Page 95 of See You Again
“It doesn’t.”
Two could play this game.
Anne growled. “Fine. You want to be precious with your words. How about, when did you and Cami start dating?”
“Not long. A week or so ago.”
“After your brother told you to get in contact.”
James bristled. “No one told me to get in contact. I volunteered.”
“Because she’s your college girlfriend.”
James grimaced. His mother had left an elegant trap, and he’d walked right into it. “First, she wasn’t my girlfriend, and two, I didn’t realize her connection to the podcast until I reached out.”
“So, it was fate.”
He wished he hadn’t heard his mother’s happy sigh.
“Mom.”
“I’m not trying to jump ahead. I’m just thrilled you’ve found someone you care about.”
“Because ‘thrilled’ has no expectation attached to it.” James rolled his eyes but found he couldn’t deny his mother her hope. Primarily, because behind the walls around his heart, he harbored the same one.
“I hope you’ll bring her over. I’d love to meet her. I’ve been listening to her old seasons. She seems very smart.”
“Cami is extremely intelligent, and yes, I think you’ll like her.”
After he hung up, it hit him. Every word was true. His mother would adore Cami, and vice versa. They were similar in so many ways. Both women were tough, independent, and incredibly kind.
Even though they never married, his mother had left a comfortable life with David Bloom to forge a life of her own. Granted, his father had been more than happy to support his children, yet Anne had always been determined that, for the most part, the twins would grow up on her income. It couldn’t have always been easy, and James respected the hell out of her for it.
Cami rarely spoke about her background, but he could read between the lines. She didn’t have the same level of support he’d had, financial or otherwise. And look at her now. His chest swelled with pride. It might not be appropriate, and he had no claim to it, but if he were honest… He was proud of her and the work she did.
However, he wasn’t looking forward to the evening in front of them. He fully expected it would be full of the same fake interactions he’d shunned when he’d left his father’s lifestyle over a decade ago.
It didn’t matter. Cami needed this. Needed his name to satisfy her advertiser. Besides, it would make her happy, and Cami’s happiness was swiftly becoming the top priority in his life.
Normally, the idea of being used for his name would have repelled him, but something had shifted in him after the fight with Justin. James replayed Cami’s words over and over, and they never failed to make him hate himself for being such a self-absorbed idiot.
If she needed his name tonight to help secure the funding—not for herself—to help the young girl she sought justice for, he was more than happy to give it.
The last two days had given him time to think. He wasn’t sure if she was ready to forgive him yet for what he had done the night of the gala—not just his rejection of her but the cold way he had shut her out, after they had spent every day together for the entire school year—but he was ready to do whatever she wanted to make it up to her.
Because Luke was right.
He was in love with her. He always had been.
Now, he just needed to convince her to give him another chance.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Cami’s cheeks heated, and she suppressed a smile as James slid into the driver’s seat. The dress was more revealing than what she normally wore, but the look on James’s face had been exactly the reaction she’d been hoping for.
James must have showered after work because his hair was still damp and curled slightly at the base of his neck. When he’d helped steady her on the step, she had gotten a whiff of his cologne, which never failed to set her blood thrumming. She had the sudden urge to blow off the important night ahead of her and shove him back inside for a repeat of the last time she’d seen him.
“Why are you staring at me?”