Bad for Business (Pembroke Hills, #2)

by Kat Singleton

I sigh, sitting back in my chair and pinching the bridge of my nose. I want to argue and tell them we need to find another solution. It’s embarrassing to be told you need a babysitter. It’s even worse to be told that a woman you had a very heated, passionate night with months ago is the one assigned to do it.

I put a hand to my chest and scoff. I don’t know why she’s seeming to blame me for what happened after. I didn’t tell her to leave. She left without any explanation. “You can lie to me all you want, but I remember your screams and moans of pleasure. There were a lot of them.”

Camille’s demeanor slips for a moment. Her lips part as she sucks in a large gulp of air. The shock is written all over her face for a moment before she composes herself. It doesn’t take long for her to glare at me once again. “You’re already breaking rule number two,” she points out with an annoyed tone. I shrug before tucking my hands into my pockets. “To be fair, I never told you I was going to follow the rules.”

He’s quiet for a moment. All he does is stare at me, his brown eyes watching me closely. Just when I think he’s not going to respond and leave me alone, he opens his mouth to speak. “So, do you like the Hamptons?” I mull over his question for a minute, not expecting the sudden change of subject. “Sure, what is there not to like about the Hamptons?” My family has occasionally vacationed in the Hamptons since I was a kid. We never owned a house there—my dad preferred Manhattan or LA—but I still enjoy visiting.

She looks exactly the same as she did on New Year’s Eve. Her hair is still long, and the strands are still so dark they’re only about one shade away from being black. Her eyes are still mesmerizing. Although now that I’ve seen them in the daylight, I’m realizing they’re more of a mix between blue and green instead of being just blue like I originally thought.

“Will this room work okay?” Ryker asks from behind me. I look over my shoulder, finding him leaning against the doorframe. He has his arms folded across his chest as his brown eyes watch me closely. “Yes,” I answer, ripping my gaze from his to look around the room. It’s bigger than I was expecting. A large white oak bed sits against the far wall. It’s massive and stunning, looking like it’d been picked straight from an estate sale and placed into the house. A beautiful pale blue comforter sits on the freshly made bed. Whoever was in charge of getting the house ready did a good job. There are even fresh-cut flowers sitting on the large dresser that make the whole room smell incredible.

sigh, trying not to get lost staring into his mahogany-colored eyes. He watches me closely, his shoulders rising and falling with shallow breaths as if he’s hoping I’ll say something. For the first time today, he looks at me without the glint of humor in his eyes. For some reason, this look from him makes me want to let my guard slip, even if just for a moment. But he’s tricked me once. I won’t let it happen again. Spending time with him is strictly professional, and I can’t let his good looks and puppy dog eyes distract me.

Ryker’s warm brown eyes settle on me. I know he’s thirty and a grown man, but there’s something vulnerable about the way he stares at me now. “My mother passed away.” My mouth falls open as my next breath gets stuck in my chest. I blink a few times. Out of all the things I was expecting him to say, it wasn’t that.

I hate to admit it, but he looks good this morning. Despite him sleeping through all of his alarms and needing me to intervene to make sure he got out of bed, he cleaned up nicely. His brown hair is slicked back, making his light brown eyes stand out even more against the white of his button-up shirt.

At one point, I thought about ditching Harrison O’Neill and Glen Gentry when I caught the sound of Camille laughing with Jude and Preston’s girlfriend, Emma. She hasn’t laughed like that for me at all since we got here, and for some reason, red-hot jealousy burned through me at the realization. Camille’s hand pressing against my arm breaks me from my thoughts. “Ryker?” Her tone is cautious as her big turquoise eyes stare up at me. “How did it go?” I shrug out of her grip. I don’t want her touching me. Quite frankly, right now, I don’t want her anywhere near me. I’m annoyed that the entire time I was supposed to be focusing on the very people who are in charge of my future, I was focused on her instead. I was jealous of her talking to Jude Kensington, and it’s a pill I’m not quite ready to swallow. It doesn’t make sense. Camille Vaughn annoys the shit out of me. I’m trying to actively find a way to get rid of her. Yet, the moment she finally gave me space and opted to spend time with someone else, I hated every second of it.

“Martini, extra dirty, just a splash of vermouth, and six olives instead of three. That’s your order, is it not?” My fingers tighten around the stem of the glass. That’s exactly my order. I just don’t know how he knows that. I must’ve ordered it at the club at some point. Except I don’t think I have. I love an extra-dirty martini, but I don’t typically order them at work events. Because once I have one martini, I always think it’s a good idea to have a second.

His brown eyes soften. Actually soften. I try not to think too hard about it. The martini has definitely gone to my head, and now I’m looking at Ryker the way I looked at him the first night we met, and not looking at him like he’s my pain-in-the-ass, entitled client. He clears his throat. His hand reaches toward me before it drops to his side. I stare at it for a moment, wondering what he was about to do. Was he going to touch me? Surely not.

“I’m joking,” I speak up, trying not to smile at how cute she looks. Her plump lips are parted, and her aquamarine eyes are aimed right at me. Her cheeks are pink from the alcohol, and she keeps swaying ever so slightly on her heels.

I can’t fight the urge to look at him any longer. I bring my gaze to his, my head feeling fuzzy because of the intense way he looks right back at me. The darkness of the night makes his brown eyes seem even darker. The color might not be as light as it normally is, but there’s still nothing but warmth in the gaze staring back at me. “Do what?” I whisper. “Refuse to accept a compliment.” He leans forward, resting his chin on his forearm as he focuses on me.

“I don’t know, Ryker,” I answer, my gaze moving to the ground. I can’t look into his brown eyes for another second. “It’s just who I am. I’ve always been this way.” Why is it that the one person I should have my guard up around the most is the one person I’m wanting to let in at this very moment? I jump when his fingers connect with my chin. He gently coaxes my face up until my eyes meet his.

I try to keep my gaze in a safe spot. I try to look at those aquamarine eyes that have haunted my dreams for weeks. I really do try. But like a fucking moth to a flame, my gaze drops. I can’t resist it. I look at her tan thighs and where the hem of the nightgown cuts dangerously high, and I remember kissing that very skin on display. I remember the way her thighs shook when my lips kissed the soft skin at the apex of her legs. I remember the way she moaned my name. And that’s the fucking problem. I remember every single thing when it comes to her. And every moment I find myself hoping that the moments stuck with her the same way they’ve stuck with me, she makes it a point to let me know that she wants nothing more than to forget I even exist.

“Hey, Camille?” I ask, my voice tight and hoarse. “What?” she whispers. “Tell me to stop if you don’t want this.” “Want what?” “This.” And before either one of us can say anything else, I grab the back of her neck and yank her face to mine. All of the fighting and hot and cold of the last few weeks feels worth it the moment my lips crash against hers.

“For being so insistent that you don’t like me, your pussy is absolutely soaked for me, princess.” I circle her clit, watching her face closely. I want to see every single reaction of hers. I’m desperate to commit them to memory, to remember that there was a point where she let me see her vulnerable like this. “Shut up,” Camille responds, the demand coming out breathy. I chuckle as I begin to slide my finger inside her.

“And you were my publicist last night when you fucked my fingers so greedily you were practically screaming my name. It didn’t seem to matter then. Why’s it matter now?” Her entire body stiffens at my words as they take her by surprise. They shock me too. I’m not normally so confrontational. I sure as hell don’t typically lose my cool the way I am now, but I can’t help it. Blood rushes through my ears as I try to get a hold of the anger coursing through my veins.

His warm brown eyes scan over me quickly, like he’s trying to get a good look at every inch of my face. Because of the darkness of the room and his face only being illuminated by the moonlight, it brings even more attention to his sharp features. His strong, chiseled jaw. His straight nose. His lips that I think about way too often.

His brown eyes roam my face. There’s so much warmth to them that it makes my heart race. “You don’t have to thank me,” he responds. I trace my thumb over his bottom lip. “But I want to.” He smiles before pulling me into him. I tuck my face into the crook of his neck, savoring the smell of him. The scent of his cologne from yesterday is still faintly there, and I love the way it mixes with the smell of his skin.

“I didn’t think I’d have you on your knees for me, but I have to admit, I don’t hate the sight of it. It’s hot.” More blood goes straight to my cock at her words. How is she so sexy when she isn’t even trying to be? A corner of my lip lifts as I stand up and bring my face closer to hers. “Princess, I’ll get on my knees for you anytime you want me to. All you have to do is ask.”

I meet her stare again as her hand continues to roam her body. I can’t help it; I pull my gaze from her beautiful aquamarine eyes and follow the path of her hand. Her fingers drift over her collarbone, continuing to move lower. “Why?” she asks, her fingers drifting over her breast. All I can think about is how I want to replace her fingers with my own—or even with my mouth. “Because I really fucking want you,” I confess. I palm my cock for a moment, trying to give myself some sort of relief. “But you were just sick. You need to take a warm shower and then get back in bed and rest. And everything I’m thinking right now does not involve you resting.”

I didn’t expect to unload all of this on Camille, but now that I’ve started, I realize I want to talk about my mom with her. I want to talk about Mom with someone. I’ve kept it all bottled up, and all that’s done is get me into trouble. Camille’s blue eyes search mine. I stare right back at her, wishing I could get into that mind of hers. I’ve loved the last few days with her, but I also feel like I’ve been walking on eggshells the whole time. I want to soak in every second of her looking at me with a warmth I’ve never seen before. I don’t ever want to have to give up being able to touch her when I want, being able to kiss her because I can, but every moment I spend with her, I’m scared it might be the last. I know she can pull away at any moment. She’s done it before. And I’m just scared of what happens if—when—she does it again.

He pulls away, but his grip on either side of my face stays strong. “The easiest thing I’ve ever done is like you, Cami. Even when I thought I hated you, I liked you.” My eyes burn so badly that I have to close my eyes to avoid the pain. I don’t want to cry. I shouldn’t cry. His words are sweet and everything I need to hear. It’s just that I didn’t realize how badly I needed to hear them until he said them out loud. I know that to anyone else, his words might not even matter, but to me, they mean everything. I’m not known to be the most likable person. People don’t gravitate toward me the way they do Ryker, or Jude, or Emma. I’m not liked, but all I want is for someone to see me for who I am and still like me…still choose to stay.

“I’m falling for you, Ryker Davenport. It’s terrifying and exhilarating and so many other things I’ve never felt before. But this is me trusting you to catch me.” I grab both sides of her face and pull our heads together. “I’m falling right there with you, princess. I’ll always catch you.” She smiles and I swear her eyes shine with unshed tears. The smile on her face is the most beautiful sight in the world. “Good. Now, kiss me.”

He pulls away and looks at me with an intensity I haven’t seen in his brown eyes before. “That you’re falling for me.” I smile, my fingers tightening around the fabric of his shirt. “I’m falling in love with you.” It still shocks me to say those words out loud, but it just feels right with him. Now that I’ve fully let him in, I don’t want to pretend that I don’t have strong feelings for him. How could I not? It’s Ryker. He groans as his gaze heats. His eyes pull from mine as he looks around the hallway. Instead of responding, he pulls me toward a closed door. He hastily opens it and yanks me inside the room with him before closing the door behind us.

Camille stares at me with her big, beautiful aquamarine eyes. I love how her entire face lights up with her beaming smile. “Of course I’ll be your girlfriend.” I pull the SUV into the driveway and put it in park, twisting my body to face hers. “Really? No argument at all?” She laughs. “No, boyfriend, no arguments from me. Not this time.”