The Real Me (How to Tame a Heartbreaker Book 4) (19 page)

Chapter 20

"Do you want this truck?" Cam said as he whipped into a parking spot and killed the ignition.

"What do you mean?" she asked, giggling a little as if he was being silly.

"I should probably start letting Reggie drive me around again anyway, and I thought you'd look good in it if you want it."

It was a simple, n
avy blue Chevy with impeccable, custom features and interior. She absolutely loved it and his offer made her want to hold out her hand for the key, but there was no way she could accept a gift of that magnitude.

"So where's your apartment?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Okay, you can keep it parked here, but it's yours," he said, ignoring her attempt at a subject change.

He held out the key and she stuck her hand out. "I can't," she said as it landed in her palm.

"Sure you can. Three of these other vehicles are mine, and I don't really need it now anyway since it was Cole's." Cam quickly realized that might've hurt her feelings since everything was so fresh.

She looked up at him
with an unreadable expression. "I never thought I'd say this, but after seeing how everyone reacted tonight, I think that beard might come in handy sometimes. Do people just hold their phones in your face like that everywhere you go?"

"That was a little more than usual because I was causing a scene
on purpose."

She smiled as he helped her down from the truck. They walked from the parking garage to the back entrance of Cam's apartment building. He had to go through a few security checkpoints including a big, burly guy named Brian who spoke to Cam for a minute on his way up. Brian looked Jax over with interest. She was wearing her
Bing's uniform, which was an all denim, formfitting number.

She
stuck out her hand. "I'm Jax," she said.

Brian smiled and took her hand causing
Cam to wrap a protective arm around Jax's shoulder. "Jax is my girl, so learn her face because she'll be around."

Brian smiled at Cam and gave him a little wink that Jax wasn't meant to see.

"Seriously. Her name is Jax Overstreet and she's my girlfriend. She's welcome here anytime—even if I say I don't want visitors."

"I got it.
She's the lady of the place and you want her to be treated as such."

"Exactly."

"I'm not the lady of the place—Cam, tell him you're just kidding around. I'm not the lady of the place."

She was smiling and trying to be a good sport, but she honestly didn't know
if she was being made fun of or not, and the whole scene was a bit much to take in.

Cam looked at her with a sincer
e smile. "Who's your boyfriend?" He stared at her in silence, waiting for her answer.

"Yoooou?"

"Right. So that makes you the lady of the fuckin' house."

Jax smiled and looked around, and neither of them knew what she was gonna say. She smiled and shrugged, looking at Brian. "I guess I'm the lady
of the freaking house," she said with a smirk and a shrug. All three of them laughed as Cam led Jax out of the little room where Brian was stationed. He held her hand, leading her into the appropriate elevator. There were several other elevators in the private lobby and Cam explained to her that they all went to different penthouse locations, and the one they were riding in (along with two others) only went to Cam's apartment.

She'd never even heard of a private elevator, and was getting more nervous by the second.
She watched as he put his thumb onto the sensor and the elevator responded by calling him by name and letting him know it would take him upstairs right away. It was bad enough that she knew how famous he was, but now she was faced with looking like an idiot when she was exposed to money and the things it could buy. She tried to act as unimpressed as she could, but it was hard because everything was so nice. Her instinct was to react like a kid in a candy store but she tried to scale back her enthusiasm.

"I want you to feel comfortable here," he said, pulling her i
nto his arms as they rode upstairs. "I want you to feel at home."

"You can't say things like that," she said.

"Why not? It's the truth."

"Because it's still so new, and it's just not right to make those kinds of statements this early on."

"Oh really?" he asked, giving her a mocking smile. "How long exactly do we need to be together before you're okay with me wanting you to be at home in my apartment?"

She slapped at his chest. "You know what I mean. You shouldn't go around making long-termish statements. You know girls take that stuff to heart." She looked at him with an expression
that begged him to understand she was vulnerable without her having to explain it.

He held her close and looked down into her guarded, intelligent eyes. "I am not going to hurt you," he said, deliberately
.

The elevator dinged and the door opened. There were a few different ways up to Cam's apartment, but this specific elevator opened up into the sitting room that was connected to his master bedroom. It was such a surreal experience to see an elevator door open up into a bedroom that Jax completely forgot what Cam was saying.
"Did this elevator seriously just open into your bedroom?" she asked, stepping out into the huge master suite, "or are you just such a player that your living room has a bed in it?"

"This is my bedroom," he assured her.

The elevator door closed behind them, and she was amazed to see that the doors were a beautiful art piece that was an asset to the design of the room. "That is so cool," she said, watching the doors close.

"It came with the house. I didn't pick any of it out. If you want to change anything just let Neil know."

She giggled and he looked at her as if he wasn't trying to be funny.

"I came up this way so
you could get a shower. I had some stuff brought up for you. You'll find it in the closet, which is on the far side of the bathroom. Make yourself at home in here." He turned her around and held her back against his chest, pointing to the far right corner of the adjoining bedroom. "The bathroom is through there and the closet's connected to it. Take your time. I'm gonna shower in one of the guest baths and meet you in the living room in a little bit." Again, he shifted her so she could see another door. "That'll take you out to the living room."

She turned to look up at him. "Can I really expect to see something in that closet for me?"

"Yeah, lots of stuff," he said with a deadpan expression. "I wasn’t sure what size you were, so you'll probably have to send some of it back."

She looked towar
ds the bathroom and then back at him. "I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything."

"Why'd you do all this?"

"It's nothing. I just made a phone call. Go shower and meet me in the living
room wearing something from the third drawer."

She regarded
him with wide eyes.

"I'm serious. Go look in there and you'll see what I'm talking about."

She tentatively took off toward the bathroom, and he slapped the back pocket of her skinny jeans making her yell with surprise.

"I'm going!" she said, scolding him.

He smiled and lifted his hands innocently, which made her point at him as if to say she had her eye on him. He smiled. "Third drawer," he said. "Whatever you choose is fine, but I'm partial to the white just in case you wanted to factor that in when you're deciding."

She studied him, not really knowing what to ma
ke of everything. His face was all-American gorgeousness to the tenth degree and his expression was unreadable with maybe the slightest hint of challenge.

"You'll find everything you need in there. I'll meet you in the living room in thirty minutes. Anything in the third drawer will do, but make
sure it's the white if it fits."

"Yes sir," she said. She meant it to come out as a joke, but
it sounded, even to her own ears, more like she was saying yes sir
for real
instead of sarcastically.

He smiled as if that were an acceptable response. "That's my girl," he said. He gave her another pat on the backside to get her going, and she took off toward the bathroom.

She was so turned on that she was breathless when she reached the bathroom. One section of the beautiful master bath was floor to ceiling mirror, and she regarded herself in her Bing's uniform wondering how in the world she had Cam Bishop under her spell. She couldn't think of it that way, though, or her confidence would start to wane. She had to tell herself she was worthy of his attention even if the whole situation was still surreal.

Her body was tingling with excitement and adrenaline as she went into the closet to find the infamous third drawer whe
re she'd find the white—something or other, which she assumed was some type of lingerie. The closet was ridiculously huge, with an attached dressing area. There were a few sets of drawers built into the back wall, so she crossed over to them figuring that was the right place.

As she got closer, she could see a piece of paper sticking out of the top drawer of the section all the way on the right. The note read:
"Jax, welcome to the closet! It's giant, isn't it? I wasn't using all this space so I had a few things put in here for you. The five drawers from this one down are filled with some clothes for you. I hope you find some things you like. Glad you're here. See you in twenty-six minutes. Cam."

She smiled, held the note to her chest, and looked around as if she might be on camera. She
regarded the set of drawers the note indicated and counted down one, two, three. She opened the drawer wondering what in the world he wanted to see her in. The drawer had wooden dividers, separating it into six sections—each one filled with a lingerie set of a different color.

She stared down at them for a few seconds before holding up the white set a pi
ece at a time. It was a beautiful, modest, almost vintage looking bra and panties set with a short robe made of the softest fabric she'd ever touched. It was absolutely beautiful—something she'd imagine a model wearing for a photo shoot. She didn't even look at the other sets. She was obviously wearing the one he wanted her to, and she would have been overwhelmed with choices anyway.

S
he did her best to shower and put herself together quickly. She glanced at her phone on her way out to the living room and could see that she was a few minutes past her thirty-minute deadline.

"You're lucky you have on the white one," he said, when he caught sight of her approaching.

She looked a little offended at that being the first thing out of his mouth.

"Don't look at me like that. You're late."

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely. He smiled and pulled her into his arms, breathing in the scent of her.

"You are seriously the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

She pulled back. "I don't know how. I was just looking at the fifty mirrors back there thinking I didn't fit in here at all."

Cam didn't bother explaining what he saw in her. He leaned down and his mouth met hers in a gentle kiss that
had her forgetting to breathe.

"Let me look at you," he said, breaking the kiss. He held her at arms length like someone who
was dancing and wanted to see his partner take a twirl. Jax went for it. She let go of his arms and did her best to do the lingerie justice by making a graceful turn.

He crossed his arms, regarding her.
"Stop right there," he said when she still had her back turned to him.

She stopped.

"Lean over just a little bit."

She did as he said.

"Now pick up the edge of the robe a little bit. I just want to see what you have under there."

She followed his instructions, exposing the bottom curve of her
backside—but not quite letting him see the lower edge of her panties.

"Do you have anything on under there?" he asked.

She lifted the robe an inch higher, exposing the panties for a second, but then let it back down.

That little taste was enough to make Cam let out a
frustrated groan. "Oh God Jax I don't know what I'm gonna do with you. Are you seriously a virgin?"

She nodded.

"Are you okay with me having my way with you."

"As long as you don't hurt me."

He pulled her into his arms again. "I am going to be extremely gentle, but if anything hurts, all you have to do is—"

She let out a giggle. "I'm not talking about being
physically
hurt."

He pulled back and stared down at her. "I'm not go
ing to hurt you Jax. I feel an uncontrollable urge to do the
exact opposite
of hurt you. I want to do nothing but protect you."