Taunting Lips (A Teasing Hands Accompaniment) (5 page)

“What the fuck does four mean?” She seemed to like my commanding tone and let out a low moan. This shit was becoming embarrassing.

“Are you sure you'd like me to take the car, sir?” The parking attendant smirked at me. In his mind, I'd hit the jackpot. A bitch in heat that hadn’t cost me a dime.

“I don't fuck sloppy.” He seemed taken aback by my harsh response. Nodding, he opened the driver’s side door and got inside.

“Can you walk?” I asked a quiet Cynthia.

“Do I have to? You're so comfortable and smell so good.” Wrong goddamned words. Amanda loved the way I smelled, said I reminded her of the sun and warm waters of Florida.

Instead of answering, I grabbed her hands and gently pushed her off. “Let's go.”

The inside of the club was pretty packed for a Wednesday night. House music blasted through the speakers, and all the bodies we passed were moving to its hot beats. Stacy and Oliver were already sitting down with a drink in hand as we approached. The smile vanished from their faces when they realized just whose hand I was holding.

Did they think I was kidding about bringing her with me?

“Starting without me, I see.” They both looked at me with annoyed faces. What the fuck was wrong with these two?

“Got something to—” I was interrupted by the squealing drunk next to me.

“Oh my God…I love this song!” She ran off without me to the dance floor. Stumbling and giggling, Cynthia made it to the middle of the throng of dancing people and let loose. There was just no other way to describe what she was doing. It was not sexy. Awkward would be the best way to describe how she looked.

“How can you lead her on, Cam?” Stacy hissed at me. “What happened to that cute chick you were seeing?”

She got under my skin.

“Babe, stop,” Oliver intervened while pushing a bottle of Heineken my way. I nodded my appreciation for more than just the beer.

“But—”

“None of our business, baby. Let it go.”

“Still an idiot.” She huffed beside her husband and glared my way.

“Camden knows what he’s doing.  Don’t you?” Oliver tipped his bottle my way before taking a long pull. I could see it in his facial expression that he didn't approve of my actions, but decided to let me crash and burn without intervening.

“It wouldn't have worked.” Both snapped their attention my way after I spoke. “Too much––too fast.”

“You’re scared.” Tell me something I didn't already know, Stacy. “So let me get this straight…” she pointed a manicured finger at me “…instead of letting things grow with that girl, you decided to dip it in that?”

We all looked across the room to where my hot mess of a date was dancing. She noticed us watching and waved. This chick and her Miss America gesture.

“I'm not dipping it.” Couldn't even if I wanted to.

“Good.” She turned to face her husband and whispered something in his ear. He chuckled and nodded. Assholes.

“Buy me a drink, babe,” Cynthia slurred all of a sudden in my ear, and I shuddered. When the fuck did she get back?

“That's the last thing this bitch needs,” Stacy muttered and rolled her eyes.

I agreed.

“How about some water.” It wasn't a question, and she seemed to understand this. She sat beside me. Close—excessively, fucking close as I signaled the waitress over.

“Fine,” she pouted, but then began to trail kisses up my neck. Her hands wandered my chest. Wrong, this was fucking wrong.

“Behave.” I pulled her body in closer, while laying her hands atop the table. It was the only way to control her movements. Having her like this only cemented what I already knew and had been fighting against.

I wanted no one other than my gatita.

“Why? I know you want me, Camden.” Her attempts at seduction were basic at best. Nothing about her drew me in.

The two across from us glared at me; I ignored them and kissed the top of her head. I had to placate her. Nothing would, or could, ever happen between us. The least I could do was be nice about it before I let her down.

“Oh God!” a voice I knew too well cried out. It was low, in pain, and tormented. My eyes snapped up and toward the direction the wail came from. There stood my girl, doubled over, and with a smug-looking Hunter beside her.

My fingers dug into Cynthia’s arm, and she whimpered. Fuck. Why was she here? With him?

Those beautiful eyes of hers locked on mine, and I knew my plan had worked. The why or how didn’t matter—she’d just witnessed my betrayal.

This was it. I'd lost her.

Things is, now I wanted her in my arms instead of Cynthia. My mistake and arrogance had landed me where I never wanted to be again.

In love.

5

My body hurt.

Neck throbbed from the position
I’
d fallen asleep in. In the background, the sound of my cell phone ringing blared and then stopped, only to begin again. Whomever it was needed to fuck off and let me be.

“Fuck,” I hissed as the sunlight infiltrating through my floor-to-ceiling windows irritated my eyes. It was very bright out—too bright for this time in the morning.

Squinting, I looked across the room and out the windows. This caused my head to spin, and I fell back into my earlier position.  When did I get inside? I didn’t remember much of last night after my fifth drink.

The phone rang again, and I let out a curse. It was too early for this shit. Rubbing my eyes, I reached over to grab the offending object making so much noise from my nightstand. Except there was no nightstand. Matter of fact, I wasn’t on a bed at all.

How I bypassed my bedroom and crashed on my couch downstairs beats me, but what I do know is that it was a horrible mistake. The increasing throbbing of my muscles said as much. On the floor beside me sat the empty bottle of liquor I’d just opened last night. Next to it laid my shoes and socks.

It seemed to be the end of the trail, as my clothes appeared to have been ripped off and dropped to the ground when I found my resting place for the night. I surveyed the room and found nothing else out of place. Nothing broken. At the very least that was a plus.

Stretching up, I cracked my neck and made the move to stand. The room slightly swayed, and I crashed back down only to jump when my cell went off again. Couldn’t they just leave me alone to wallow in my own misery?

Reaching toward the offending noise, I grabbed it and swiped my finger across the screen. Pressing ignore, I went to my missed calls in hope that it was my
gatita
. No dice; ten calls, and all from the spa.

Just as I was dialing them back, it flashed my job’s number again. “What?” I snarled, and then winced. It hurt. Everything fucking hurt.

“Where are you?” Cynthia’s nasal voice asked, and my mood turned from grumpy and hung over, to furious in an instant. This was in part her fault. Why couldn’t she grasp the concept of my lack of attraction where she was involved?

“At home.” There was no hiding the disdain I held for her in my tone. “Why are you calling me?”

“Camden, don’t be so rude.” She giggled, and the action irritated me. She irritated me.

“What the fuck do you want, Cynthia?” I sat up, this time making it all the way, and swung my legs over the side of the couch. Once on my feet, I walked over to the kitchen and grabbed the Tylenol I kept in a drawer and a bottle of water from the fridge. Placing the phone on speaker, I put it on my counter and popped the bottle of painkillers open. I placed two in my palm and tossed them in my mouth. “I’m waiting.”

“You have an appointment at two today and I—”

“I know my schedule and will be in shortly. There was no need, Cynthia, for the ten missed calls you placed within the last hour.” Unscrewing the cap on the water bottle, I took in a long pull of the cold liquid and sighed. “Now, get off the phone and back to work. You’re paid to greet my customers and make the appointments, not run my schedule. I know when the fuck I need to be in.”

“It’s already twelve and you weren’t here…what was I supposed to do?”

Shit, I hadn’t realized it was so late. My first instinct was to tell her to cancel and hang up, but something wouldn’t let me. What if Amanda showed up and I wasn’t there?

“My next is at two, correct?” Walking out of the kitchen, I went directly for the stairs and took them two at a time. It would take me nearly forty minutes to clean up and get over to the spa. If I jumped in the shower now, that would leave me with just enough time to set up my room and send my
gatita
a text.

There was no way I could go on like this. I had to find a way to reach her by the end of the day. Getting drunk to deal with my problems was just not my style.

“Yes, but I—” Did she always sound so whiny? Pathetic?

“You need to leave me the fuck alone. Get back to work, and quit calling,” I barked out before hanging up. Arguing with her wasn’t on my list of priorities. Amanda was the only thing that mattered, and it was about time I started to act as such.

The spa was quiet when I entered through its main doors. A girl, young and pretty, sat across from Cynthia with a hard look of contemplation on her face. She looked familiar. Like the type of girl in the past I’d hit on, but something told me it wasn’t the case with this one.

“Good afternoon,” I mumbled as I passed Cynthia’s desk. She looked up at me with sad eyes, like a sad puppy that’s had its favorite toy taken away.

“Camden, can we talk?” She made a move to stand, but the low growl the girl on the couch let out made me turn her way.

I was taken aback by the sudden burst of anger I saw flitter through her expression. The emotion was only visible for a second before she schooled her features into a mask of indifference. It reminded me so much of the annoyed look that Amanda gave me the day at the café.

“Are you okay?” I took a step toward her—one small step—before a hand on my arm pulled me back. The girl’s eyes hardened as she stared at the hand gripping me. What the fuck? “Do I know you?”

“No.” Her one word response did nothing in the convincing department. There was anger behind her nonchalant attitude.

Shrugging Cynthia off, I came to stand in front of her. “Then why do you have such a sour look on your face?” She seemed surprised by my straightforward approach and moved to stand, causing me to take a step back.

“It’s time for my appointment, Mr. Daniels.” It was then that things made sense, the answer to where I knew her from now clear. The University of Miami logo on her shirt made my heart race, but the fact that it was a women’s basketball one made it hard to breathe.

She was the same girl that sat across from my
gatita
while she poured out her heart at Playwright the other night. The same one that smiled at me while I wanted nothing more than to hide from the world, to drown my misery in the pub’s strongest whiskey. She was the only link I had at the moment to my
gatita.

“Is she okay?” The words tumbled past my lips in a crazed whisper. Why else would she be here if not that…

“She’s as fine as can be expected.”

That’s it? What the ever loving fuck does
“as can be expected,”
mean?

“It means that she’s hurt, but will be fine.”

“What the––”

“Be nice, Camden. Don’t piss off your only hope.” Her haughty tone grated my nerves, but she was right. At the moment, she was all I had to get information on my girl. “Now, can
we
,” she sneered, with hard eyes locked on a quiet Cynthia behind me, “talk in your office?”

“I’m sorry…” I trailed off since I didn’t know her name.

“Courtney—I’m Amanda’s best friend.” She extended her hand out for me to shake, but before I could, my soon-to-be ex-employee decided to show her talons.

“He’s busy and doesn’t have time for little girls with hurt feelings.”

“Come again?” I snapped, my eyes landing on hers. The anger she saw in them made her shrink back. What the fuck was this bitch on? “Cynthia, back off. This is your last warning.”

She scurried behind the small half wall that separated the waiting area from her desk. “Camden, we—”

“Would you give it a break? Desperate is not a good look on anyone.” Courtney stepped beside me and took my right hand in hers. She gave it a gentle squeeze before releasing it, an action that wasn’t lost on Cynthia or me.

“Listen, bit—”

“Enough,” I yelled and they both jumped. “Cynthia, pack your shit and head home. Stacy will cover the rest of your shift.” She opened her mouth to argue, but I kept on not giving a flying fuck at this point what she had to say. “You have tomorrow off. Come see me before you start again the following day.”

“I need the hours,” Cynthia meekly replied. Her shoulders slumped forward, her face red with embarrassment.

“You should’ve thought about that before going off on a customer. Get out.” She scurried off without another word, her shoulder bumping into Stacy’s as she came our way from the back.

“What the witch’s problem today?” Stacy laughed before her eyes landed on the girl beside me. “Who’s this?”

“Do all your employees want to jump your dick?” At this, Stacy and I laughed. The craziness that surrounded me was unbelievable.

Shaking my head, I turned to face Courtney head on. “No, this one wants nothing to do with me. She’s one of my closest friend’s wife, and an employee. They both work here.”

Courtney blushed and ducked her head. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. The crap this idiot pulled makes me look bad.” Stacy mock glared and punched my arm. “I understand.” She turned to look over at an amused Courtney. “Now, the better question here is who are you? Haven’t seen you around before.” The disapproving tone caught my attention. There was sadness in her eyes, and I couldn’t understand the why.

Courtney smiled and extended her hand out. “I’m Courtney, Amanda’s friend. The one he lost over his own stupidity and fear.”

Stacy’s demeanor changed, and she laughed while shaking her hand. “I like you already. Told him it was a mistake, but no—”

“I’m standing right here, you know.” They both looked at me with the same “duh” expression on their faces. “It was a mistake…I’m human.”

“No.” Stacy shook her head and sighed. “You’re just a man.”

“Sad, but true,” Courtney added.

“Can we head back now?” I grumbled, and rubbed my temples. A headache was starting to make an appearance. It was still too early for this shit, and they were enjoying my obvious discomfort too much. “My next appointment should be here soon and—”

“She’s already here.” Courtney gave me a devious smirk as she waved me forward. “Lead the way, Camden. I’m ready to rip you a new one.”

Fuck.

“Scared?” she taunted.

“Terrified,” I replied and meant it. This could either help me, or destroy any and all hope I still held. Fix this, or fuck me over. It was a do or die moment if I ever had one.

6