Chapter 20

 

Kenzie smoothed the surface of the metal clay, examining it. Yes. Finally, it was perfect. She’d been working on the piece for over two hours, but it hadn’t looked right. The swirl had been off. At one point she’d tossed the whole thing and started over. Now it finally had the look she wanted. It was modern and simple, a pendant she could be proud of. She set it aside for firing.

She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the glass in the window. She’d dyed her hair jet black. It had been time for a change. She kind of liked it. Made her look a bit exotic.

She fished around in her bag for the piece of sea glass she’d found on the beach. This would be her next project. She knew what she wanted to do with it. She was going to sculpt a mermaid clutching a piece of treasure.

As she looked at the frosty surface of the glass, Camden once again came into her mind. Why couldn’t she go ten minutes without thinking about him? Why did her brain have to keep reminding her how his lips felt against hers? How he smelled of cologne and aftershave? How he was willing to come to her rescue and help her out, even when he didn’t know her?

She felt foolish for her reaction to his kiss. He was right: it was only a kiss. And she’d yelled at him for it. How stupid. And now she’d never see him again.

She tossed the piece of sea glass back into her bag. She couldn’t work on it today. Even though it had almost been a week, the time spent with Camden was too fresh in her mind. She’d work on something else. Something southwestern maybe.

She stood and crossed her small workroom. It had been a bedroom, but she’d turned it into her office space. Her computer sat on the desk under her window; she plopped down and stared at the calendar. Thursday. Tomorrow would mark the one-week anniversary of when she met Camden.

How could she be feeling such a longing for him? One week was nothing. She was being stupid. Letting her hormones make decisions for her. She needed to put him out of her head.

Her cell phone rang and she picked it up. She didn’t recognize the number. Could it be? Had Camden found her number? Her heart leapt into her throat as she swiped the screen to answer.

“Hello?”

A male voice came through. “Kenzie? It’s Mason.”

“Mason? How did you get my number?”

“You don’t think I should have my wife’s phone number?” His voice rose in pitch. “How do you think that would look? I had to secretly get it from your phone while sitting at dinner with mother.”

Ah, yes. She’d left her phone at the dinner table. Now she remembered. It was just like Mason to go messing with her phone when she wasn’t around. “Oh.”

“I’m calling to give you my room number. Come right up to room 312. If I’m not in when you get here, call me.”

Guilt bubbled up in her chest. “About that. . .”

“What? You’re not here yet? Are you arriving tomorrow? That’s kind of cutting it close, but as long as you’re here before noon, you won’t miss much.”

She bit her lower lip, now feeling extremely guilty for deciding not to go and not telling Mason. She steeled herself for his reaction. “I’m not going.”

Silence came through the line. Finally, he said, “Not going? What do you mean?”

She took in a deep breath. She could do this. “I decided I didn’t want to lie for you.”

Mason swore under his breath. She heard fumbling on his end of the phone, then he came on again. “Kenzie. You can’t do this to me. To father. He’s not well.”

“Sorry. I can’t.”

“He had a heart attack.”

Her throat constricted. While Mason made her blood boil, and his mother was always a bit condescending, his father had been nice to her at their wedding. “When?”

“Last week. The hospital is letting him attend the family reunion, but I don’t think he’ll be around for long. He asked about you today. He was so happy that you’re coming.” Mason’s voice broke, and Kenzie felt like scum.

“I’m so sorry.”

Mason sniffed. “Is there any way you can come?”

Driving to California would take days. That was out of the question. “You know I don’t fly.”

“Couldn’t you take some valium or something? He actually got tears in his eyes when I said you were coming.”

No way was she going to get on an airplane. Just the thought made her shudder. But maybe she could catch a bus. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Mason let out a breath. “Thanks, Kenzie. I knew I could count on you. Hey, I convinced Mother that your jewelry business is growing too big for you. She’s impressed that you have a full-time assistant. I told her you couldn’t come without him.”

Kenzie wanted to crawl under the table. “Um, about that.”

“Oh, no. I’ve got it all arranged. You can’t back out of bringing him. Mother thinks all your time away is because of your growing business, and I convinced her you need your assistant with you at all times. We even looked up some of your jewelry online. Dang, you’re doing well with that.”

Kenzie swallowed. “But. . .”

“Please, Kenzie. Bring him or Mother will think I’m a liar.”

“Alright.” She blew out a breath. She didn’t want to fight about it. She just wanted to be done with Mason, and if she had to endure the reunion with Camden, that’s what she would do.

“Thanks, Kenzie.”

She hung up the phone and stared at her computer. The words on the screen swirled. How could she call Camden after how stupidly she’d reacted to his kiss? She’d overreacted and embarrassed herself.

She picked up her pen and tapped it on the desk as she imagined calling him and begging him to hop on a bus and go to California. Why did she always end up doing the stupidest things?

After a quick search, she found C&J Construction’s website. She called the corporate office’s number and held her breath while the phone rang.

“C&J Construction, how may I direct your call?”

“I need to speak to Camden James.” Her palms grew sweaty and she wiped them on her jeans.

“I’m sorry, you’ll need to call him through his direct line.”

“Okay. What’s that number?”

The woman on the other line paused. “We don’t give out his direct line number, miss.”

Kenzie gripped her pen. “Then how can I call it?”

“He doesn’t accept unsolicited calls.”

Desperation began to set in. “Can you give him a message?”

“I’m sorry, no. If you had business with him, you’d know his direct line.”

The click of the line disconnecting came through and Kenzie grunted in frustration. How was she to contact him if she didn’t already have his number? She dialed the number again, trying to think of what to say.

“C&J Construction. How may I direct your call?”

“I need to speak to Camden James. It’s urgent.”

The lady on the other end huffed. “As I said before, we don’t give out his number.”

She blurted out the first thing she thought might work. “I hired him last weekend and forgot to pay him. I have to get ahold of him so I can give him his money.”

“What did you hire him for?”

She thought maybe “male escort” wouldn’t be a good thing to say. “He helped me with a personal issue.”

“I’m sorry, we don’t give out his number.” The woman hung up again.

Kenzie sighed and slumped back into her chair. If she couldn’t call him, she’d have to go to his apartment complex and wait for him to appear. Like Lexi, the crazy stalker.

Nice.

 

***

 

Camden exhaled and swiveled in his office chair to look at the clock. 9:30 pm. The sun had long ago set and his concentration was shot. He stood and stretched. He had no motivation at all to go home to his empty place, but he was exhausted and needed to sleep.

He grabbed his briefcase and flicked off his light. The only bright spot of the week was talking to Kelly. She was having another girl. He pushed down the slight feeling of jealousy that rose in his chest. Kelly deserved happiness. He’d find someone eventually.

He made his way out to his car. He’d brought the Lamborghini today. For some reason, though, even his car didn’t lighten his dark mood. He gripped the steering wheel and drove along the dark streets. The radio station blared some rock song, but he didn’t pay attention.

He pulled into the parking garage and found his spot. When he cut the engine, he saw a figure out of the corner of his eye. Someone lurking in the shadows. Not again. He’d thought Lexi was with Daniel. Why was she stalking him again?

He slipped out of his car and shut the door. The figure stepped out under the light.

Kenzie.

Only she’d dyed her hair black. The sight of her made his heart stop. She twisted her hands together. “Don’t freak out. I’m not stalking you. I mean, maybe I am, but not like in a bad way. I couldn’t get your phone number and I really needed to talk to you so I thought this was my only option. But now that you’re here I can see how freaky this looks and—”

“Kenzie,” he said, holding in a laugh, “what do you want?”

She tugged on her earlobe. “I have to get to Mason’s reunion. His father is very ill. He may not make it through the weekend.”

He stared at her. Was she asking what he thought she was asking? “Okay,” he said, cautiously.

“I can’t let him down. He was kind to me when others weren’t, and it wouldn’t be right for me to—”

“Kenzie,” he interrupted again. “Are you asking me to go with you?”

She nodded. “Sorry. I babble when I’m nervous.”

This time he didn’t hold it in. He chuckled. “I know.”

“I realize I was rude to you last week, and I probably shouldn’t be here, but I wasn’t sure what else to do. Mason wants you there.”

Mason wanted him there? Whatever for? He squinted at her, trying not to internalize the fact that she didn’t want him there—it was Mason. “Why?”

“Something about me looking successful if I had a full-time assistant or something. I don’t know. I just have to get out there and the bus might be the fastest way but even that will take over a day and he’s freaking out that I’m not already there and—”

“Kenzie.” Camden squeezed the handle of his briefcase. This was probably a mistake, but he was going to say it anyway. “I’ll go with you. We can take my jet.”

She paled. “No. I can’t fly.”

“Come on up. We can talk about it.” He motioned to the elevator.

She bit her lip and nodded. “Okay.”

He pressed the elevator button and stood back, soaking in the sight of her. He still couldn’t quite believe she was there. It felt almost as if he were imagining it, but as soon as they stepped into the elevator and he caught the smell of her, he knew it was real. Kenzie really was here with him.

His instinct was to pull her to him, but he wasn’t going to make the same mistake. He would keep her at arms-length if he had to put on a straightjacket to do so.

“You changed your hair color.”

She looked up at him. “Do you like it?”

It suited her somehow. “Yes.”

After the elevator opened to his penthouse, he motioned to the couch. “Have a seat. I’ll be right back.”

He went into his bedroom and loosened his tie, setting his briefcase on the desk. He slipped out of his uncomfortable shoes, then went back into the living room. Kenzie was sitting on the couch, her feet up and her legs crossed. He sat, leaving plenty of room between them.

“I still think it’s a bad idea to go, but I understand why you’re doing it. It makes the most sense to take my jet out there. I’d be there for your moral support. We’d only have to stay as long as you want.”

Kenzie shook her head. “I’m terrified of flying.”

“My jet is perfectly safe.”

“It’s not the jet I’m afraid of. It’s the falling out of the sky part.”

“Statistically, flying is safer than driving.”

She gave him a flat look. “It doesn’t help to sound like a PSA. I can’t get into an airplane.”

“Okay. Let’s look at bus tickets.” He got his iPad and pulled up the website. He typed in all the details. “Looks like we could leave tomorrow afternoon, but we wouldn’t get there until Monday.”

“What?” She grabbed his iPad to look at the route. “That’s no good. The reunion ends Sunday.”

He wanted to put his hand on hers, but he sat back instead. “It’s okay. I can get us there by tomorrow morning.”

She set his iPad down on the couch and swallowed. “I don’t know.”

“I promise I won’t let anything bad happen.”

She looked at him with wide eyes, but slowly nodded her head. “I guess I have no choice.”

He should have felt happy she’d agreed to it, but for some reason, he was getting a bad feeling in his chest. Why did Kenzie drag him into these crazy ideas?