Hot Commodity (26 page)

"You’re his mistake, hmm?" Chuck murmured. Then he grinned and winked. "Well, you sure are a pretty mistake."

His smile faded a little as he glanced at the empty doorway through which his wife had fled. Then he nodded quietly to Olivia and hurried after Allison, calling her name.

Olivia looked at Cameron and was about to scold him for letting them down that way. But she saw the misery on every tense muscle in his body and quietly left him alone.
 

Fourteen

Olivia had been planning on slinking unnoticed up to her room and hiding until the whole family scene played itself out. But as soon as she stepped into the next parlor and started for the steps, she skidded to a stop.

Cameron’s parents stood huddled together, hugging, in her path.

They lifted their faces, and she knew she was trapped. Great. Here came the accusations and dirty names.

But Allison Banks merely sent her a bashful smile as she stepped away from her husband and reached for Olivia’s hand. "Please excuse my behavior," she gushed. "I didn’t mean to walk out without—"

"Don’t worry about it," Olivia cut in. "You don’t have to explain or apologize to me," she added hastily. She should be the one apologizing for trapping their son into an unwanted marriage.

"It’s just that Cameron went through such a hard time after...after…"

"After Sienna killed herself," Olivia finished bluntly.

Both Allison and Chuck lifted their eyebrows, startled. "He told you about that?"

Olivia frowned, not understanding why they seemed so surprised. "A little," she answered evasively. She wasn’t ready for them to know how Vivian had researched him.

Looking anxious, Cameron’s mother stepped closer. "Please. What did he say?"

"Just…" she shrugged, looking confused. "Just that he feels guilty about her death, like he should’ve done more."

Chuck closed his eyes and cursed under his breath. His wife took his arm and squeezed comfortingly, but she continued to eye Olivia as she spoke. "Having someone close to you commit suicide affects everyone differently," she murmured quietly. Cameron’s father slipped a comforting arm around his wife’s shoulders and pulled her close. As he kissed her hair, Allison lifted her face and sent Olivia a sad smile. "I cooked."

A strange pressure filled Olivia’s chest. She ached for Cameron’s mother with a sympathy that made her want to cry. A cold chill passed over her arms, but Olivia didn’t shiver. Frowning, she realized Roger Donovan’s death had turned her meek and passive. While seeing her husband kill himself had made Vivian become more aggressive and ruthless, Olivia had shied into a shell and let her mother control her.

Disgusted with her own weakness, she glanced at Cameron’s parents. They seemed nice, like the type of parents she’d always dreamed of having. She wondered if her temporary husband knew what a priceless gift he had in these two people. They loved him unconditionally. And yet he pushed them away.

She’d stayed in Pasadena for twenty-four years, dreaming for a mere glimpse of such devotion from her mother.

"So, where are you from, Olivia?" Chuck asked, looking determined to change the subject.

"Pasadena," she answered.

"California?"

She nodded, and Chuck whistled. "Long way from home."

She shrugged. "I don’t live there anymore. I-I’ll never go back." An uncomfortable moment of silence followed her adamant proclamation. Olivia’s face colored. She could tell they wanted to know the reason behind her strong announcement, but they were too polite to ask.

Chuck cleared his throat and smiled. "Where’re you headed next?"

"I…" She glanced at Cameron’s parents and went blank. "I have no idea," she confessed, struck with a moment of panic. Where
was
she going to go next? "Cameron said he’d help me, but…"

"You have no clue, hmm?" Instead of looking appalled, Chuck looked excited. Rubbing his hands together, he said, "Well, you’re in luck, little lady. It just so happens that my business is to help other people with their business. Now, what kind of skills do you have?"

The only thing Olivia could think of was that she pleased Cameron in bed. Of course, that kind of skill only led to one type of job. She didn’t particularly want to announce such an accomplishment to the man’s mother and father either.

Turning a bright red, she shook her head. "I, uh, I don’t...I don’t really have any talents."

Chuck’s eyebrows lifted, but he didn’t look disgusted. "So, you’re going to give me a challenge. Good." He grinned before scratching his chin and visually dissecting her. "Well then. What kind of things did you do to pass the days back in Pasadena?"

Olivia swallowed. She’d shopped, sun-tanned, gotten facials and manicures, and had her hair styled.

Glancing away a little guiltily, she said, "I, uh, well, since my father passed, I’ve usually been the hostess whenever my mother had clients and other guests over to the house. A few of her widowed friends would sometimes have me plan parties for them, too."

"A social coordinator?" Chuck mused.

Next to him, Allison brightened. "Oh, do you think you could help me?" Reaching both hands for Olivia, she said, "I’m supposed to prepare a party for a gathering of twelve. Chuck’s having some clients from Texas up, and I’m completely lost."

"My own social coordinator retired recently," her husband put in. "Allison’s stepped in for him, but she doesn’t like the job much."

Olivia relaxed. If there was one thing she knew, it was how to plan a party. "Of course I could help, though I don’t know any of the caterers or musicians in this area. I’ll have to study the nearby—"

"Don’t worry about looking for a caterer," Chuck cut in. "We always use Southern Delights." Then he winked at her. "I’m sleeping with the main chef so I’ve got connections."

Olivia paused. She couldn’t believe Cameron’s father would announce something like that so openly. Her parents had never been faithful to each other, but they’d never come right out and aired it quite like this.

Before she could think up a proper response, she noticed how brilliant rosy red Allison Banks was turning.

"Chuck," she whispered, scandalized, and ducked her head.

Finally, it struck Olivia. Allison was the master chef at Southern Delights.

Cameron’s father chuckled and threw an arm around his wife’s waist. Pulling her close, he grinned at Olivia. "One of these days she’d going to realize I only say that kind of thing in order to see her beautiful blush, and she’s just going to haul off and hit me."

"Please excuse my husband," Allison murmured, unable to meet Olivia’s eyes. "He’s…"

"Just like his son," Olivia finished dryly.

"Oh, dear," Allison said. "I can only imagine what kind of wicked things Cameron’s said and done."

"Yep," Chuck said, looking satisfied. "That’s my boy."

~ * ~

As Cameron’s parents bid their farewell an hour later, his father paused to take Olivia’s hands, looking deep into her eyes as if asking for her help.

 
"You make sure that son of mine takes care of you," he said, but what she suspected he meant was,
Take care of my son. Please.

Then he smiled at her proudly, just as she’d always wanted her own father to look at her, and hugged her goodbye.

The house seemed quiet after their absence, and Olivia felt alone. Going to the window, she watched their car turn from the drive and disappear down the street.

"Are they gone?" Cameron’s voice came from behind her.

She spun around. "You’re drunk!" she gasped, unable to believe her

eyes. He’d untucked his dress shirt and limply held a bottle down at his side.

He cocked an amused brow. "You’re surprised?"

"But…" Frowning, she set her hands on her hips. "You just watched your mother cry because of this," she spat out, pointing at the liquor he held. "So you decided to run off and drink? How much more do you want to break her heart?"

He flinched but it was quickly covered by a glower. "Maybe you shouldn’t get involved in something that’s none of your business, Blondie."

Resting his back against the doorframe, he boldly—almost challengingly—lifted the bottle to his lips. Olivia watched him guzzle, her gaze caught by the way the amber liquid glinted against the light as it swished inside its glass container.

"I like your parents," she said quietly.

He swallowed and let out a refreshed sigh. Closing his eyes, he answered, "What’s not to like?"

"They’re incredibly nice."

"The best," he agreed.

She frowned. "So, why are you so intent on hurting them?"

Face darkening, Cameron sent her a dirty look. "I don’t want to hurt them," he snapped. Then on a tired sigh, he whispered, "I just do. I hurt everything that gets too close."

Her anger dissolved. "Cameron," she croaked and took a step toward him. "You did not hurt Sienna. She—"

He lifted one finger of the hand that clutched his liquor. "Don’t say her name to me."

Olivia froze mid-step, too hurt to move, to even breathe. That his wife still had such a grip on him told her exactly where she ranked. As the pretty little mistake he planned to rid himself of as soon as possible.

Gritting her teeth when he cursed under his breath and started to take another drink, she decided to get mad instead of sad. Marching forward, she ripped the bottle from his hand, spilling a couple of drops on him in the process.

"Hey," he said.

"That’s it," she growled. "No more."

Bottle in hand, she strode from the room and went straight to the kitchen. As she proceeded to pour the contents down the drain, she heard him enter the room behind her.

"You take away my liquor, you better have something else in mind to occupy my time," he commented in a lazy drawl, not sounding upset at all by what she was doing.

He no doubt had more stashed somewhere in the house.

"I’m not sleeping with you to take your mind off drinking," she said stiffly. She needed to stop sleeping with him period. They were trying to get an annulment here. An active sexual relationship wasn’t usually part of the

annulment process.

But the hand that cupped her butt and squeezed gently as he came up behind her seemed to disagree.

"You sure about that?" he murmured in her ear. Then he licked the side of her neck.

Olivia willed herself not to react. "Has your lawyer cousin gotten started on those papers yet?"

Cameron stilled. "I told you, he’s swamped with work right now. But he’ll get to it."

He wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her snug against his erection. "Now come, my pretty little mistake. Let me appreciate you while I still can."

She turned in his arms. He looked so handsome and sad, her heart broke. Suddenly, she wanted to save this man. She wanted to mend the rift forming between him and his family and she wanted him to love her.

But there was only pain in getting involved with a guy loaded down by this much baggage.

"Not tonight," she said softly and brushed past him, hurrying to escape before he did something sweet to coax her back in.