Only Her Best Friend - Cami Checketts Page 0,32

end of his sentence.

He arched an eyebrow and cocked his head.

Meredith jerkily pushed at her hair, took a drink of Propel, and couldn’t meet his gaze. “Taylee?” she asked. “What does she do for you?”

Cruz didn’t want to give her the out, but he didn’t want to push her too hard either. He started talking as they ate their meal. He told her about his different employees, how he met each of them, and what they did. He finished eating, wondering what they’d do next. It wasn’t even seven o’clock. He wanted to get her to talk to him but didn’t quite know how.

“What about Josh?” she asked as she compiled the leftovers into one takeout container.

“Josh?” It bugged him that she wanted to know about Josh.

“Isn’t he one of your cameramen?”

“I fired him a couple of nights ago,” Cruz admitted.

“Oh, really? I had no idea. He came in for ice cream today.”

Cruz’s gut tightened. He hadn’t seen the guy and assumed he’d left the valley. It made sense that he’d try to see Meredith. The man had quit because Cruz had told him to stay away from her. It made him angry that he’d dare stay around and pursue her. He stood to gather their trash and shoved it into the kitchen garbage can.

“Why’d you fire him?” Meredith asked to his back.

Cruz turned and folded his arms across his chest. Meredith’s gaze trailed over his arms and chest before she met his gaze again. He liked knowing she found him attractive, but talking about Josh reminded him of yet another issue that he and Meredith needed to work out. The mood had definitely shifted, and he regretted losing the carefree happy feelings he’d had moments earlier.

“He said he was coming after you, and he’s a major player. I didn’t want you hurt, so I told him to leave the valley and meet me at Flathead Lake in a couple of weeks, or I’d fire him. He chose the latter.” And apparently, he hadn’t left the valley.

Meredith studied him. “He said you were the player and told me story after story, backed up by photos and videos online.” She didn’t look obstinate or mad, but she seemed more confused about who to trust and what to believe.

Cruz wanted to walk to her, take her in his arms, and prove to her she was the only woman he’d ever want to be with, but he didn’t know if that would work. “How long have you known me, Mer?”

“All my life.”

“Have I ever lied to you?”

She stared at him as if she were thinking about it and then decisively shook her head no. “No.”

“Have you ever caught me lying to anyone?”

“No.” She bit at her lip and burst out with, “Tell me the truth, Cruz. Are you a player? Do you mess with untold numbers of women, lead them on for your selfish purposes, and dump them, thinking it’s all fun and games?”

“No!” He begged her with his gaze to believe him. “I’ve dated some different women since I left home.”

She nodded as if that was expected.

“But I don’t play with women and dump them. All the social media crap you’ve seen is women who’ve taken pictures with me and made something out of nothing. Everybody wants their time in the spotlight, Mer. Too many people will use anyone to get that.”

Meredith didn’t speak for a few seconds. “But you’ve happily taken pictures with a whole slew of women.”

“I always try to be nice to my fans, and snapping a picture isn’t a big deal to me, but if it bothers you, I’ll stop.” He said the words decisively, and he meant them. He might lose some fans and lose some sales on his apparel, his specialized Ronix boards, or his personally-designed wakeboarding ropes, but he didn’t care. He had plenty of money and plenty of fame. At the same time, he always wanted to be kind, and he hated to think of being the jerk that said, “No pictures. I’m too pretty for that.”

“I don’t want you to stop. I don’t want you to be the guy who won’t take a picture with someone.”

“Thank you.” Of course, she didn’t. Meredith was one of the kindest people he knew. He took a step closer. “Do you believe me that I am not dating and discarding woman after woman?”

“What about Hope?”

“What about her?” Hope. That was a blast from the past. He’d dated her off and on his senior year. He was always