Page 26 of Caught in the Middle

Lulu noticed too and kept it short. “That you both have a lot in common, if pictures are to be trusted, and that you may have your perfect match already in your reach.”

Emma didn’t reply as the words hit her and Lauren came over to hand them their drinks.

“Do you know there’s a man over there staring at you?” Lauren asked her sister. Emma and Lulu broke out in laughter again.

Chapter 11

By the time Cam changed into the trunks Emma laid out on the bed, alongside her note saying she would be drunk, he chuckled to find the women and Asher at one of the hotel’s pools.

It took him longer to get down there because he needed to return Derek’s call. Unfortunately, that took longer than expected because Derek and Slone were hosting a barbecue, which meant he was put on speaker for his friends to grill him about this mystery woman whom he had just met and hopped on a plane to St. Croix for.

When he tried explaining the situation, Jim made a joke about the sex had better be worth it, to which Cam laughed when he heard Jim’s girlfriend scold him. Then he had Katie hammering him with questions about who she was so that they could look her up. He avoided those details because the last thing he needed was any of those women trying to take over his love life. That was a scary enough thought in itself. Instead, he explained she was best friends with his coworker, hoping to take some of the heat off of Emma having been a total stranger.

By the time he hung up, his earlier exhaustion from a day on the course was replaced with a newfound energy. There was something about trying to capture what Emma was like to his friends that had him wanting to seek her out, spend more time together.

He was probably ridiculous for enjoying his time with her so much, but he couldn’t help himself. A pretend relationship or not, the woman drew him in. Something most women failed to do.

As he rounded the gate to enter the pool area, he knew the moment Emma saw him, swearing her eyes lit up. Or maybe that was because he was wearing the swim trunks she bought him.

“They fit,” she exclaimed. “They look good on you.”

Cam smiled, walking over to the end she was swimming in. “Thanks. I hope it wasn’t too much trouble.”

“Not at all.” She returned his smile. “Go get a drink, then get in.”

“Join us,” Lulu cheered, standing very close in the water to a man Cam hadn’t met yet.

Emma gave him a telling look that made him chuckle. “I see you’re not drunk like your note suggested,” he teased.

“Not for lack of Lauren trying.” Emma gave Lauren a pointed look, who laughed in return as she raised her umbrella drink which spilled onto Asher’s legs as he sat on the edge, her saddled up in front of him in the water. He’d guess Emma was the only one not overly tipsy or drunk at this point, despite what her note had suggested.

“I’ll be back. Can I get you anything?”

“Aww, Emma, he’s so sweet. You already have him whipped,” Lulu crooned.

Cam only laughed and shook his head as Emma ignored the comment and told him she was all good. As he made his way to the bar, he knew this group would fit in just fine with his friends back home. It seemed Cam was drawn to people who liked to have fun and give their friends shit.

Although the latter began to bite him in the ass when he returned with a beer, sat it on the edge, took off his shirt, and jumped in. When his head broke free of the water and he swam back to where Emma and his drink were, he watched as her face turned beet red with mortification over Lulu’s next comment.

“No wonder you were quick to do long distance with a body like that. Damn, Cam, do you do your laundry on that washboard?”

He tried stifling his laugh, especially since he could practically feel the heat coming from Emma’s cheeks, but he knew Lulu was riling them up on purpose. If they were going to have her keep their secrets, she might as well make some fun out of it for herself. He couldn’t find it in him to blame her for it.

“Louise Penny!” Lauren’s chide had little impact since it was expressed with a side of giggling.

“Don’t bring my middle name into this,” she shot back to her sister. “Asher’s been through it. Dan, here,” she patted the man on the shoulder, “will get his fair share, and now it’s Cam’s turn.”

“Oh my gosh,” Emma groaned, shaking her head. “Dan, please, save yourself now. She’s crazy. She may be beautiful, but it’s not worth it.”

“Don’t you cockblock me.” Lulu splashed the water toward them and Emma and Cam both laughed.

Thankfully the conversation now veered toward Dan and what brought him there for vacation, where he was from, and what he did for a living. Cam tried following along, but the flow of the water from the jets seemed to keep moving him closer and closer to Emma. It was hard to pay attention when that distorted view of her green bikini under the water kept catching his eye.

And if he thought Emma’s hair was already dark, he didn’t think it compared to the shade of black it shined from being wet in the pool. He found himself wanting to wrap his arms around her and run the long silky strands through his fingers.

Sure, he’d known the woman was sexy, but there was something different between her all dressed up and put together versus standing in a pool, no makeup, and the definition in her arms visible every time she raised the glass to her lips. Or the muscles that whispered along her shoulders above the water’s surface.

This relationship may be fake, but the urge to run his lips over her skin wasn’t.

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