she could take.
“Tell her we just lost track of time,” Rosalyn said from behind him.
“We were stuck in her bathroom. I went to help her kill a bug, and when the door closed we couldn’t get out. There was no way to contact anyone.”
“Do you really believe that? We were stuck in a bathroom all night? Come on, tell her what actually happened.”
He turned to glare at Rosalyn. “What is wrong with you?”
She stepped around him. “If we weren’t having fun in my room all night how would I know you two aren’t really a couple at all. True hooked you up so you wouldn’t look like the loser you’ve always been to your family.”
“Gemmi, I don’t know where she got that from. She’s just baiting you. Tell her we’re together.”
“Yes, Gemmi, tell me the truth. That’s the song you’re always singing, right? For once tell the truth,” Rosalyn’s sing song tone was mocking.
She’d come to this conclusion herself, but the humiliation of her whole world seeing it was weighing on her.
Camden was saying something to her. She was able to see his mouth moving, but she couldn’t hear a word he was saying. The only sound coming through was the roar of her heartbeat in her ears.
She turned around and tried to leave, but Camden grabbed her arm. She swung around and slapped him so hard her hand hurt. The cackle of laughter the sprung from Rosalyn’s mouth was the last thing she heard before someone turned out the lights.
“Gemmi, wake up.” She was in a bed… a soft bed. She stretched and tried to collect her thoughts. She lurched into a sitting position.
“Hold on…just calm down.” It was True sitting on her bed looking like her fabulous self, but there was worry on her face.
Maybe it was just a horrible dream. The dream of what would have happened if she had faked having a gorgeous man play the role of boyfriend for her.
“What day is it?”
“Saturday. The day of your Family Reunion. Do you remember anything?”
“Tell me the incident I’m thinking of didn’t just happen.”
“You mean Camden coming down with Rosalyn walking after him in her robe and you slapping him? I can’t tell you that didn’t happen, but I can say there are a lot of people who want to see how you’re doing.”
“I just want to go home. I don’t want to see anyone. I just want to leave.”
“Your mom is out there, as is Camden, and the rest of the people who care about you.”
“I can’t face them now, please.”
“How about just your mom? I can sneak you out of here, but you have to see your mom first. Alright?”
She must look crazy True was talking to her like she was standing on an emotional ledge, which wasn’t far from the truth.
“Whatever. Go get her if you want.”
“Camden brought you up here, put you to bed, but I told him to go somewhere else until I could talk to you.
“Is he out there?”
“No. No one is out there, but I’m going to run down, get your mom, and come right back. Okay?”
Gemmi nodded and watched True leave to get her mother, but the moment she knew her friend was out of ear shot she hopped off the bed. She pulled out her suitcase and began throwing her things in haphazardly. It was hard to see with the tears blurring her vision.
“Shit.” All of her things didn’t seem to even fit, but she sat on the suitcase and hurriedly zipped it up. Running to the bathroom, she grabbed her makeup bag and toothbrush. Before she could head out she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She stopped and took a good look. Her hair was wild, her face red and blotchy. She narrowed her eyes at the image of herself and decided that she was fresh out of fucks to care about it.
Picking up her purse she left the room and walked to the elevator. Pressing the down button rapidly because she didn’t want to see her mother, she didn’t want to see True and she really didn’t want to see Camden. She wasn’t sure if she was pissed, embarrassed or just fed up with everything. What she did know is she wanted to get the hell out of here and no one was going to stop her.
She made it to the lobby without much fuss. If there were people looking at her oddly, she wasn’t going to think about it. At least they cleared the way for her to the door and the man who was just about to hop in a cab just nodded his head and backed up. Gemmi tried to murmur a quick thank you but was sure it got lost as she slammed the door of the cab.
“Take me to the airport.”
The cabbie looked at her in the rearview mirror and opened his mouth like he was going to say something but then thought better of it. Smart guy. She couldn’t stand another moment of pity or judgment, even if that’s all she had for he
rself.
***
The long ride home was in silence. He’d done nothing wrong, but he’d hurt her so bad, and he didn’t know what he’d be able to offer in retribution. Camden knew there was some bad blood between Rosy and Gemmi, but that woman straight had it out for her. What pissed him off the most is she used him as a weapon against her. He was a man who never thought he’d had the right to a wonderful woman and had always met women who didn’t look deep under his surface… or maybe that’s just the women he chose. Easy, forgettable… meaningless. Regardless of all that he wanted a chance with Gemmi. The family reunion was over, and his job was supposedly done, but he wasn’t finished. Now without games and putting on a show they could really see what they were together. He didn’t know whether to thank True for introducing him to Gemmi or shake the shit out of her for it. When he knocked on her door, he had no idea what he was going to say. All he knew was with her gone he felt hollow, and that was a new one for him. It hadn’t been that long since he’d seen her, but being constant companions for almost a month, and then suddenly being alone again was like someone ripping a bandage off a particularly hairy, sensitive area.
The door opened, and he was so happy to see her, he pulled her into his arms and held her tight.
“I knew you were coming home, but I also know how you hate to fly. It killed me knowing you did it by yourself to get away from me.” He wanted to get out as much as he could before she remembered how mad she was at him.
She pulled away from him and gestured for him to come in. When they sat on the couch, he could tell she was trying to find the right words to say.
“First, I want to apologize for striking you, I can’t believe I did that. I’ve had a few hours to think about what happened, and I know the person you are. You wouldn’t have shacked up with Rosalyn on the weekend of our family reunion – she’s been throwing herself at you for years, and you never took the bait. You wouldn’t have left without your phone and wallet either. It wasn’t planned, but I was so embarrassed, again.” She was facing the front and he wanted to see her face, but he didn’t want to stop what she was saying, but damn why wouldn’t she look at him.
“What is going on between you and Rosy?” he wanted her to look at him.
“It doesn’t matter. Not anymore. I’m going to live my life the way I can be true to myself.” She turned on the couch to face him. “I should’ve never gotten involved with you and brought you into this mess. I don’t know why I thought this was a good idea in the first place. You are the most beautiful man I’ve ever met with your brothers running a close second and third, but you’ve already put it out there that you are emotionally unavailable. You know how to turn it on and then completely off, and that’s one of the reasons I thought you left me at the hotel,” she said, and she looked so sad his heart hurt.
“I wouldn’t have left the hotel without telling you. I’m not used to sharing a lot of personal information. It’s one of the things about you that’s so shocking. I tell you lots of things I normally keep to myself, but with you I don’t mind sharing. It’s just that some topics are harder to talk about than others.”
“Your rules should have stopped me from falling for you, but you’re funny and smart and witty. You make me laugh, you turn me on so fast it scares me, and you make me feel special even when we’re not doing much of anything.” She was trying to share what she felt, and he could tell it was difficult for her. He sat still willing to take whatever she dished out, knowing he deserved it.
She hopped up from the couch and started pacing. “I’m done with falsehoods and being fake. I said when I waited for you and thought you could be dead at the bottom of a river somewhere I would tell you how I felt, and I wouldn’t care what you thought about it, but after all that happened with Rosalyn I was too overwhelmed to stick around.”
She dropped back to the couch and looked at him, and he felt the same kick to the gut he always felt when he looked into her deep brown eyes.
“I would love to be your girlfriend and spend time getting to get to know you because we want to, not because we have to. I’ve learned something about you while we’ve been together… you owe someone something, or at least you think you do. You do all these good deeds for animals, for the homeless, and for any random woman who you think you can help, but I just don’t understand why. It’s not just a desire, it seems like a compulsion. It runs your life.”
He couldn’t say anything. No one, apart from True, had ever figured that out about him, had never looked so close at the amount of good deeds he tried to accumulate to make up for his being in the world.
“The shocked look on your face says enough. I can’t be a pity case for you—another way to rack up karma credit. I know you said no strings, and I thought I could do that, but I can’t.”
She walked to the door, and he followed her, but he didn’t know what to say. Should he tell her about his past and what he thought was his destiny or would it be too big a burden? She had opened the door before he could figure out what to do.
“Gemmi, can I say something?”
“I just need a little time. Then maybe I could be one of the many no string friends you have in your life, but not yet.”
The soft click of the door closing sounded louder than any slam he’d ever heard, but if she wanted space, he’d give it to her. She didn’t know that he didn’t deserve a woman like her, but he did. He didn’t know if space would put her farther away or bring her closer, but if she was going to be tied to him it was going to have to be her choice.
***
She’d made True promise not to mention anything about Camden or the events of the disaster reunion, and she was true to her word. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop Beau from coming into the studio. Although he never said a word about Camden just him being around made her weepy.
“How’s it going, Gemmi?” Beau came out of True’s office and sat down on the other side of her desk.
“Pretty good. How’s it going for you?”
“Besides missing you and True at the Haught Spot, pretty good. Your fans are still asking about you.”
“You are such a kidder. I’m sure they are happy with Nadia and Christina. They are beautiful and quick. They learned the place with ease and they can carry way more drinks.”
“Aren’t you going to ask about the other people who work at the Haught Spot?”
“If you want to tell me something just get it over with.”
“There is a certain someone who is doing a very good rendition of a grizzly bear. The staff notices it, the customers notice it and so do his brothers. I would love for you to at least talk to him.”
“I’m thinking about it, believe me. I’ve thought of little else, but I have to do what’s right for me. I’ll tell you what I told him. Give me a bit of time.”
***
“Come share a drink with me,” Camden said and tried to keep the menace out of his voice. He wanted answers and she had them.
Rosy thought she’d won, he could see it in her face and the proud posture that had returned after its long absence.
“Sure, Camden. Anything for you.” They moved to a quiet table away from the other people who were just starting to gather.
“I thought you were mad at me. You wouldn’t look at me and haven’t given me your normal greeting since the fiasco.”
“I’m upset that you hurt someone I care about and used me to do it.” She actually had the nerve to look sad about that, and he was going to use whatever he could to his advantage. There was something going on that he didn’t know about, and he wanted to know.
“Can I make it up to you?”
“There is a way you can make it up to me.” The look of lust on her face was unmistakable, and she moved closer to show how on board she was with this idea.
“I’d do anything to make it up to you. Just tell me.” She grabbed his hand with both of hers and tried to bring it to her chest like she was giving it a hug.
“I want you to te
ll me,” he said, shaking her hand and then withdrawing it from her grasp. “What’s the story with you and Gemmi? Why do you dislike her so much?”
The pout wouldn’t have worked for a two-year-old and looked utterly ridiculous on her. “I was hoping you’d ask for something more fun.” She stroked her hand along his arm, and his muscles jumped in revulsion.
“Nope. The truth will suffice. You are capable of the truth, aren’t you?” He wanted to know the story, but if she was going to act flirty he was going to have to get a bit tougher.
“Why would you say that?” It was amazing she could say that without her face cracking.
“Well, you were pretty dishonest about why we were together all night. You made insinuations that there was something else going on besides two people getting stuck in a bathroom without their phones or a way to contact anyone.”
“I can see how you would think that was a bit dishonest, but Gemmi deserves it.”
“What did she do to deserve everyone thinking that her boyfriend ran off with her cousin?”
“Our family thinks she’s the greatest, and that I’m just a piece of shit. She was her mother’s miracle baby, and no one ever let anyone forget it. She’s so special… too bad she can’t keep a boyfriend worth a damn. They all thought I was way more special than she was.”
“So I’m not the only boyfriend you’ve pulled this trick on?”
“This is the only time this has happened, but mostly because her other two boyfriends just liked me more than her. They come to the family reunion and then they find me. I just guessed she got you to be a fake boyfriend after I asked her about the Fourth of July Celebration, and she said she didn’t know you then.”
He watched her and wondered why so much animosity. “So, you slept with two of her boyfriends at the family’s function and you wonder why your family has some misgivings about you and your worthiness?” It was almost as if he could see the light-bulb switch on. “What did she do before this that pissed you off so much?”
“I don’t know. She’s just… always so nice and sweet—it just gets on my nerves.”
“What’s your mother say about all of this?” Rosie’s face flushed a deep red he’d never seen on her. He hadn’t thought she was capable of blushing.
A Haught Date Page 15