The Real Me (How to Tame a Heartbreaker Book 4) (12 page)

"Taken aback?" he asked. She could tell he was smiling.

"Yeah. I mean, you didn't warn me that I was going to leave my body like that."

"Shit girl, I can't wait to take care of you myself. If you think that was good—"

"Oh, I wouldn't go that far."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I don't think I'm quite ready for whatever administrations you're talking about."

Cam didn't care if he had to wait patiently for her or not. He had no desire for anyone else.

Chapter 13

They talked until midnight, but Cam knew he had to look rested for what would be a long day. He had to be up at 5AM, and from the time he woke up to the time he went to bed that night, it was go, go, go. He talked to Jax on the phone at night, but his days were extremely full, and he was exhausted by the time he was able to call.

They were
finally done with everything by late that Monday morning, and Neil started making plans to get them back to Nashville.

"
We can't get you a private flight until tomorrow morning."

"How soon can we get there on a regular flight?"

"I knew you were gong to ask that, so I already looked. The earliest flight to Nashville is at five thirty. That puts us back home at nine-thirty."

"Did you book it?"

"No. I wanted to talk to you first."

Cam knew Jax would be leaving for Florida early in the morning, and wanted to try to see her before she left for her trip.

"Well book it."

"All right. I didn't know how big of a hurry you were in."

Cam was quiet for a second, and Neil had no idea what he'd say when he spoke.

"
Never mind."

"
Do you not want me to book it?"

"Just
get us something private tomorrow."

Neil shrugged and threw his hands up as if trying to understand Cam's logic was impossible.

Cam didn't take the time to explain. He was pissed. He thought about all he had to do to get ready to see Jax and he just didn't think he could make it work. He'd have to call Macy and get her to put the beard on at 10 o'clock at night, and the whole thing just seemed like it'd be too forced. If there was one thing he learned about Jax, it was that she didn't respond well to anything being forced.

The week that Jax was gone went by really quickly. Cam enjoyed being
at home in Nashville, but was working constantly, and the days seemed to all blur together. He and Jax made contact everyday whether it was through text or a phone call. She mentioned Facetiming a few times, but Cam made an excuse each time since he obviously couldn't do that without his beard. She also asked for his email address one time and he had to change the subject without her noticing because his email address had his real name in it. Other than those few little setbacks regarding the charade, he had no problems talking to her on a daily basis without having to lie.

Cam sent her a text the evening before she was supposed to be back.

Cam: "Tomorrow's the big day. What time are you headed home?"

She sent a text back within a few minutes.

Jax: "I know, tomorrow! Yay!"

She included an emoji of a smiley face with sunglasses.

Cam: "What time?"

Jax:
"Afternoon sometime."

Cam: "Wanna hang out?"

Jax's heart dropped with anticipation when she read his text. Somewhere during their absence, she forgot all about how embarrassed she was about the whole hand job thing. Sometime during the week, she started feeling like she might want to experiment with him a little bit. Of course, their conversations hadn't gone there since that one time—it was just that she felt like she might cave when she saw him in person.

Jax: "Hanging out might be fun."

Cam: "I forgot what you look like. You need to send me a picture."

Jax: "I'm not the one who never wants to Facetime."

Cam: "Snap a picture of your perfect face and text it to me right now or I'm jumping through the phone."

Jax smiled. She'd been on the beach, and didn't have a stitch of makeup on. It was dimly lit enough that she thought she might be able to get by with a shadow-y photograph that hid her flaws. She used her phone to shoot a few selfies before looking down to see what she'd come up with. She deleted her two
least favorites and sent him the one she thought was okay.

Jax: "Far from perfect, but I blame the beach. Haha."

Cam: "Gorgeous. I can't wait to see you."

Jax: "Where's mine?"

Cam: "Your what?"

Jax: "Picture."

Cam panicked for a minute before remembering the photo Macy took as reference for his beard. He pulled it up on his phone, and stared down at it wishing he'd thought to smile. He had no choice but to send it. It was already fishy enough that he always had an excuse for Facetime. He didn't send a text because what do you say as a caption for a photo of yourself that looked like a mug shot?

Jax: "Is that a smile under there?"

Cam: "I know. It's looking shaggy. I need to break down and shave it."

Jax: "I don't know if I'd recognize you."

Cam: "Probably not."

Jax: "I'm curious now. Have any old photos?"

Cam: "I'll have to see what I can dig up. No old ones on my phone since it's pretty new."

He hated lying to her, and thought about telling her the truth right then.

Jax: "Are you still hot without it?"

Cam: "Hot enough to be the second most eligible bachelor in the music business."

Okay so maybe that was a little reckless, but he was on the verge of telling her, and almost wanted her to ask questions.

Jax: "Lol. I have to go. They're waiting on me to come to dinner. I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Cam: "Tomorrow it is." 

Jax was so excited about seeing him the next day that she had trouble falling asleep that night. This was the first time she noticed the absence of a guy in her life, and she found herself daydreaming about them seeing each other. She felt like she wanted to touch him when she saw him, and hoped she'd be able to act less anxious than she felt.

"Is that about Cole again?" Kate asked when Jax came into the living room of the beach house wearing a big smile.

She shrugged. "I was probably just talking to him. So what?"

"So you
like
him," Kate said, smiling. "I've never seen you act like this. You
like him
, like him."

Jax looked around to make sure they weren't being
overheard. The Gregorys were in the kitchen, not paying attention to the sisters. Jax lifted her fists to her mouth nervously. "I think I might," she said. "I'm not really able to stop thinking about him. He's cute and sweet and really everything I'm looking for."

The sister's had spoken a little about
mystery guy during the vacation, but not much. Jax seemed talkative that evening, so Kate used the opportunity to get the scoop.

"Where'd you meet him?" she asked excitedly.

"That's the bad part," Jax said. "I can't really tell mom and dad where we met because it was the absolute worst place to meet someone."

"A bar?" Kate asked.

Jax sighed. "Yes. See? You didn't even
hesitate
. It's the most terrible place to meet someone. That's why I wish I didn't like him so much."

Kate smiled at the last part of the conversation, ignoring the part about their parents. "I'm so glad you met someone you like, sister. Love looks good on you."

"Whoa, whoa, I didn't say all that."

"I know, but that's what it is, really. How long it will last… is the only variable. The feeling's the same either way. It could be a three-day love or maybe a two-year love or a lifetime love.
"

Jax thought about Cole and imagined using the word love in reference to him. She could easily picture herself loving someone like him.

"You're smiling constantly," Kate said, "and it's so cute on you."

They went into the
kitchen where they made plates. It was the last night in the beach house, and they always had a big fish dinner. Kate didn't mention Cole or any of Jax's business in front of the Gregorys, and Jax was glad she'd trusted her. It felt good to talk about it, and now that she knew she could trust Kate, she'd probably tell her more.

The plan was to get on the road
in the morning after they woke up and ate a good breakfast. It was a seven-hour drive, and Mr. Gregory drove fast for a preacher, so they thought they'd make it home well before dinner. Jax went to bed wondering what would happen when she and Cole saw each other.

****

They were on the road the next morning by 9AM. Jax and Kate snuggled into the backseat of their Suburban, and tried to make themselves sleep most of the way in an effort to make the drive go by faster.

They stopped at a gas station just before noon. It was one of
those small gas stations with only one restroom, and Jax had to wait on her sister before she could go in. She stared blankly at a guy who took a small stack of magazines out of a rack and replaced them with a larger bundle.

Jax was zonked from trying to sleep in the back of a speeding Suburban, and just stared at the guy as he replaced
several stacks of magazines with their new issues. As soon as he moved out of the way, the cover of People Magazine caught her eye. She was about eight or ten feet away from the news stand, but the guy on the cover reminded her of Cole. She squinted to try to make out the image more clearly.

"I'm ge
tting some SweeTarts. You want anything?" Kate's voice startled Jax, and Jax turned to see her sister holding the key to the restroom. It was attached to an obnoxiously big piece of plastic.

"No, I'm uh, I'm just gonna pee and I'll meet you in the car."

Jax took the key and went into the restroom. She was in and out before Kate had even paid for her candy, and out of sheer curiosity, she went straight to the magazine rack where she saw the picture that reminded her of Cole.

Her eye roamed over the cover as she approached.
She picked it up to inspect it more closely. There were three guys on the front, and the one that looked like Cole was wearing a straw hat and jeans with a light-colored plaid, button-up shirt that had been converted to a beautifully ragged looking tank top.

He was smiling, and perhaps the most dashing creature she'd ever seen. It was like Cole on hot pills.

"Whatcha looking at?" Kate's voice startled Jax and she jumped guiltily and clutched the magazine to her chest.

"Oh nothin'," Jax said, trying for a quick recovery from the scare. "I'm just picking up a few of these for the trip. You know—something different to look at for a change."

Kate let the ghost of a suspicious glance cross her face, but didn't ask.

Jax turned and picked up two other magazines to add to her collection. She chose Elle, and Vogue, but they were just to detract from the fact that she was
flustered enough by this guy Cole that she was imagining him around every corner.

Jax paid for her magazines, an iced coffee, and a cherry Laffy Taffy, and by the time she made it back to the truck, everyone else was there and ready to go.

"What'd you get?" Mrs. Gregory asked from the front seat.

Jax
wanted to investigate her magazine cover guy and didn't really feel like talking about her purchases.

"Magazines," she said curtly.

"Oh, I thought it might be Sudoku. I was gonna ask you to tear me out a piece. I just love those things."

"You should have got you some, honey," Mr. Gregory said. Jax just laughed and mumbled something about them being magazines and not
Sudoku.

Kate was watching
, so Jax, as smoothly as she could, gave Kate one of the other magazines to look at while keeping the People to herself. Kate must not have noticed that Jax was trying to play something off, because she took the magazine and looked down at it without questioning which one she'd been given.

"Thanks," she said. Then
, a few seconds later, she said, "Cam Bishop is hot."

Jax's eyes snapped up to meet Kate's, and Kate gestured to the magazine Jax was holding.

"I don't recognize the other two, but the one with the cowboy hat is Cam Bishop. He's hot."

Jax tried to think about what she knew about Cam Bishop. The name was familiar as a vague celebrity, but she didn't keep up with pop culture too much, and didn't know much, if anything, about him. She knew the name was familiar for some other reason, but it took a second for it to sink in that it was the name people said when they told Cole he looked like someone.

The next few seconds were spent trying to put the pieces together. It was
no wonder
she thought the guy on the cover looked like Cole. That was the
same guy
people kept telling him was his look alike.

Jax smiled at her sister, feeling like she now had explanation as to why the guy on the cover looked just like the guy who'd taken over her thoughts. Her
eye glanced over the cover and she indeed saw the name Cam Bishop.

"Is he a country singer or something?" Jax asked.

"Yeah can't you tell? Look how he's dressed. And it says right there
, Meet the music industry's ten most eligible bachelors
." She paused. "I guess I thought that said
Country
music. Oh well. Anyway, yes, he's a country singer."