Cameron
I took my and Sierra’s plates into the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher for Rosa.
“No need to do that, Builder Boy. I can clean up.”
“It’s no problem, Rosa. My mom always taught us kids to clean up after yourself because it’s nobody’s mess but your own.”
“She’s a smart woman. So, tell me how bad the senorita complained on your hiking trip.”
I smiled and threw in a light chuckle. “She complained the entire time about everything. Do you want to know what the best part was? I told my parents that she was a barista at Starbucks.”
“No! I would have given anything to see the look on her face,” Rosa said with a wide grin.
“Do you know what her comeback was?”
“What?” she asked with anticipation.
“She told my parents that she’s a lesbian.”
Rosa’s mouth dropped as she put her hand over it. “She did no such thing.”
“Yes, she did, and my parents still think she’s a lesbian barista.” I laughed.
Rosa was in hysterics. She was a great woman and I’d become very fond of her.
“Okay, I’m going to go do some work on the bathroom. I told Sierra I would start up again tomorrow, but since I’m here, I should work on it.”
As soon as I stepped into the bathroom, my phone rang and it was Sierra.
“Hello,” I answered.
“It’s me. You need to meet Kirsty at Elite Tuxedo on Westwood Blvd. She’s waiting for you. Have James drive you. He’s on his way back to the house.”
“I can drive myself, Sierra. I know where it’s at.”
“Okay. Have fun. I’ll see you later.”
I hung up and sighed. Tuxedos weren’t my thing. In fact, I’d never worn a tuxedo. Not even for Kelly’s wedding. I hopped into my truck and drove to Elite Tuxedo. As soon as I stepped through the door, Kirsty ran over to me and grabbed my hand.
“This is Cameron. Cameron, this is Raul. He’s going to handle your tuxedo while we wait.”
I smiled and nodded at Raul and then turned to Kirsty. “What do you mean ‘while we wait’?”
“Sierra gave strict instructions that he is to alter your tuxedo here in the store and we are to take it with us. She wasn’t taking any chances that it won’t be ready tomorrow.”
“How long is this going to take?”
“Are you in some kind of hurry?” She frowned.
“Well, I was going to do some work on the bathroom.”
“Forget the bathroom. You can do that tomorrow. You have to look like the escort the Madame hired you to be.” She winked.
Raul took out his tape measure and took my measurements. A few moments later, he emerged with a black tuxedo hanging nicely on a hanger. He walked over to a shelf and grabbed a white dress shirt.
“Go try this on and we’ll work from there.”
I stepped into the dressing room and pulled the curtain close. I stripped down to my boxers and then slid into the pants. Suddenly, Kirsty’s head appeared in the mirror.
“What the hell?”
“Oh, please. It’s not like you have something I’ve never seen before. But you do have one hell of a six pack. Or is that an eight pack? Turn around.”
“Will you get out of here and let me finish getting dressed?”
“Whatever. Hurry it up,” she said as she rolled her eyes and closed the curtain.
I put on the dress shirt and then the jacket. When I walked out of the dressing room, Raul was standing there with the black bow tie. I stood there while he pinned a couple areas.
“This is almost a perfect fit. You can tell Miss Adams that she’s lucky and it won’t cost her as much as I thought it would.”
Kirsty pulled out her phone and dialed Sierra, then proceeded to put her on speaker.
“What’s up?” she answered.
“Raul says the tux is almost a perfect fit, so it won’t cost you as much, and I have you on speaker.”
“Hi, Raul. Thank you,” Sierra yelled through the phone.
“You’re welcome, Miss Adams. Her father bought all his tuxedos from me,” he said as I stood there with my arms spread. “Such a shame what that Ryan boy did to her. She’s such a nice person. He was in here the other day. I accidentally poked him with a pin. Okay, maybe not by accident. But he deserved it.”
“Wait a minute? Ryan’s here in Los Angeles?” I asked.
“Yes, sir. He moved back just a few days ago.”
I couldn’t believe it. I wondered if Sierra knew. But if she did, she would have told me. I looked at Kirsty. If anyone would know, it would be her.
“Kirsty,” I called.
“Yeah.”
“Did you know that Sierra’s ex moved back to L.A.?”
“How did you know that?”
“Raul just said he did.”
“Raul, you idiot.”
“I didn’t know it was a secret,” he said.
“So you did know and, if you knew, then that means Sierra knows and she didn’t tell me.”
“Relax, Cam. She hates him and wants nothing to do with him. She just found out.”
“But still, she knew and didn’t tell me.”
I was a little pissed off at her for not mentioning it to me.
“You can’t be mad at her. I’m sure she was going to tell you.”
“Well, she didn’t. Please don’t tell her that I know.”
Raul told me to go change back into my clothes. When I finished, I met Kirsty at the cash register.
“Here you go, Mr. Cole. I hope you get many years of wear out of it.”
“Excuse me? This is only a rental. Don’t I have to return it tomorrow?”
“No. No. Miss Adams bought you the tuxedo. She didn’t rent it.”
“Well, I can’t.”
Kirsty grabbed it from my hand and began to walk away. “Don’t question it; accept it and let’s go.”
“No. I won’t accept that.”
“You have no choice, Cam,” she said as she set the tuxedo bag around the hook in the back of the truck.
She patted me on the chest. “Please don’t piss her off. I have to deal with her for a full day tomorrow and she’s already going to be in a foul mood because of dinner.”
She walked away, got in her car, and left. I was mad at Sierra for buying me the tuxedo. That was a lot of money to waste on something that I’d never wear again. When I got home. I went straight to the guest house. Screw the bathroom. I’d start on it tomorrow. I just needed to be by myself tonight and think.
About three hours later, my phone beeped with a text message from Sierra.
“Hey, I’m lying in bed, sore as hell, if you want to come up and sleep with me tonight.”
“Nah, I’m already in bed. I’m really tired.”
“Did you like the tuxedo?”
“Sure. It’s nice. Thank you.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to come up? I kind of don’t want to sleep alone.”
“Sorry, Sierra, but I just don’t feel like getting out of bed.”
“Okay then. Good night.”
“Good night.”
****
Sierra
What the hell is his problem? I thought as I read his last message. I couldn’t believe that he wouldn’t come and lie with me. After spending the last four days with him, practically glued to his side, I kind of found myself missing him when he wasn’t around. Damn him. I couldn’t and I wouldn’t do this again. Especially now that Douchebag was back in town. What would I do if I saw him? I’d probably claw out his eyes. No, wait. I’d grab his small balls and squeeze them so he couldn’t breathe. Hell, I’d probably just look at him and become a fumbled mess. I cringed as I rolled onto my side and closed my eyes. I prayed that the pain would lessen up by morning. I still couldn’t believe Cameron wouldn’t come up here. Men. They were as hormonal as women at times.
I slammed my hand down on the button to turn the annoying-as-hell alarm off. I stretched slowly and my legs still ached. But not as bad as yesterday. I stepped into the shower and when I walked out from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around me, I saw Cameron going up the spiral staircase.
“Good morning,” I yelled.
“Morning,” I heard him say.
I kept the towel wrapped tight as I climbed up the staircase and saw Cameron with his tool box.
“I thought you were doing the bathroom today?”
“Paolo is going to finish up the one that’s almost done and I’ve hired two other guys to start the tear out in the other bathroom. While they’re doing that, I’ll start your office. Things will get done a lot quicker that way or else I’ll be here forever.”
Forever didn’t sound too bad to me. I liked having him around. He was a fun friend.
“Oh, okay. Are you all right? You seem off.”
“I’m good, Sierra. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do,” he said as he walked by me and down the stairs.
I didn’t know how to feel at that moment. He was pissed off about something. I could tell. I stepped into my closet and pulled out my light pink Prada suit. As I was changing, Kirsty walked in.
“Where are you? Rosa said you hadn’t been downstairs yet.”
“In my closet. I’m getting dressed,” I said as I walked out.
“Wow, is that new?” Kirsty asked.
“Sort of. I just haven’t worn it yet.”
“I love the short skirt with the longer jacket. You look hot, girlfriend.”
I gave her a small smile as I slipped my feet into my Prada platform pumps.
“What’s wrong? You look majorly bummed.”
“I’m just thinking about this dinner with the clan tonight. Do me a favor and book a mani/pedi for later.”
“Already did. Did you think I was going to let you go the country club when your feet were shoved in hiking boots and your hands were roughing it on rocks?”
“I knew firing you wasn’t a good idea.” I smiled. “Also, call Neiman Marcus and have them send some cocktail dresses to the house around three o’clock.”
“You have a shit load of dresses in there,” she said as she pointed to my closet. “And I’m pretty sure more than half of them still have the tags on.”
“I’m in the mood for something new. So do as you’re told and call Paul. Tell him that I’m going to the country club with Delia for dinner and he’ll know exactly what to send over.”
“If you say so, boss.”
Cameron was sitting at the table, eating pancakes. He looked up at me, looked down, and then looked at me again. I think he liked my suit.
“Good morning, all,” Paolo said as he walked in.
Everyone said good morning and Rosa handed him a plate of pancakes. As he was on his way to the table, he stopped and looked at my shoes.
“Nice Pradas.” He smiled.
“Thank you, Paolo.”
As soon as he sat down, Cameron looked at him and shook his head. “I don’t even want to know how you know her shoes are Prada.”
I took a sip of my coffee and my phone beeped with a text message from Royce.
“Hey, baby. I hope you’re wearing something extra sexy for after our meeting. I think your desk is calling for some action.”
Shit. Fuck. Shit. I looked at Kirsty, who was sitting next to James and staring at him as he ate.
“Do I have a meeting with Royce today?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He called the other day and said he needed to go over some figures with you, and he wanted to meet ASAP.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ll take care of this.”
I pulled up my contacts and scrolled until I found Royce. I hit the call button and waited patiently for him to answer.
“Hello, gorgeous,” he answered.
“Royce, darling. I’m sending Wayne over to your office for the meeting. I have a doctor’s appointment today and I won’t be able to attend.”
“Are you all right?”
“I don’t know. I’m on my period and I’m bleeding all over the place. Ugh. It’s such a mess. Tampons aren’t plugging it up and pads aren’t absorbing like they’re supposed to. It’s a disaster area down there. Oh, and the odor is unbelievable. Poor Kirsty can’t stand to be within a few feet of me. It’s utterly embarrassing, so I need to have it checked out. But no worries. Wayne is the expert and he’ll report back to me. Have a good day, Royce.”
There was a moment of what I assumed was speechlessness on the other end.
“You too. Good luck with your problem.”
“Thank you. We’ll talk soon.” Click.
I looked over at the table. Kirsty was hysterically laughing, James was shaking his head, Cameron just stared at me in disbelief, and Paolo was smiling and saying how much he loved me.
“Sorry if I offended anyone, but he had it coming.”
“Ha ha. He thought he was going to be coming, all right!” Kirsty laughed.