Page 86 of This Time Around
Slinging the strap of my duffel over my shoulder, I sauntered to the door.If I hurried, and the driver I knew Max would have waiting for me drove like a bat out of hell, I’d make it there before Camilla flaunted her entrance.At least then I’d be seated inside while paparazzo fawned over her outside.
Such a necessary pain in my ass.
“Hey Cooper?”Max called as I reached the door.“How’s Rebecca doing?”
Fan-freaking-tastic.I was smart enough not to say it.Still, who knew what my expression gave away when I turned to him.“She’s good, Max.Real good.”
“Yeah.She’s a good girl.Take care of her when you get back there, yeah?”
His smile was knowing, his statement odd.Still, he knew I was going back because I’d told him as soon as I slid into the car next to him.“Will do.”
“Good.We’ll talk soon.”
We would, definitely.I had shit he needed to get working on.
But as the Town Car stalled on the I-5 and his words were still replaying in my mind, I found myself smiling out the window.
“That fucker.He totally planned this.”
Fortunately it wasa Sunday night and the crowd at Five-Seven was less than crammed making it possible for me to easily get a table where everyone could see us.I wasn’t taking this to a private table where Camilla could instigate some romantic moment between us to get caught on film.
I was done with her games, and I was done with her.
She must have called the paparazzi, or Stefan had, so I’d pushed past blinding, flashing lights on my way inside.I didn’t bother keeping my head down, instead I held it high, not hiding the folders in my hand.Questions were shouted at me, some about the contents of the folders, most about where I’d been and how life in Kansas was treating me.
It was that question that forced my jaw to clench.The last thing I wanted, or Rebecca needed, were people digging into her life, or her place in Kansas.
The world was full of creepers and I’d just planted a bullseye on Rebecca’s back.
I was at the table considering all of that, if the risk to her was worth the trouble I could bring to her door, when flashing lights went haywire outside.
From my spot, Camilla’s entrance flared as high as her ego.She waltzed past the photographers, smiling and waving, like she held the victory cup to a sporting event and had battled for hours without a hair out of place.
I rolled my eyes at her dramatics and stayed where I was as she swept into the restaurant, her eyes immediately finding mine.
She smiled, that cat got the cream smile of hers.Only I knew it was as calculated as her pretending it was sincere.
“Hello, husband,” she all but purred as she reached the table.
“Camilla.”I nodded, hands clasped together on the folders on the table and didn’t stand to greet her.If she noticed, she didn’t falter in her performance.
She swung to my side of the table, bent low and pressed her lips to my cheek.“So wonderful to see you, Cooper.”
My gaze stayed fixed straight ahead and I fought the urge to flinch at her unwelcome touch and the sweetness in her voice.Years ago, I fell for this woman but now it was all tarnished.No wonder why my parents never truly liked her.Mom probably saw this moment happening from a mile away.
Which added a few more phone calls to my list later.If they saw the photo of Rebecca and me, they’d be in a tizzy wondering what the hell I was doing now.I’d called them before I left L.A., told them I was taking off for awhile to clear my head, and while they’d shown concern at the end of my marriage and the fiasco that followed, they hadn’t asked too many questions.
Knowing my parents and sister now, they’d be full of them.
But a smile formedon my lips as I thought about them, ignoring Camilla as she took a seat across from me and ordered a glass of champagne when the waiter appeared.My parents would love Rebecca and her down-home, Midwestern goodness.
“Pleased to see me, I see?”Camilla asked and my grin faded.
“Pleased only because it means once we get this dinner out of the way I’ll never have to again.”
“Now Cooper, you don’t mean that, honey.Haven’t you heard how much I miss you?How sorry I am?”
Her blue eyes, eyes I used to get lost in, now made my scalp prickle.I slide the first envelope her way.“I heard you loud and clear.I also vividly remember hearing you moaning and crying out formorewhen it was the dog walker’s dick inside you, and everything you said afterward.”
