Page 28 of Southie
She twisted her hands in her lap, unsure of what to do. There was no denying her attraction to me. I noticed how her eyes had perused my body the first time we met, but her physical attraction to me was warring with her brain and throwing up red flags, warning her to stay away, far from me. Red flags she should listen to.
Just like I should listen to the ones that had been glaring at me since she walked into her father’s office.
It would complicate things, but there was something about Camilla that had me saying fuck it. Fuck her father’s warning, and fuck Paddy.
I reached out my hand. “Give me your phone?”
Wrinkles creased her forehead. She needed to relax, but I understood why she was nervous around me. I wanted to change her perception of me. I wasn’t all bad, just caught up in some bullshit like her because of our fathers.
Whatever feelings she warred with must have waned some because after a moment, she powered her phone back on, unlocked it, and placed it in my hand. I handed it back to her after I entered my name and phone number in her contacts.
“Camilla, if you need anything, call me. Day or night, okay?”
“Liam…”
“You can trust me. Call me if you need anything.”
I said it a little more sternly, hoping to get across how serious I was. If she needed to reach out to me, I wanted her to know it was okay. I would be there for her. She probably wouldn’t, but I hoped she would, especially about those phone calls, so I could deal with it. I gave her the choice by giving her my number instead of me asking for hers to make her a little more comfortable with me.
She looked at me for a moment and sighed but nodded. I returned the smile she gave me after she got out of my truck.
“Thank you, Liam. Even though you didn’t have to, I appreciate the ride.”
“Anytime. And you shouldn’t be riding the bus.”
“Your disapproval’s noted. See you around, Liam.”
“I hope.”
I watched her make her way to the campus building. She stopped and turned, looked at me one last time and gave me another bright smile and wave that caused my stomach to flip. I couldn’t help but grin like an idiot in return.
She turned on her heels toward the brick campus building. Once she made it inside, I headed toward the restaurant for my weekly meeting with Gerald.
“What the fuck are you doing, Liam?” I chastised myself in the empty cab of my truck.
Today, my mind wasn’t on work or planning my escape from Southie. All I could think about was Camilla Jennings and how I needed to get to know her better without her father or Paddy finding out. To hell with the consequences.
I’m so fucked.
Chapter 6
Camilla
Sleep didn’t come easily last night. Not because of Liam.
Well, that’s not completely true.
Some of it was because of him.
Erotic images of the things I wished he’d do to my body—while he had me screaming his name as we got lost in one another—had constantly bombarded me and had me tossing and turning most of the night.
However, the excessive ringing of my cellphone brought my erotic fantasies to an abrupt end, giving me a big dose of reality. I needed to get Liam Daugherty and the dirty things I wished he’d do to me out of my mind. There was no way to move forward with my life with Liam or anyone else until I dealt with the past. Franklin Scott needed to disappear from my life sooner rather than later.
The phone calls were becoming more persistent now ever since I left the state. Every number I blocked, a different number popped up orunknown callerflashed across the screen. Against my better judgment, I’d listened to a few of the messages. Curiosity and anger had gotten the best of me.
Some consisted of just breathing. Other times, my favorite song played over the line, but most were of random people calling me every horrible name you could think of.
The messages playing the song were from Frankie. The others, he had some of his family and friends harass me. They were the only ones who would have taken the time to threaten me for what had happened to Frankie.
