Redeeming You (Before You #2)(12)
Then she moaned his name as her shaky hands pulled his shirt from his pants and traveled under the hem, her nails skimming over his skin, and he froze. What was he doing? Remorse, resentment and embarrassment coursed through his veins.
“No more,” he said as he roughly pushed her away. He gritted his teeth. When would he pull his head out of his ass long enough to get his shit together? One mistake after another and now he molested Alec’s sister on the dance floor, a woman who not less than five hours ago, he swore he hated.
“What the hell?” She stumbled back a few steps, panting breathlessly and then she lifted her face, and her dark blue eyes met his. They were glassy with desire, but also anger and if he were a lesser man, he would have withered under the heat of her arctic stare.
He ran his fingers through his hair, tugging on the ends, trying to force his mind to focus. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen. You were there…available. I drank too much. You could have been anyone. I don’t know…” He avoided her eyes. It was a lie. It happened because once he got close to her, he wanted her, not anyone else.
Pain sliced across her face and his gut twisted. “You’re a jerk!”
“Agreed,” he yelled back without heat because it was entirely true. He was that and so much worse, only she didn’t realize the full extent of it yet, at least not in her alcohol soaked mind. Once she sobered up, she would be horrified that she allowed him to touch her.
“Let’s go.” He wrapped his hand around her wrist pulling her off the dance floor. A bottle of Patrón was waiting for them and he needed it more than ever.
“No,” she snatched her hand back.
“You don’t have a choice. You have to stay with me.” Even as he said it, he knew it was juvenile, but at that moment he liked the idea that she was tethered to him for a month even if he wouldn’t touch her again. He had somebody that couldn’t leave him.
“Really?” she taunted, eyes narrowed dangerously. At that moment, she looked like a goddess raging against him, larger than life and more beautiful than any woman he’d ever seen. He shook his head. He had officially lost his mind.
“Yes.” He let his eyes roam over her body. “For one month, it’s just the two of us unless you’re quitting already.” He smiled coldly.
“Fuck you!” She stormed from the dance floor, bolting toward the back of the bar.
He watched her as she melted into the crowd. Confused, annoyed and aroused, he dropped his head into his hands. What a cluster-f*ck!
Less than a minute later, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Marcus.
“Hey,” Cam said, searching Marcus’s face. Did he see what happened? Marcus wasn’t the most observant guy, but that could be an act for all he knew.
“Did you force her to quit already?” Marcus asked, with his hands on his hips and his face totally unreadable.
“Yes…no…I don’t know.” He honestly didn’t know. He didn’t think Taylor would give up that easily, but what did he know about her…other than she smelled and tasted unbelievably sweet and he wanted to rip her clothes off on the dance floor ten minutes ago?
“You better hope not. Alec will rip you to pieces if you cause her to shed one single tear,” Marcus said.
“I know,” Cam responded, his voice flat because he did know. It wasn’t a secret and that’s why pushing her away on the dance floor was the first intelligent decision he’d made in months.
“Do you want another drink?” Marcus asked, following Cam from the dance floor.
“What happened with the red head?”
Marcus shrugged. “I got what I wanted.”
Too bad Cam couldn’t say the same. That one brief kiss with Taylor wasn’t even close to enough to satisfy him and that terrified and thrilled him. “I’m going to take a taxi back to the hotel. There’s no reason to stay and we have a performance tomorrow.”
“Since when has that mattered to you?” Marcus asked smirking.
“Since now.” It had to matter because his dreams were hanging in the balance and he had to show the guys he could change for the better. If the label kicked him out of the band or the guys tried to force him out, he could kiss his career goodbye. No band would take a chance on him again.
CHAPTER FIVE
Late the next morning, Taylor woke up with a pounding headache, hazy memories and an achingly dry throat. So this was why she shouldn’t drink. She clearly remembered taking tequila shots with Cam. From there, she didn’t recall much. She rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands sifting through snapshots in her mind.
“Fuuuuck!” She shot up in her bed, the sudden movement making her head spin and her stomach roll. That didn’t happen. Please don’t be real, she chanted repeatedly in her head. When no amount of wishful thinking succeeded in erasing the memories of her kissing Cam, touching him, practically begging him to touch her, she flopped back onto the mattress, covering her face with a pillow.
She officially failed. There wasn’t any excuse sufficient to justify her behavior. Chasing Ruin offered her the easiest job in the history of humanity and she couldn’t even keep her hands to herself for a single day. Maybe Miles was right. She was inept.
Even worse, if Cam wanted to get rid of her, he had the perfect ammo. One slip to any of the guys and her job would be over. Her brother wouldn’t allow her to be within a mile of Cam. She’d be forced to take Alec’s handouts or starve because she refused to run back to Seattle into the arms of her piece of shit ex-boyfriend, even if he still called weekly begging for her to come back. Handouts and starvation sounded vastly more appealing than being anywhere near that controlling loser again. The only thing she missed about Seattle was her old roommate, Evelyn.