Page 38 of All Mine

I’d screwed my face into a scowl so tight that I’m sure it will stick that way. I worked my jaw, willing it to unclench and not go insane on the two men to my right.

“Here,” Adrian stood, handing over his seat, the one next to me, to Camden. “Duty calls.”

I gulp the rest of my drink. “Yeah, you’re quite the competitor, too,” I grumble, ignoring the jolt of electricity running through my body.

“What are you drinking?” he asked.

“Gin and tonic,” Sloane offered. I glared at her too, and she grinned.

I steeled myself as his energy plopped into the seat next to me. His body was close, and I hated my awareness of him—how his arm sat on the edge of the table, every time he shifted in the seat, the jeans stretched over his thighs, the curve of his broad shoulders, and the electric energy radiating from him.

Everyone at the table returned to the conversation with Jonah telling the story of a renovation nightmare. It all appeared so mundane, and yet my insides had burst into a raging fire with the flames about to consume me from the inside, and no one noticed. In the blink of an eye, Camden had ordered me a refill and himself a beer.

“Don’t you have Sue to get back to?” I asked.

“Who?”

“You can’t even remember the name of the woman hanging all over you? Tsk tsk, Cam.”

He leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Is that a hint of jealousy I spy in your voice?”

“Hardly,” I scoffed. “But it’s bad manners to leave your date and buy another woman a drink.”

“Thanks for thinking of my reputation, princess. But, you seem even more pissed off than usual, and a guy could mistake that for jealousy.”

“Why do you say stupid shit like that?” I asked. “How about I’m pissed off cause you’re the person trying to take my business away?”

Camden sighed, and rubbed his temples.

“Here you go,” Annie appeared between us, setting my gin and tonic on the table and a mug of amber-colored beer in front of Camden. “I hear you’re starting work here tomorrow,” she said, looking at Eden, a big smile spreading.

“It’s a trial day, according to Adrian.”

Annie shook her head and waved a dismissive hand. “No worries on that. You’re in unless you burn the place down.”

“Are wethatlow on people to wait tables in this town?” Jonah asked. Sloane hit him on the arm.

“You have to be twenty-one or over, reliable, and not steal. You’d be surprised how hard it can be to find someone,” Annie said.

“That’s the saddest damn thing I’ve ever heard,” Jonah said.

“Anyone else need anything?” she asked. They didn’t, so she moved on.

“He hired Eden?” Camden whispered, his breath hot in my ear sending an electric wave of tingles down my spine, and straight into my nether region. This was the wrong guy, I reminded myself.

“Yeah, she needed a job, and he needed someone to work the upcoming summer season.”

“How long have you known her?”

“Long enough. Is there an issue?” Why did he care?

He sipped his beer in silence for so long I figured he wouldn’t answer me.

“No issue,” he muttered so low I almost didn’t hear over the bar noise.

I didn’t want to be rude, but I didn’t know how long I could take sitting this close to Camden without an explosion? He was only in town to secure the land sale that would put me out of business. And since he was still here, that meant it hadn’t happened. Hopefully, that also meant the baked goods I’d been sending Lewis were working. It was a reminder that if he sold the land, and I didn’t have a bakery, the town wouldn’t get treats like those.

“Do you intentionally antagonize me?” I asked. The question probably sounded like it came out of nowhere. But my mind had wandered back through many of our exchanges. It seemed plausible.

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