The Real Me (How to Tame a Heartbreaker Book 4) (7 page)

Chapter 7

Macy was getting Cam's beard down to a science. It only took her an hour from start to finish. Cam was feeling more comfortable with the whole process too. He stared into the mirror thinking about how natural the beard looked and felt. He imagined that's about what his future beard would look like. It had been a while since he tried to grow one, but when he did, it didn't come out nearly as full as the one Macy gave him. He stared at his reflection thinking the one he was wearing was just a thicker version of what he would naturally grow. The light browns, blonde, and red tones looked so very natural that it took him off-guard every time. His phone was on the bathroom counter next to him, and it let out a quiet beep signaling an incoming text. He glanced at it to find that it was his assistant.

Neil:
"I'm calling in exactly one minute. Finish whatever your doing and take my call. Trust me."

Cam called him back right away.

"What's up?" Cam asked when he heard Neil pick up the phone.

"I just talked to Steve Carr. People Magazine is doing an issue on music industry's top ten bachelors, and guess what?"

"I'm one of them."

"Yes you are."

"Which one?"

"Huh?"

"You said it was a top ten. What number am I?"

Neil was silent for a second. "I don't think Steve mentioned that," he said, "and I didn't even think to ask."

"You gotta find out that information."

"Does it
matter
?"

Cam hesitated. "No. I mean I don't guess. I'd definitely rather be number one than number ten, though."

"No, you should at least be number five or higher," Neil said. "It's not like it's the whole world. It's just the music industry. I'll bet you're one of the top three."

"What do I have to do?"

"They want to do a two-page spread on each of you. They'll use some photos of you on stage, but Steve said they want to capitalize on the whole farm boy thing. He said they want to schedule a photo shoot at your parents' farm. You know, shirtless on a tractor and whatnot."

"Why
do we have to go all the way to Iowa for me to get on a tractor?"

"He said they want to shoot at your real farm. I don't know, maybe they want your parents in a picture or something."

"What'd you tell him?"

"I told him thank you and that he could name the time for the photo shoot and you'd be there. He said they
plan to release the issue at the end of this month. That means you'll be doing a photo shoot soon—within the next week. You should start watching your diet."

"I always watch my diet," Cam said. "If I
don't, Hank takes it out on me in the gym."

"You
need to hit it hard between now and then," Neil said. "Because Steve really did mention shooting you shirtless on a tractor."

"H
e mentioned my wardrobe but didn't think to tell you if I was number one or number ten?"

"You're not number ten. And so what if you are? The rest of the world would give anything to be on a most eligibl
e list in People Magazine."

The word
eligible got stuck in Cam's head for a few seconds when Neil said it. He knew he had a lot of female fans, but for some reason, being officially called eligible came with a certain level of pressure. How did they judge his level of eligibility, and what did he have to do to maintain it? Did he want to be considered
eligible
? He was thinking of the ins and outs of eligibility when Neil's voice broke the silence.

"Are you there Cam?"

"I'm here."

"Isn't that exciting news?"

"Yeah, it's great."

"Don't forget about the interview tomorrow."

"I won't."

"They're gonna want to set up an interview for the article in People too."

"Okay. Well, you know my schedule better than I do. Just take care of it and tell me where to show up."

"Start with showing up at Studio B tomorrow. I'll see you then."

As a result of his phone call with Neil, Cam went to Café Coco in an excellent mood.
He'd lived through a lot of surreal experiences in the two years since he hit big, but People's top ten was a fun one—even if it was just out of the music industry and not the whole world.

He took the stairs down two levels and rode the
public elevator to the main entrance of the apartments—the entrance all the common folks used. He didn't ride one of the penthouse elevators because he didn't want the guard at the door to see him on his way out—it was already bad enough that he told his driver to go home for the evening. 

He made it out without
being detected, and walked to the garage where his Chevy was parked. He made it to the coffee shop at ten till five. He hadn't planned on being early, but there was no traffic at all on a Sunday afternoon.

Café Coco was in an old two story house similar to Common Grounds, the only difference was Common Grounds was mostly on-street parking and Café Coco had a huge adjoining parking lot where you could always find a spot. Cam found a spot in the parking lot, but
decided to wait a few minutes before going inside.

Not even two minutes later, Jax pulled up in a small, white car
and parked in the spot next to Cam. She parked close to the passenger's side of his truck, and he could clearly see her through the window. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. Her hair was put up in a style that looked like she'd been somewhere fancy, then he remembered her saying she was gong to church. He stared at her, wondering if she'd been telling the truth about that or if she'd just said it to get him off of her back.

He watched as she took out her phone and began staring at it. She appeared to be contemplating using it, but ultimately just stared at it for a few seconds and put it back into her bag.
He could tell she was about to open the door, so he got out of his truck and walked around the front of it to meet her.

Oh shit, oh crap. Dang it. There he is. Did he see me?
Jax caught sight of Cam when he came around the front of an old truck that was parked next to her. She figured the truck he was leaning against was his. She took note of it when she pulled in. It was similar to one her granddad had when she was a little girl, and it looked like it was restored. She parked next to it intentionally because she wanted to get a closer look on her way into the coffee shop.

The fact that this truck belonged to Cole pleased her very much. She could definitely imagine a nice ride down a country road with the windows down in that baby. All of these wonderful truck thoughts were fleeting, though, compared to the nervous
jitters that overtook her body the second she knew he was looking at her. She was at the coffee shop, and he knew she was at the coffee shop, and there was no turning back now.

She smiled, opened her car door, and stepped out,
reminding herself to stand up straight. She was so physically drawn to this guy that her body automatically did it's best to look good. She found herself straightening her clothes and tucking stray hairs even though she secretly made fun of the girls at the bar for doing that same stuff when they were trying to impress a guy. Jax couldn't help herself—she was just so nervous in front of him for some reason.

She took a few steps toward him, trying to act natural. "I was just
about to text you a second ago," she said.

"Well I wish you would have," Cam said. "I've been waiting for more than a week. If you'd go ahead and text me, I'd have your number and I could take control for once."

Jax laughed. "Oh, I don't know about that word, necessarily."

"What? Control?"

"Yeah."

"I just meant I wish you would have text me so I can get my hands on your number."

"Yeah, but the text I was about to type out was to tell you I didn't think I could make it."

"So? I would have just hopped out of the truck and stopped you from leaving, and at least then I would have your number."

Jax smiled and pointed to the yellow wooden house they'd parked beside. "You wanna go inside?"

"I guess that's why were here."

They walked side by side on the sidewalk. It was almost impossible for Cam to keep his hands off of her. Maybe it's because the girls he was usually with
wanted
him to put his hands all over them, and it was unusual for him not to have permission to touch one of his dates. He had an extremely hard time resisting the urge to reach out and touch her as they walked.

"I almost didn't make it here," she said, looking up at him as they walked.

"Are you talking about almost giving up in the parking lot?"

"No, I'm talking about how close I was cutting it making it back from Clarksville. I just rolled into town and came straight here. I didn't even have time to go by my apartment."

"How'd your daddy do this morning?"

She looked up at him with a surprised smile at his question. "He did good."

They walked slowly as they approached the door. "Did your mama make a big Sunday lunch?"

"We went out for barbeque," Jax said. "My sister's boyfriend came too. He's the one who almost
made me late. He wanted me to see his knife throwing skills."

"Knife throwing skills?" Cam asked.

"Yeah, my dad's a collector and is really good at, you know," Jax flicked her wrist like she was releasing a teeny tiny girly knife and made a cute little popping sound with her tongue, "tossing knives."

Cam stopped walking altogether and stared down at her. "So y
ou're saying your dad's a knife-throwing, knife-collecting, Baptist minister who may or may not want you to be here right now."

Jax giggled. "Oh, he definitely does
not
want me here right now."

"Did you tell him you were coming to meet me?"

"I
did
actually." Jax looked at him, she studied his face wondering what was different. She already decided she loved his blue eyes, but for whatever reason felt like she could see them more clearly. Glasses. He normally had on glasses, and today he didn't. He opened the front door of the coffee house and she walked inside.

"Your glasses. I knew there was something different about you," she said.

Cam touched the place on his face where the black plastic glasses should have been. Crap. He didn't need glasses or contacts to see, and had totally forgotten to wear the ones he'd been wearing as Cole.

"I don't
have
to wear them," he said. "My prescription's so minimal that I'm okay to go without them." Cam was honestly a little nervous about leaving his glasses. He hoped the beard was enough to hide his identity.

"Oh my God, you look just like Cam Bishop,"
were the first works out of the barista's mouth when they approached the counter. Cam laughed and looked down at the floor shyly as if the attention embarrassed him. "I get that all the time," he said, cursing the fact that he forgot the God-forsaken glasses. What was he thinking?

Jax and Cam waited at the bar fo
r their drinks and, once they were ready, walked around trying to find a place to sit. They found a small table near a window and sat across from each other. "Feels a bit like a job interview," Jax said, giving him a nervous smile.

"That's just because yo
u never go on dates."

"This isn't a date."

"Oh, it's most definitely a date," he said smiling.

She tried to make out what his face looked like under that beard, but honestly, she didn't care.
She loved what she could see. "You must really look like that guy. That's the second time someone's told you that," she said.

He shrugged casually in spite of his nerves regarding the subject. "I think I just get that all the time because I live in Nashville. I'm sure if I lived somewhere else, it'd be different."

"Are you from Nashville?"

"Iowa. My family's
got a farm up there."

"What are you doing in Nashville?"

Cam considered telling her that he was an anesthesiologist since that was his story the last time, but he couldn't make himself say something that far from the truth. He told her he moved to Nashville to try to make it as a singer, but did his best to quickly change the subject so he wouldn't have to get into it too much.

Chapter 8

They sat at that little table for two hours. She told him about the women's shelter and her plans to get her masters in social work. He told her about his family and what it had been like growing up on the farm. A few times during the conversation he regretted his decision to be in a disguise, but it felt so good to have a girl see him for who he truly was instead of just being attracted to him because of his fame.

He loved being Cam Bishop
—ate up the fame and everything that went along with it, but it was really fun being not-Cam for a change. Spending time with a normal girl as a normal guy was way different than spending time with one of Cam's usual dates.

Porsche and the array of other girls like her were partiers, and knew how to conduct themselves as such. There would be physical contact throughout the night with the end result being no-comm
itment sex and then a sometimes awkward goodbye. But, awkward or not, there was always a goodbye.

This girl was clearly different
. She sat across from him, asking questions and answering his, and Cam caught himself thinking she was the most interesting person he'd ever met. Not just interesting like he wanted to put his dick in her, though he most assuredly wanted to do that, but interesting like he wanted to know more about her. He wanted to know everything. He caught himself wondering what she'd be like as a mom. He knew those types of thought meant something since he'd never, ever had them before. Maybe it just meant he was getting older.

They'd been
at the coffee shop for a couple of hours when, out of nowhere, Cam stood up and reached for her hand. She scooted around the table and gave him her hand, standing as she wrapped her purse over her neck and one shoulder.

"You read my mind," she said. She glanced at her watch. "I think time got away from us."

"I think we need to go eat."

"That's exactly what I'm
gonna do when I get home," Jax said, putting a hand to her stomach.

"What I meant was, we need to go eat
together
."

Jax giggled. "That would be a date and that's the whole point of getting together for coffee, so we could avoid
one of those."

"Who's making these rules you speak of? What's wrong with two people getting a bite to eat since they enjoy each other's company?"

"Because. That's exactly how it happens. Coffee leads to dinner, leads to a movie and maybe a kiss, and the next thing you know I'm barefoot and pregnant and probably dropping out of school and forgetting all about my goals."

They'd made their way out of the coffee shop
as she was talking, and when she finished her sentence they were on the patio. He stopped when they got out there and looked down at her. He studied her for several long seconds and she honestly had no idea what would come out of his mouth when he spoke.

"You're thinking about kissing me," he said, smiling.

"I am not," she said. She was definitely thinking about kissing him now that he mentioned it.

"You're the one who said it," he said with his hands raised in surrender. "You
said you wanted to go to a movie and maybe kiss."

"I just said that's the
natural progression
and I'm not into it."

"Would it make you feel better for you to know I don't want you barefoot or pregnant, o
r for you to drop out of school?"

"Oh, the
n that's even worse?"

"What? How could you say that?"

"Because the alternative is movie, kiss, pregnant, then you go away. Either way I'm screwed. Literally."

Cam cracked up laughing as they walked
across the patio and down the sidewalk to the parking lot.

"What if I promise not to ask you to come with me to a movie afterward?
Can we do dinner only?"

She glanced at his truck when she considered
the possibilities, and he capitalized on it.

"You know you want to ride in my truck anyway," he said. He only said it because she glanced
that way. He had no idea it was actually a huge enticement. It was a lovely Sunday afternoon and she
really
wanted to ride in it.

"I seriously do want to ride in your truck," she said.

"Really? Come on. I'll take you anywhere you want to go. We can get takeout and have a picnic if you want." He thought about Hannah and Jason and smiled internally. "I know a good spot."

She threw a hand in the air. "See that? And so it starts. You get good ideas and act really sweet, and then the next thing you know… movie, kiss, and so on and so forth.

"Listen, even though you
so clearly
want it, I promise I wont try to kiss you tonight. Now would that make you feel better?"

Actually
, it would
not
make her feel better. Him just
saying
he'd promise not to kiss her left her feeling disappointed.

"I guess that makes me feel better," she lied.

"So you'll come?"

"Where are we going?"

"Your choice. I'll eat anything."

"How about the Spaghetti Factory?"

Cam hadn't considered the possibility of her picking a downtown restaurant. He thought for a second about the dangers of walking around downtown with a beard on.

"Or we could eat somewhere else," she added.

"No, Spaghetti Factory's fine," he said.

His truck was so much fun. It had slightly larger than normal tires and had been meticulously restored. Everything from the visors to the floor mats were beautifully custom, and she assumed he must like to work on cars. She asked him about it, and he said he'd like to learn more about it one day, but was too busy for that kind of project for now. She assumed he bought the truck in its current mint condition and wondered how much something like that would set someone back.

"How much does something like this run?" she asked, thinking she could see herself knocking around town in
one like it.

"About thirty."

"Thousand?" she asked doubtfully.

"Yeah. Why?"

"You could get a
new
car for thirty thousand dollars," she said. 

"Yeah, but not one this cool."

They rode with the windows down. He assumed she wouldn't want to because she's a girl and girls are concerned with things like their hair, but Jax asked to roll them down and he happily obliged. She sat on the far side of the bench seat, which maybe shouldn't have bothered him as much as it did. He hated it. He ached to touch her and wished he was carrying a guitar and an amp in the front seat with them so she'd have no choice but to sit right up next to him.

She spent equal amounts of time looking at him and looking out the window. Cam kept his eyes on the road, but he could f
eel when she was looking at him. He liked it and was bummed when she looked out the window again. He was starving for her attention in a way he didn't understand, and wanted to spend every moment for the foreseeable future with her.

"Jax," he sai
d from across the bench seat.

"Y
eah?" she asked, staring at the neon lights of the many downtown bars, restaurants, and shops. She continued to stare outside because she was afraid her face would betray how happy she was. She was happy to be downtown, happy to be in his truck, and to her own chagrin, happy, oh so happy at the sound of her name on his lips. She loved his voice, that's all there was to it, and hearing him say Jax made her smile from ear to ear.

"I
like you for more than a friend," he said. He paused and glanced at her, but she just continued to look out the window. "I know you're cautious, and I'm not trying to rush you or anything, but I just want you to know that I'm trying to get the ball rolling in that direction."

"Why do you have to put it like that?"

"Like what?"

"In a way that makes total sense. Like, oh yeah, let's get the ball rolling on that right away," she said, giggling.

"What's funny about that?" Cam asked. "I'm being serious. I want you in my truck again. Hopefully on a regular basis."

Oh my God, how did he know that was exactly what he should say to get under her skin?
She wanted so badly to agree to get into his truck as frequently as he wanted.

They parked in a garage and took the elevator to the first floor so they could walk to Spaghetti Factory. During the entire walk, they shared little, accidental contacts—and she wondered if he felt the same thrill ev
ery time they touched.
So this was what temptation feels like.
Every time she looked at him, she felt the urge to reach out and touch him.

They shared a meal, talking, eating, and laughing like they were old friends. The more time Cam spent with this girl, the more he liked her, and he realized she was right—he wanted the movie, and the kiss, and probably even the barefoot and pregnant part. Shit.

The server was a blonde girl with braids who had kept the conversation strictly non-personal until the very end of the evening when she was handing him the receipt.

"Did anybody ever tell you you look like Cam Bishop?" she asked.

Jax was sitting right there, and Cam got nervous enough to make up a little lie to help get him out of the bind. He grabbed at his beard. "I get it all the time," he said. "But mostly just when my beard grows out. When I shave, I don't look like him at all."

For whatever reason,
this made Jax smile, and the waitress took that as confirmation that he didn't look at all like Cam Bishop when he was clean-shaven. The whole scene went beautifully for Cam, and they left the restaurant without further mention of his celebrity look alike.

"Are you making me bring you to your car?" he asked. "Because my apartment's down here." Cam would have actually b
rought her there if she would've agreed to it.

"You know I can't," she said. "I've already broken every rule in the book. It seems I have a hard time saying no to you."

"I'll have you know that if you're going to walk around saying
broken every rule in the book
, then you have to back it up. To earn the right to use a phrase that extreme, you have to at least break a few more rules. A kiss would definitely be in order."

"Okay, then I just won
't say I've broken every rule in the book."

"Oh, I'm afraid it doesn't work that way," he said.
"You've already said it, so now you have to back it up."

Oh God, how could she make this happen while still acting like she didn't really want it to? She couldn't really say, "Okay why don't you go ahead and kiss me," and she didn't want to refuse him, so
she just laughed it off as if she thought he was joking.

He almost told Jax h
e was going to kiss her when he dropped her off at her car whether she liked it or not, but decided to just do it rather than talking about it. He parked next to her little white hatchback and they both got out of the truck. She opened her car door but turned to lean against the open door as she spoke.

"I really did have fun tonight, Cole."

Ouch. He had himself believing he wasn't really lying to her all that much—but hearing her say his brother's name instead of his own annoyed him.

He smiled, unfazed.
"I had way too much fun Jax." He moved toward her slowly, and instead of backing away from him like she intended, she inched closer to him. He kept a few inches of space between them, but the threat of contact was eminent, and she felt breathless with anticipation. He reached up and ran his thumb from her temple, down her jaw to her chin. He gave it a gentle little nudge upward, forcing her to look at him. Her breath hitched, and she knew the shaky rise of her chest was obvious. He gave her a sweet half-smile as he licked his lips and dipped to put them on hers.

His facial hair was soft and not
nearly as distracting as she feared. She easily felt his soft, warm lips, and that was all that mattered. Cam's touch was so gentle that her first instinct was to deepen it, and she had to remind herself that a gentle kiss was already crossing the line. She gave in to the kiss without deepening it, letting herself enjoy the surge of warmth that coursed through her every time he repositioned and kissed her again. He put feather light kisses on her lips for what must have been the better part of a minute before finally pulling away. She was both relieved and disappointed at his retreat. He kissed her so lightly and broke away so suddenly that she was left yearning for more. She took a few seconds to catch her breath before speaking.

"I should probably go."

"I know," Cam said.

She ducked into her car and pulled the door closed as she simultaneously started the engine and rolled the window down. "Thanks again for dinner."

"You're welcome."

"I like your thirty-thousand-dollar beater."