Control You (9 page)

“Yeah, they are,” she agreed with a small smile. She was tense; I could tell. After hanging out with her for most of the day, I noticed the way she carried herself. Right now, it was different. She was tense and tightly wound. She stared at her margarita like there was salvation resting at the bottom of her glass. “I hope the food is just as good. What did you two have?”

It was cute how she attempted to involve Eva in our conversation. She had no clue we weren’t dating. I could tell from the odd expression that kept flickering across her face every time she glanced at the two of us. It was written all over her face that she wondered though. “Fajitas for two.”

Paige’s top lip quivered as she came to the realization that Eva and I were more than friends. It was as though my words had confirmed her suspicions. “Oh, was it any good?”

“The only reason we had that was because it was Cam’s nonchalant way of buying my dinner, even though he knows I always pay for myself whenever we go out. I wanted to try the taco salad.” Eva cocked her head to the side and glared at me all pissy-like. “But Cam wouldn’t let me order for myself.”

“What? Don’t act like the fajitas weren’t the shit.” I chuckled.

Craig whispered something to Paige I couldn’t hear, and her shoulders slumped forward a little. Was he being an ass to her? I glanced around the table. These were most definitely her friends. My guess was lover boy wasn’t too fond of any of them, and that was another reason he wanted to bolt early.

“So where else have you traveled to?” Lauren asked. She flipped her highlighted hair over her shoulder and reached for a chip. “I’d love to travel the world one day. My bank account just couldn’t handle the expense right now—or anytime in the near future for that matter.” She flashed me a little smile.

I thought for a minute. I’d already made myself look like a pompous ass once tonight by naming where I thought Jimmy was from; I didn’t want to list all the places I’d been and have a round two. Besides, naming them would most definitely lead to the question of how I could afford to travel so much, which was something I didn’t feel like getting into tonight. “I’ve been to a few places—California and a few of the other states, London, and Greece, twice.”

“Oh, come on, Cameron, don’t be modest. You’ve left out quite a few places, including your favorite place due to its limitless supply of drugs—Amsterdam,” Craig gritted out.

“No way!” Lauren shouted. “I’ve always wanted to check that place out. Not that I’m a stoner or anything, because I’m not. It just seems so cool on TV.”

“God, Craig, you’re such a dick sometimes,” Eva seethed, beating me to the punch on calling him out. Damn, we were so much alike sometimes it was scary.

“I haven’t been there since I was twenty-one,” I stated, glaring at Craig around Paige. “And it was pretty cool, but an intense place to be, especially at night.”

The waiter came back and finally took everyone’s meal order. The service in this place was crummy. I gulped down a few swigs of my margarita and glanced at Eva. She was in a heavy conversation with Lauren and Blaire. The bracelet I’d given her tonight looked great on her. It even matched the red in her printed top. Thinking of a printed top reminded me of my earlier conversation with Paige.

“Were you able to think any more about what you want your store to be like?” I asked Paige. She was fiddling with the torn edge of her napkin in her lap, smiling at everything everyone was saying.

“No, not really.” Her eyes snapped to me, and I got the impression she didn’t want to discuss the shop further. “It’s just something I’ll have to think about.”

“Okay.” I held her stare. “What about the coffee shop? Did they ever call you back to let you know about the job?”

Her face tensed and she opened her mouth to say something, but Craig cut her off.

“What job?” He shifted to narrow his eyes at Paige. “Did you apply for a new job and not mention anything to me about it? I thought you worked at that place on Connor Street.”

“Umm, they fired me like a week ago,” Paige muttered. She crinkled her nose. “I really suck at selling Christian novels and Bibles.”

“Christian novels and Bibles, huh?” I chuckled at the thought of chic-dressing Paige crammed into a store surrounded by religious trinkets and Bibles she was forced to sell.

“That’s not even the best place she’s worked. You should have seen her when she attempted to sell kitchen appliances. She didn’t even know what half the things she was selling were!” Blaire shouted. Her drink must have been getting to her already, because her words were loud and slightly slurred. Damn, Paige hung around some lightweights.

“I had to Google how to work half of them on my breaks just to learn without looking stupid to the guys I worked with.” Paige laughed. It was a sweet sound—one that was contagious.

“Oh, remember when she worked at the bait and tackle store?” Lauren chimed in.

Paige covered her face with her hands. “Oh my God, don’t even remind me.”

“Wow, sounds like you know how to hold a job,” Craig muttered in a clipped tone. What a pissant.

“Jesus, fucktard, sounds like you need a nap.” I reached around Paige and smacked him in the back of the head.

“No, I just need you to leave. Go back to wherever you came from, Cam. You’re not welcome here. Not by me.” He stood and reached for Paige’s hand. “I’m ready to go.”

“Umm, okay.” Paige frowned. “Can we at least get our food to go?”

“Calm down. Sit.” I stood and locked eyes with Craig. “Sit, damn it. I’ll go. You two stay and eat. Come on, Eva.”

Eva slapped her palms down across the tabletop and sighed. “Well, it was nice meeting you guys.”

“Sorry to cause a scene.” I looked right at Paige as I spoke. “Enjoy your meal.”

Eva looped her arm through mine and we headed to the exit.

“What had him all wound up?” Eva asked as the doors to outside came into view. “That girl of his is way too good for him. He needs someone as fake as he is—someone like Genevieve.”

I laughed so hard I nearly snorted. “I know, right?”

“She’s perfect for you though,” Eva insisted. Her words sent a cold shiver down my spine.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She tilted her head to the side. Her hair spilled over her shoulder and brushed against my arm. “Don’t play me, Cam. I know you like her. In fact, if I didn’t know you any better, I’d say she’s the reason you’re staying in town right now. Normally, the second you sign those papers you’re out of here without hardly even saying goodbye.”

My face scrunched up. I opened the door for her as we exited the restaurant. When had she learned to read me so damn easily? “I came here to get my money and spend some time with my best friend in the area.” I nudged her with my elbow. “Besides, I hardly know her.”

Eva shook her head and grinned. Her heels clicked against the pavement as we walked to where I’d parked. “You’re fucking smitten with her. Admit it.”

I paused once we reached my car, and fished out my pack of menthols and a lighter. Putting a cigarette to my lips, I crammed the pack back in my pocket. My heart pounded in my chest. Eva was right. Fuck. I couldn’t lie to her. She would know.

“And, what if I am?” I lit my cigarette and pulled in a large drag without shifting my eyes from hers.

She folded her arms across her chest and glared at me with a sexy-as-hell gleam in her eyes. It reminded me of the Hemingway saying she’d told me when we’d first met. “Well then, I’d say I won’t rag on you if you end up breaking them up, because I honestly think you’d be doing her a favor—but, only if you treat her well.”

“Eva Bennett, you still hold the power to shock me.” I flashed a grin and took another drag off my cigarette, disbelieving she was giving me the go ahead to break up a couple.

“Good to know.” She winked. She opened the passenger side of my car and slipped in the seat, leaving the door wide open so she could continue to glare at me all smug-like.

I shook my head and took another pull off my cigarette. The thought of breaking up Craig and Paige did seem appealing, but only if I could do so without getting Paige hurt. There was something between us, something strong. I felt it in the heat that sparked between us each time we were near one another. Paige noticed it too, but I knew her type. She wasn’t the kind to act on it. She had morals, values, and respect for people. It was written all over her face. Me, I didn’t give a shit. I took what I wanted. And holy shit, I wanted her.

The realization slapped me across the face. Hard.

PAIGE

The ride back to my apartment was awkward. Guilt sloshed through my stomach over how the night had unfolded, and how Cameron’s presence had affected me. It was silly to feel the way that I did though, when I’d done nothing wrong. I hadn’t even invited him to sit with us, but I couldn’t shake the guilty feeling no matter how hard I tried.

I’d asked Craig to spend the night with me, since Blaire was staying at Jason’s house, but he’d declined. Rejection sliced through my insides, hot and unbearable. I’d poised my head to glance out the window so he wouldn’t see how badly his refusal had stung, even though I knew what had caused his harsh answer. It was because he was thinking about how Cameron had known I was planning to open a clothing shop, as well as that I’d applied for a job at a coffee place, and he hadn’t. My heart pounded as I waited for him to say something.

“Why did he know where you’d applied for a job?” Craig’s words were rough and clipped through the silence of his vehicle. My heart hammered harder in my chest, and my stomach twisted at the sound of his tone.

“He was there when I turned in my application.” My voice sounded small and weak. Mousy even. I cast my eyes to him, watching him take in my words—my excuse—and pick it apart in his mind.

Craig’s grip tightened on the wheel, and I regretted how my words had come out. They’d given him room for skepticism, something that wasn’t going to better the situation. “He mentioned something about you having a store. What store?”

“A clothing store.” My eyes dropped to my fingers in my lap. Why did talking to Craig right now make me feel so small and childlike, as though I were being scolded for something? “It’s something I’ve been mulling over for a while now. I’d like to open up one soon, like a brand-name consignment shop or something. Cameron had some great ideas for it.”

“Oh, really? Sounds like the two of you spent quite a while talking.” He shifted his eyes from the road to glance at me for a split-second. They were dark and hard. “Did you sit in the coffee shop together?”

My stomach knotted, and my throat grew dry at his mocking tone. “We stood there for a little while talking, but that was it. It was just a quick conversation.” The lie spewed from my lips before I had a second to think about what I was saying. All I wanted was for this conversation to be over, for the tension to lessen.

He released a deep breath, but I noticed it did nothing to relax the muscles in his face. “I don’t want you talking to him again.”

Panic stabbed through me from his sharp tone. It was demanding and threatening at the same time. “Okay?”

I didn’t understand why it was that big of a deal to him. We’d only just met. It wasn’t as if Cameron and I were exes or something. There was no reason for Craig to be jealous, if that was what this was all about. The memory of how I’d felt when Cameron’s knee had brushed against mine tonight crashed through me, followed by guilt. Maybe there was a reason for him to be jealous. Maybe he was perceptive of how people felt about one another. He needed to realize that while I did find Cameron attractive, there was no way I would ever cheat on him. I knew what that felt like firsthand, and I refused to make anyone ever feel the way I had because of it.

We pulled into the parking lot of my apartment complex and Craig cut the engine on his Explorer. “I meant what I said before, Paige. I don’t like Cameron. He’s an addict and you really need to stay away from him. Don’t talk to him again. Understood?” His eyes penetrated mine in a haunting way, and I sunk back into my seat a little farther.

“I said okay,” I muttered. I didn’t like his tone or his threatening glare. What the hell had gotten into him? He was starting to freak me out.

Craig’s lips twisted into a frown. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re afraid of me.” His words were soft, and a complete contradiction to the expression still etched onto his face and the tension swirling through his eyes.

“I’m not.”

“Yeah, you are.” His glare softened and he reached out to cup my chin. “I’m not trying to scare you. I just don’t like him. Cameron is not a good guy,” he insisted. He kept saying that, but never gave me a real reason for why other than Cameron was an addict, though I had yet to see if that was true. The few times I’d been in Cameron’s presence, he hadn’t seemed messed up on anything. Moreover, even if he was an addict, it didn’t necessarily mean he was a bad person. Most addicts were just lost or hurting. “Does your offer for me to stay the night still stand?”

My stomach muscles tensed. I didn’t care for his sudden moodiness, but I wasn’t about to deny him the invitation I’d given earlier. It would make the situation between us ignite again, which was something I wanted to avoid. I didn’t like angry Craig. I liked this Craig though—the soft-featured, sexy, smiling Craig.

“If you’re accepting.”

“Oh, I’m accepting.” He leaned in and kissed me. His warm lips grazed against mine in the softest of ways, sending shivers to my lower regions, and erasing any lingering emotions from a moment ago. “Definitely accepting. I have to rectify this night with you.”

“And just how are you planning to do that?” My mind buzzed with a mixture of excitement and want. I didn’t think I’d ever gone from one emotion to another so fast. Things with Craig were intense, that was for sure.

His tongue slipped across my bottom lip as he pulled it into the hot recesses of his mouth. My insides quivered from the action. “Invite me into your bed, little miss, and I just might show you how I plan to salvage the night.”