Bender (26 page)

I blinked at her. “That’s what you took away from all of that?”

“No not entirely, but I totally feel like I should give you a congratulatory hug or something.”

“Macie… it’s not a big deal.”

“The hell it’s not. We’re talking about
Camden Brooks
here. Have you seen what he looks like?” her voice squeaked.

I laughed. “Oh yeah, I saw plenty of him.” We both giggled. “That’s not what I meant though. Camden and I aren’t going to give what we are a name, but we are definitely exclusive. I want to know about the Luke situation.”

She narrowed her eyes. “He’d truly be better off if Camden or Dodger got a hold of him. If I see him, there will be no mercy. Nobody does that to somebody I love and walks away with all their body parts intact.”

I’d find what she said funny, except I knew that she really wasn’t kidding. Macie could be quite the scary little thing when she wanted to be. “Just leave it alone. I’ll deal with him by myself.”

“I get that you want to, but the jerk needs to pay for what he did. I can’t believe that happened, and I was freaking
there!
”

I nodded in agreement. “It’s not your fault. But I’ll take care of Luke. I just need a couple of days to think about what needs to be said to him about all of it.”

“Alright, I’ll give you some time. But if I see him around campus, I can’t promise that he will be in one piece when you
do
say something. I’m already plotting his very tragic accident.”

I laughed. “I can handle that.”

We stood up from the table and made our way out to our cars. There were brief hugs all around, and I loaded Sarah up and took her back home. On my ride to the apartment, I got butterflies knowing that I was going to see Camden. For the first time in a long time, I felt like the possibilities were endless. I was truly happy, and I liked having something to look forward to.

C
AMDEN
AND
I
HAD
FOUND
OURSELVES
a new routine over the past week. Which was probably a good thing, because he liked routines. He woke up before I did and would go for a run. By the time I rolled out of bed, he would already be downstairs making me breakfast. We’d eat together then I’d head off to my classes. The day always seemed to drag by, because I was anxious to see him. Between school and work, they took up too much time. Being able to see Camden at the end of a long ten hours was like my own little special reward. That was not to say that we haven’t had a few minor hiccups. Living with Camden and being in a relationship with him were two very separate entities. He could be very pushy. Like, which room we were sleeping in. He grumbled about buying me a new bed and needing to break it in. And we really did almost break it the other night, but I liked his bed. It smelled like him, and it was cozy. Then we had an issue over him paying for things when we went out. I liked to pay my own way when we went places, but Camden said I wasn’t letting him be the man in the relationship. He said it made him feel good to know that he was taking care of me. I understood the words behind what he was saying, but convincing me that he needed to take care of me, when I’ve always taken care of myself, was a whole other issue. And apparently arguing in front of the movie theater about such a thing was grounds for a good spanking in the bedroom. I didn’t mind. Yep, Camden was quite the man to adjust to. I really liked everything about him, but he was an extremely dominant man in every aspect of his life. Control was the name of the game with him. He thrived on knowing that he could get me to submit. I was more than okay with it, but I certainly put up a good fight before I gave in. The more I fought, the harder he gave it to me. It became an interesting give and take.

I was just getting off work after a particularly hellish day of filing and was heading to the gym. It was something that had become part of the routine. Listening to music in the car perked me up and by the time I pulled into the parking lot, I was feeling particularly feisty. Camden had sent me some text messages earlier in the day about what he wanted to do to me when I got home, when he knew damn well I’d be sitting in my office blushing. An idea hit me, and I decided I was going to get back at him. Grinning in my car, I knew I’d totally pay for it, but it was going to be epic nonetheless. Grabbing my iPod I got out of the car and walked into the gym. The girl that usually sat in the front was already gone for the day, but Camden was just coming out of a back room when he saw me walk in.

I loved the smile that spread across his face before he said, “Hey Blue.”

He came around the counter and put his arms under mine, lifting me up and bringing his mouth down in a crushing kiss. My legs were dangling so I wrapped them around his waist. Oh God a girl could get used to this. “Hey back,” I said, pulling my mouth away.

His hands were gripping me under my butt. His kiss alone was enough to turn me on, but when he held me like this, like I weighed nothing, I felt like I was floating on cloud nine. People were walking around us, but we continued on as if we were the only two in the gym. Camden asked me a few questions about my day, then set me down. I was wearing a white button-down blouse, and black dress pants with heels, so I still needed to change. I was scheming how I would get behind the front desk and do what I needed to, I just crossed my fingers he wouldn’t pick up on it.

“I’m going to go change real quick. Be right back.” I got up on my tip toes and kissed him lightly on the mouth. “Ouch.” I reached out for his arm.

His eyebrows came down in concern. “What’s the matter? Are you hurt?”

I lifted one of my heels up. “No, not really. These shoes are giving me a blister, and it’s rubbing the back of my heel. Do you have a first aid kit back here that I could get a Band-Aid from?”

He helped me over to the chair behind the desk and pulled open a drawer. “Yeah, help yourself. I need to go check on my client real quick. See you in a few minutes.”

Camden walked over to some machine where an older gentleman was pulling on a cord while standing. I still had no idea what those things were called. Didn’t matter. I needed to focus, I was on a mission. Reaching into my pocket I pulled out my iPod and connected it to the stereo that played throughout the gym. I had to wait until the song that was currently playing was over before I could hit play on my own playlist otherwise Camden would be on to me. I got it all set up, and the first song started playing. I looked around to see if anybody noticed the difference in music but fortunately they were none the wiser. I smiled to myself. Oh man I was going to be in so much trouble. Getting up from the chair I went to the locker room and made quick work of changing out of my work clothes and into a pair of capri black stretch pants and a tank top with a built-in sports bra. I came back out into the main part of the gym, and Camden had shifted to the free weights, spotting his client. He looked over at me and smiled. I enjoyed seeing this side of Camden. Although I still loved ‘brooding Camden’ as well.

Smiling back, I went over to the mats and stretched out my legs. Every time the song changed my heart rate would spike. I had no idea when the song was going to play. Eventually I got up and moved to a treadmill. I figured I’d do a little cardio and get my body warmed up, and then hopefully Camden would be done with his session and could help me on the weights. Stepping on, I set my pace. I was going at a slow speed, gradually increasing at every minute interval. I was almost done with my warm-up when it happened. The sound of a flute floated through the gym, and a very familiar tune began to play. There was a collective round of groans from the ten or so people who were working out, and a few of them said, “What the fuck are we listening to?” I bit the inside of my cheek and tried to maintain my composure. It was quite the change to go from a “Woe Is Me” song to “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion. I kept my pace on the treadmill refusing to make eye contact with the one person who I
knew
was glaring at me.

“Hey Brooks, I think your stereo’s broken,” one of the regular weight lifters called from across the gym.

Several people chuckled, but the song continued to play. I could feel the heat creeping up my cheeks, and I decided to grow a pair and meet Camden’s stare. My treadmill was directly in front of a set of mirrors that allowed me to view the entire gym behind me. My dark brooding man was standing in the same spot that he had been in when I started my warm-up. His eyes were almost black and narrowed into slits. His stance was rigid, and his chest was moving up and down. I knew smiling right now
probably
wasn’t in my best interest, but what the hell…I liked to live crazy. Looking directly at him I lifted my shoulders in a very casual shrug as if to say, ‘what’? Which I followed up with a sly smirk. He gave me the slightest head shake. Oh he was mad. My heart was in my throat, but I continued to act like I hadn’t just announced to the whole gym that Camden was a closet Celine fan. I pried my eyes away from his and kept trucking along on the treadmill, knowing that something big was coming my way. A couple of minutes passed, and I could see that he was still in the same spot in my peripheral vision. Crap! Maybe I went too far. He couldn’t actually be mad at me for this. I might have played the song, but we were the only ones that knew
why
. Maybe I should go apologize to him. Just as I thought that, I noticed Camden going from person to person saying something. One by one, everybody gathered their things and made their way out of the gym. What was he doing? Was he kicking everyone out? As the last person left, I watched in the mirror as he followed them and locked the door behind them. Then he went to the stereo and shut it off. The only sound was my feet pounding down. When he turned, his face was unreadable. Holy shit, he kicked everyone out, and I was about to get bitched out. Why, oh why, did I have to be an idiot sometimes?

Camden stalked toward me as I bumped up the speed on the treadmill. I wondered if maybe he’d just go away if I ignored him. I went from walking to jogging to running in a very short period. My freaking thighs were on fire before, but now they were screaming at me. Camden came to stand beside me while I stared straight ahead and refused to look at him.

“Keegan.”

“Yeah?”

“Keegan.”

“Uh huh?”

“You know you’re in trouble right?”

“I’m sorry, what’s that?” I tried to play dumb. Pushing my luck a little bit more I started humming the song, picking it up where it left off.

The grin I saw spreading across his face out of the corner of my eye gave me the chills. “You. Are. In. Trouble,” he emphasized each word.

I held my hand up to my ear. “I can’t hear you. Maybe you should wait till I’m off of here then we can talk.” For starters I was so out of breath I thought I would pass out. Second I’d like to believe that I could wait him out, but at this rate, I’d be in v-fib, and he’d have to shock my heart back into a normal rhythm.

I saw his arm move out in front of me, and he pulled the red cord that was attached to the emergency stop. The belt below me came to an abrupt halt, and my forward momentum almost made me fall. Camden reached out to steady me. Helping me off, I bent over at the waist and put my hands on my knees, trying to slow my breathing. A bottle of water was placed in front of my face, and I took it. Tipping my head back, I chugged as much as I could, then dumped the rest of it over my head. It was too damn hot in here. I wiped my eyes and noticed that Camden was watching me with a lust I had yet to see from him before.

Leaning against the mirror he crossed his arms over his chest in a casual stance. When he did that it made him look huge. “Can you breathe?”

“Yes.” My chest was still rising and falling in a heavy pattern.

“Are we still playing that you can’t hear what I’m saying?”

“I wasn’t playing.”

He smirked. “Hmmm… can you hear me now?”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course I can hear you.”

The smirk that was there abruptly went away. It was replaced by a darkened expression. “Good, now let’s talk. You’re playing a very dangerous game Keegan. And I’m assuming that you probably knew that.” His russet-colored eyes never left mine. “You’re a smart girl. Which also means that that little stunt you pulled, you did it with intention. Were you testing me to see what sort of punishment I’d dole out?”

He hit the nail on the head, but I couldn’t let him know that. Everything about him screamed sex right now, and my body was quivering in anticipation. His posture, the way that his eyes sparkled with possibility, his clenching jaw; these were all signs that Camden was revving himself up for something big. I had to clear my head.
Put on your poker face Keegan
. “No of course not. It was just a silly little prank.”

The corner of his mouth tipped up. “My, my, you’ve been a naughty girl.”

I put my hands on my hips, showing a display of indifference. “Oh cut it out Camden. You could laugh you know. It was a joke, it was funny. You know, ha, ha funny?”

“Am I laughing?”

“No, but you’re always a hard ass.”