Page 13 of Bad for Business
Jude chuckles, his gaze moving to focus on me. “Client, huh? Ryker forgot to mention he was here with a publicist.”
Camille lets out a soft snort. “Yeah, well, he’s doing his best to ditch me. Unluckily for him, I’m not that easy to get rid of.”
I groan. “I’m busy, Camille. Can’t you see I’m having dinner with Jude?”
Jude’s lips part in shock. He probably wasn’t expecting the disgruntled tone I used with her. I can’t help it. She brings it out of me.
“Jude, mind if I join the two of you for dinner?” Camille sets a large binder down on the table, not even waiting for him to answer before she takes a seat.
“How’d you even get in?” I ask, curious to know the answer. Even with her father as a member, not everyone is given the ability to add plus-ones. It depends on your standing with the club and how long you’ve been a member. I know my father added her as a plus-one with me for the summer, but she would have needed my help to get her checked in.
“I asked nicely,” Camille offers, taking one of the empty seats at our table.
I stare at her blankly for a few seconds before crossing my arms over my chest. “You? Asking something nicely? Not a chance.”
“I’m a professional, and I can be nice. They were very enthusiastic about getting me checked in. They kept going on and on about how nice you were. Which is weird because…is that niceness in the room with us? I couldn’t tell right now by how you’re speaking to me.”
“What can I say? You bring out the worst in me.”
Jude whistles. He sits up in his seat, running a hand over his mouth as he watches us closely with the biggest grin on his face. “This is good. I didn’t know I’d be getting so much entertainment before everyone else showed up for the summer.”
“Jude,” Camille begins, plastering on that polite smile once again. I can see right through it. I know it’s fake, but the way Jude looks at her makes it obvious he doesn’t care if her smile is real or not. He waits eagerly for her to continue her thought.
“I’m sorry to ruin your dinner plans, but my client is in dire need of a PR makeover, something his family is paying me a lot of money to do. I’ll make sure he has plenty of time for dinners with friends this summer, but for now, do you mind if I steal him from you? We need to come up with a plan, and while I thoughthe could be mature for once and do it at the time I asked him to, I was wrong. Now, he’s left with me with no choice but to interrupt his impromptu dinner plans because I have to do my job.”
Jude lifts his hands up. “I don’t want to get in the way of any important plans. I’ll catch you later, Ryker.” He scoots his chair back and stands up.
I watch him with my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open. He’s not even going to question her about ruining our plans? Call her rude? Nothing?
I follow suit and stand up. “You really don’t have to go. Camille and I can plananyother day.”
“No, we can’t.”
I look over my shoulder at her for a moment before looking back at Jude. “Ignore her. Let’s finish dinner.” I point to the chair he was just sitting in.
Jude smiles and shakes his head. “Sorry, Davenport. Vaughn PR is the best of the best. If Camille wants to meet, I have no doubt that your board will be eating out of your palm in no time.”
Why do I feel a little bit betrayed by him?
He winks at Camille, just shoving the knife deeper that he seems to be Team Camille instead of Team Ryker.
Camille gives him a sickeningly sweet smile. Hopefully he can tell how fake it is. “It was so nice to meet you, Jude. Thank you for having some common sense. Care to share some with your friend since he clearly doesn’t want to impress his future board members?”
I scoff. “I never said that. I just don’t think I need your help.”
Jude’s hand clamps down on my shoulder. He squeezes it. “If your family is hiring PR, you probably need the help. Best of luck to you, Davenport.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose between my thumb and pointer finger. “Thanks. I’m going to need it.”
Jude tucks his hands in his pockets and strolls away. He doesn’t seem to care at all that Camille messed up his plans for the night.
Speaking of Camille, when I pull my eyes from Jude and look at her, I find her already watching me. She pulls out a notepad from her large purse and carefully sets it down on top of the binder she’d brought in.
“Sit,” she demands.
I do as she says, knowing at this point, I have no choice but to listen to her.
NINE
