In Too Deep(6)

I couldn’t help but notice his vague comment about frigid areas, but I dismissed it. If he wanted to be cryptic, I’m sure he had his reasons for doing so. “How many bullets did you dodge in school?" I asked, and he shrugged, a suddenly closed look in his eyes. "Sorry. Guess that's sensitive territory."

"A bit, but that's okay, you didn't know," Cam said. "So tell me about Lima. How'd you get into doing pharmacy work?"

"I had the grades, just not the money for college. But I could afford to do junior college, so I started there. I didn't know what I wanted to do really, and I figured wasting the money screwing around for a degree that wouldn't help me get anywhere was a waste of time, so after I got my associate's in business, I looked at the tech courses the college offered. They had a pharmacy tech course, and I already had the grades that I could qualify for a scholarship. I took it, and that was that. I actually liked my job too."

"I'm sure you can find another one. That's a job in demand a lot, right?"

“Maybe, but not in Lima," I said. "I'll probably end up moving. That was what I spent most of the past three weeks doing, job hunting and stripping down my house. I have a little one bedroom place that I'm renting, one of the former mill houses for a mill that's no longer there. So, I'm looking everywhere I can, and plan on only taking what I can fit in the back of a 98 Taurus."

"Taurus, huh? Ford girl."

I shook my head and took a sip of my wine. “More like used car girl, I’ll drive anything if it gets me from A to B.”

“Well, with the way T or C is, you're pretty much an outcast if you don't have some sort of pickup truck or SUV, so I've got a Dodge Dakota."

Our main courses arrived, and I watched as Cam ate with a unique blend of freaky speed and total fastidiousness, devouring his entire plate in the amount of time it took me to sample half of the coconut rice with cilantro and grilled dorado. Still, he didn't spill a single grain of rice or flake of fish. He looked up and smiled sheepishly as he set his fork down.

"Sorry, I've gotten into the habit of eating quickly. You'd be amazed at how much work a small town basketball coach and English teacher has to do. Squeezing in a few minutes to actually relax before tackling the newest pile of tests is vital."

"Not a problem," I said, taking another bite of my dorado. "Did you get to taste it, or will your brain just get the signals later on?”

Cam laughed and sat back. "A little bit of both. It was good, but I think tomorrow I'm going to hit up the poolside grill. I've gone forty-eight hours without any red meat, and I'm jonesing for a burger."

Our date continued, and before I knew it my plate was empty, the wine was gone, and the two of us were talking and sharing all sorts of stuff. When the server came over to inform us the next service needed to be seated, I was shocked to see that we'd been talking for close to two hours. "Wow, time flies."

"It's still early," Cam commented, looking at his watch. "I'm not ready for the night to end."

"Me either," I said. “What’d you have in mind?”

Cam seemed to be thinking. "You know, this resort is supposed to have a small nightclub built into it. I haven't checked it out yet. What do you think?"

"On one condition," I said with a nod, wiping my mouth. "I'm wearing slingbacks, so if you ask me to dance, you better be ready to let me rest my feet."

"Deal," Cam said with a laugh. He stood up with panther-like grace and tucked his chair in before offering me his hand. "May I?"

I took his arm, a thrill of warmth flushing my body as I wrapped my hand around the swell of his bicep beneath his suit coat. "So tell me Mr. Swagger, are you this much of a gentleman all the time?"

Cam smiled and led me down the corridor toward the lobby. "Usually, but I'm not always a gentleman. I can be aggressive when I need to be."





Chapter 4





Cam




The club wasn't much, but I didn't expect it to be huge. The night club had apparently started off as a small jazz bar type place. Redecorating and changing the type of music played didn't expand the space.

“Just so you know, I’d rather go easy on the drinks," Melina said to me as we came in. "I hate hangovers."

“We’re in agreement there,” I said, happy inside. I'd seen too many people getting stupid because of alcohol in my life to spend time with someone who was a sloppy drunk. "Let's find a table."

The music was too loud to really continue our conversation from dinner, but I was already of the notion that I'd like to see Melina again, so that wasn’t a big deal. Instead, we grabbed a table and relaxed. After a song or two, I leaned over to Melina, who was bobbing her head to the beat. "Wanna dance?"

"I don't know," she started, feeling shy again. "I have no idea how to dance to this sort of music."

"Neither do I," I said with a laugh. "Who cares? Let's just go out there and enjoy the music and feel the moment."

Melina took a deep breath and nodded, letting me take her out on the floor. We both kind of stood there for a second, getting the feel of the beat before I started to move. I'm no dancer, and honestly, the music was so different from what I normally listened to that I had no damn clue what I was doing, but it didn't matter. Within a few moments, all of my attention was on Melina anyway.