Chapter 5

 

Tears pooled in her eyes as Kenzie stalked down the hotel hallway. She blinked them back. The last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of Camden, and she knew he was coming after her. She could hear his heavy footfalls behind her.

“Kenzie—wait.”

The warmth of his hand ignited her skin as he took her arm. She turned to face him, and all anger melted away when she saw the concern in his gaze. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I overreacted.”

He let go of her arm and ran his hand through his hair. “No, you’re right. I shouldn’t have said anything. I promise to just be your man candy from now on.”

Kenzie tried to not smile, but failed. He was a good guy. She needed to cut him some slack. “You’re so good at it.”

A half-smile lifted his mouth. “Are you calling me sweet?”

No. She was calling him hot. But sweet was close enough, and she shouldn’t be thinking about him that way anyway. “Yes.”

His smile stretched wider. “I was thinking I’d walk around the grounds. Want to come with me?”

“Sure.” The fresh air would do her good. Plus she needed to get her mother out of her head. Even though she didn’t like it, Camden was probably right. She let her mother walk all over her, and she just took it. But her sister’s wedding wasn’t the time to start giving her mother a piece of her mind.

They took the stairs down to the main floor and went out on the back patio. Empty tables with umbrellas were scattered about, as the breakfast crowd had come and gone. She walked with him down the boardwalk toward the beach.

They stopped when they got to the end of the path. He looked up at the clear sky, one hand resting on the railing. “Such a nice day. I feel a little overdressed for the beach, though.”

Yes, they were overdressed, but he looked good in his suit and tie. “Then we’ll have to come back tonight after all the festivities.”

He gave her a look she couldn’t quite decipher, then nodded. “Good idea. I love the beach at night.”

They watched as a young girl and boy ran along the shore picking up sea shells and other treasures. The girl giggled as the boy chased her. Their mother followed along behind them, calling out a warning to watch out for sharp rocks.

Camden smiled at the children. “They are so carefree at that age.”

“You have any nieces or nephews?”

He nodded. “One. My sister has a little two-year-old daughter. The cutest thing I’ve ever seen. And there’s one more on the way. It was just me and my sister growing up. I always envied big families. My father left when my sister was a baby, so it was just the three of us.”

“Are you close to your mom?”

“Yeah.” He smiled at her. “She put herself through nursing school and worked nights when Kelly and I were little, but she always made time for us. She made me and Kelly feel like we were the most important things to her, you know? She had a way about her. I always felt loved and wanted.”

Kenzie couldn’t even imagine it. “That’s awesome.”

“We didn’t have much, but I never knew it. She made us believe we lived like kings.”

Her experience was the opposite. Her parents were wealthy, but they were never satisfied with what they had. And her mother was never satisfied with what Kenzie did. “Sounds nice,” she said, looking down at her sandals.

“Don’t get me wrong, we had our problems. And it was tough growing up without a father. But it made me determined to be better than him.”

She liked that attitude. “I get that. My parents always put money before anything else. It’s also made me determined to live my life differently.” She glanced up at him. “Money doesn’t matter to me. In fact, I like that you’re a construction worker. You’re not chasing after something you’ll never have. My parents taught me that. No matter how much money you have, you’ll never find happiness there.”

Camden frowned and leaned down on the railing, studying the waves. She wasn’t sure what she’d said to upset him, but just as she was going to ask his frown disappeared. “You’re right. Happiness doesn’t come from money.”

“It complicates things.”

He was silent for a moment before speaking. “It’s not the money that complicates things.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think it’s people and their goals. When money becomes the main goal, people lose sight of what’s important.”

She could relate to that. “Yes.”

“You make some pretty good money with your jewelry business.”

“I make enough for my needs, because I limit how many pieces I make. I could earn more, but I don’t need it. I think earning so much more than you need is almost obscene.” She laughed until she looked at Camden’s face. His eyebrows were pulled together and his lips pulled down in another frown.

“People can do a lot of good with the money they make,” he said. “I know . . . someone . . . who donates a lot of money to charity.”

Kenzie snorted, then slapped her hand over her mouth. Camden raised an eyebrow at her. “Sorry. I just know what those charities actually spend on helping the poor. It’s often so little it’s ridiculous. Pennies on the dollar.”

Camden stiffened. “Some are corrupt. But there are good ones out there.”

“It’s hard to find the good ones.”

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and scanned the beach. “So you’d never date a guy with money?”

She cringed. She wished she had made a rule about not dating a guy with money. That would have saved her a lot of heartache.

She brushed a strand of curls from her cheek, not wanting to admit anything. “Guys with money are arrogant and self-serving. I can’t imagine being attracted to that.” A seagull landed on the railing and they both turned to watch it. “What about you? Would you date a woman with more money than you?”

He coughed and pounded his chest with his fist. When he’d regained control, he spoke. “Of course. I don’t think having money makes a person selfish.”

“The money itself doesn’t. I just think that people who seek after it are shallow.” The conversation seemed to be bothering him, so she switched gears. “Are you in a relationship right now?”

“No. Just broke up with someone. Yesterday, in fact.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

He smiled, but it was reserved. “Don’t be. She was kind of crazy.”

Kenzie laughed. “People call me that all the time.”

“I’m sure they mean it in the nicest way.”

Kenzie glanced back at the resort and did a double take. The man standing by the tables looked familiar. Like . . . no. It couldn’t be. She squinted at him.

He looked just like Mason.

Her heart jumped into her throat. How had he found her? And why did he have to show up now of all times? His gaze connected with hers and she panicked. She grabbed Camden’s suit jacket with both hands and pulled him down, pressing her lips to his.

Camden’s eyes grew wide. She didn’t have time to explain. She put everything she had into the kiss, hoping Mason hadn’t recognized her. She twisted so Camden was between her and Mason in an attempt to hide even further.

Camden must have figured out she wanted to make it look like they were a couple, because he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. He took command of the kiss, his lips moving over hers. The sensations it caused made her brain stutter. Man, he was a good kisser. Too good. In fact, she quickly forgot why she’d started kissing him in the first place and got lost in the moment.

His lips teased and caressed hers, making her heart pound and taking her breath away. When she finally pulled back, he smiled down at her, an unspoken question in his eyes.

“I—uh—saw someone looking at us.” Why were her words all jumbled up in her head?

“Are they still looking?” he whispered, his sweet breath on her lips.

What? She couldn’t make sense of his words. “I don’t know.”

“Then we’d better continue, just in case.” He kissed her again, and she found herself threading her fingers through his hair. Why had she started kissing him? She couldn’t remember.

When the kiss ended and Kenzie could think again, she peeked over his shoulder. Mason was gone. Her heart continued to pound, though. “He’s gone,” she whispered.

Camden glanced behind him. His head cocked to the side as he stared at her. “Who?”

She didn’t want to tell him about Mason, but she’d spoken without thinking. She bit her lip and tried to think of what to say. “Actually, I think I was mistaken. No one was there.”

He gave her his full dazzling smile. “I see. You just wanted to kiss me, is that it?”

Actually, she wouldn’t mind doing that again, but she didn’t want to tell him that. She whacked him in the chest. “You’re impossible.”

She began walking toward the resort, and Camden fell into step beside her. “So . . . rule number two?”

Dang. Why had she made that rule in the first place? Now she looked like an idiot. “You know, I kind of overreacted with that rule. It’s almost impossible to pretend we’re a couple without any kissing.”

He nodded, his lips twitching. “I’m fine with getting rid of rule number two.”

“Okay. It’s settled. Kissing is allowed.” Her heart pounded in her ears, and she hoped he couldn’t see the affect his kiss had on her. She glanced up at him. “But only when others are looking.”

“Of course.”