had nice legs. I'd noticed this before I'd ever reached her, just like I now noticed the green of her eyes and the fullness of her lips as she stared up at me with obvious confusion.
She looked so cute, I almost smiled. But I didn't. I wasn't here on a social call. And hell if I'd be giving her the wrong idea, especially now, when she was going to be living in my house.
I clarified, "So we can talk."
Cami gave her friend a quick sideways glance. "Oh. You mean in private?"
Next to me, the friend said, "Hey! I heard that."
I turned to the friend. "Good. It saves me the trouble."
Yeah, I was being a dick, but I knew her type all too well. She was the kind of girl who'd been playing life on easy mode for far too long. And it showed.
The friend gave me a pleading look. "But what about my offer? I'd just love to be the nanny."
Oh, for fuck's sake. "You, I already had. And I'm not interested."
She drew back. "You already had me? What does that mean?" She lowered her voice. "You don't mean sexually, do you? Because I'm sure I would've remembered that."
Yeah. She would've.
I might be an asshole in public. But in private, I'd never gotten any complaints, well, not in the bedroom, anyway.
I told her, "That's not what I meant." I looked back to Cami. "You ready?"
She was still staring. "Sorry, what?"
I flicked my head toward the dance floor. As I did, the local band struck up an old love ballad – one I hadn't heard since high school.
I couldn't recall the song's name, but I did recall getting lucky in my old Chevy beater with Tara Johnson in the back seat while that same song had played on my ancient car stereo.
That was twelve years ago.
A lot had changed since then – some for the better, and some for the worse.
I held out my hand to Cami. "Now come on."
She studied the hand for a long moment before giving her friend an apologetic smile. "I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?" And with that, Cami placed her hand in mine and let me lead her out onto the packed dance floor.
As we moved toward its center, the crowd parted, and people turned to stare. By now, I was used to it, but that didn't mean I enjoyed it.
I didn't like the spotlight. But I liked poverty even less, so the way I saw it, the extra attention wasn't worth complaining about, especially now, when there was work to be done.
When we reached the middle of the dance floor, I stopped and took Cami in my arms, holding her like a brother, not a lover. Still, when her eyes softened and her warm fingers grazed the back of my neck, something inside me stirred.
Whatever it was, it wasn't brotherly at all.
Shit. I'd had this reaction the first time I'd met her, too. We'd been standing outside on a sidewalk, and I'd been giving Arden – Cami's best friend and my future sister-in-law – a bit of a hard time.
Okay, more than a bit.
At the time, I'd been royally pissed off – and with good reason, too.
Or so I'd thought.
Now, I gave her a look that was all business. "Listen, I'm leaving for California on Tuesday. If you start tomorrow, I'll throw in a signing bonus."
Her eyebrows furrowed. "But I haven't said yes."
With a knowing smile, I replied, "Yeah, but you will."
She didn't smile back. "Well someone's awful sure of himself."
Yeah. I was. Because I knew one thing for damn sure. I wasn't leaving without her. And I knew she needed the money.
Before I'd made the initial offer, I'd checked her credit, along with a few other things. She had a flawless history of paying her bills, but she was drowning in student debt. She had a degree in primary education, but had no full-time job. She'd spent the summer tutoring at a local learning center, where she'd earned barely minimum wage, along with rave reviews from her students and their parents.
And speaking of parents, she'd been living with her own parents since May, when she'd graduated with honors from Michigan State.
Was she living in her parent's basement?
Hell if I knew. But hey, if I wanted to find out, it would be easy enough.
And I wouldn’t hesitate.
When it came to my family, I wasn't above anything, which was why I knew for damned sure that Cami would be taking the job. One