Page 18 of Wild and Bright

Now is the time to tell him about Hunter’s lie.

Oh God, I just hope it doesn’t make him change his mind about the whole thing.

He shakes his head sharply. “We’re not talking about anything else without a lawyer present.”

My brow furrows. “What do we need a lawyer for?”

“I have one more thing I have to talk to you about, and he’ll need to be there for it.”

I have to nearly run to keep up with him. “Why?”

“I’ll have him explain it to you.”

“You can’t even give me a hint?”

“No.”

* * *

We drive in silence for several minutes, my head swimming.

“Here,” Cam eventually says as he reaches one hand into his pocket and pulls out a folded piece of lined paper. “It’s a list of your responsibilities. I wrote it out last night.”

My lips part as I grab the list from his hand, my stomach fluttering. “My responsibilities…” I unfold the paper and scan Cam’s neat, even handwriting up and down and back again, still too dazed to process the words in front of me. “You mean like…sexual stuff?”

When he gasps out a laugh, my eyes snap in his direction. He tightens his lips, as if to repress a smile. “Just take a look.”

My cheeks warm when I realize how wrong I was. The first few lines are a list of River of Sight events and parties. “So you want me to block off these dates?”

“Yep. These are what we have on the calendar so far. More will be scheduled in the upcoming months, but not nearly as many as usual since we’re taking it easy. In fact, I specifically asked my agent to book as few as she can. For Hunter’s sake, of course. I want him at as few parties as possible.”

I press my lips together to fight the retort rising to my mouth. Isn’t it Hunter’s responsibility to protect his sobriety? But Cam has never liked it when I come to Hunter’s defense.

“I can’t avoid socializing entirely,” he says. “Your job will be to stay by my side and talk to people so I won’t have to, which should be easy for you. And that right there—” he takes his eyes off the road and points to a column of names, “—is a list of people I never want to talk to under any circumstances, so you’re going to need to be extra talkative when they’re around.”

My brows draw together as I scan the names. “You don’t want to talk to Brayden—your PA—under any circumstances?” I glance up at Cam. “How do you communicate with him now?”

“I mean, I don’t want to talk to him at any kind of social event. He’s so fucking awkward with me when he’s trying to make conversation. I think because he’s nervous, but it puts me on edge. And he’s fantastic at his job, so I could never fire him in good conscience.”

I shift my gaze back to the list, my bewilderment growing by the moment. Good Lord, Camden really doesn’t like people. “Are you a sociopath?” I find myself mumbling.

“Possibly,” he says right away.

When my gaze snaps to his face, I see that fond smile again.

I won’t let it distract me. I go back to the list to look over the other fifteen items. It’s mostly basic stuff I would have expected, like staying out of his home studio while he works, but there are some odd things on it, too. Things I don’t quite understand. I point to item seven. “Does this mean I need to be home every evening after six?”

“You can have time off, of course, but that’s usually when I’m done for the day, unless I’m really onto something with my writing and I work through the night. But in general, that’s when I’d be…in need of your services.”

I try to ignore the jolt of heat that shoots into my belly. Now is my cue. I can’t let this go on any longer.

“Cam, you don’t need to pay me for sex. You can pay me to be your party wife, and I can even clean your house and make your meals if you think ten grand a month is too much for only that job, but as far as the rest of your needs…” I shoot him a sultry smile. “I’d gladly take care of them for free. In fact ‘gladly’ is too small a word. I’d enthusiastically take care of them for free.”

He doesn’t respond directly, but he shifts in his seat, and I want to giggle in triumph.

Looks like he needs to make room for something growing in his jeans.

“I want to pay you,” he eventually says.

---