Page 88 of Caught in the Middle

Nate laughed. “Suck it up and come eat.”

Another groan sounded over the phone. “I won’t lie, I’m ready to go home and call it a week.”

“Good, you can change while you’re there, and then come call it a week with your closest friends.”

“You’re relentless,” Cam remarked.

“I think Katie’s rubbing off on me.”

He chuckled. “Fine. What time is everyone getting there?”

“Get here in an hour.”

Cam chuckled. He wasn’t sure if Katie was rubbing off on him or him on her. At this moment, he felt like they were both bossy. “See you then.”

“Don’t be sour. You’ll have fun.”

“Yeah, yeah,”

Then Nate hung up without so much as a goodbye and Cam couldn’t help but smile. Somehow in that short phone call, he’d found himself reenergized enough that sitting around a table with his friends didn’t sound half bad.

He rolled his neck and shoulders as he drove home and decided that he wouldn’t let his first weekend back set the tone for the next three months. He’d already decided that he would let Emma have the time that everyone seemed to think she needed, and then when her work trip was over, he was going to show up on her doorstep whether she liked that idea or not.

He would’ve preferred her to call him back or at least send a text telling him to get lost or leave her alone or something. At least one of those responses would’ve given him hope or fully crushed it. However, she didn’t. So a surprise visit once she returned was the best he had.

In the meantime, he had to keep himself from sulking around the next few months. No woman would want a man who let himself go because of a broken heart. No, he was going to give his life everything he had until she was back. Be the best boss he could at work, show up for his friends, take care of his health, get out of the house, and make new memories. He wouldn’t become a lesser version of himself by the next time he saw her. He’d only further be someone she deserved to be with.

He smiled and nodded his head to himself. Yeah, that sounded like a good plan.

???

“You’re sure you don’t mind?” Emma was asking, her eyes gazing over the large space.

Katie waved her hand through the air. “Of course, we don’t mind,” she said, then looked at the woman whom she’d only just met an hour ago in person and saw the worry and nerves in her eyes. She reached out and clasped a comforting hand over one of her crossed forearms. “It’s going to go good,” she assured.

Emma couldn’t deny the relief she felt to find Katie and Nate as kind and friendly as Cam had described on vacation. She smiled at the beautiful blonde. “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you for all of this.” She knew the idea was crazy, but she did it anyway. After pulling up Cam’s social media and finding a photo of him and Katie, she sent a direct message to her, explaining who she was, how she’d recently met Cam, and was hoping the other woman might be able to help her out.

Katie had been a force of nature to the point that if Emma had even wanted to back out with cold feet, she didn’t think his friend would let her. More than anything though, she’d felt a flicker of hope whenever Katie said she knew who Emma was and would be more than happy to help her.

She should’ve learned her lesson about scheming and bad decisions by now, but instead, Emma was hoping this one last crazy plan might lead to her happy ending.

Katie let her arm go and gave a wide smile. “Don’t thank me yet. You might regret it the day you meet everyone and realize it’s too late to turn back.” They laughed.

“I’ve heard stories,” Emma said.

“They’re all true,” Katie replied. “And probably the filtered versions.”

“What’s the filtered versions?” Emma saw Katie’s boyfriend come into the private dining space, the room Katie had insisted on Emma using. She felt guilty utilizing all of this space, but the woman wouldn’t budge. Nate walked up to stand next to his girlfriend and wrapped his arm around her shoulder before kissing her on the head. It made Emma think of Cam and how badly she missed those gestures between them.

“Anything Cam told her about us,” Katie replied to Nate’s question.

Nate’s brows rose and he blew out a breath. “Whew. I can only imagine the edited versions of stories he gave you to not scare you off.”

Emma laughed. “I don’t know. I’m half worried about the same thing.”

Katie barked out a laugh in response. “Are you kidding? He told us you suckered him into a sweet vacation as his pretend boyfriend and then expected him to sleep on the couch while he fell in love.”

Emma cringed. Katie’s grin only grew.

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