Redeeming You (Before You #2)(6)
“No, not even close. I was trying to tell you that you look like shit. Your eyes are bloodshot and swollen. I think your face is a little waxy and bloated looking too.” Taylor leaned forward, pretending to study him as she tapped her fingers on the table. “Other than that, I guess you’re okay if you’re into the yuppie loser pretending to be the big bad wolf type…and I’m definitely not.”
And she wasn’t, but there was something about Cam that made her heart beat a little faster and her stomach flutter, and she desperately hoped it came from disgust rather than attraction, because letting Cam into her life would be a disaster. She just walked away from one crappy relationship. She didn’t need to be chasing after another.
Looking genuinely amused, he burst out laughing, his low husky voice sending a shiver of awareness down her spine and a small part of her wanted to smile, but she ignored it. She had a job to do, and indulging in any part of Cam, even his laugh, would be stupid. Cam was an emotional black hole right now and she’d spent her whole childhood crawling out of one. She didn’t need to jump back in now regardless of how tempting Cam appeared on the surface with his sexy smile, his tattered jeans and his t-shirts that highlighted a chest her fingers itched to touch.
“I’m glad you set the record straight.” Cam relaxed against the booth again. “I wouldn’t want any misunderstandings to impair our professional relationship or your budding career as a rock star babysitter.”
Taylor rolled her eyes. Jax was right. Cam had no intention of going easy on her. “Speaking of potential misunderstandings and our professional relationship, I thought we should take this opportunity to define our expectations and goals for the next thirty days.”
Cam stood up and braced his hands on the table next to her. “I’d like to order first. I’m starving. Do you want anything?” he asked, towering over her, invading her space.
“No. I’m good.” It was a lie. She was starving. She’d hardly eaten anything the entire day, but she would run and get something when their meeting ended. She was too nervous to eat now with Cam judging her every move.
Cam lifted his eyebrows. “If you say so.”
Five minutes later, Cam slid back into the booth. “Okay, start talking.”
Taylor took a sip of her ice water, looking at him over the rim of her glass. “It’s not too complicated. I plan to accompany you wherever you go over the next thirty days and make sure you don’t do anything else that pisses off your label.” She shrugged.
He watched her not saying a word, his face completely blank. Part of her wished she never asked him to take off his sunglasses. His face was distracting and not in the way she told him. “Do you have any thoughts?”
“Thoughts?” he questioned, the sardonic smile making another appearance.
“Yes,” she answered drawing out the word. “You know what those are, right? Or are you still too drunk or whatever else from last night to comprehend this conversation?”
“I have quite a few thoughts about this arrangement.” His blue eyes sparked with anger.
He was an ass—a good-looking ass—but an ass all the same. “Do you want to share?” She arched one eyebrow.
“Sure. I’m just running through all the potential scenarios in my head.”
“You do that. When you’re done, feel free to share.”
The waitress slid a burger and a beer in front of him and a tuna sandwich and an iced tea in front of her.
“I said I wasn’t hungry,” she said looking down at her plate, hoping her stomach wouldn’t inconvenience her by growling at that moment. Her sandwich looked delicious and she loved tuna salad sandwiches, especially on toasted bread, but she didn’t want to take anything from him. He’d probably hold it against her later.
“Uh huh.” He took a bite of his burger, chewing slowly as he watched her. “I heard you, but you won’t be eating until I’m hungry again, so I went ahead and ordered you something.”
“How do you figure?” she asked absently picking up a french fry from her plate and twirling it between two fingers.
“You have to follow me everywhere, right?”
“Yep,” she said taking a small bite of the fry in her hand. Salty and hot, just the way she liked them.
“And I’m eating right now.”
She nodded.
“And I might not eat again today. I haven’t decided.” He looked at his phone sitting adjacent to his plate of food. “It’s already three in the afternoon. This might be it for us today unless I want a late night snack and I’ve been known to make a run between two and four in the morning.” He shrugged, smiling devilishly, his bright blue eyes twinkling just enough to piss her off. “Just warning you.”
She glared at him. “No.”
“No, what?” he asked innocently after he took a sip of his beer.
“No late night runs. Eating at night makes you fat,” she blurted out because she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
His hot gaze traveled over her body and she knew he intended to make her uncomfortable, and it was working…to some extent. She hated being the recipient of his overly attentive examination.
“You look fine now, but it looks as though you have a tendency to gain weight in your hips. You might want to limit your late night snack to a salad.”