The Real Me (How to Tame a Heartbreaker Book 4) (17 page)

Chapter 18

Why in the world would Hannah have come to visit last night if Cam wasn't even interested in talking to her?
Jax waited for Cam to contact her all day, but she never heard from him. Her mood had gotten worse as the day progressed and he still never called. She went to work that night with little hope she'd hear from him, and honestly, didn’t even know if she
wanted
to or not. Her feelings were all over the freaking place, and for the second night in a row, she was dreading going to work.

She had no problem putting on a smile and faking it, but it was exhausting to do that, and she didn't look forward to the extra effort.
Two hours into her shift, she got lost in the business and had an easier time ignoring the disappointment and heartache that had been nagging at her all day.

The band was just finishing up sound check, and already, people were standing two deep at the bar. Jax glanced beyond the people standing at the bar when she heard someone
let out a sharp shrill whistle. That was something that happened every now and then, especially when a band was about to go on, but for some reason it caught Jax's attention and she glanced into the crowded bar.

Her gaze stopped on a guy who was walking through the crowd and focused completely on her.
She hadn't ever seen him like this, but she knew immediately who it was.

Cam.

He was familiar and a stranger all at once, and she struggled to know what to do, or say, or think. She could do nothing but watch him approach. She knew she should take her eyes off him—begged herself to do it, but she just couldn't. She had watched her fair share of his music videos since she figured out who he was, and she knew the curves of his face even though she hadn't actually seen them in person without the beard. He was an all-American, blue-eyed, big-lipped, all-sorts-of gorgeous creature, and Jax was not only unable to look away from him, she was unable to breathe.

After a few seconds, t
he beer she was holding started to make her hand cold, which reminded her she needed to give it to the customer who ordered it. She smiled and handed it to the guy in exchange for a five-dollar bill. She went to dig change out of her apron and he told her she could to keep it.

Once she finished this very short transaction
, her gaze shifted back to where Cam should have been and she realized he was already pushing his way to the front of the bar. Actually, by the looks of the people around him, he didn't have to do any pushing at all. It was more like Moses parting the Red Sea—people just made a path for him and he walked down it.

He stared right at her with an unreadable expression.
Unable to do anything else, she smiled broadly at him. She could see the crowd start to stir with excited whispers and giggles as recognition sank in.

Jax's eye's shifted around, taking in the excitement. "I think you've got a few fans here," she said.

"They don't even know it's me," he said smiling at her smile.

She looked around at the crowd again. "
Oh, I think they're figuring it out all right."

"It's not them I'm here to see," he said. He had to speak up over the music, and s
omeone who overheard let out an appreciative sigh at how romantic it was.

Jax and Cam both glanced in the direction the sigh had come from, but when it wasn't obvious who did it, they looked right back at one another.

"I think we should probably hang out when you leave here tonight," he said. She gave him a deer in the headlights look, not sure what a late night hang with Cam entailed, and whether or not she was ready for such a thing.

"Don't be scared of me," he said. "I won't hurt you." He paused. "What time do you get off?"

She wanted him so badly that refusing wasn't even an option. She glanced around them again at the curious onlookers then yelled to the bartender who was working next to her.

"Byron, cover for me for five minutes."

Cam wanted to tell Byron he could cover for her forever because she didn't need to be working in a place where every guy who came through the door wanted to get in her pants.

"Come back here," she said, motioning with a flick of her head for Cam to follow her. He came around the right side of the bar and down a short hallway to a door marked
employees only
. Once they were on the other side of that door, the crowd noise lessened considerably. One glance into the room made it obvious that it was both an office and a storage closet.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I came for you," he said as if it were obvious.

"I
mean, what are you doing here
like that
? I can't believe you just walked in here like that." She pointed up at his perfect, beardless face and he responded with a smile. She was crushed at how beautiful he was. Better even then the pictures and music videos, which she assumed were all doctored to make him look good.

"You can't believe I walked in here looking like what?" he said. "Like Cam?"

"Yeah, it was like the freaking Beatles out there. Did you see people taking pictures?"

"That was nothing," he said. "We left before they even had the chance to figure out who I was."

Just then, two giggling cocktail waitresses burst into the room. Jax and Cam both looked up at them.

"Oh my God, it's true. Is it true?" One of the waitresses said. She crossed the three feet to where Cam was standing and picked up the brim of his hat to inspect his face.

"Tonya, what are you doing?" Jax asked.

"I think it's really Cam Bishop. Someone out there told me you walked back here with him, but I couldn't believe it." She looked up at
Cam, not letting go of his cap. "Is it really you?"

He smiled down at her. "Last time I checked."

Jax had about enough of that. She reached up and physically pulled Tonya's hand from his hat. "We were just talking back here," Jax said.

Tonya looked Jax over, wonde
ring how far she could push her, and then she looked at Cam and decided a chance at him was worth stirring the pot. "It seems like you're having a little drama with Jax," she said. She gave him a quick seductive once over. "I'm drama free, baby."

The other cocktail waitress just laughed and Jax stared at her coworker in disbelief that she would actually go so far. "Are you kidding me right now Tonya?"

Tonya didn't acknowledge her or even take her eyes off Cam. Jax grabbed his hand with a frustrated huff and headed to the other side of the room and out a door that Cam hadn't even known was there.

"Do you like working there?" Cam asked when they made it outside.

"Do you think people are going to follow us out here?" she asked, nervously.

"It doesn't matter," he said. Cam was used to being the cause of an excited mob. One little cocktail waitress was child's play. "Do you like working there?" he repeated.

"What? Why?" She was still nervous about being followed, but it seemed like they were being left alone.

"Are you just working there for the money, or do you enjoy it?"

She regarded him with a somewhat confused expression. "No, I don't
enjoy
working there. I mean, I make the most of it and it's not bad, it's not my
life's dream
. We talked about this remember?"

"Yeah but that was when you didn't know I made enough money for both of us and our kids and grandkids. Just go in there and tell them you quit. I wanted you to leave with me tonight anyway."

She laughed. "I can't just
quit
."

"Why not? People quit jobs all the time."

"I need this job."

"No you don't."

"Yes I do." She paused and looked at him with a question in her expression. "Why are you here?"

"I told you. I'm here to get you." She stared at him in silence for a long minute, reminding herself that he lied
, but still unable to stay mad.

"I'm so sorry I lied," he said
, reading her mind. "I didn't set out to hurt you. I didn't realize how I felt about you until I was already in too deep." He reached out and drew her into his arms. She fell into them, a bit stiffly at first, but soon gave into the urge to melt into his embrace. She was desperate for his touch, so she breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed into his arms.

"I want you more than I've ever wanted anything in my life," he said. "I'm sorry that it went down the way it did, and I'm sorry that you got hurt, but if I'm being honest, I
love
knowing that you love me for who I really am."

She gave him a teasing but sweet smile. "What makes you so sure I loved you."

"You still do," he said. He stared down at her in the dim porch light and wondered how in the world he ever let her get away in the first place.

"Three days is enough time apart," he said. "I'm done with that not having you shit."

She laughed. "Oh you are?" She asked, loving the feel of his arm around her waist.

"You shouldn't go back in there," she said. "You can come pick me up when I get off if you want—"

"You shouldn't go back in there either," he said. "I wasn't kidding when I said I want you to quit. If you're just doing this for the money, go in there and tell them you're done. I got you from here on out."

She cracked up
laughing. "Oh that's classic. We just make up for two seconds and I go quittin' my job. What happens after we've had our fun? I'll have to embarrass myself by begging for my job back." "I'm not having fun with you Jacqueline. I'm not kidding around either. I want everything. I want you pregnant and barefoot like you said. Just go in there and quit your fuckin' job so you can come home with me."

Some little piece of her—okay all of her wanted to believe what he was saying, but it was just too over the line fairy tale. "
Yeaaah, I can't really see anything good coming of making rash decisions like that," she said diplomatically. "School's expensive and I make good money at this job. As tempting as it sounds, I really shouldn't."

He grabbed her by the face a
nd stared into her eyes with all the tenderness she'd come to expect from Cole. "Trust me," he whispered. His gaze roamed over her face. "Call me crazy, but I love you Jax. Let me prove it to you. Let me take care of you."

"We know a lot about each other, but we've barely met physically. What if we get home and you don't like what you see? What if I have a big purple growth hanging off of my back?"

He used a fingertip to tilt her face up to meet his and looked down at her with a most sincere expression. "I'll write you a check for a hundred thousand dollars when we get home. Would that be enough for you to quit your damn job and give me a chance?" 

"It's not about the money," she protested definitively.

"But you just said it was. You said you couldn't quit because it wouldn't be smart for you to take the gamble with me. Will a hundred grand be enough for you to take the gamble?"

"No," she said, meaning
no you're not giving me any money
.

"How about two hundred?"

She laughed.

"Oh my God Cam, stop."

"What'd you say?"

"I said stop."

"No. What'd you call me?"

"I called you your name."

"Say it."

"Cam."

He closed his eyes and held her tight. "Jesus, Jax I love hearing you say my name. Say it again."

"Cameron Lee Bishop," she said. Her words were little more than a whisper. And his eyes popped open. "Get in there and tell Byron you quit and if he tries to say anything tell him he's lucky I didn't go in myself."

She was quiet for a few seconds.

"I can't believe I'm even considering this."

"I can't believe you're
only
considering it," he said. "Your mine now. You don't need this job. They don't deserve you in there anyway. Come on. Just go get your things and let's get out of here."

She put her face in her hands, unable to fathom that she was even
thinking
about doing such a thing.

"I'll be right here. If you're not back in three minutes, I'll go in there and ask the band if I can use the microphone to get you back publicly."

Her eyes got wide. "You wouldn't."

"I absolutely would."

"I'm tempted to call your bluff."

"Oh I'm not bluffing one bit. Here, let me prove it to you." He reached for the phone that was in his back pocket and the movement caused her to believe that he was making to go inside.

"No," she said laughing. 

"
I'm not going in there right now. That would take too long and I'm ready to get out of here. I'm just going to prove it to you that I
would
do it. He dialed a number and put it on speakerphone.