“Elijah.” His father’s voice intruding on his thoughts brought him out of his musings. “You were saying?”
Elijah shook his head and cleared his throat, giving himself a little time to put his game face back on.
“Pops.” His voice cracked a little again. Determined to sound like the grown-ass man he was, Elijah cleared his throat again and willed his voice to remain steady. “Everyone. This is my friend Camden. We’d made plans a while ago for him to hang out up here, but I completely spaced on the dates. It didn’t dawn on me that you guys would be here this weekend.”
There was silence in the room; all eyes seemed to be on Camden, then on him. All Elijah had to do was keep it together, and the rest of the weekend would flow smoothly.
Finally breaking the silence, his mother pulled her gaze away from Camden and leveled it at Elijah. “Your friend?” The careful lilt to her voice painted the air with suspicion. “Elijah, I’m not that old that I can’t see what’s going on here.”
“Mama, I promise you—”
“We’ve messed around and stumbled into a lover’s getaway. Why didn’t you tell us you had plans with someone special?”
Before Elijah could process what was happening, his mother walked up to Camden, spread her arms wide, and wrapped them around Camden’s middle.
“It’s so nice to meet someone my boy feels is special enough to bring home.”
“Mama—”
Elijah tried to interrupt, but his mother dismissed him with a wave of her hand and a “Boy, hush,” before she turned to Elijah’s father with an ear-to-ear grin.
“Walter, our baby has finally got him a man to bring home.”
The floor of his stomach plummeted, and he had to breathe through pursed lips to keep its contents from climbing up his esophagus.
The thought of his mother gushing about his love life and a man he’d just received a magnificent hand job from only moments before would sicken anyone. Add the fact that said man walked out on him without a second thought, and it was a wonder Elijah didn’t empty his stomach in the middle of the kitchen floor.
“And Walter.” The conspiratorial gleam in her eye made Elijah’s heart rate race. “He’s a cute one too.”
Please, God. Please kill me now.
Chapter Eleven
CAMDENstood in the kitchen doorway with both arms filled with Elijah’s mother. It should’ve been uncomfortable. People in his circles didn’t wrap themselves around perfect strangers and squeeze with all their strength. Although the older woman had taken Camden by surprise with the force of her affection, the warmth blossoming inside his chest made being angry or uncomfortable with Evelyn’s lack of personal boundaries impossible.
If he were to be honest—something his life or his work rarely permitted—being held by this stranger made him feel at ease in a way he couldn’t quite recognize.
Camden lifted his eyes from the armful of Elijah’s mother he was holding and saw the lines of Elijah’s jaw tighten.
Oh, somebody’s not liking this at all.
For a beat Camden thought of backing off. Poking the bear when the bear was responsible for your safety probably wasn’t a wise thing. But resisting a challenge wasn’t in Camden’s nature. His need to not just win, but to decimate his opponent, was one of the reasons he was such a good trial lawyer. Aside from suborning perjury, there wasn’t much Camden wouldn’t do to win a case.
He watched Elijah’s eyes narrow into tiny slits and opted to ignore the obvious warning the brooding police officer was silently throwing across the room.
“Mrs. Stephenson, please forgive Elijah.” Camden gave Elijah’s mother one last squeeze of his arms, then stepped out of her embrace to look down into her warm, smiling face.
She shared the same deep, rich brown tone as Elijah. And although her sons clearly inherited their tall, burly frames from their father, the full smile, the appled cheeks, the quick wit, it was all hers. “He wasn’t expecting me this weekend. Work sort of dropped me in his lap.”
She wrinkled her nose at him to feign disappointment, but the cheerful smile hiding in her eyes told Camden it was all a show. “Don’t tell me you’re a workaholic like my Elijah?”
Camden took both her hands and placed a sweet kiss on them. “I’m afraid I’d be lying to you if I said otherwise.”
Still smiling, she shook her head. “If you work anywhere near as much as Elijah used to, it’s a wonder the two of you ever see each other.”
If Camden and Elijah were in a relationship, Evelyn’s estimation would be correct. The DA’s office swallowed huge chunks of Camden’s time. You didn’t make executive ADA as quickly as he did without sacrificing a personal life.
Sure, it would’ve been nice to have someone to share his time with, but if you wanted something extraordinary, sacrifices had to be made.
