Page 52 of Bad for Business
“You dotryto be charming,” I quip, giving him a playful lift to my eyebrow.
His hands find his chest as we near the table. It’s a long rectangular one at the corner of the restaurant, filled with the people I’m getting to know better for the summer. “I know you find me charming, Camille. You don’t have to play hard to get.”
I shake my head. “Because that’s exactly what I’m doing, Jude.”
He laughs before unwinding his arm from mine. My arm drops to my side as he pulls out a chair for me. It happens to beone open right across from Ryker. I frown, kind of wishing it was one where I wouldn’t be right in his line of sight.
“For you,” Jude offers, a playful tone to his voice.
I shake my head at him once again before sliding into the chair. I don’t really have another choice. The only other open chair is in between Cal and Ryker, and I don’t want to sit directly next to Ryker either.
Maybe I shouldn’t have come at all.
I turn to the person next to me, Emma, and give her what I hope is a friendly smile. “How’s it going?” I ask.
Emma lifts her shoulder in a casual shrug. “Oh, I’m good. Just about to start fighting with people in my comments.”
“Rebel,” Preston warns from her other side.
“As a publicist, I’m telling you that fighting with people on the internet is the last thing you should ever be doing. That’s exactly what they want you to do.”
I keep my gaze focused on Emma to avoid the hot stare burning into the side of my face. I can feel Ryker staring at me, but I refuse to look at him. I can’t meet his gaze. Not right now, at least. I have to work up the courage to do it.
Emma lets out a frustrated sigh. “I’m not going to actually do it. But I really want to. Some guys in my comments are talking shit on my man, and that just will not work for me.”
Preston chuckles. “I don’t give a shit about what they say, baby. I have Super Bowl rings and multiple MVPs to my name. They have nothing.”
Emma tosses her blonde hair over her shoulder before looking back at her phone. “True. It’s just weird for them to use a day-in-the-life vlog of us in the Hamptons as an opportunity to talk shit about you.”
“Comments are comments,” I point out.
Emma nods before taking a drink of her water. “That’s true. It is sponsored, so I’ll take that engagement as well. Their comments make me more money.”
Ryker clears his throat. “So everyone’s doing the charity tournament tomorrow, right?”
Emma excitedly claps. “Yes! I just know me and Preston will win. Right?”
He laughs. “I know my girl is competitive, so yes, that’s the plan.”
“I just hope Pembroke is able to raise a lot of money this year,” Winnie notes. My gaze moves to her. I hadn’t even realized she was at the table, but then again, I was avoiding looking at every single person sitting so I didn’t accidentally make eye contact with the one person I’m trying to avoid at the moment.
“They always do,” Thomas Boucher points out.
I hadn’t realized he was here either.
I sigh, realizing that I can’t avoid looking at everyone sitting around the table just because I don’t want to look at Ryker. I need to pull myself together and pretend nothing happened last night so I can do my job and work with my client.
“I’m going to run to the bathroom real quick,” I tell Emma. I don’t think she cares. She’s locked into a conversation with Winnie and Preston, but I feel the need to announce it to someone.
I push my chair away from the table and escape to the bathroom before anyone can notice I left. I need five minutes alone to pull myself together. When I come back, I’m going to look Ryker in the eye and pretend his fingers hadn’t been inside me last night and I hadn’t thought about him for hours, even after he rushed out of my room looking like he had regrets.
I’m a professional.
I can do this.
Right?
TWENTY-SEVEN
