The Real Me (How to Tame a Heartbreaker Book 4) (16 page)

"That's not true. The person you knew is the real Cam. I know it because I can see how
hurt he is. He hates himself for lying to you and he wants you back so bad it's killing him.  He's an absolute mess."

Jax felt the oddest sense of relief at
Hannah's words. "Why isn't he here right now instead of you?"

"Because he's not okay to drive and/or even leave his apartment
right now. He's sloppy drunk and it seems like he's been that way for a little while. Jason said he's never seen him that torn up. He's there with him now."

Jax sighed. "I
really don't know what to do. My head tells me not to trust him but my heart's trying to disagree."

Chapter 17

Hannah sat at the bar and had two Cokes and a glass of water before she decided to leave Jax alone. She would have left sooner than that, but she couldn't help but notice the amazing amount of male attention Jax was getting, so she stuck around out of curiosity. She'd seen Jax in action as a bartender but never sat and watched her. She was good. She handled the customers and made drinks so expertly that Hannah stuck around to see her in action a little bit.

There was a dark-haired mal
e bartender next to her that was blatantly hitting on her, and Hannah wondered if it was always like that when Jax came to work. She managed to laugh off his advances, but they were frequent and obvious, and Hannah couldn't help but think that Cam would flip if he witnessed this behavior.

"Does he like you or something?" Hannah asked when Jax came over to stand in front of her.

"Who, Byron?" Jax flicked her bar towel in his direction like he was harmless. "He's harmless."

Hannah screwed up her face, showing her distaste. "Did he act like that when Cam was here?"

Jax thought about it. "Probably not as bad. He's always been a flirt, but he's been more annoying with it lately."

"I don't think Cam would like that." Hannah was relieved to be able to call him by his real name, but it still sounded funny to Jax.

"I don't think Cam's opinion really matters to me right now."

It was a lie and they both knew it.

Hannah just smiled sweetly at her. "Come on. Just give it a chance. He's really a good guy even if you two got off to a bad start." Hannah paused to think. "I don't know if this will make you happy or scare you, but I think he's thinking long term with you, which I'm pretty sure is some kind of miracle."

Jax had to leave the conversation to pay attention to other customers, but Hannah's words
had already taken root in her heart. Hannah hadn't noticed Jax being sad before, but she watched her serve drinks, and could clearly see that her smile had shifted from fake to genuine. It seemed as though her work was done. She got Jax's attention with a little wave and Jax walked over as she was shaking a martini.

"You outta here?"

"I think so. How much do I owe you?"

"I got it," Jax said, smiling. "It's just a Coke."

"Hey one more thing," Hannah said, standing and leaning over the bar. Jax leaned in. "He didn't set out to lie to you," she said. Jax had been staring down at the bar when Hannah was speaking, but her eyes snapped up to meet Hannah's. "He just enjoyed going places without being famous. It get's tiring having to put your best foot forward all the time. Anyway, I think it was meant to be pretty innocent, and he never factored falling in love."

Hannah put a ten-do
llar bill on the bar as a tip as she turned with a smile. Jax tried to refuse it, but Hannah just shrugged her off.

"Hey," Jax said. Hannah looked back at her even
though she was about to walk off. "Thanks for coming here tonight."

The bar was only getting busier, so Hannah just gave her a
smile. Jax felt for the first time in three days that she might be able to give herself permission to at least
think
about talking to him.

Hannah called Jason as soon as she got in her car. He'd been with Cam all afternoon and into the evening and Hannah figured he'd be ready for a ride home. "Hannnnaaaa, my love," Jason said answering the phone.

"Oh Lord," she said.

"I had a few drinks with Cam, I'm afraid," he said, slowly "but he's the one you should worry about because he's had
way
more than me."

"Do you want a ride home or are you staying at Cam's?"

"We are both staying here. He has like eighteen hundred bedrooms."

"He has four bedrooms, and who do you mean by both? You and Cam?"

"No girl. Me and you. I want to put my Johnson in your holes."

"Oh good God, Jason. You better behave."

"Come on now, you know you want it."

She could tell by his
voice that he was smiling. She imagined the possibilities of drunk sex with Jason, and decided she'd be stupid to pass. She paused for several seconds and Jason gave up waiting for her response.

"I'm sorry," he sa
id. "I was just being honest. I'm just hard as a rock and I want to be in your holes pretty bad."

"Shut-up you asshole!" Cam yelled miserably from the background.

Hannah rolled her eyes even though they couldn't see her. "I'm on my way over there. Do y'all need anything?"

"Juss you lil mama."

Hannah decided to wait until she got there to tell Cam she been to see Jax. She got a hard time from Brian at the door who said Cam hadn't called down to let him know she was coming. She had to call Jason again and let Brian talk to their drunk asses in order to be granted permission to go upstairs.

Cam and Jason were both sitting around barefoot with jeans
and a T-shirt, sprawled out on each a couch looking at the television, which was playing a movie. It was one of those where the whole thing was a high-speed car chase, so she didn't expect to be able to get their attention.

She went over and gave Jason
a kiss on the head. "I'm going to go take a shower," she said, mostly to Jason. He smiled and nodded. Cam didn't look at her at all. "I went to Bing's just now," she said. She didn't say it very loud. She was actually testing how quietly she could say it and still get Cam's attention.

Jason's head popped up, but his reaction was
insignificant compared to Cam's. Cam sat up on the edge of the couch as if he'd been struck by lightning.

"What did you just say?" he asked. He gave Hannah a menacing stare that made her think for the first time that maybe he wouldn't be happy about it.

"I just went by there to see if I could talk to Jax for a minute."

Cam was pissed that she'd done it, but he couldn't make his face show her that. He smiled broadly at the sound of her name and the possibility that Hannah had some news on her. Hannah smiled back at him.

"I think she really likes you, Cam. You should've seen how her smile changed after I talked to her."

"You
talked
to her? Jax? What'd she say? When did you do this? Why didn't you tell me this when you first came in the door? You've been here for like twenty minutes and you're
just
thinking to tell me this?"

"I just got here, Cameron." Hannah called him that when she was being silly, and the way he flipped out over hearing that she'd talked to Jax made her feel silly. She laughed. "You're so in love," she said.

"What did she say?" Cam asked, ignoring her.

"
She said you
suck
for lying to her, which she's right about. But I could tell she was happy that I went by there."

"Really? Why? What'd she say?"

"It wasn't what she said so much, it was that I could just tell what I said made her feel better."

"What did you say?"

"I just said my piece about the whole thing. I told her you're a good guy and you didn't mean to hurt her and things like that."

"Are you
freaking serious? Get over here girl!" Cam reached out to tickle her out of sheer adrenaline, and Hannah laughed and squirmed away before he could.

"I'm taking a shower," she said
, still laughing.

"Wait! Do you think I should call her?"

"No dude," Jason said. "You have to give that a day to simmer." Jason felt smart and philosophical when he was drunk and spoke like an expert. "Let her think about whatever Hannah said. You can't seem too desperate."

"I
am
desperate."

"Yeah, but she can't know that. Women can smell desperation
from a mile away and they hate that shit."

"Bull. You were totally desperate with Hannah. You were down on your knees desperate."

Jason didn't say anything for a few seconds. "All right, call her if you want. But I still think you should let this one simmer."

Cam ultimately decided to take
Jason's advice, which was good since it had Jax wondering when and if she'd ever hear from him again. She thought by the way Hannah talked that Cam was pretty adamant about making things work, and that made her sort of expect a call or text that night. She worked until after two, and was awake till almost four, and all that time, not a peep from Cam.

She fel
l asleep feeling like she might have blown it. She replayed the knife incident, telling herself she'd surely scared him away. She hadn't planned on pulling it on him. It was just instinct, or maybe she was just showing off. Either way, by the time Jax fell asleep she talked herself into believing he'd never call.

The next day was Saturday.

Cam was planning on going to see her at work that night, but couldn't decide if he should tell her he was coming, or just show up. He slept most of the day away and by late afternoon, just decided to show up rather than tell her he was coming. He got a text from Hannah at around dinnertime.

Hannah: "I forgot to tell you. Don't get in a fight with that bartender who flirts with her."

Cam called Hannah right when he read the text (which was several minutes after she sent it).

"What bartender?" he asked when he heard her pick up the phone.

"It's the one who works right next to her—the guy with the dark hair. He flirts."

"I've seen him there."

Hannah paused. "I don't think you've seen this."

"Oh screw that."

"Don't get in a fight, Cam. Neil would kill you. It'd be bad for your career."

"Kick his ass!" Jason yelled from the background.

"Shut-up," she said. "Seriously, it's not worth it. She's not interested and she said it was harmless."

"Then why'd you warn me about it?"

"Because I know you, and you needed to be warned."

"You're probably right, but I'm not saying I'm gonna listen to you."

"Well, at least you know what to expect."

"It must be pretty bad."

"It is."

"Shit."

"Don't do it."

"Thanks for telling me."

"Do you want Jason and I to come out with you?" she asked. They'd already been over this and discussed that Cam wanted to go alone.

"I got this."

"All right. Talk to you soon."

They disconnected, and Cam smiled, thinking about how happy he'd be to confront that douche.
He had an overabundance of testosterone going already, and this bartender might just be the perfect outlet. Hannah's words rolled around in his head like an angel sitting on his shoulder.
Don't do it. Think about your career.
He really didn't care who he had to fight or if it was no one at all.

He
only wanted her.

Jax.

She was the one—he knew it in his bones.

Cam contemplated the likelihood of going out alone and undisguised
causing problems. That was something he hadn't done since he'd reached his current level of fame, and some sort of uproar might be a possibility.

That was something else that didn't matter. He had to have her and going in disguise
to get her wasn't an option.  He didn't tell Neil he was going out alone. He snuck out of his apartment using a combination of stairs and the civilian elevator, and wore a baseball cap and a pair of glasses with tinted lenses even though it was dark outside.

He should have probably had Reggie drive him, but he drove his Chevy just because he wanted to.
Cam decided to leave his glasses in the truck when he made it to Bing's. He kept on the baseball cap, but was easily recognizable. It would have been far worse if he'd had on a cowboy hat, though. He walked to the front of the line, trying to act as if he had an agenda and hoping he'd cause as little a stir as possible.

He heard snickers and whispers and saw
three or four people lift up their phones to take a picture but he'd advanced so quickly that no one really had time to be sure it was really him. The bouncer made eye contact with him and immediately opened the rope to let him in through.

"Do you have any
body with you?" he asked, as Cam walked past him.

"No."

"
I'm
with him!" a female yelled from the line.

Cam glanced over his shoulder at the line and shot them a
dazzling, white smile. At least ten girls whooped and hollered at the sight as Cam turned and headed into the bar.