“Camden, stop!”

Sutton’s loud giggles filled the room as she struggled and squirmed beneath him.

But he didn’t let go. No way in hell was he ever letting go.

When he woke up half an hour ago with her wrapped in his arms, it took a few seconds for him to realize it wasn’t just a dream. She was really there with him, her gorgeous face soft in sleep.

He’d watched her just like that until his need to see those beautiful eyes of hers became too much. Using a hank of her own hair, he tickled her nose until she eventually woke up by smacking herself in the face.

A wrestling match ensued a minute later that brought them to now, with Camden pinning her to the bed and tickling her until she couldn’t breathe.

“I give! I give!” she shouted through laughter.

Her expression was so free, so alive that he couldn’t help himself. He had to kiss her. It started slow and lazy, and stayed that way until they were forced to part for air.

“No hanky-panky once the sun’s out and your folks could wake up at any minute,” she bossed, her eyes belying her words. And while the idea of having her again held more appeal than pretty much anything else on the planet, there was something else he had on his mind.

Rolling to his side, Camden propped his elbow in the bed and rested his head in his hand. “Will you tell me about the conversation you had with your mom and why it bothered you as much as it did?”

Turning her gaze to the ceiling, she heaved a sigh and brushed the hair back from her face. It took her a while, and he wasn’t going to push, but she eventually started talking. “Our relationship with our mom has always been… strained. She’s got a nasty habit of making us feel like we can’t do anything right. I love her, but she’s one of those miserable people who won’t be satisfied if everyone else isn’t as miserable as she is. She has this twisted belief that all men are pieces of shit. She even gave Sabrina hell when she started dating Bryan.”

Camden felt his muscles getting tight. “You serious?”

“Yeah,” she replied with a bewildered laugh. “Bryan’s one of the best men I’ve ever met, and he’s treated Sabrina like she walks on water from day one. But that wasn’t good enough for our mom. If the person has a penis, they’re no good, no matter what. She accepts him now, but it basically took him telling her off and threatening to ban her from his family for her to warm up, and that was only to go from glacial to frosty.”

Reaching over, he cupped her cheek and rubbed his thumb along her jawline. “Shit, baby. I’m sorry you have to deal with that.”

“It is what it is,” she said with a shrug. “Anyway, she found out last week that you and I were in a relationship. She basically called and said all the same shit she always says, but it was even worse because… well, because of who you are,” she finished with a wince before biting down on her bottom lip.

His stomach sank, and anxiety and bewilderment took hold. “What do you mean?”

Puffing her cheeks, she blew out a long gust of air before finally rolling over on her side so they were face-to-face. “I guess to understand, you’d need the whole story.”

“Sutton, if you don’t want to—”

“No, I do,” she interrupted. You should know the truth. I want you to know the truth. I’ve never talked about my father with anyone, at least not until you and I started fake dating. I told Tate because I didn’t want who he was to be an issue. Bryan’s the only other person who knows who he is.”

“Christ, cutie. You’re freakin’ me out. Your dad a famous mob boss or something?”

“No. Nothing like that,” she said with a small grin. “My father’s Oliver Maxwell.”

Every single molecule in his body froze solid, because what… the… fuck! Camden must have heard wrong. “I’m sorry. What?”

Sutton sat up, taking the sheet with her, and pulled her knees up, laughing bitterly. “Yeah. Oliver Maxwell. Can you believe it?”

He couldn’t. He really fucking couldn’t.

“My mom was raised in LA. They met at the diner she was waitressing at, and apparently it was love at first sight.” Her tone was tinged with acid as she continued. “Of course, this was before his big break. She worked her ass off while he auditioned, and as soon as he made a name for himself, he bailed.”

Camden couldn’t move for fear of shattering every muscle in his body. “Are you fuckin’ kidding me?”

“Nope. Wish I was. He bailed and never looked back, not once. Started a new life and acted like the one he had before never existed. He left before either Sabrina and I were old enough to remember him, but that didn’t stop me from wishing he’d come back, you know?” She sniffled and rubbed a hand beneath her nose. Christ, she was killing him. The pain on her face was written clear as day, so strong he felt it like a punch to the gut. “He never did a damn thing to earn me missing him, but I still did, or the idea of him, at least.

“When we were young, Sabrina and I would sit in front of the TV when Mom was at work and watch his TV show. We had to sneak it ’cause Mom would lose her shit if she caught us.” Her eyes grew dazed, and a wistful smile tipped her lips. “We’d watch that and make up stories about how he really wanted us, and how it was just a matter of time before he realized how bad he missed us and came rushing back. We wrote him letters and did everything we could to try and find him. We even mailed birthday invitations every year. Every year. And every birthday that passed without him showing, we’d get our hearts broken all over again. She’d warn us not to hope, but we were just little girls! We couldn’t help it. We just wanted a dad.”

“Baby….” He couldn’t think of anything else to say. His heart was lodged in his throat, making it impossible to talk, or even breathe.

Sutton closed her eyes and shook her head like she was trying to shake off the melancholy. When she finally looked back at him, she’d wiped her expression clean. “Mom’s been angry ever since, and she let that bitterness twist her up into a loathsome woman. Only thing she hates more than men are famous men, so needless to say, she pretty much lost her mind when she found out I was seeing you.”

“Shit.”

She shifted around to face him full-on and wrapped her arms around her legs. “I’m sorry I let her get in my head. She doesn’t know you, Camden. You’re a good guy. I should have trusted my own instincts.”

He couldn’t stand the distance between them any longer. Even the few meager inches. Sitting up, he reached for her and pulled her into his lap. “Don’t apologize to me. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

She snuggled into him and exhaled contentedly. “How’d I get so lucky?” she asked in a soft murmur.

“What do you mean?”

“To find a guy as great as you. I used to think I’d never be as lucky as Sabrina is with Bryan. Then I met you.”

His stomach twisted up in painful knots. Guilt clawed at his chest as he held on to her like his life depended on it, because he wasn’t the great guy she thought he was. Not even fucking close.

* * *

He’d lucked out getting some time alone to do what he needed to do.

His mom had confiscated Sutton almost an hour ago to run last-minute errands for the party later that afternoon, and as soon as they left, he’d snatched up his phone and made the call.

Ryan hadn’t made him wait.

“Well this is a surprise. I saw online that you’d taken your little priss home to meet the family this weekend. You have to sneak away to make this call?”

Ignoring everything she’d just said, and the unflattering connotation of it, Camden snapped, “Did you know?”

“Know what?”

“Don’t give me that shit,” he seethed. “Did you know I was fuckin’ Oliver Maxwell’s daughter? And better yet, did he know? Is that why he asked me to work with him on this movie?”

She didn’t speak for several seconds, and he knew the answer without her having to say anything.

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ, Ryan!”

“Look, it’s not what you think. Yes, we know. Hell, the whole world would have to be blind, deaf, and dumb not to know all about your little girlfriend. You’ve been front page news for weeks. But it’s not like the two of them have a relationship. Olly said she doesn’t want a damn thing to do with him, so they don’t speak.”

“Yeah, because he’s a piece of fuckin’ shit,” Cam barked.

“Personal opinions aside, I don’t see what the problem is, Cam,” Ryan responded in a tone that sounded put-out.

“You’re kidding me, right? Jesus, Ry. I can’t work with this guy. If Sutton found out, she’d never speak to me again.”

“Now you’re the one who must be kidding. You’re seriously gonna turn this down because of a girl? This is the opportunity of a goddamn lifetime, Cam. If she can’t be happy for you, then she doesn’t deserve you.”

“Sutton’s not like that,” he declared through clenched teeth.

Ryan pulled in an audible breath before speaking again. “Look, Camden, if she really cares for you, she’ll get it. She’ll put her personal feelings aside and realize this is the best thing for your career. This is business, nothing personal. You have to learn to compartmentalize. Explain it to her. She’ll get it if she’s really like you say.”

Fuck me. He wasn’t so sure about that, but Ryan had a point. This was just business. Being invited to work on this soundtrack was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If he turned it down, he’d never get a shot like it again.

He needed to look at it from a career standpoint. And this was the best thing for his career.

Sutton would get it. She had to.

Or at least that was what he kept telling himself.

Maybe if he kept repeating it, he’d come to see it was true. But a niggling voice in the back of his head told him he shouldn’t count on it.