We got around to Dan’s wedding, and how happy she was. “I’ve been trying to get them both married off. One down, one to go. I need some grandchildren.”
“You should meet my mom,” I told her.
“I’m not old enough to get married,” he said and I did not mock him, which I thought was very big of me considering that he thought it was hilarious when my mom was doing it to me.
“Twenty-seven is plenty old,” Irene disagreed with him. “I was twenty when I got married and look how happy I was.”
“Back in the olden days,” was his reply.
Not able to resist piling on him, just a little, I said, “Were those the days you got your phone from?”
Irene’s whole face lit up in agreement. “Isn’t that little flip phone just awful? He never sends me pictures like Dan does. And he doesn’t have the Tweeter or Instagram.”
“You should definitely get an account on Tweeter,” I told him with a wink of my own.
He chuckled and said, “You first.”
The rest of the afternoon passed that way—the three of us laughing and talking. I didn’t get any more details about Camden’s life growing up, but I noticed that as the hours flew by, that fear I’d felt earlier had totally passed. I was feeling peaceful. Happy.
I finished up my last lei, and was grateful for the help. I never would have gotten them all done on time without them.
A knock on the door prevented me from saying as much. Camden answered it, and it was Dan.
“My mom said she was here?” he said, sounding confused. He walked into the room, spotted me, then simmered with obvious annoyance.
Was he mad that we’d put his mom to work? I wouldn’t have blamed him if that was the case.
“What’s going on?” he asked. Definitely irritated.
Camden crossed his arms. “Nothing that’s any of your business.”
Dan frowned at him and reached for his mom. “Come on. We need to do some photos with just the mothers.”
I stood up. “Do you need my help?” Would Brandy need to be wrangled?
“Considering you’re not my or Sadie’s mom, no.” Dan’s reaction surprised me. He’d been nothing but nice to me so far.
I wondered if Sadie had told him the truth about our arrangement and it had made him mad. If he was angry that we were lying to everyone he loved.
Dan helped Irene up, putting her hand on the crook of his arm. I thanked her for her help and she waved to me over her shoulder.
“Any time, dear.”
They left and I was alone with Camden.
“What was that about? With Dan?” I asked—and whether I was trying to distract Camden or myself, I wasn’t sure.
“Dan told us last night he doesn’t want any of his groomsmen trying to hook up with the bridesmaids.”
Since that was my plan as well, I silently agreed with him. “Why did he decide that?” And what was Dan going to do about Mary-Ellen, who seemed totally dedicated to finding someone to have a fling with?
“I think he’s trying to limit the drama.”
I wished him all the luck in the world. “Then he should probably tell his bride to stop trying to set everyone up.”
Camden nodded. “And he’s mad at me because I won’t do what he says.”
His words sent my pulse into overdrive, my nerve endings flaring and sparking, like they were trying to signal to him. Telling him to come closer.
Camden seemed to receive my message as he walked over to where I was standing, invading my personal space. My heart pounded slowly and loudly. Could he hear it? “Sadie is trying to matchmake us, isn’t she?”
The part of my brain that could still think realized that while she’d been whispering in my ear, encouraging me to date Camden, she hadn’t been doing the same thing to him. Even though I’d assumed she was.
That fire was back in his eyes, his voice again low and growly sounding, making the still functioning part of my brain short-circuit. “Now what do you want to do?”
I didn’t ask what he wanted to do. I had a pretty good idea.
The only problem was I kind of wanted it, too.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Now we go back to our room,” I said.
His eyebrows lifted with interest and I realized what I had done.
“Rooms.” I emphasized the S. “Rooms. You go to your room and I go to my room and we get ready for whatever Sadie and Dan have planned for tonight.”
Why had I said room, singular?
As if I’d asked the question out loud Camden offered, “Freudian slip. You know how when you really want something but you’re telling yourself you don’t, and then you still say it anyways?”