“He will come around. I don’t know why you’re talking to him, anyway. You shouldn’t be answering my phone. Thanks, Mark. You’re a prince.”
How does she know his name?
The driver flushes but continues to stare at a cloud in the distance. “Doing my job, miss.”
“You’re doing it well.” She grabs my forearm. “Stop glaring at Mark. He’s going to get a complex. We’ll see you after lunch. Let’s go over our talking points. No fertility clinic. No baby. No endless discussion about whiskey over bourbon. No talk about balls and steers.”
“You want us to not talk at all?” I let her drag me into the restaurant toward a table near the windows where her dad is sitting.
He gets to his feet as Cam nears. His arms go wide, and his deep voice booms out, “Baby girl, get over here.”
She breaks away and rushes into his embrace. Cam’s parents have been divorced for years, but they dote on their only child. She spent most of her time in boarding school trying to arrange visits so that they wouldn’t overlap. In fact, the whole reason she was in boarding school, she once told me, was so that her parents would stop fighting over who she would live with.
With one arm still wrapped around Cam’s slender shoulders, Ed Hyde reaches out one meaty paw toward me. “Tucker Justice, what in hell’s name are you doing in Dallas? Thought you hated the city.”
I shake his hand firmly and then hold out Cam’s seat. “I didn’t realize I’d gotten such a reputation.”
“Cam here keeps me up to date.” Ed drops into a chair and gestures for me to take a seat.
“Oh, Daddy, I do that for all my classmates. Tucker’s not special.”
“'Course he’s not.” Ed gives me a wink. “I hear your cousin’s tying the knot with some pigeon. What’s her name, Cammie?”
“Birdie Rodgers.”
“Right. Right. Knew it was some animal with wings.” He snaps his fingers. His eyes rake over me with obvious speculation. “The Justices are getting married, and you’ve come to town for the first time in a decade. I’m adding a few things up.”
“Daddy, stop. Tucker is just here for business. Isn’t that right, Tuck?”
“I’m here to get married,” I say blandly.
“Gol darnit, I knew it.” Ed slaps his palm against the table and lets out a loud hoot that has every head in the restaurant turning toward us. The waiter comes by at that precise moment and nearly spills the water all over the table. “Get us a bottle of Moët,” he orders. “Hold the orange juice.” He narrows his eyes at Cam. “Unless you need the orange juice.”
“Daddy, no. Oh my God. I can have champagne, but there’s nothing to celebrate, so I need the orange juice, too,” she tells the waiter. “Go on.” She shoos him away. When he leaves, she leans toward her father. “I’m not getting married. I’m not having a baby.”
This does not make Ed happy. He shakes a finger in my direction. “This is your fault.”
I nod. “Yeah, but I’ll fix it.”
“How so?”
“Marrying her and getting her pregnant.”
“Tucker Justice, be quiet,” Cam snaps.
Ed nods happily. “You do that or I’ll have your balls for breakfast.”
“It might take some time. She needs to be convinced.”
“Hello. I’m right here.” Cam waves her hand in front of my face. “Do not talk about me as if I’m not at the table.”
I shift in my chair so I’m staring into her pretty eyes. “Sorry, darling. I’m marrying you and getting you pregnant.”
CHAPTER 8
CAM
“I cannot believe you did that,” I say to Tuck when we finally get back into the car to leave.
“You’re mad I wasn't straight with you all those years ago. Now I am being as straight as I can be, and you’re still mad.”
“Whatever, Tuck,” I say dismissively. I’ve had about as much as I can handle for one day. This man is giving me whiplash.
“Don’t do that.” He takes my hand, putting it in his lap, and begins to play with my fingers.
“Do what?”
“Be dismissive of me. I don’t like it. I’d rather you be mad.” His brows pull together.
I don’t know how this giant man who could likely wrestle a bull and win gives me these glimpses of insecurity. If he were actually my man, I’d love it. And even though I’m upset, that doesn’t stop me from wanting to lean over and kiss him. I control myself, because that’s the last thing we need right now.
“I don’t know what you want from me.” That’s the truth.
“I told you—”
“Don’t!” I hiss, trying to yank my hand out from his. He doesn’t let me. Instead, he threads his fingers through mine.
“I don’t know if I believe in the curse, Cam, but I was young when I lost my mom. Big part of why my father sent me to boarding school. He had to deal with that grief. The sadness of losing the woman he loved. But what he didn’t realize was that I lost her too. I was hurting as much as he was.” A half smile pulls at his lips. “When I see you working a room, you remind me a bit of her. She was always the life of the party.” All of the frustration I’ve felt with him immediately melts away.