Oceans Apart (Ocean Dreams Book 1) (10 page)

“I see.” Tracey’s disdain for the man in front of her was now obvious with her upper lip sneering at him. Moving to the door, Tracey said, “Well, don’t come crying to me if this little adventure of yours turns to shit.” She marched passed them both but stopped at the door, turned around, and ended her performance with, “And Annie, don’t think this guy is hanging around for long. I can tell from just looking at him that he is a player from way back.” Throwing her sunglasses back over her eyes, Tracey turned and left.

Cam shut the door to the suite. “Good riddance.” He turned around and noticed that Annie was gone. He checked the bedroom and bathroom but found no sign of her. Stepping out onto the balcony, he found her sitting on the ground, huddled up in the corner. Her arms were wrapped around her knees like she was trying to comfort herself. He sat on the edge of the closest chair to her, not knowing what to say.

“I’m sorry.” Annie spoke first. She lifted her head up and looked at Cam. Tears were falling down her cheeks, which were red with embarrassment.

“What? Why are you sorry? You’ve got nothing to be sorry for at all.”

Annie sniffed and let out a sigh. She was feeling all mixed up inside. Was Tracey right? Should she just move back to Nashville and carry on with life as it was? No, that wasn’t the answer. Annie was actually more concerned about what Tracey had said about Cam. Was he a player? Women did give him a hell of a lot of attention. Why would a famous and drop dead gorgeous man be spending time with her if it wasn’t just for sex?

“Annie, talk to me. What’s going on up there in that mind of yours?”

“I just….It’s just….” She didn’t know how to ask him.

“Is it just sex? Is that the reason you’re with me? Am I just some foreign booty that has caught your interest while you are getting over your concussion? Is that it?” Annie stood and was now angry. Angry at herself for thinking someone like Cam would find her appealing. Angry with Tracey for turning up here. Angry at the thought of Cam using her for sex. Part of her didn’t want to confront him because she feared his answer. She was a nobody. He was a somebody. He wouldn’t or couldn’t want her. Now, she felt used. Her good feelings had completely disappeared and she considered asking him to leave rather than have him answer the question. Before she could express what she was feeling,

Cam moved in front of her and grabbed Annie on either side of her arms. “Hey! Now wait just a minute. Don’t take your anger out on me.” He looked down at her and she was staring at him. “Your sister had no right to come here and say those things to you. You are an amazing woman. Don’t let her get to you.”

“But are you using me for sex?”

“Annie, I have spent the last week with you. If I were using you for sex, I would have taken you that first morning at my place. Trust me; I wanted you. I wanted to throw you over the kitchen counter and take you there and then but something in my gut told me you were different. That I needed to take it slower with you. I’ve done that.”

“You’ve done that?” Annie said with indignation. She stood to her full height and crossed her arms across her body.

“Oh, shit!” He ran his hands back and forth through his hair as he stood up and paced the balcony. He moved toward her until their noses were nearly touching and said, “Annie! Listen to me. You make me want to stop and take my time with you. I’m in no hurry when I’m around you. I want to enjoy each and every moment that we share. Yeah okay, it’s never been like this in the past but please, give me a chance. I’m probably gonna fuck things up and if I do, I won’t mean to. You, my Nashville Angel, have sparked something inside of me and I don’t want to let you go.”

Annie just stared into his blue eyes trying to work out if he meant it. Shit! It was time for her to take a leap of faith too. Grabbing his head and pulling it toward hers, she kissed him hard on the mouth. Cam was caught with surprise but then took over and pushed her back against the wall of the hotel. He grabbed her ass and lifted her up, pushing his rapidly growing erection against her core. Annie’s hand suddenly smacked him on the chest.

“Wait a minute,” she said breathlessly.

“What the….”

“Let’s take this inside. We don’t want you making the headlines for something other than your sporting prowess, now do we?”

“No, ma’am. Then everyone would know I am good at something other than surfing.”

Annie looked at him and smiled. “I haven’t seen you really surf, so there is no comparison yet.”

“Cheeky girl.” He carried Annie inside and threw her on the bed. She knew she was about to be shown a good time. It crossed her mind that if he were even half as good a surfer as he was in bed, it was no wonder he was the world champion.

Annie was lying across Cam’s chest with her eyes closed. Her golden hair fanned out across him and tickled his side when she moved slightly. He knew she wasn’t asleep as he had watched her sleep the night before and knew how her breathing slowed down when she was relaxed.

“Annie.”

“Hmm. What’s up?” she said from beneath her eyelashes.

“I have something I want to ask you.”

She raised her head up and placed her arm across his chest to help prop herself up. “Okay. Shoot.”

Inhaling deeply before letting it out slowly he said, “Would you like to come and stay with me? While you’re here in Sydney.”

Annie didn’t move but he could tell her stare was getting more intense and questioning.

“The beach is right at my door. It would save you money not having to be here, too.” He pleaded his case to her.

“I can afford to stay here.” Annie’s lips pressed together. Was she pissed? He wasn’t sure.

“You shared the how and why you can afford to stay here, but it would be bloody awesome to have you with me all day and wake up to you every morning, too.” And with that statement, her face softened and a smiled appeared. She leaned up and placed a light kiss on his lips.

“Are you sure it’s just not so you can have me whenever the urge takes you?” she questioned him sarcastically.

“Well, yeah. That too.” Annie’s eyebrows raised in surprise and Cam laughed at her. “Joking.”

She smacked him on the chest with a smile. “I would love to. Thank you for asking.”

She put her head back on his chest and he pulled her in tightly toward him. He’d had girlfriends before, but there was something so unique about Annie. She was refreshing and seemed equally as keen to spend time with him and get to know him. Cam wanted her in his life for as long as she would stick around. He really couldn’t believe how this one woman was making him feel so good, both in and out of the bedroom.

Five minutes had passed of peaceful bliss in each other’s arms before he said, “Crap! I forgot just one thing.”

“What?”

“I have to go away for a few days. I have a sponsor commitment I have to keep in Hawaii. No way I can get out of it.”

“Oh. Sure. No problem. I understand.” She turned over onto her back and put her head up on the pillow while drawing the sheet up to her chin. Was he trying to back out of this now he had thought about it a little more?

Nah…you don’t get it. It really is a quick trip. I get there, spend two nights, and then I’m on the plane home again. Nothing that exciting.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “What! Hawaii isn’t exciting? Bullshit.”

“That’s not what I meant. I have meetings with my sponsors and Hawaii is just where they are. Anyway, I would love to take you but they are seriously boring. We would hardly see each other. And you could stay at my place with Bowie and have company.”

Annie sat upright in a flash and turned to him, pulling the bed sheet to her. “So you want me to dog sit for you. Have I got that right?”

“No. I didn’t mean that either.” But Annie was up and in the bathroom before he could grab her and hold her down to listen. He needed to backpedal this conversation and fast. He tried the door to the bathroom but, of course, it was locked.

He leaned his head on the wooden board. “Listen, Nashville. I just meant that being at my place you would have the company of Bowie. Not that you would be there just to look after her and the house.”

He was met with no reply. “Annie. If I didn’t have to go, I would stay with you. Be with you. But this is business and as much as I hate it, it pays my bills.”

The sound of the lock made Cam step back a little. “Please talk to me, baby,” he pleaded at the door just before it opened slowly. A confused looking Annie stood there, now dressed in a bathrobe, but she didn’t say anything.

Cam sighed. “Listen, I would just feel better knowing you were there. Does making sure who and what I care about is safe and sound, make me a bad person?” Annie slowly shook her head.

“I always take care of what is mine.”

Annie raised her eyes at him. “Yours?”

“Yes.” He moved to her and placed his hand on her waist. Pulling Annie in close, he kissed her on her head. The lavender scent emanating from her locks was intoxicating to him. “Mine.”

Annie snuggled closer to him. Cam closed his eyes and let out a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding. A wash of relief went throughout his body and he picked Annie up and carried her back to bed.

The last five days had been amazing to Annie. After vacating the suite at the Park Hyatt, Cam brought her straight to his place where she was met with a warm welcome from Bowie. Cam made her feel so at home in his house. He had even given her some space in the walk-in robe, which made Annie laugh. It was a small but sweet gesture and she knew not many guys would have done the same.

The two days before Cam left for Hawaii were active to say the least. If they weren’t down at the beach, they were in bed getting to know each other. Annie had made a pact with herself to just relax and enjoy whatever came her way. This Surfing God made her all giddy on the inside, something that was new but not unwanted. She had read many trashy romance novels where the heroine fell in love instantly with the hero, but never in a million years believed it could actually be true. Not that she was in love with Cam…or was she? She had never been in love with a man before so how would she know if she was? In lust….yes. But in love…



The home telephone was one reason Annie wasn’t sure about her feelings. It felt like it was constantly ringing while Cam was away. He had told her just to let all calls go through to the answering machine so he could return them when he got back. The one thing she did notice was that all the calls were women looking for his whereabouts. Every Kristy, Alicia, and Brittany under the sun wanted to find out when she would see him again. There was one girl called ‘Sea’ who was more than persistent, usually calling three times a day. ‘
Ugh
,’ she thought. ‘
Tracey was right.’
He must have played the field quite a lot before her arrival. She shouldn’t be jealous of this but it certainly made her mad that these girls were still calling. Maybe he would dump her once he arrived home and rang one of his ‘on call’ floozies? He seemed to have a bevy of beauties so why was he with her at all?

Putting these thoughts into the back of her mind, Annie went and fetched Bowie’s leash and decided it was time for a run. This was a surefire way for her to clear her mind of her feelings for the blue-eyed Aussie.

Annie reduced her speed down to a slow jog as she approached the wooden fence at Cam’s house. Bowie was so well trained that Annie had let her off the leash and Bowie just ran next to her. Annie opened the gate and Bowie trotted in. Reaching the back door, Annie saw the dog scratching at the door. “Bowie! Stop that! Just give me a second to open it,” she told the impatient dog. Unlocking the door, Annie opened it and Bowie ran in and straight up the stairs to the first floor. Something didn’t seem right to Annie so she followed quickly behind the dog.

Reaching the landing at the top of the stairs, Annie couldn’t see where Bowie had gone, but she could hear the voice of a female out on the balcony. Anxious but angry too, Annie marched her way out to see who the voice belonged to. What she saw was a buxom beauty giving lots of love and attention to Bowie, and the sweet dog was lapping it all up. Bowie seemed to know her, which eased Annie’s mind that this wasn’t an intruder, but Annie wasn’t giving this stranger too much leeway.