Chapter four
Ashley
It was deadly curiosity that had forced her to follow him. The coffee shop he’d picked was on the corner of a busy intersection. The whole place smelled like roasting coffee beans and chocolate powder. She took a seat next to a window that overlooked one of the lanes that ran off from the crossroad. Cameron joined her after he’d ordered and paid for the coffees.
“So,” Ashley didn’t waste any time. “What is it that you want to talk to me about?”
“I’ve just been speaking with my publicist,” Cameron told her with his eyes firmly on the small packets of sugar stacked in a pot sitting in the middle of the table. “She seems to think I’m becoming too much work.”
“Imagine that,” Ashley said dryly.
“Right,” Cameron nodded. Ashley took in the man sitting in front of her. He wasn’t the same the man that she’d met before. His broad shoulders were sunk, his speech not slurred. “Well, anyway, she says that I need to sort myself out otherwise she’s going to drop me.”
“That must suck.”
“Yeah,” he nodded.
A waitress walked over to the table with two steaming cups on a steady tray. She placed them down on the table and gave Cameron an overfriendly smile. “I’m a big fan,” she said, her eyes lingering on him. “I think you’re amazing on the court.”
“Thanks,” Cameron didn’t look at her. Ashley noticed the wounded look on the waitresses face from his dismissal, before she turned and headed back over to her server’s station. “Anyway,” Cameron finally lifted his eyes and settled them on Ashley’s face. “I can’t afford to lose her, so I need to do something.”
“Good for you,” Ashley frowned, wondering what he thought her part to play in it was going to be. “So, what has any of this got to do with me?”
“I need your help,” he admitted. “I need you to help me sort my life out.”
Ashley sat back in her chair. She replayed Cameron’s words. She was sure that she must have heard him wrong. “What do you mean my help?”
“I can’t do this on my own,” his eyes looked desperate. “I’ve tried before. I’ve tried to get sober. I’ve tried to sort out the messes that I keep leaving, but I can’t. It’s too hard. I don’t even know where to start.”
“But, you think I do?” Ashley asked amazed by how ridiculous he was being. “What makes you think that I can help you? I’ve seen what you’re like with women. I’ve seen the way that you treat them in the papers and on the TV. Why should I believe that you’d even listen to me?”
Cameron shrugged. “I’ve never wanted to change before.”
“Right,” Ashley snorted.
Cameron shot her a hurt look. “If you help me, then I can help you.”
Ashely found herself frowning at him again. What could he possibly offer her? What could he possibly have that she couldn’t get for herself? “Oh, really?” she gave him a stern look. “And, how exactly can you help me?”
He gave her a confident smile. “You work in TV. You’re a researcher right?” he asked.
Ashley nodded.
“There’s no way that’s the job you want for the rest of your life.”
“So, what if it isn’t?”
“I could get you a proper job on TV. If you spend time with me then your profile is going to rise. People will start to see you. You’ll find offers coming at you from everywhere.”
“So, that’s what you’re offering me?” she asked. “I help you sort out your life and you give me fame?”
“No,” he shook his head. “I’m not offering you fame. I don’t think you want that. I don’t think you’re one of those girls who do nothing, but look good for a living. I’m offering you a chance at your dream job. I’m offering you a chance to get taken seriously without having to spend years climbing the corporate ladder. I’m offering you a shortcut.”
Ashley had followed Cameron into the café with the foregone conclusion that she would decline any offer he presented to her. She had been sure that he had nothing that she wanted. She was certain that there was nothing he could offer her to lure her into his world., She was wrong.
She leant forward on the small table. Their coffees splashed dangerously close to the sides of the cups, as the table wobbled under her movement. “So, you’re saying that if I help you straighten out; you’ll help me get into television?”
“Yes,” Cameron nodded. “If you’re seen with me your profile is going to rise. I can guarantee that.”
Ashley nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yes, but under one condition.”
“What condition?” Cameron looked a little concerned.
“If I’m going to help you, then you need to let me help you. You have to do what I say. You can’t argue and can’t fight against it. If I feel like you’re being too much work or you’re not really trying, then I quit. Is that understood?”
“Yes,” Cameron told her quickly.
“Okay,” Ashley sighed, as the weight of what she had just agreed to sank onto her shoulders. “I’m going to need to know everything.”
“About what?” Cameron asked her, lifting his mug to his lips.
“About everything,” Ashley met his eyes. “I’m going to need to know about all the trouble, all the girlfriends and anything else that might be causing problems in your life. When I’ve got a handle on what I’m dealing with, then I can start to work out what we’re going to do with you.”
Cameron smiled at her. His eyes crinkled at their sides. “What you’re going to do with me?” he asked in a playful, flirty way that was met with an instant glare.
“No,” Ashley said coldly. “If you want me to help you, then you’re going to need to be professional about this,” she warned. “I’m not going to sleep with you, so you might as well throw that idea away, before you waste any more time on it.”
*******