In Too Deep(19)

“6:45,” Cam said softly in my ear. “I’d normally be up and out the door by now, but it's still summer vacation. I thought this was more important than getting a jump start on prepping my classroom for next semester."

“Sorry about falling asleep on you last night,” I said. “I was pooped."

“Don’t even mention it. I wouldn’t feel like doing anything but passing out after driving that much.”

I looked back at Cam, who looked like an invitation to sex with his hard upper body stretched out on the bed with the wine colored sheet bunched at his waist suggestively. He cocked his head and rested it in his hand, his bicep flexing in the position. I'm not normally a woman for morning sex, but he made it easy to break the habit. “When do you have to leave?”

“In about an hour or so," he said. "I've got a staff meeting at ten, then another conditioning practice with the basketball team at two. What's your plan?"

"Well first I'm going to give your hot water heater a rigorous test," I said with a grin, "then while you shower I'm going to do the whole domestic goddess thing and try and make you breakfast. Then give Mr. Winters a call, see if we can arrange a chance to talk today or tomorrow. You did mention me to him, right?"

"I stopped by yesterday before going to school and told him about you. He said he didn't have a pharmacy tech job at his place open, but he'd check around. Worse comes to worse, he said he had a register position open, but that probably wasn't what you had in mind."

I shrugged and headed towards the bathroom. "Cam, I figured things wouldn't be ideal getting here, but I didn't move here for the job market."

He laughed and laid back. "Okay, okay. So what's for breakfast?"





* * *



Breakfast ended up being a simple bowl of oatmeal with maple syrup and butter. "What is this, anyway?"

Cam took a look at the sausage in my hand and laughed. "Chorizo. A lot of the New Mexican foods are spicy, so you might need to work on your palate for spice. By the way, if you're ever in a restaurant and the waiter asks you red or green, they're talking about chili sauce. The locals will drown nearly anything with it."

"Good to know. So . . . oatmeal I guess, then I can figure out what the rest of this is tonight."

After he changed clothes and went into work, I looked around the house. It was bigger than my place in Lima, but the difference was in the size of the rooms themselves. Cam had already cleared out half of his closet for me, although I suspected that he just shoved his things over to the side, he didn't have a lot of hanging clothes. There was a dresser in the spare bedroom that Cam promised I could use. I think he wanted to help me move it himself, but I found that by taking out the drawers, I could maneuver it without a problem.

I took it into the main bedroom and set it down next to Cam's before uncertainty swept through me. What if he didn't want us to share the room? Sure, he'd invited me to stay with him, but what if it was just a short term thing until I found my own apartment, or something similar to let him keep his space? I mean, we hadn't known each other that long, after all.

I reached for my phone and was going to call him before I saw the time. It was already nine fifty, and he'd have his meeting in just a few minutes. Instead, I tapped out a text message. You mind if I bring the spare dresser into the bedroom?

Of course not. And take all the space you want in the closet. It's your home now too.

My fears were eased somewhat, but what exactly did I expect him to say after putting him on the spot? Sometimes I have a problem of not thinking before I speak.

I finished up my arrangement and then called Jay Winters, sitting down on the couch and waiting for him to pick up. "Jay Winters.”

"Hi, Mr. Winters? My name is Melina Browder, I think Cam told you yesterday that I'd be giving you a call?"

"Yes, Miss Browder, I remember. Cam seemed quite anxious that we talk. He said you've got pharmacy and management experience, right?"

"Yes I do," I said, feeling more at ease. "Uhm, if you have a spare moment this afternoon I'd love to bring you my resume and maybe we can discuss things? Cam told me you didn't have a pharmacy tech position open right now, but I figure it can't hurt to just talk."

"Not at all," Winters replied. "All right, I've got some spare time about three o'clock on my schedule, it's usually a pretty dead time in the day. Can you bring me a hard copy of your resume?"

"I sure can. I’ll see you at three.”

"Okay, see you then. Do you have my address?"

He gave it to me and we said our goodbyes, leaving me with a few hours on my hands. I thought about taking my car and driving around to check out the city but decided instead to get a better idea of my new living arrangements.

I shouldn't have been disappointed, but for some reason, as I looked around the plain house with simple furnishings and average decor, I felt like I wasn't really seeing Cam. It felt like the Cam I knew, the fun loving, tender man who’d shown me the best time of my life was nowhere to be seen. Instead, what I saw was a plain, rather boring house that you couldn't tell if it belonged to a twenty-eight-year-old or a forty-eight-year-old. There was no photos and nothing that spoke of his personality. It was weird.