Smitten (10 page)

Chapter Twelve

Cami-

I slid the framed photo of Hunter and me embracing into the drawer. Glancing around my room, I felt satisfied I’d removed any mementos that might not support our new supposed relationship. I hated putting those things away—hiding pieces of our time together—but I knew I needed to do as Chris had asked. Safety was the most important thing.

There was a knock on the door, and I was surprised to find Russ on the other side.

“Where were you last night?” he asked, looking worried. “I tried calling you, but I never got an answer.”

“Sorry,” I apologized. “I didn’t always have my phone with me. Last night was a little crazy. Hunter called me to meet him, and things got a bit weird when the guy he’s tailing showed up.”

“Wow. That’s kind of scary. Did it blow his cover?”

I gestured for him to enter and closed the door behind him. “No, thankfully. But now I’m officially his ‘foster sister.’” I made quotation signals in the air. “He’s hoping I won’t have to be involved anymore, but the police gave me a new identity anyway—just in case.”

Russ grinned. “So you’re undercover now too? That’s so cool. I wanna help.”

I laughed. “It’s nothing as glamorous as all that. They needed to make me fit into their story is all. Hunter seemed really worried that Ripper was into me, though. He’s convinced he’s going to start following me around. They had to work at getting me out of there this morning without him seeing. Chris ended up driving me to Hunter’s car on his way to work, while Hunter kept Ripper occupied.”

“Ripper? That’s an interesting name.”

“Yeah, it is, I guess. It was actually strange to talk to him. I mean, yes, I could tell he was a total player, and at moments he had this tough edge about him, but he was nice too. He was pretty easy to talk to. It’s hard to imagine he could be involved in something bad, or might even be a killer.”

“Hmmm, I can see why Hunter doesn’t want you around him if that’s the case.”

“He wasn’t thrilled about it.”

“I thought he wasn’t supposed to contact any of his family and friends while this investigation was ongoing.”

I sighed and pulled a chair out from my desk for him. “He wasn’t. He broke the rules, and I let him.”

He sat down. “And now he’s kicking himself for it, I bet.”

“You got that right.”

“
Well, I guess I'll have to keep a better eye on you then. Gotta make sure you're safe. I don't want Hunter coming after me if I don’t protect you like he expects.”

“
You don't need to babysit me,” I said laughing. “I'm a big girl, and I can take care of myself, regardless of what Hunter thinks.”

“
That may be,” Russ replied, leaning back onto his elbows as he stared at me. “But I'm not taking any chances. Hunter would slit my throat if something happened to you.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head.
“He loves you too much to do anything like that. Especially after he saved your life once already. He’d never do anything to hurt you—you know that.”

He shrugged.
“Would you risk his full wrath to find out if that's true?”

I laughed heartily.
“Point taken.”

“
Did you get your math homework done?”

“
I did. Are you ready for the big test?” I went to the bed to get my bag and books sitting there.

“
No, but then again, I doubt I ever will be. I'll walk with you to class, though—might as well get the torture over with.” He gave a hefty sigh of defeat.

I chuckled again.
“I'm sure it won’t be that bad.”

“I beg to differ,” he replied. “Not all of us are mathematical geniuses like you. The rest of us humble folk have to be content to wallow in the shadows of people like you, Oh Great One.”

I couldn’t help my snort. “Whatever! You’re so full of crap! You’re amazing and you know it!”

He gave me a warm stare. “You know, I wish we would’ve known each other better in high school. You’re a pretty awesome chick. I totally see why Hunter digs you so much.” He opened the door
, and I followed him out.

“Yeah, it’s too bad everyone is so worried about cliques and social status.”

“That wasn’t why I didn’t talk to you.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised. “Why then?”

“You were too intimidating.”

I laughed. “Excuse me? How?”

“You were this gorgeous, smart girl. What girl like you would pay attention to a guy like me?”

I stared at him, my jaw hanging open. “You’re not serious, are you? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? You’re a great looking guy, with a spectacular personality. Any girl would be lucky to have you!”

“And that right there is precisely why I couldn’t talk to you. You use words like spectacular. That’s intimidating to us hard-to-educate people. Big words are hard to comprehend.”

I laughed. “Comprehend is almost as big as spectacular. There’s only on
e letter difference.”

He shook his head. “You’re only proving my point more. Who knows that kind of stuff? Besides, one letter makes a world of difference!”

“You’re sure about that?” I couldn’t help laughing when Russ was around. He always brought a smile to my face.

“Positive.”

“How do you figure?”

He paused and put his hands on his hips staring me down. “You don’t need a reason. It is because I say it is. That’s all that matters.”

I bit my lip, unable to hide my smile.

“What?” he asked.

“You sounded like my parents.”

He hung his head in defeat and gave a sigh. “You
’ve completely deflated my ego.”

“Well it’s a good thing I happen to enjoy spending time with the ego-less
then, isn’t it?” I linked my arm through his and started dragging him toward the lobby door. “Come on. We’re going to be late for class.”

My phone vibrated in my pocket as I stepped out of class into the warm desert air. I checked it, finding a message from Hunter, and opened it while I hurried toward the parking lot, eager to get into the air-conditioned Camaro.

Miss U, Si
s
.

Miss U 2, Br
o
, I answered back, happy to hear from him
.
How R U
?

It had been a week since I’d last seen him. He didn’t contact me too often, and I never sent texts to him unless he texted first. I was too worried I’d mess things
up. Occasionally, he’d call me, usually late at night when he was at his house alone with Chris. He told me he was spending several nights with Roberta now at Ripper’s to help keep appearances. They wanted him to think the relationship had progressed to the next level.

I couldn’t help the jealousy that flared in my heart, and I’d remained silent, not knowing what to say. He’d read my thoughts correctly and rushed to reassure me that nothing was going on
, and I could trust him. That was the problem. I did trust
him
; it was
her
I wasn’t too sure about.

Ok. Working. How’s school
?
I remembered he’d told me Ripper had gotten him a job as a tow truck driver with the auto body shop he worked for.

I continued my memorized path to the car while I started texting him back.

“You’re a difficult one to find, you know that?”

Simply
hearing his voice made me freeze in my tracks. I looked up to find Ripper leaning against the hood of the Camaro, arms folded, and his legs stretched casually out in front of him. He glanced over me appreciatively and gave a low whistle.

“Girl, you look better than I even remembered, and that’s saying something. I guess you are worth all the effort I’ve put into tracking you down.”

My voice was stuck behind a knot in my throat as I struggled to think of something to say. I forced a smile to my lips. “Hi, Ripper,” I managed to choke out as I glanced around. “Is Hunter here with you?” I sent a silent plea heavenward, hoping he was even though I knew he wasn’t. There was no way he’d leave me alone with this guy.

“No. Your brother is working. He’s very elusive when it come
s to extracting information about you.” He chuckled as he stood and walked to me. He was too close—way too close. I had to force myself not to step away and run screaming for help. He lifted a strand of my hair and ran it between his fingers. “I don’t think Hunter wants me to date you, but that doesn’t matter.” He leaned in next to my ear. “I pretty much always get what I want.”

I couldn’t help the tremble that ran through me at his words, and I wondered if he could see my pulse pounding in my neck. My heart was racing so badly I felt like I might be having a heart attack.

Get a backbone, Cami,
I silently spoke to myself. “My brother has no say about who I date, but you might want to talk to
me
about it. I don’t go out with just anyone. I’m a little picky.” Slipping back into the role I’d played the other night seemed appropriate in this situation, and I hoped I sounded self-confident and sure of myself like I had then. It was a lot harder without Hunter at my side.

“Hmmm
 . . . is that so?” He kept his face close enough to mine I could feel his breath blowing against my cheek. “I’m always up for a good challenge.”

“Cami!” Another voice interrupted us and Ripper stepped back, breaking the closeness between us. I couldn’t help releas
e a sigh of relief when I saw Russ jogging toward us. He stopped beside me, giving me a hug before loosely draping his arm around my shoulders. “How’re you doing?” he asked, with a concerned stare.

“I’m good. How are you? I was just getting ready to call you,” I lied.

“Who’s this?” Ripper interrupted. He glanced between the two of us, eyes narrowing.

I decided my best option was to go with the truth in this case. It was easier than trying to remember everything I’d been told and fabricating a lie on the spot. “I’m sorry. Ripper this is Russ. He’s one of Hunter’s and my best friends.” I hoped to high heaven I wasn’t messing anything up. “Russ, this is Ripper Rivera. He and Hunter work together now.
Apparently they bonded over their love of cars.”

Russ made no move to shake hands with Ripper, instead giving him a nod. “Nice to meet ya, man,” he said cordially. “Hunter told me he had a new car buddy. That’s cool. I hardly see him these days between all my schooling and work.”

I tried not to look shocked. Russ was a cool liar under pressure. Evidently, I was the only one who didn’t have this talent.

“I wasn’t aware you knew our Cami here too, though,” he continued on, keeping his arm draped around me possessively.

“We’ve only met once,” I said. “I was quite surprised to find him here today.”

Ripper smiled smugly. “What can I say? You made a good impression the other night. I haven’t been able to get you out of my head since.” He was making his intentions extremely clear to Russ.

“I’ve got to say, I’m surprised Hunter told you how to get hold of her. If there’s one thing I know about him, it’s that he’s very overprotective of his little sister. He’s run off every guy who ever wanted to date her—at least the ones I know of.”

I gave an exaggerated eye roll.
“Hunter is a bit of a control freak—I’ll give you that. He’s always been there for me when I needed him, though.” I paused, narrowing my eyes at him suspiciously. “But you said he didn’t tell you how to find me—so how did you?”

Ripper grinned, showing off his perfect smile. He really was a good-looking guy. I was sure many girls had fallen prey to his charms.

“I’m great at sniffing people out,” was all he offered.

“Meaning what exactly?” Russ asked, clearly unsatisfied with that response.

“Meaning, I drove around campus several times until I found her car. I was unsuccessful the first couple of tries, but today was my lucky day. Once I found it, I just sat here and waited for her.”

Russ turned and glanced over my shoulder, giving a cough into his fist. “Stalker much?” he whispered before turning back to Ripper. “How long have you been sitting out here?”

Ripper glanced at an expensive looking watch on his wrist. “Oh, about an hour and a half.”

Russ raised his eyebrows. “Wow. You’re determined.”

“Very,” Ripper replied. “So how about it, Cami?”

I was confused. “How about what?”

“How about a date? I’d like to take you to dinner. Maybe we could go clubbing or something. I’d love to dance up-close to that sweet, sexy body of yours.” He certainly had no qualms about laying it on thick right off the bat.

I heard a disgusted snort escape Russ. “Cami’s not old enough to go clubbing. They won’t let her in.”

Ripper waved him off. “That’s not an issue. I’m a friend of the bouncer at the club I want to go to. He’ll let her in if she’s with me.”

“What club is that?” Russ asked.