Page 93 of See You Again
It was barely lunch when James finally gave in and reached for his phone.
James: Sorry I left so early. Had an early meeting.
There were a few dots, and then the text bubble disappeared. He frowned. Finally, the bubbles returned.
Cami: All good. In the middle of something.
James stared at the words “all good.” What the hell did that mean? Was she going to act like nothing happened?
He knew he was being a hypocrite.
James: The police were here this morning. Everything is handled.
Cami: That’s good news.
The terse texts were nothing like the friendly ones they’d exchanged before.
James: Call me if you have any trouble on the Justin front.
Cami: Ok
The itchy sensation underneath his skin was back. And he didn’t like it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The click of her front door being pulled shut turned the ball, that had formed in her stomach when James silently left her bedroom, into a boulder. She strained to hear the sounds of James leaving. She heard his car start through the still dark window, and Cami rolled onto her back, breathing deliberately through her nose to keep her tears away.
She shouldn’t be hurt. They had literally discussed this that first night. Hell, she should probably be grateful James hadn't pulled out their ‘contract’ in order to log the amendment correctly.
Parties may take part in mind blowing intercourse, but no sleepovers or feelings may be attached without prior authorization.
The thought brought a watery smile to her lips. It had been incredible. Even better than the night in the hotel. That was what made it so hard. Cami had never had this kind of sexual chemistry with anyone else. Her body tingled as scenes from the night appeared in front of her mind. She groaned. It’s just sex.
She would not be stupid enough to put her heart in his hands. Again.
Even if what had happened before had been a misunderstanding, James had certainly been quick to throw away everything that had been between them. How could she trust her heart to someone who could so easily discard it? Besides, with her mother, she’d seen first-hand what happened when a woman let a man own her heart.
Cami tossed and turned for several minutes before she reached for her phone. Four am. Too early to get up, but she knew she wouldn’t sleep. Cami threw back the covers and came to her feet, wincing a little as her leg muscles protested. He’d held up his end of the bargain, she thought. If they were going to do this regularly, she might have to start doing yoga again.
The thought brought a smile to her face as she took a quick shower. It was annoying that James seemed conflicted about the whole sex aspect. He was the guy… Shouldn’t he be totally okay with a friends-with-benefits situation? He didn’t need to know her feelings were already involved.
Cami dressed quickly in a sweatshirt and leggings, pulling on fuzzy socks before skipping down the steps to start her coffee. She gathered her files from the family room as it brewed, and settled at the kitchen table with the files, her phone, and a pad. Might as well get some work done.
She marked several time stamps on the recorded police interviews to be used in upcoming episodes. They’d floated the theory of Janelle and the ex-boyfriend initially, but now she wanted her attention all on Matt Crawford.
The report on the physical evidence recovered with Amy’s body included a twin-size navy comforter and a yellow vape pen with traces of THC found in the pocket of Amy’s jeans. The DNA that had been sent to CODIS had been retrieved from the pen. Cami flipped through the witness statements taken again last spring. No one remembered Amy with a vape pen that night. Had the killer given it to her? Why? She frowned. Was Matt Crawford the vape type?
Cami chewed her pencil as she picked up the dossier Gerry had compiled on the man. After talking to James, she knew it was a highly sanitized version of Crawford’s life. She stared out her back windows at the trees just visible in the dawn sunlight and tried to organize her thoughts. James thought he was a killer, and he easily fit as a suspect in Amy’s case. The question was—how to flush him out from behind his wall of lawyers.
Cami was sipping her third mug of coffee when she finally set her pencil down and rubbed her tired eyes. The sun shone through the windows as she read through the script she’d sketched out. She’d type it up and send it to Madison for approval.
It was risky. But poking the bear might bring her the results she needed—an interview.
Despite the amount of caffeine she’d consumed, exhaustion finally caught up with her. She collapsed on the sofa with her phone and turned on one of the early morning local news shows. Cami listened with half an ear while she wrote a quick email to the freelance social media manager they used, approving various graphics and copy the woman had sent over.
The voices on the television caught her attention. “A video from a valet stand in Atlanta went viral last night…”
Within minutes her phone was ringing. She was proud of Madison, for limiting herself to two I-told-you-so’s about Justin, before going on to ask what this meant for her and James. Cami wished she knew what to tell her friend. What she didn’t tell Madison was that James had snuck out in the early morning hours after giving Cami the best orgasms of her life. She still didn’t know how to feel about that.