Control You (28 page)

Paige pulled back and I turned to face Eva, ready to give her the nastiest look she’d probably ever gotten from me, but instead my lips formed a smile I couldn’t dampen.

“What are you doing here?” I asked her.

She flung her long hair over her shoulder and glared at me. “You’re not the only one with a date tonight.”

“Oh, really? You out with that same douche you met at the party?”

“He wasn’t a douche,” she whisper scolded me. “And no, it’s Dylan. The one I’ve already been out with a few times, thank you very much.”

“Dylan? I thought things didn’t go so well on your last date with him.” I grinned, remembering her exact words. “In fact, didn’t you tell me he was a boring ass nitwit, and that if I looked up cell phone obsession in the dictionary I’d see his picture beside it?”

“Shhh!” She pressed her index finger to her lips and scolded me like a small child. “Seriously, Cam, shut the hell up! You know I feel like everyone deserves a second chance. Well, this is his.”

“You two crack me up!” Paige grinned. She fastened her eyes on Eva. “So, do you guys want to bowl with us?”

“Absolutely.” Eva smiled. She slipped over the little wall separating the other lane from ours. “I need you two to tell me if I’m making a big deal out of his cell phone habit or not.” Her eyes skimmed over me, and then flicked back to Paige. “Well, maybe just you. Cam isn’t that observant, not like another female would be anyway. I need to know if this is just me searching for things wrong with him or if there truthfully is.”

Eva’s tone was off; it was too vulnerable and fragile sounding. This meant something to her. Maybe I wasn’t the only one growing softer with age.

“Sure, no problem,” Paige agreed. “Point him out to me.”

Eva turned around and glanced at the line of people waiting to pay old comb-over dude. She shifted back around to face Paige. “He’s the one standing in line with the glasses and corduroy jacket on.”

I eyed the guy now that she’d pointed him out. He looked like the type you’d see working behind the counter at some computer repair shop. While I thought this, he pulled his phone out from his pocket and tapped his thumb across the screen. I shifted my stare to Eva; her lips were drawn together in a thin line.

“So, Eva, tell me how it feels to be competing with his online girlfriend,” I asked, knowing I’d be lucky if she didn’t smack me upside the head.

She rolled her eyes. “He doesn’t have an online girlfriend…at least I don’t think.”

* * * *

“Thanks for a really nice night,” Paige said as I pulled in beside her Civic. “I had a good time.”

“Me too.” I grinned, my eyes zeroing in on her hand gripping the door handle already. She looked as though she was about to bolt, making me feel like the big bad wolf bringing little red riding hood home. My grin widened at the thought. “When can we do it again?”

She blinked. “When do you want to?”

I got the sense she hadn’t been sure there would be another time, and frowned. Had my kiss not confirmed that? Leaning in, I pressed my lips to hers, soft and slow, hoping to let her know how much I wanted that second date with her and so much more. Pulling away, I positioned my lips beside her ear and kissed beneath her lobe. “Tomorrow night.”

“I can do that.” Her words were nothing but a breathy whisper.

“I’m counting on it.” I opened my door, rushed around to the side of the car, and opened her door for her—a motion I never did. However, when my parents had been alive, I’d witnessed my dad do it a thousand times.

“Thanks.” She seemed baffled. I couldn’t be sure if it was because of the action itself or because I was the one doing it. She had to know by now that I wasn’t the bad boy my tattoos and past reputation made me appear to be.

After seeing her to her front door, and getting in one more kiss for the road, I practically skipped to my car, popped it in reverse, and started home with the biggest freaking smile on my face ever.

PAIGE

Saturday night’s date with Cameron had met my expectations. I’d gotten to know him a little better, had a blast, and kissed him more than once. I’d been under the impression that Craig had been the best kisser I’d ever come across, but once I’d had Cameron’s lips on mine, I knew I’d found the true contender for that category.

The jingling sound of my phone ringing was what forced me to get out of bed. When I reached my dresser and scooped it up, disappointment crashed through me, because it wasn’t who I wanted to be calling—it was my dad.

“Hello?” I answered, wondering what he could possibly want on a Sunday morning.

“Morning, honey,” my dad said from the other end.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“I’m heading to a meeting and wanted to take a moment to call you.”

I furrowed my brows together. “A meeting? But, it’s Sunday.”

“It’s an informal meeting on the golf course.” He chuckled. “I’m actually pulling into the parking lot as we speak. I just wanted to take a moment to let you know your mother and I are proud of you, Paige. You’ve done exceptionally well so far in creating the shop, and getting it up and running. I’m sorry I didn’t have as much faith in you as I should have.”

I was speechless. Never in my life had either of my parents told me they were proud of me for anything, and if they did, there generally was something critical following the statement that completely canceled it out for me. I waited for that burn of a critical slap to come next, but it never did.

“Paige? Are you still there?” I could hear the ding of his car as he opened the driver’s side door with the keys still in the ignition. “Damn cell phone. Calls dropping left and right lately.”

“No, I’m still here.” I swallowed hard. “And thanks.”

“All right, well I’m here. I’ll let you go. Love you, honey.” He hung up before I could reply.

Walking backward, I sat on the edge of my bed and cradled the phone in my hands. A knock at my bedroom door pulled me from my thoughts. Blaire opened the door and poked her head around.

“You awake?” she whispered.

“Yeah.”

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

I blinked and set my phone down. “Yeah, I’m fine. That was my dad calling to tell me he was proud of me and the shop.”

Her brows drew together, and she walked across the room to sit beside me on my bed. “Are you serious?”

I nodded. “Crazy, right?”

“It is, but that’s a good thing. Both of your parents should believe in you more than they do. This shop is going to be the best thing you ever did, I’m sure.”

I flung myself back on my bed. “I can’t believe I own my own business! This is crazy!”

“So, miss business owner, since your shop is closed for the day, do you wanna come hang out with me and Tinley?”

I sat up on my elbows. Blaire’s little niece was precious. “Sure, what are you guys doing today?”

“Heading to that little arcade place she loves. They have some new bouncy slide Bonnie said Tinley wants to check out.”

“That sounds fun. Why don’t they make stuff like that for adults?”

“They do. They’re called amusement parks.” Blaire smiled. “Speaking of, Jason wants me to go to that one in Georgia. I hate roller coasters, but he swears it would be the best date ever.”

I laughed. Control freak, studious Blaire trapped on a ride she had no control over—that would be a sight. “Sounds fun to me. Loosen up some! Live a little, will ya?”

She scrunched up her face. “I don’t know, suffering from heart failure while I’m hundreds of feet in the air is not my idea of fun.”

“When was the last time you were on a roller coaster?” I asked.

Her lips pursed together as she thought. “I guess I was about ten?”

“Exactly, you’ve changed a lot since then and might have the time of your life on a roller coaster now. You never know.”

“Point proven.” She smirked. “I’ll think about it. In the meantime, you need to get dressed. I’m supposed to be at Bonnie’s house in an hour. She has a crap ton of stuff to get done today.”

“How’s her business going?”

Bonnie was the owner of an online sewing business she’d created herself. Her husband wasn’t always the most supportive person in the world when it came to her business and helping take care of their daughter, so Blaire often had to watch Tinley on the weekends for her while Bonnie caught up on orders and such.

“It’s going. When I talked to her last week, she said she’d seen a spike in sales and was all excited about it. I’m praying that the increase continues. It would be nice to see her happy about it all again instead of always trying to justify every business purchase and working herself to the bone to come up with new crafty ideas.”

“Yeah, I bet.”

Blaire left the room, and I grabbed some clothes so I could hop in the shower. Spending the day with Blaire and Tinley was going to be fun. It would also keep my mind off the date I had with Cameron tonight.

* * * *

Cameron’s house looked a lot different than it had the night of the Halloween party. It was clean and sophisticated. For having such a bad boy appearance, he sure did stay in a chic, immaculate house.

“I wish they’d let us take one of their margaritas in a to-go cup.” Cameron grinned. “God, they’re the best.”

We’d eaten at Verde Guacamole in Coldcreek, because we agreed if we were going to have Mexican for dinner. Blue Agave in Norhurst was okay, but we both preferred Verde Guacamole.

“I know!” I smiled. “I have no idea how they do it, but I know I could never make a margarita taste that good. Ever.”

Cameron glared at me with a devious gleam shimmering in his hazel eyes. “Wanna try? I have everything to make them here.”

I bit my bottom lip. It was already hard enough to keep my hands off him after only one drink. After having a few more, I bet it would be nearly impossible.

“There’s an extra room upstairs. If we get too carried away with the drinks, you can crash here.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “Although, I will let you know ahead of time that I would prefer you to sleep in my bed—if you decide staying the night is okay that is—and I can be pretty persuasive when I’m drunk.”

My insides shivered at his words. I would definitely enjoy him being a little persuasive with me in that department.

“I’m fine with a few drinks and staying the night,” I admitted. My cheeks caught fire at the flicker of satisfaction shifting through his eyes at my words.

“It’s settled, then.” He licked his lips, and I knew I was in for big trouble tonight. “Blender’s this way.”

I watched him saunter toward the kitchen with butterflies in my stomach.

When I crossed the threshold, I realized the blender and utensils we would need for the margaritas had been set on the counter. Obviously, Cameron had prepared for me to say yes to staying for drinks. A flush of excitement crept through me.

“See, I told you the blender was this way.” He grinned.

A smirk twisted at my lips. “I can see that. Looks like you have everything ready and waiting.”

“Oh, that’s not the only thing ready and waiting,” he muttered in a devilish tone loud enough for me to hear.

That same sense of excitement I’d felt moments before slithered along my spine as a warmth pooled in my stomach. I sunk my teeth into my bottom lip and continued toward the counter, avoiding Cameron’s eyes as I went. He stepped around me and opened the fridge. A bottle of fancy tequila with a name I doubted I would be able to pronounce, a large bowl filled with limes, and a bottle of orange liquor were inside.

Moving all the ingredients from the fridge to the counter in one motion, he glanced at me with a sexy-as-hell smirk twisting his lips. “How strong should we make the first batch?”

I cleared my throat, thinking I wanted them to be pretty damn strong because I was feeling nervous. “Umm, I don’t know. What do you think? Medium?”

He shook his head. “Strong. The first batch always needs to be stronger than the others.”

I cocked my hip to the side. “Then why did you even ask?”

“Because I wanted to know your answer.” He leaned in closer and smiled as though he were about to tell me a dirty little secret. “If you had said not too strong, then I would have known you weren’t really planning on staying the night.”

I arched an eyebrow at him. “And since I said medium?”

He began pouring all the liquids into the blender. “You’re just as ready for this alone time tonight as I am.”

There was no denying the truth to his words, and I wondered if that fact was written all over my face.

CAMERON

If I hadn’t already known Paige was the good girl type, then I would have from the look on her face right now. Most women I dealt with would have taken that as the go-ahead to become seductive and flaunt what they had. Not Paige. She looked as though she wanted to crawl under the counter and never come out. I grabbed some ice from the freezer and tossed it into the blender without taking my eyes off her. She bit her bottom lip and looked everywhere besides at me.

I grabbed a lime and cut it into wedges. Reaching for one of the glasses I’d set out earlier, I traced a wedge along the rim, and then sprinkled it with salt before pouring in the frozen goodness I’d created. Paige continued to fidget where she stood. I was making her nervous. For whatever reason, this made me smile.

“Relax.” I grinned as I handed her a drink. “I don’t bite…unless you want me to.”

She laughed at my innuendo, and put the glass to her lips as though it held the life force she needed to live. “Oh, this is good!”

“Is it?” I rimmed my glass with lime juice, and then salted it before pouring my drink. After taking a swig, I met and held her stare. “You’re right. That is good.” I licked my lips in a slow way, one I knew her eyes couldn’t avoid. Her chest rose and fell noticeably and kick-started my heart.

“Can we move this to the living room or something? These shoes are killing my feet,” she said, her eyes moving from my lips.

“Absolutely.” I grabbed the pitcher, and carried it into the living room with Paige on my heels.