“Okay, we’ll give it a shot.”
“Here’s the thing, though. Can you just tell Rusty that you want him to come hang out? Jenna doesn’t want him to think he’s being, like, set up or anything.”
“I can do that.”
“You think he’ll come?”
“For free beer? Oh, hell yeah. Rusty’s a cheap date.”
“How ‘bout you? Are you a cheap date?”
“I’m even cheaper than that. I’ve been known to work for kisses before.”
She leans back in her chair, too. A smile plays around the edges of her mouth. “Really?”
“No, I never work for kisses. But I’d be willing to make an exception.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE - Cami
I know why I’m so nervous. Somehow—and I’m still not sure whose willpower I’m using—I’ve managed to stay away from the stable for two whole days. Of course, it helped knowing that I had definite plans to see Trick tonight with Jenna and Rusty. Now, the time is at hand and I’m not sure my stomach can take it. I think it must’ve tied itself in at least a dozen knots already.
Daddy has been keeping me super busy, so that helped me stay put. I have no doubt he’s doing it on purpose, too. But he’s gone now. Left earlier this evening. Now, there’s no one to keep tabs on me. Or on the stable.
I turn away from the mirror when I hear the knock at my door. As I suspect, it’s Jenna. She’s wearing short shorts and a huge grin.
“Have I told you how freakin’ awesome you are? Because if not, I should totally be flogged.”
I put a finger to my chin in thought. “Might have to go with the flogging, as I don’t seem to remember hearing you go on and on about my awesomeness.”
“Well, it’ll have to wait. I might be doing some flogging of my own tonight. What what!”
“Just gonna jump right in there, huh?”
“If the temperature’s right, I just might.”
I roll my eyes heavenward.
“Don’t roll those eyes at me. I’m just doing what you’re too afraid to do.”
“And what’s that?”
“Go out there and get what I want.”
“Yeah, but only since Trevor was already heading in the let’s-see-other-people direction.”
“Cam, let me tell you something. I think I would’ve done it anyway. This guy…I don’t know. He does something to me. For days now I’ve been like ‘Trevor who?’”
“Suuuuure.”
“I’m serious. There’s something different about him. About the way he makes me feel.”
“And you know this after meeting him once for a few minutes?”
“Don’t be a hater. I know it sounds crazy, but can’t you just go with it? God, you’re such a Debbie Downer.”
“I’m sorry, Jen. I don’t mean to be. I’m just…”
“I know. I know exactly what you are. You’re nuts about Trick and you’re being a stubborn jackass. And now you’re making yourself miserable. Is that about it?”
I look at Jenna, standing in the center of my room in her Daisy Dukes with her hand on her hip and a smug look on her face, and I’ve never loved her more. She just doesn’t pull any punches.
“You know what? You’re right. But my situation is a bit more complicated than yours. At least give me that.”
“Daddy issues are not exclusive to you, Cami.”
“It’s not just about him. Well, not like you’re thinking. Trick really needs this job. I mean he needs it. What if I mess that up for him?”
“He’s a big boy. Maybe he thinks you’re worth the risk. If he doesn’t, then he’s not worth the risk.”
“Maybe I’m not.”
“Of course you are! Look at you.” Jenna walks over to me and puts her hands on my shoulders to turn me around toward the mirror. She stands behind me, a good bit taller than me. “You’re gorgeous. You’re smart. You’re sweet. You’re funny. You’ve got legs that go for miles and an ass I’d kill for. Any man in his right mind would risk death for you!”
“And I’m sure you’re not the least bit biased. Or jacked up on caffeine.”
“One Red Bull hardly counts as ‘jacked up’,” she says giving me a “look.”
“I guess we’d better get going then before it wears off.”
She smiles brightly. “That’s more like it.”
I return her smile and let Jenna drag me out of my bedroom and down the stairs. As soon as we step outside onto the patio, my stomach clenches.
“Don’t be nervous,” Jenna whispers, patting my hand like a little old lady.
“I’m not nervous. I’m just…”
“I know. You’re nervous.”
I laugh. There’s just no talking to Jenna.
When we get closer to the stable, I can hear music drifting out from the open bay doors. When we round the corner and step into the light, Trick and Rusty are sitting in two folding chairs pulled just outside the office door. Rusty is playing air guitar on his leg with a beer in one hand. Trick is looking on, laughing, pounding out a beat on invisible drums.
“Just in time to see the band,” Jenna quips, bringing both guys to a comical mid-air halt. “Don’t stop on our account. I’ve always wanted to kiss a rock star.”
Ohmigod! She’s coy and brazen at the same time! How does she do that?
Rusty grins from ear to ear. “Then, baby, you’re about to have the night of your life.”
Jenna giggles attractively and I glance at Trick. He’s not watching them. He’s watching me. I feel my cheeks get hot and his lips quirk at the edges. He turns his head and looks at me from the corner of his narrowed eyes, as if he’s debating whether or not I blush on purpose. I shrug, assuring him it’s beyond my control. He shakes his head and a slow grin spreads across his face. Without taking his eyes off mine, he raises his beer to his lips and takes a long drink. I can’t help but watch his mouth, where his lips are pursed against the bottle. And then the action of his throat as he swallows.
I’m pretty sure my knees have turned to butter.
Trick stands. “Here, take my seat. I’m sure there are a couple more chairs around here somewhere.”
Jenna slides quickly into Trick’s empty seat and smiles her brightest smile up at me. “Cam, you know this place inside and out. Why don’t you help him find some? I’ll wait here with Rusty.”
She turns her smile on Rusty and he is appropriately dazzled. There’s a look in his eye, though, that makes me think he’s not going to be the docile prey Jenna is used to. She might just have her hands full with him.
I smother a grin with the back of my hand. Serves her right! Every man-eater meets her match eventually.
“Come on,” Trick says, tipping his head toward the dark night outside. “I think there might be a couple in the storage shed.”
I nod at him and turn to Jenna. “We’ll be right back.”
“Take your time,” she says, widening her eyes meaningfully.
I smile at her then smile at Rusty, who looks like the cat who ate the canary. I wonder if Trick really didn’t tell him Jenna and I were coming. He seems genuinely surprised. Thrilled, but surprised.
I follow Trick out and around the corner, leaving the rectangle of light from the open stable door behind us. It gets darker and darker as we cross the yard to the shed that sits behind the round pen.
The moon is huge and bright overhead, illuminating the tiny white flowers that sprinkle the lush grass at my feet. I pause to pick one, twirling it in my fidgety fingers. A lightly sweet, floral scent drifts up to my nose. I inhale deeply, letting the aroma sooth my jangling nerves.
“You like flowers?”
“Some of them. Why?” He nods toward my fingers. “Oh. Yeah, Drogheda used to braid these into my hair when I was younger. They have long stems that are perfect for that. I don’t know if I liked them before then, but I know I’ve loved them ever since.”
“How long has she been with you?”
“Since I was seven or eight I guess. Something like that. A long time. She’s like family now.”
“Did you have a different housekeeper before her?”
“No. That’s when the business sort of took off, I guess. Life changed a lot after that.”
“How do you mean?”
“Well, before that, we lived closer to Greenfield. Our house was much smaller, we only had one car. I went to public school and got to play at the playground. Daddy was home more and Mom was just…happier, I guess. I don’t know. It seems like everything changed all of a sudden. Not that it was all bad. Don’t get me wrong. But Drogheda was definitely one of the good things to come out of it.”
“So you’re saying you were happier when you were poor?”
I laugh. Even to my own ears, it sounds a little bitter. “Would that be so strange?”
Trick shrugs. “Maybe. Money solves a lot of problems.”
“For adults, that’s probably true. But for kids, sometimes it just creates them. I didn’t care that we didn’t have a lot of money. I was happy. And, let me tell you, there are a lot fewer expectations when you’re poor, too. Well, not even poor. Just not…wealthy.”
“Poor little princess, is that it?”
I whip my head around to look at him, immediately taking exception to what he’s insinuating. But I see his playful grin and my anger dies. I smile. “Sounds like it, doesn’t it? Poor me?”
“Nah, you’re not the type. I knew that after talking to you for two minutes.”
“You did?” This should not please me as much as it does. I try to suppress my wide smile.
“Yep. I knew you were a phone sex operator right off the bat. And I’ve never met a snobby phone sex operator in my life.”
I laugh. “And just how many have you met?”
Trick tilts his head back and starts counting on his fingers. I watch him tick off ten and then start again.
“Um. One,” he says anticlimactically, grinning. “Just you.”
“Well, I hate to disappoint, but…”
“You never disappoint. I don’t think you have it in you. In fact, I might go so far as to say that you strive not to disappoint.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It just seems that way, like maybe your father has everything all planned out for you and you’re going right along with it.”
I want to argue, but he’s hit a nerve that feels all too raw and real. I’ve wondered the same thing a thousand times, especially lately.
“You left your dream behind. How is that so different? You’re not going after what you want either.”
“I think it’s very different. My choices have been out of necessity and responsibility. And I haven’t left anything behind. I’ll still get what I want out of life. It will just have to wait a little longer.”
“Some things don’t wait.”
“The things that are worth it do.”
We reach the storage shed and Trick unlocks the door and opens it, flicking on the light switch to the right. I stand off to the side as he looks for the chairs. The hot, still air feels suffocating and a light sheen of moisture breaks out on my skin. I lift my heavy hair off my neck and fan my face.
I see Trick move a big piece of plywood. Behind it is a stack of six or seven folding chairs with padded seats. He grabs two and backs out to close and lock the door behind him.
When he turns to me, he stops. Just stops and stares at me. He leans the chairs up against the shed and steps toward me.
“You know what would make this picture perfect?”
“What?” I ask, breathlessly hoping he’ll kiss me, even though I know it’s wrong.
He takes the little white flower from my fingers and tucks it behind my ear. “With your hair piled on top of your head like that, all you need to be a Southern Belle is a flower.”
His fingers trail down my cheek and neck as he drags his hand away. Without meaning to, I sway toward him, wanting to prolong the moment, the feel of him touching me.
I let my hair fall and Trick reaches out to steady me, his hands strong on my upper arms. He’s so close I can feel his warm breath tickling my cheeks.
“Are you okay? Is the heat too much for you?”
Good God, what a loaded question!
“I’m fine,” I manage to eke out.
We stand like that, staring into each other’s eyes, until Trick releases me and looks away.
“I guess we’d better get back before the kids get into trouble,” he says with a lopsided grin.
“Yeah, we can’t have that, now can we?”
I wish I could recover as fast as Trick. My knees still feel weak and I’m more than a little disappointed that there hasn’t been another attempt at kissing me since the field party.
It’s for the best, it’s for the best, it’s for the best.
That’s my mantra all the way back to the stable.
When we arrive, Jenna is sitting in Rusty’s lap and he’s helping her place her fingers in the right position on the neck of a guitar.
I glance at Trick and he smiles at me and shakes his head. “Crazy kids,” he mutters under his breath. I laugh. Sometimes I do feel like the adult in my relationship with Jenna. I think it’s funny that apparently Trick feels that way with Rusty, at least part of the time anyway.
Jenna spots me. “You’re back! Rusty and I were just talking. We think a trip to the pool is in order since it’s still so hot.”