Page 109 of See You Again

James blew out an exasperated breath. “You’ve already talked to Dahlia this morning?”

“No, she texted me from that thing you were at last night giving me updates She said you hovered over Cami. That’s adorable.”

“Cara,” he growled.

“James, you’ve never had a girlfriend before. We are all happy for you. Luke said?—”

“Luke has a big mouth,” James growled.

“Very true. However, unless you’ve got an ironclad reason, I’ll see you at your mom’s at five. I have a crack of dawn location call in the morning, so we’re eating early.”

“I thought you weren't working on movies anymore?”

“I'm not. Developing my skin care line takes up all my time, but Skye needs me to fill in tomorrow because she's shorthanded,” Cara explained, referring to her makeup artist friend. “See you at five?”

As much as James racked his brain, he couldn’t think of an excuse that his mother would find acceptable. He shoved a frustrated hand through his hair. “I'll see you there. Can we at least try to keep the thallium stuff G-rated for mom? Stress is bad for her MS.”

“Anne is a lot tougher than she looks.”

James blew out a long hard exhale. He was surrounded by stubborn, hard-headed women.

“I'm really looking forward to meeting Cami. Don’t tell her horror stories about us. I want a fighting chance.” Cara laughed and then hung up before he had a chance to respond.

This was exactly what James had feared when he agreed to this fake relationship. He didn't want his family getting attached to Cami until he was sure he could convince her to stay. They needed to have that conversation. It was the invisible barrier that still stood between them. There might have been feelings in the past, and the attraction was undeniable, but that didn’t mean she still felt the same way.

James stood outside her closed door for a minute, listening for any sounds to indicate she was awake. Silence. He paced back into the main room, his nerves twitchy.

What he wanted to do was open the door, climb in the bed with Cami and kiss all her soft, warm curves awake. Bury himself inside her until they were both gasping for breath. Convince her to give him another chance.

He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Brady. He had to burn off this energy somehow, or he was going to go crazy. Cami would probably sleep until he got back, he rationalized, as he slipped into workout gear. As he wrote out a note for her, he hesitated. What if she wasn’t ready to meet his mother? That was a whole different level of commitment to their fake relationship.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

The hotel suite was quiet when she finally emerged from the bedroom. She hadn’t slept well. Between the nerves of what was happening with the break-in, guilt over Madison, and the still unresolved situation between her and James, she’d tossed and turned for hours before falling into a fitful sleep. As a result, she slept much later than she normally did.

When they reached the hotel suite the night before, she had immediately hidden in the guest room. James’s comment that he had plenty of room and she would barely see him had been a painful reminder that, no matter where her imagination had gone with her own feelings, he didn’t feel the same.

They might have sizzling, sexual chemistry, but they weren’t an actual couple. Was he worried that she assumed something more was going on between them because they had sex? He desired her, and Cami believed that he enjoyed her company, but his offer of a place to stay was just him being nice.

Why am I being such a chicken? Just ask him!

She knew why. Cami wasn’t prepared to face his rejection again. Her heart squeezed painfully as she read the note he’d left for her on the kitchen counter.

Gone to spar. Be back later. Change of plans for today. My sister moved the lunch meeting to dinner at my mom’s house. If you still want to come, we need to leave by 4:30.

James

If I still want to come?

When he originally told her about the plan to meet with his siblings to share her knowledge about thallium poisoning, it hadn’t seemed like a big deal. Did he not want her to go anymore? Was it because now it was at his mom’s? Did he not want to introduce her?

Her rational brain warred with her heart.

You aren’t really his girlfriend. It makes total sense he doesn’t want to introduce you to his mom.

From their conversations, she knew how close James was to Anne. But the further evidence, that he still viewed them as a temporary arrangement, hurt.

Cami longed to call Madison and have her friend talk some sense into her, but Madison was dealing with her own mess this morning. Her friend had not been happy at the prospect of moving in with her parents for a few days. As if on cue to add to her stress, her phone rang, her mother’s name flashing across the screen.