The chair I’d been sitting on scratched the floor of the café, the noise making me realize my body had just sprung up. “You did what?” I squeaked.
Cameron’s lips twitched beneath that beard I was growing to resent so much. It made getting a read on him so hard. “Diane—you remember Diane, right?” he asked, and I blinked away my reaction to that name. “Besides being president of the parent association, she also happens to be council secretary. And guess what she’s in charge of?”
“Some of the organizational tasks,” Josie answered for me, making us both glance at her. She was holding the brochure. “Actually, I remember very vividly telling her not to use this font. God, the color scheme is also wrong. I…” She trailed off the moment she looked up. “Oops. Please, continue.”
My attention returned to the man to my left, finding his eyes on me. Again. “She was so concerned about your involvement in the community,” he said, shrugging those wide shoulders and daring to look… flippant. “I thought to help you tilt the balance in your favor.”
“You thought to help,” I repeated, and when his eyes dipped to my mouth, I realized I was pressing my lips so tight, I probably gritted the words. “How generous of you, Cameron.”
“Some would say charitable,” he shot back calmly, making my cheeks heat at the reminder of last night’s conversation. “I wouldn’t feel obligated to go to any of these, though.”
Josie cleared her throat. “Diane is actually a little bit of a… stickler for rules? She kind of hates people signing up and then not showing up. Last year Grandpa Moe accidentally signed up for our fall fest worm race.” I glanced at Josie with horror. “You should have seen Diane when Grandpa—Not helping? ’Kay. I’ll tell you about it later, though. It’s a fun story.”
“I’d love to hear about it,” Cameron piped up in a serious tone. “Adalyn, too, I’m sure. She’s signed up for that, too, after all.”
My head whirled in his direction. “I—” I was mad. Extremely frustrated. But I deserved this. I… “I’m a big fan of worms, actually.”
Cameron tilted his head, studying me, and the motion made me notice a dark spot peeking out of the neckline of his thermal. Right above the right side of his collarbone. Ink. It had to be—
“Oh hey, Diane!” Josie blurted out suddenly. My whole body stiffened. Could I please catch a break? “We were just talking about you and the wonderful brochure you put together. Wow, this year looks better than ever.”
I ripped my eyes off Cameron Caldani’s collarbone and looked over at the mayor of Green Oak with an obvious question: What are you doing?
Josie shot me a quick glance: Trust me.
It was either that or storm out of here, so I braced myself for the worst and watched how Diane crossed the distance to our table.
“Thank you, Josie,” Diane said, after a curt hello and a skeptical look in my direction. “I took some creative liberties with it this year. I’m particularly proud of the font.”
“Which is stunning,” Josie agreed. And boy, she was such a horrible liar. It was painful to watch. “You know what else we were talking about? The girls’ soccer team.”
Diane frowned. I did, too. And Cameron… Well, he was now scowling in the general vicinity of the conversation.
“All right,” he grunted, taking a step back. “This is my cue to lea—”
“Love,” Josie finished for him. “This is Cam’s cue to finally acknowledge how much he’s loving working with the team. And Adalyn. And—”
“And the activities,” I blurted out. My eyes widened at my own words. “So much that he also wants to sign up. Right along with me.”
Cameron’s gaze fell so heavily on me that I could swear I felt my skin heating up under all that silent hostility.
Oh God, what was I doing?
“A team bonding exercise!” Josie squealed with a clap. “To build their camaraderie and trust. How FUN. Now that’s what I call dedication. To the girls, of course.”
As if some strange kind of vengeful self-destructive autopilot had been switched on, I asked, “What do you say, Coach?”
His lip started to twitch.
And I stared at him, feeling sick to my stomach over what I was doing. What I had done. God, ever since Sparkles I’d been unhinged. But this man… There was something about him that made me spring up on guard and attack before he could hit first, as if—