“CC, you have to know you’re special to me,” I tell her—a fucking understatement of the year.
“I…” she starts, then stops. She looks at me and slowly nods. “I know, Gray. You’re special to me, too.”
Fuck, that’s such a simple statement, but with it, I feel better than winning any damned match or tournament has ever made me feel. It feels like fireworks are going off. I get lost in the feeling and push harder—which might be a mistake.
“I want everything with you, Cooper. Everything,” I tell her, laying it bare as gently as I can. Everything in me is wanting to tell her I want to give her my last name. I want kids with her. I want to grow old together. She’s the last face I want to see when I close my eyes and go into the next world. I’m pretty sure those words would scare the hell out of her.
“What if you’re disappointed?” she asks.
“If there’s one thing I’m one hundred percent sure of, Cooper, it’s that I could never be disappointed in you. Never.”
I hate seeing the fear in her eyes. I think it’s probably a good thing I never met her mother. I’d probably want to kill the woman. I bring CC’s face closer to mine and kiss her.
“You better get a quick nap in. We’ll land soon, and I’m going to need you again.”
“You cannot be serious.”
“Watch and see, sweet lips, watch and see,” I tell her with a wink. She watches me for a minute, then reclines her seat back to rest. I stare out the window wondering how in the hell I’m going to knock down all of CC’s walls. I may have to call my family in for reinforcements. They’re crazy as fuck, but they’re hard to resist and CC is already drawn to them.
I’ll figure it out somehow. I have to.
“Claude, I didn’t expect to see you here,” Cammie exclaims, and it’s a real struggle to keep myself from slapping her. If there was ever a woman in need of someone knocking some sense into her, it’d be Cammie.
“And yet, here I am,” I say with a shrug. I hear Gray snort in the background, but I don’t look at him. If I do, I’ll probably start laughing and I need to at least appear like an adult here. It’d be much easier to control myself if I could just slap her once. Okay, maybe twice. Three times, tops. “Did you want something, Cammie?”
“I was looking for Gray. I was hoping I could meet with him before the press conference this afternoon introduces him as the face of Riverton golf clubs and merchandise,” she says, sounding put-out. “It’s extremely important we present a united front and send this venture out with a bang,” she explains, but honestly, her voice is droning on so I’m tuning her out. I pull the door to my and Gray’s hotel room back to give her room to enter.
“I’m ready, Cammie. Just give me a minute to grab my jacket and tell CC bye.”
“Oh, no rush, Gray. I’m just excited to get this venture underway. With your face and our quality product, our clubs will become a household name,” Cammie says, and Gray turns his back on her and rolls his eyes. I grin. God, I love him. Shit.
“You sure you don’t want to go with us, sweetheart?”
“Of course she doesn’t, Gray. What on Earth would Claude do while we were talking to the press and deep in business? She’d be bored silly,” Cammie interjects.
I stick my tongue out at her. Sadly, the gesture is hid by Gray’s chest as he blocks me. He laughs, though. His hand rest on my hips and he looks at me when he answers Cammie.
“CC is very astute when it comes to business. I can always use her in my corner. I admire her.” The way he stresses the last part of that sentence is like a verbal blow that sails right over Cammie’s head.
“I suppose, but honestly, that little garage that Claude runs can hardly be compared to the millions we are dealing with. I doubt CC could imagine the money this contract between you and Riverton involves.”
I close my eyes and try to count backwards. I shove down the old insecurities which threaten to rise to the forefront. I’m not the innocent little girl that the Riverton’s nearly destroyed—not anymore. I’ve been trying to play nice with Cammie and her father before I had Banger to worry about. Why do I care now? Why am I not lashing out? Habit? Do I still have the fear? Hell, maybe I just don’t care enough to try and defend myself.
“Cammie, do you have any idea how you sound when you talk?” Gray says, and I freeze. I look up at him and I can see anger and frustration on his face, but it’s not directed at me. It’s totally focused on Cammie. Wow…