The Paid Bridesmaid(7)

“Ha.” I actually said ha. “If I run into any, I’ll let you know.”

He gave me a wolfish grin and sat in his chair. “In that case, let’s play. And please know that I’m going to destroy you.”

“Not in this lifetime. I’m a gaming master.”

“I can’t wait to see how well that works for you in a game based on chance.”

“Be prepared to be blown away,” I told him.

“So long as you get ready to be blown away by how badly I’m going to beat you,” was his sardonic response.

My blood pumped hard at the idea of him challenging me. I had been overly competitive my entire life. Like, it had cost me friendships and relationships. I was better as an adult, but I could not resist a gauntlet being thrown down.

Not good. I needed a distraction. Maybe we’d have engaging game partners in the two other chairs and my hormones could stop jumping up and down at the idea of sitting next to Camden. Especially once he scooted his chair closer to mine so that our knees brushed. I couldn’t help it, I reflexively jerked my knee straight up at the electric sensation, ramming into the table and nearly knocking all of the board game pieces over.

“Are you okay?” he asked and I just pretended like I didn’t hear him.

My hopes that I’d have a good distraction and some conversation were dashed a moment later when we were joined by Dan’s aunt and uncle. After introducing themselves, they started murmuring things to each other under their breath, like they were having an argument that had been going on for twenty years. They were far more interested in the custom drinks that had been named after Dan and Sadie.

I was distracted from their silent disdain when Troy grabbed the DJ’s microphone and announced, “Now that everyone’s in their seats, let’s play!”

The unspoken fight between the couple across from us apparently escalated as the wife stood up suddenly, knocking over her chair in the process. She stomped off, her husband trailing behind her and calling her name.

Leaving us alone.

“What color would you like to be?” Camden asked me.

“Red.” I was always red.

“I’ll be blue. You can go first. Also, in case I didn’t tell you earlier, you look very pretty.”

I was in the middle of reaching for a card when he said that and I paused. It had been so long since a man had said anything like that to me that I didn’t know how to respond.

I went with, “Um, thank you?” My mom had always taught me to accept a compliment, but at the same time, I didn’t want to encourage whatever he was doing. Mostly because I didn’t have a handle on myself when it came to him. I was far too intrigued.

One of the hotel employees stopped at our table, offering Camden a shell-and-bead lei. After she’d put it around his neck he turned to me with a huge smile on his face.

“If you make a joke about getting lei’d, this conversation is over,” I warned him.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said but his grin told me he’d at least considered it. He wore the gleeful expression of a naughty boy who had plotted a scheme but called it off at the last minute. And I found that endearing when I shouldn’t have.

Turning over my card, I moved my red token five spots on the board. “I already have a dad for those kinds of jokes.”

“You’re lucky.” His tone made me want to question what he meant, but I reminded myself that I wasn’t interested in him or his life and was just trying to make it through this week. Before I could say anything in response he went on. “I tried looking up that camp of yours. Where is it again?”

Were we really back to this? “Upstate New York.”

Camden took his turn and moved three spots. He asked, “Where specifically?”

We were playing more than one kind of game here. Was this what he was up to? Trying to lure me into a false sense of security and then springing questions on me? To his credit, it felt a little like it might work. But I was stronger than that. “I don’t give out that kind of background detail. It might be one of my security questions for a website where I’ve forgotten the login.”

“Is it a security question?” he asked as I skipped my token ahead six spaces. “Do you think I’m going to hack into your bank accounts?”

“I don’t because I’m not going to give out personal information like that.”

This seemed to amuse him as I again tried to figure out what he was up to. His arm brushed against mine as he moved his token, and it sent tiny shock waves of electricity dancing along my nerves.

I pulled my arm away, feeling ridiculous. That know-it-all grin was on his face, like he knew exactly what had just happened. Now I was irritated. Maybe it was time for me to go on the offensive instead of passively waiting for his next question or a further attempt to make my knees go weak.

“What is it that you do?” I asked. I knew, but he didn’t know that I did.

A strange expression crossed his face. “Why do you want to know what I do?”

“Um, it’s a common question that people ask one another. It’s also your chance to brag if you’ve got a great job and you’re that kind of guy.”

“I work at a tech company.”

Well, that was underselling what he did. It made me like him more—that he hadn’t tried to impress me when he could have.