Page 7 of Caught in the Middle

He shook his head. “Damn. So is this vacation going to be hard?”

Emma let out a sigh. “I would have loved to avoid it, but since I’m stuck going, I’ll just have to manage. Asher and I haven’t spoken since a lame text he sent after her post, letting me know he moved on and it wasn’t planned that he’d fall for Lauren. Since we have busy schedules, I don’t get to see her as much, except on the occasional trip, if us girls get together, or on these vacations. But we still talk often, or at least we did before they started dating.”

She stopped and Cam could see the wheels turning.

“Honestly, she’s always been so kind and genuine that I think it’ll only make it worse. I actually like her. It’s not like he moved on with some trashy mean girl that I could just avoid. No, he had to pick someone I liked and am friends with.”

“Is that what bothers you?” Cam asked, picking up on what she was saying.

“I guess so. I’m fine with him moving on, I just wish it didn’t have to be someone so pretty and fun and perky.” She stabbed her ravioli. “And younger,” she added. “It feels like being traded in for a newer model when I haven’t even taken anything out for a test drive.”

Cam burst out in laughter at that. He highly doubted Emma needed to be worried about being traded in for a newer or prettier model. Still, he could understand where she was coming from. “Is that where the half-naked man comes in?” he asked. “A test drive?” Again, he couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him.

Emma tried not to look amused but his laughter was contagious and her smile won out in the end. “Shut up,” she said. “Yes, that’s where Tony comes in, the guy you saw in his skivvies outside my door. I came down for an early dinner to avoid people and sat at the bar when he came over and offered to buy me another drink. I figured a little distraction from my dread might be nice and thought maybe if I got laid before having to see Asher again then I wouldn’t be so bothered.”

There was something about Emma bringing up getting laid that ceased his laughter and replaced it with something more protective. Suddenly, he didn’t find Tony in his underwear outside her door as humorous. In fact, he didn’t much like the half-naked man anymore and wished she’d made him leave without both socks after all.

“I asked if he’d like to join me for dinner, but he’d been a bit more upfront about skipping to dessert. I thought what the hell, why not? Except then I realized he was just a cheap ass who feared getting suckered into paying for a stranger’s dinner. The moment we crossed the threshold of my door, he was telling me we could order room service and have them leave it outside while I called him Mr. Carlson in the bedroom.” She didn’t realize she was fuming until she looked down and saw how hard she was gripping her fork.

“I had already paid for my drink that he’d offered to buy,” she said as if someone had asked. “But the way he was trying to be sly and how he was talking…” She let out a huff. “Absolutely not. I don’t deal with sleazeballs.”

Cam stifled his remark at the term sleazeballs, seeing how she was already worked up. He was about to say something else when she kept going.

“And no man will tell me what I call him in the bedroom,” she stated with such force he dared not interrupt. “He’ll be lucky to be invited into my bed and then he better do a damned good job that I am too busy screaming and clawing to think of what name I’m calling him.”

Cam swallowed, knowing this beautiful creature across from him had no idea what her words were doing to him. He scratched the back of his neck while he tried to think of anything besides the intoxicating picture Emma just painted for him.

This was a purely platonic dinner, he reminded himself. His mind had no business going there, nor did his cock which was more than eager to live up to her expectations.

Cam only nodded because he couldn’t think of what to say. He was used to taking women to dinner, and even though his friends liked to tease him about being a romantic, he still enjoyed getting laid as much as the next guy. However, he actually liked the process of getting to know a woman and trying to impress and woo her. He liked buying flowers and picking her up for dinner.

But this wasn’t supposed to be that. He would never see Emma again, so he needed his mind and his body to get on the same page so that he could finish this meal. She made it clear she wouldn’t be sleeping with him, and though it was somehow surprising to a lot of women, he wasn’t a one-night stand kind of man.

“Anyways,” Emma pulled him from his thoughts. “That’s how it’s my ex-boyfriend’s fault that you had to witness that whole thing earlier,” she said with a straight face. Then she laughed. “Just kidding, I guess I can’t blame my bad ideas on other people. But all in all, I’d say it worked out for the best.”

“Why’s that?” Cam asked, trying to focus on the conversation so that all other thoughts would leave.

“I’m having fun with you,” Emma admitted. “This has been nice.”

Cam felt himself relax at that. “Yeah,” he agreed with a smile. “Me too. I’m glad I asked the crazy stranger across the hall to dinner.”

Emma broke out in laughter, and once again he found that feeling of excitement skittering through his body, lighting him up from within. He’d never see her again, he silently reminded himself, trying to stop whatever it was before it took shape.

Chapter 4

Cam pushed his desk chair away from the long conference table. He had a fifteen-minute break before he had to sit in on a meeting that would explain the new changes the company would be implementing to resolve retention and close rates. In other words, he would need to take notes on what was to be expected of his team going forward and come up with a plan on how to assist them in achieving the new metrics.

After that, he had one more meeting before his day was done and he could prepare for his flight home first thing in the morning. All in all, this week had been successful. He was able to introduce himself face to face to some of the top professionals in his company, many that he’d only interacted with via calls and emails up until now.

He felt he’d been making a good impression on Henry Davis, the vice president of his division. The man was known for being fair and efficient in their company. He was a producer and expected nothing less from the myriad of employees he oversaw, which meant that he held high standards for each person in their respective position. He was the type to know everyone by name, but that didn’t mean anything unless you proved your name meant something. That’s what Cam had been busting his ass at work these past several years to do. Prove he was the best at what he did so that he could slowly climb the ladder and hold a position like Henry if he chose to.

He was reaching for his laptop and notebook to leave when a female’s voice interrupted him.

“What do you think of the new training strategies?” Louise, or Lulu as they all called her, had come over and sat in the now empty chair next to his.

Cam left his belongings on the table and turned toward her. “I think it’ll be beneficial to have at least one trainer in each center and another set of hands assisting. Then managers can stay with their teams versus juggling both or splitting up their employees for several months.”

“Me too,” she admitted.

---