Hot Commodity (27 page)

He grasped her elbow. "Livy."

His voice sounded rusty, as if he hadn’t used it for days. She looked up and immediately wished she hadn’t. His green eyes held all the sorrow in the world.

"Thank you for taking the bottle away," he said, letting go of her arm.

Before she could reach for him, he took a step in reverse. Then, cutting their eye contact, he turned on his heel and strode from the room.

~ * ~

Olivia hummed to herself as she picked up a pair of scissors to crop the picture of Cameron graduating from high school.

She’d convinced herself she wasn’t going to think about last night and how she’d slept in her own bed for the first time since coming to live with Cameron. She wasn’t going to think about the pain in his parents’ eyes as they stared at their son with worry. She wasn’t going to think about how he’d been so resolute when he’d announced their marriage was a ruse and would be quickly terminated.

She paused in her cutting and stared down at the scrapbook page she was creating. It centered on Cameron. Lately, her entire life revolved around him. Frowning, she set the scissors down. If they were going to get an annulment, she shouldn’t rely on him for everything. She needed to stop sleeping with him and find herself a job. And she really ought to quit making him a scrapbook.

The phone rang; Olivia answered it without thinking.

"Olivia," a woman’s voice said. "I’m so glad I caught you."

She frowned, surprised someone was actually calling
her
. No one even knew she was here. "I’m sorry, who is this?"

"Oh, whoops. This is Allison. Allison Banks, Cameron’s mother."

Olivia paused. What in the world was his mom doing, calling her?

"Hello, Mrs. Banks," she said cautiously. "What can I do for you?"

"Please. Call me, Allison. "

"O-Okay. Is, uh, is there something I can do for you? Cameron’s not home right now, but I could call him at—"

"Actually, I want to talk to you," Allison answered. "If you’re not too busy sometime, I’d love to get together with you and toss around a few ideas about how to plan this party for Chuck’s company."

"Oh!" Olivia said in surprise. "Well, of course. I’d be delighted to help."

"Really? You would?" Cameron’s mother sounded so pleasantly surprised Olivia had to grin. How could such a sweet, passive woman raise such an ornery, outgoing son?

"Sure. I’ve been hosting get-togethers for my mother since I was fifteen. It’d be nice to do something familiar again."

"That’s great," Allison said. "When would be a good time for you?"

Olivia nearly laughed. As if her schedule were so crowded. "Any time, really."

"I hope I’m not being too forward then. But are you busy now?"

"No, of course not." Right. Like what would make her busy?

"Do you think you could come over here?" Allison asked next. "I have napkin samples and magazines full of ides spread out everywhere. I could probably pack them up and bring them over there if that’s more convenient for you—"

"I don’t mind coming over," Olivia cut in.

Cameron’s mother was definitely a people pleaser. She sounded so apologetic, worried that she was honestly bothering Olivia that Olivia had this strange urge just to give the woman a soothing hug.

"Oh, good. Let me give you the address," Allison answered.

~ * ~

"It’s official," Boston announced as he strolled into Cameron’s office.

"What’s that?" Cameron asked, glancing up from the computer screen where he’d been browsing developmental sites for sale. Since he’d had Boston drop the Shaney bid the week before, their workflow had been pretty dead. They’d yet to find another business venture to pursue. "Helbrock won the Shaney bid this morning," Boston said, settling into the chair across from Cameron. "Your mother-in-law is now the owner of a three-point-two million dollar shoe factory that’s going out of business."

Cameron felt a spark of satisfaction. It served the bitch right for tormenting Olivia. "I wonder if she’s even aware Shaney’s so bad off," he

murmured to himself.

"I doubt it," Boston said, yawning as he stretched. "She barely did any research before she started throwing around her offer. Probably doesn’t even know we planned on closing the place and shipping its equipment to McFarland and Sons."

"Hmm," Cameron said thoughtfully. "Well, she’ll get what’s coming to her then. The woman should’ve treated her daughter better."

Boston lifted an eyebrow and stacked his hand behind his head as he fixed Cameron with a knowing look. "How
is
the wife?" he asked, smiling slightly.

Cameron frowned, not amused by the teasing glint in his friend’s eyes. "She keeps asking about you," he lied, "wondering when you’re going to come back around and look at her naked again."

Boston flushed bright red. He flipped Cameron the bird and called him a dirty name. Cameron only laughed and then let out a long sigh. "She’s fine. Asked me about those annulment papers last night, though."

Boston shrugged and glanced around as if looking for something better to do. "Well, I can get started on them. Anytime you want."

But Cameron went cold inside. Not yet, something in him screamed.

Looking nonchalant for his cousin’s benefit, however, he gave his own shrug. "She can wait." Then he grinned. "It’s kind of fun putting it off. I think it’s starting to get under her skin."

"Keeps her in your bed a while longer too, doesn’t it?" Boston guessed.

Cameron frowned slightly. He hadn’t gotten her into his bed last night. Instead she’d gone to her own room. He’d been forced to wait until nearly midnight before stealing into her bed and settling himself next to her. He’d tried to sleep alone in his room, but it hadn’t worked. He missed listening to her breathing next to him, occasionally hearing a little sigh as she slipped further into sweet dreams. In the morning, he’d wakened early and escaped before she noticed the added company. Before she realized he was getting a little too dependent on her.

Pushing those thoughts from his brain, he got to his feet and stretched, letting out a loud yawn.

"Let’s go shoot some pool down at the bar," he suggested, hoping that might ease some of the restlessness swirling inside him.

Boston cocked an amused look his way. "Again?"

Cameron frowned. "Why not? You got anything else to do around here today?"

Fifteen

Excited as she pulled Cameron’s Miata out of Allison and Chuck’s driveway, Olivia couldn’t contain her grin. She felt revved after spending three hours with his mother, going over place settings and decorations. She’d made similar plans for Vivian and her mother’s stuffy friends before, but she’d always kept it low-key and formal.

Allison had been open to new ideas, and she’d listened to every suggestion Olivia gave as if Olivia were some kind of professional. It made her heart sing. Olivia sighed, so proud of herself she wondered if she might burst open.

Chuck Banks liked big, splashy affairs, so Olivia had gone to town, designing the brightest and most extravagant party she’d ever thought up. What was even better, Cameron’s mother loved her ideas.

 
Still giddy about the headway they’d made, Olivia didn’t drive straight home, but detoured toward Cameron’s office. He’d explained to her where he worked, but she had yet to visit him.

Today seemed like a good day to drop by. She wanted to share her happiness with someone and tell him her good news. If Chuck liked how smoothly this party went, he said he’d think about hiring her full time as the new social coordinator of Banks Corporation. Olivia liked the title. She was starting to think that by the time the annulment went through, she’d be ready and able to make it on her own.

She knew Cameron was busy with his work, but she didn’t plan on bugging him for long. She wasn’t even sure why she was so excited about seeing him. But she’d had this spur-of-the-moment urge and now she couldn’t wait to share her day.

But when she stepped inside the cool interior of EarnNet and stopped to speak with the receptionist, she was startled to learn Cam wasn’t even around.

~ * ~

Cameron perched his hip against a small table and watched Boston arrange the pool balls into a battered triangle.

"Is it your turn to break or mine?" Boston asked.

He knew full well it was Cameron’s. The loser of the previous game always started the next game, and his dear cousin never forgot anything. He just wanted to hear Cam admit he’d lost yesterday.

Cameron took a sip of his cola, wishing the bartender had accidentally slipped in a dash of bourbon. "I think it’s yours."

Boston laughed. "Yeah, whatever." He handed a cue stick to Cameron. "You know you lost yesterday."

"Okay, fine," Cameron grumbled as he hefted the stick and leaned over the table. "If you want to remember it wrong, then far be it for me to correct your faulty brain."

He broke, and the balls cracked against each other, spreading across the green felt as they rolled madly to escape each other. When nothing dropped into a pocket, Cameron obligingly offered the stick to Boston. His cousin promptly sank three before missing.

During Cameron’s second turn, the woman walked in.

He didn’t spot her but the other guys around the smoke-filled joint definitely did, wolf-whistling and ogling the entrance. Cameron hovered over the table and aimed. He didn’t bother to glance over, but Boston did. Cameron saw his cousin’s eyes widen.

"Uh, Cam," he said in a strange voice.

Cameron hit the cue ball, straightened, and glanced over just as Olivia caught sight of him. As their gazes connected, something passed through him and made every nerve in his body shudder. God, she looked good.

It took him a moment to realize she was pissed.

He swallowed briefly, a sinking feeling landing hard in his gut. For some reason, he knew things were about to get ugly. But he smiled anyway and said, "Hey, baby. Want a drink?"

Her eyes flashed to his glass and she picked it up to take a sniff. When she was satisfied it wasn’t alcoholic, her glower settled a little. She set his cup down. "What’re you doing here?"

Cameron glanced toward Boston. "We’re playing pool," he answered. "What’re
you
doing here?"

"I went to see you at work," Olivia said.

Cameron grinned. "Really? A nice, wifely visit, huh? Was I going to get a nooner?"

Olivia glared. "Not hardly." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I was...I was…" Her face turned a bright red in embarrassment, making Cameron think maybe she
had
been coming to give him a nooner. Well, hot damn. Now he felt bad about being away.

Tightening the arms she still held over her chest, she turned from Cameron and watched Boston aim and hit his cue ball, pocket it, and then look around at what he wanted to aim at next. Her gaze slid to Cameron.

"So, it’s real busy at work, huh?" she demanded. "No time for you and your
lawyer
to work on annulment papers. Isn’t that what you said last night?"

 
"Hey, everyone needs a break every now and then," Cameron answered.