The Thing About Trouble (Crystal Lake 1)

“I want him.” Kylie tousled her long hair.

Poppy shook her head but looked resigned. “He’s not the kind you want to tangle with.”

“Thank God,” she replied dramatically. “They’re always the most fun.” Kylie smiled wickedly licked her lips. “Here he comes.”

Blue forced herself to look up, and everything inside her stilled. Cam Booker was definitely heading their way. But his eyes weren’t on Kylie.

They were on Blue.

7

Cam had almost stayed home.

He’d worked a full week—six days, to be exact—and after knocking off at nearly seven, the only thing he wanted to do was sit in front of his flat screen and watch some baseball uninterrupted. The San Francisco Giants were midway through a four-game series with the Texas Rangers, and he’d missed the first two games. Cam was tired and on the cranky side, so when Mrs. Eddy had volunteered to have Tawny over for princess movie night, he’d jumped at the chance. Of course, he’d made sure Tawny was into the idea. He wasn’t going to pawn off the kid. But the little girl had practically exploded at the thought, and after her bath had pulled on pink pajamas with yellow daisies all over them, and held Mrs. Eddy’s hand all the way to the old lady’s home.

Mrs. Eddy had winked and told him she’d keep her overnight. “You’ve worked hard this week, Cameron. Why don’t you go out and have some fun?”

He’d grinned at the thought because, for once, his idea of fun was about as far away from her idea as he was from the freaking moon. Sure, he’d seen four messages from Marissa on his phone, but he didn’t feel like putting in the effort required to get the job done. Dinner and small talk definitely wasn’t something he was up for. He was content to crack open a cold one, grab some pizza from the fridge, and chill.

That is until his buddy Brandon stopped by. He was on his way to the Coach House, wanted some company because he’d just broken up with his girlfriend, and wasn’t taking no for an answer. Cain Black was doing a “surprise” show, but like everything else in this town, nothing was secret and everyone knew about it. The place would be packed, and unless you were with someone, like say the brother of the owner of the bar, chances were you wouldn’t get in. Not at nine o’clock on a Saturday night.

In the end, Brandon’s bombardment, along with the fact that Cain Black was like a national hero in these parts, got his ass off the sofa. It took exactly twenty minutes for Cam to shower and change, and by nine thirty, they were inside the Coach House.

It was hot and crowded, with a throng so thick, it was hard to move, but he saw a lot of folks he hadn’t seen in a long time and, despite himself, was having a great time. The band was in fine form, and Brandon and Cam were content to stay near the bar for most of the night. Cam had no intention of moving closer, mostly because the crush of women in front of the stage was crazy. Here, they didn’t have to wait long for drinks and could see just fine. Neither one of them moved until the band was done.

Cam was just deciding on whether to leave or stay when he caught sight of Bluebell Barnes. She was sitting up near the stage, and it took a few moments for his eyes to focus and zero in on her companions—Poppy Fairbanks and a bunch of guys he knew from back in the day, including Mick Warner, one of the biggest douchebags around. A brunette he didn’t recognize smiled at him. She licked her lips and winked, but it wasn’t the brunette who had his interest.

Cam probably should have turned away. Hell, the woman was his boss—at least for the next few weeks. But when Blue looked up at him, he felt something, and he stood a little taller as that male part of him reacted—the knuckle-dragging Neanderthal part.

He didn’t look away and neither did she. And before he could stop himself, he told Marissa the waitress to let Brandon know where he was at and headed toward Blue’s table.

“Evening,” he said, nodding to Poppy and the brunette. Mick scowled, though his pals Sean and Will were much more obliging. They said hello, shook hands, and then Cam turned his attention to Blue. “Hey.”

“Hi.” Her voice was low, and he barely heard her.

“Kind of surprised to see you here.”

Her long hair was loose and hid most of her face from him. She cupped a frosty mug in front of her, those long fingers tipped in shiny pink polish. She turned to him, a slow, sensual sort of thing that was one hundred percent unpracticed. She had that elusive bit of something that made pretty much every guy in the place look her way.

She looked up at him. Whatever he’d seen earlier was long gone. Her blue eyes were cool and reserved, and he felt a bit foolish for thinking otherwise. Though, truthfully, he shouldn’t be thinking about her anyway for a lot of reasons. Mainly because they didn’t like each other all that much.

“Why would you say that?” Her eyes narrowed, and her tone was sharp. Just like that, balance was restored.

He flashed a smile. “The Country Club is on other side of the lake.”

“I guess it is.” Her tongue darted out and then disappeared just as quick. “But they didn’t have Cain Black.”

“Amen,” the brunette said, sidling up alongside Blue. “I’m Kylie.”

He held Blue’s gaze a heartbeat longer and then turned to the newcomer. The air was definitely sizzling with something he couldn’t name, and his game was off. He welcomed the distraction. “Cam.”

She moved closer. “Nice to meet you.”

“You’re not from around here.”

“Nope. I’m from LA. I met Poppy when she moved there ten years ago. I haven’t seen her since she came back here, and she’s been bugging me to come out for a visit.” She flashed a provocative smile. “I’m glad I did.” There was no mistaking this one’s intentions. She was up for more than just conversation, and Cam filed that information away as he looked to Poppy.

“Seems as if everyone comes back to Crystal Lake.” He chuckled. “How you been?” Last he remembered, she’d moved to LA to pursue an acting career. Or was it modeling? He frowned, thinking there was more to the story, but he couldn’t remember it. She was younger than him by a few years, and their paths hadn’t crossed all that much in high school, but he remembered the popular girl because she’d always seemed so fearless.