The Perfect Stroke (Lucas Brothers #1)(37)

“I miss him,” I whisper out loud.

“Oh, honey,” Mer says.

“I got scared, Mer. I like him. I really like him.”

“C…”

“Like, really, really liked him,” I stress.

“So tell him that.”

“He’s gone.”

“He’s in Texas. Not some third world country. Text him.”

“But we broke up,” I sigh. “Jesus, I feel like I’m back in high school worrying over Clinton Sparks.”

“He was an *.”

“Maybe Gray is,” I argue.

“I never thought I’d see the day that Claudia Cooper was afraid to live her life.”

“You take that back!”

“Nope. Not going to happen.”

“You’re such a bitch.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Now find your lady balls and text your man.”

I sigh, looking at my phone. “I could just text him to see what he’s doing,” I reason, nerves filling my system.

“My freaking Lord, C, you are jinxed.”

“What?” I ask, jerking up.

“Cammie and her Witches of Crossville crew just came in. You’re jinxed.”

“Or maybe my best friend just picked a particularly horrible place to meet,” I grumble, because really, this place is just the kind of people Cammie would hang around.

“Point made. Jesus, they’re going to sit right behind us. Try not to move. If I have to talk to her, I may projectile vomit,” Mer says, and I agree with her. So for the next five minutes, other than making weird faces at each other, we say nothing. Mer makes silly faces imitating Cammie, and I might giggle a time or two, but we remain mostly silent.

Until the topic of conversation changes. “Cammie, where have you been? I was going to tell you about the new shipment of dresses we got in from Paris last week. They are to die for!”

“Father and I just got back from Texas,” she says, her voice hitting on every nerve ending I have. Mer mouths the word “Texas” and I stare at her, my fists clenching. It really pisses me off that Gray does business with these people, even if I don’t have a say so in it.

“What on Earth were you doing in Texas? It’s so hot this time of year,” one of the girls says.

“My fiancé is there. He wanted me to meet his family.”

My blood runs cold at her words. Her fiancé? Meet the family?

“You got engaged to Grayson Lucas and didn’t tell us? I thought he was dating that mechanic,” another girl says, and she says the word “mechanic” like it’s dirt beneath her fingernails.

“Oh pu-leeze! He was just sewing his oats before he settles down. All men do it, but a man like Grayson realizes what kind of woman he needs in his life. We’ll make a great partnership. He said so himself.”

“He did?” another asks while Mer reaches across the table and squeezes my hand in support.

“He did. Why, before I left, he said I was perfect and then he kissed me and, let me tell you ladies, Grayson Lucas can definitely kiss.”

I want to go off. I’m so close to the edge, it’s ridiculous. He wanted Cammie to meet his family? He said she was perfect? Who the f*ck does he think he is? Was he just playing me for the fool, or because I didn’t jump onboard with his plans he replaced me that quickly?

I get up and stomp out. I don’t care if Cammie sees me or not. I’m so mad. I’d like to punch Grayson Lucas in his big, fat nose.

“C? What are you thinking? You know Cammie. She’s probably exaggerating and you can’t put a lot of stock into…” I ignore her, walking straight to my car. “C!” she yells, and I finally stop and spin around to face her. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to Texas and punching Gray Lucas in his pretty boy face.”

“Oh. Well, yes! Definitely do that! Heck, if I could get off work, I’d go with you! You should go do it right now! Don’t let him get away with it a minute longer.”

She’s entirely too gleeful over this shit for my liking, but she’s right. I’m going to confront the bastard and make him sorry he thought it was okay to play me.

Cammie’s fiancé! That lying snake.





“It’s a good thing you went into golfing because your fencing sucks,” Blue grumbles, wiping the sweat out of his eyes with a rag he’s stored in the back pocket of his jeans.

“Bite me,” I grumble, holding my thumb which I just slammed with a hammer moments before. My mind isn’t on what I’m doing. Hell, my mind hasn’t been on anything but CC for way too long. She’s a fever in my blood and she’s infected my system completely. Everything reminds me of her. The color of the sunset reminds me of her hair. The leaves on mom’s roses reminds me of her eyes. Hell, the other day I was eating a peach and the taste of it even reminded me of her. God! What the f*ck am I going to do? I need to get her out of my head, and soon. I can’t go on like this. That much is for sure.

My cellphone rings and I pick it up expecting to see Cammie’s number. She’s been calling nonstop. It took me two days to get rid of her and her father when they came down here. I still haven’t figured out their exact reason for coming here other than Riverton said he was in the area for other business and thought he’d check in on me. Mostly, I think they came in to look down on everything. Mom hated Cammie and Maggie wasn’t far behind her. There were a few times I thought we were going to have an old-fashioned cat fight and my money would have been on my mom. It doesn’t even matter how old she is. If Mom had went at her, Cammie would have never known what hit her.