Bang (Blast Brothers #2) - Sabrina Stark Page 0,69
college entirely and gone straight to work – learning the tool-and-die trade while forming the raw foundation of what would later become Blast Tools.
Finally, I'd been in the home stretch, ready to claim my freedom to go out on my own.
But then came Willow.
She'd been sweet and helpless – and cute as hell. But my mom had left for Miami anyway, telling me that she'd be back in a few days.
I'd known it was a lie.
It didn't take long before I was proven right.
Again.
If that was love, I wanted no part of it.
On the phone, Cami asked, "Are you still there?"
Shit. I was doing it again. Lately, it had been hard to focus, and even harder to pull my head out of the clouds. I replied, "Yeah. I'm here."
"So, naturally," Cami continued, "Livia assumed that you were my boyfriend, and she happened to call you that when Willow was listening."
I stiffened. "So Willow thinks I'm your boyfriend."
"Right. Sort of."
"And you didn't set her straight?"
"Of course I set her straight."
I'd heard such stories before – not from Cami, but from plenty of others – former nannies, women I'd dated, or hell, even women I hadn't dated. Too many had decided that Willow was their ticket to my heart – as if I had one.
Just the thought of them pissed me off. Willow wasn't a pawn. She was my sister. And my responsibility.
In a tight voice, I said, "How?"
Cami hesitated. "Sorry, what?"
"How did you set her straight?"
"You mean Willow? I told her that you and I are just friends."
I frowned. Just friends. It was a phrase I'd used plenty of times myself. But for some messed up reason, I didn't like Cami saying it – not about me.
I told her, "I'm not your friend."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm your employer," I said. "And I'm sure as hell not your boyfriend."
I felt like a dick for saying it, but that didn't mean it wasn't true. Cami and I weren't a couple.
And we needed to keep it that way – because if we didn't, I knew exactly how things between us would end, with Cami bolting for the exit and Willow wondering what she'd done wrong.
Girls like Cami – they were never happy with a casual thing, at least not for long. And yet, a voice in my head whispered, "But you banged her anyway."
Yeah. I had.
Except, it hadn't felt like banging.
It had felt like something else, something with real meaning, assuming there was such a thing.
And now, I was pissed off – not at Cami, but at myself. What the hell was I doing?
On the phone, Cami still hadn't replied, which meant it was my turn to ask, "Are you still there?"
She was quiet for another long moment before saying in a strained voice, "Oh, I’m something."
Yeah. She was.
And that "something" was pissed off. I could hear it in her voice just the same as if she'd called me every name in the book.
When I said nothing in reply, she said, "So let me get this straight. You're saying we're not even friends?"
"Not if I'm signing your check."
Regardless of my other flaws – plenty as they were – I knew one thing for damned sure. Business and pleasure – they were dangerous to mix.
And yet, I had.
On the phone, Cami's tone grew sarcastic. "It's direct deposit, remember?"
"What?"
"Those 'checks'?" she said. "They're direct deposits. And just so you know, if you bring up that bonus check again, I swear, I'm gonna…" With a sigh, her words trailed off, leaving dead silence in their wake.
The silence hung there like a dark, empty void. And me? I made no move to fill it with empty platitudes. I felt like shit for hurting her feelings, but I'd feel even shittier if I gave her the wrong idea.
I wasn't a relationship kind of guy.
In the end, it was Cami who broke the silence. "You know what? I don't even know why I'm arguing."
"Yeah, you and me both."
"I meant about the check-signing. Because yes, I do realize that you're the one supplying me with money for a service. But just so we're clear, that service doesn't include taking your crap."
At the word "crap," I almost smiled. Silently, I waited for her to correct herself, to claim that she'd said the c-word, or make up some funny non-curse word to take its place.
But she didn't.
Instead, she said, "You know what? You really can be a jerk sometimes. You do realize that, don't you?"