Page 87 of Bad for Business
FORTY-FOUR
CAMILLE
I’ve barely madeit through the door of my bedroom before it’s slamming shut and Ryker’s closing us in together.
“Don’t go,” he immediately gets out, his voice hoarse.
I can’t say anything at first. I don’t know what to say to him. I don’t know how to explain that every single part of me is telling me not to go with my dad. I want to stay here. The thought of my time with Ryker abruptly ending kills me, but I also can’t let my dad leave without explaining myself. I have no idea what’s going to happen and I can’t focus on anything else until I talk to him.
Ryker takes a step closer to me, I take a step back. I see the pain in his eyes when I do it, and I hate that it’s there because of me. We do the same thing until my back hits the bedroom wall and he’s caging me in.
“Don’t go,” he repeats, his eyes searching my face.
“I have to,” I respond, my voice shaking. “I can’t let my dad go without talking to him first.”
Ryker shakes his head. “He’s a dick. He shouldn’t be allowed to talk to you at all. The things he was saying, Camille…” He swallows, the tension in his body clear. “I’ve never been so upset with anyone. He can’t talk to you like that. Please tell me he doesn’t always talk to you like that.”
“He’s just angry right now. He can get mean, but I’ll get it handled. I’ll talk him down, but you have to let me go do it.”
Ryker’s hands shake as he grabs my face. I hate the desperation in his eyes. I’m not leaving him. I don’t know what’s happening between us and I don’t know what’s going to happen with my dad. I don’t have the answers. All I know is I can’t lose Ryker, but I also have to try and explain this to my dad to make him understand. I need him to understand that even though I know I messed up by getting involved with Ryker while he was my client, I still worked hard to get the job done.
What happened between Ryker and me doesn’t change that.
“I don’t want you to leave. I’m sorry for getting us caught. If I hadn’t?—”
I reach to press my fingers against his lips. “It isn’t your fault. I knew better. I knew there was a chance he’d find out. Now, I just have to handle it.”
“Handle it,” he whispers when I remove my fingers.
I move my hand to cup his cheek, trying to ease the fear that is evident in his eyes. “I’m going to handle it. I need to figure it out with my dad, and it’s easier if he thinks I’m going with him. But I promise, Ryker, I’m not running. We have things we have to figure out ourselves, and I want to do that. But first, I have to go with him.”
He closes his eyes for a moment and I hate the way his entire body deflates. I’m trying to make him feel better and it isn’t working. I don’t know what else to say. No matter how much Ryker wants me to, I can’t just let my dad leave. I have to explain myself. I just need Ryker to understand that just because I’m doing that, it doesn’t mean I’m hiding from what’s happening between us.
“I don’t know if I can watch you go,” he confesses, his eyes finding mine once again. There’s so much vulnerability in hisgaze that I can barely remember a time when he didn’t look at me like this.
My thumb brushes over his cheek. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.” I laugh, wishing we weren’t in this situation in the first place. “I have to go, but I’ll come back.”
He lets out a sigh before he pulls our faces together. He presses his forehead to mine as we both sit with our thoughts and each other’s presence for a moment. When I first saw my dad, I didn’t know how to explain Ryker and me. I didn’t know if it’d be best to lie and say nothing happened or come up with some kind of story.
And then Ryker stuck up for me.
It was the first time I can remember anyone ever doing that for me, and in that moment, it hit me that I can’t pretend anymore. I can’t pretend I don’t have intense feelings for Ryker. I can’t act as if the man doesn’t hold my heart in his hands.
No matter how complicated things are about to be with my dad, I won’t let it get between Ryker and me. He fought for me out there in the kitchen and I want to do the same for him.
But my dad’s the only family I have. I’ve spent my entire life idolizing him, even if he hasn’t always deserved it. Even if he’sneverdeserved it.
“I meant what I said out there,” Ryker finally says, breaking me from my thoughts. He leans back enough just to meet my gaze. “I wouldn’t have gotten the board approval if it wasn’t for you. I’ll run Davenport Mediabecauseof you, Camille.”
I smile, realizing I was so swept up in the angry look in my father’s eyes, and the mean things he was saying, that I didn’t even tell Ryker congratulations. “You did it. You earned it. I’m so happy for you.”
He gives me a sad smile. “I’d be a lot happier about it if I wasn’t so worried about you walking through that door and never coming back.”
I’m quiet for a moment as I try to come up with the right thing to say. I’m not good at this. My job has always been to talk in half-truths and to find ways to spin a lie. I’ve never been good at being honest or vulnerable. I don’t know the right words to say right now. I don’t know how to convince him that I’m not going anywhere.
So I do the only thing I can think of. I grab his hand and place it over my racing heart.
“Feel that?” I ask.
