Page 12 of See You Again
Cami peered closely at him. “Are you on medication or something?”
“Excuse me?”
She rolled her lips to keep from laughing at his outraged tone. “You’ve barely said three civil words to me in the last few minutes, and you’ve got…” she said, drawing a circle in the air in front of her face, “…this whole broody stare in the mirror thing going on rather than look at me. And now we’re old friends?”
“I played along with your little charade, didn’t I?” James smirked.
“Nice try, but we’ve already established that we both benefitted from that. Besides, I’m pretty sure I caught the teeniest, tiniest resemblance to a smile when you told the society twins you couldn’t be in their auction.” She poked him lightly in the side. “I think you liked it, no matter how much you’re pretending not to.”
“Hardly.” His mouth puckered like he’d sucked on something sour.
Cami sighed. “Okey Dokey, Sir Crankypants. I tried. Have a nice life.”
She had just pushed on the armrests to stand when his hand covered hers, sending warm tingles up her arm. “Stay. Finish your drink. If you leave, the Stepford twins are going to want to know why. And I really don’t want to be in that auction.” His gray eyes glinted with the barest hint of humor.
Cami was torn. The rational, intelligent part of her brain told her it was late and she should go home. James was essentially a stranger to her now. No, worse than a stranger. Someone who had hurt her before and showed no indication that he was going to be pleasant.
Then again, rational had never been her strong suit. Cami settled back in her seat, quashing the sense of disappointment when he removed his hand.
“Fine. One drink. But you have to stop acting like the bear with a thorn in his paw.”
The corner of his mouth curved up. “I think you mean lion.”
“Lion… bear… same thing.” Cami waved her hand in the air.
“Uh, not even close to being the same thing.” James angled to fully face her.
“Pfft. They’re both wild animals.”
“You can’t change the story,” he insisted.
“Why not?” Cami was goading him intentionally but the way his face was so adorably earnest—as if her retelling the fable correctly was of paramount importance– did funny things to her heart.
James looked incredulous. “Because that’s not how the story goes!”
“Who says?”
“Hm, let me think about it.” He rubbed his lip with his finger, pretending to be deep in thought. “Oh, now I remember, Aesop. They were his fables.” Gray irises sparkled at her, and Cami couldn’t help the elation that spread through her.
There he was. The James she remembered.
“Who’s that again?” Cami bit the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning.
“Aesop’s Fables? The Mouse and the Lion? The lion got a thorn in his—” He stopped when the giggle she’d been holding in slipped out. “Hilarious,” he drawled, but she caught his smile before the glass obscured his lips.
CHAPTER THREE
Why had he asked her to stay? He should have let Cami go when she first mentioned it. Already, he was succumbing to her contagious joy. Thinking about what he could do to hear that giggle again.
It was like it was her superpower. No matter how stressed he was over an exam or something happening with his father, Cami would say something ridiculous and make him smile. It was impossible to be in a bad mood around her. Even when the world felt at its darkest, her light made it bearable.
But it had all been a lie. A trick to get what she wanted. He needed to remember that.
He shouldn’t have played along with her ridiculous boyfriend story. James would like to believe he’d have done it for any woman being harassed in a bar. That it had nothing to do with the fact that it was Cami, or that the douchebag chef had been all over her.
Touching her.
The tendons in his neck tightened.