“No. We did not discuss you. I emailed him my resignation on Friday. I was serious. I am now counting down the days until I’m done here. I adore your dad, and I’ve enjoyed working here at his firm, but it’s time for me to move on.”
“Camdyn,” he started in a pleading tone.
Changing tactics wasn’t going to sway her. She cut him off. “Ricky, I’m not gonna ask you again. Please leave my office.”
He stood there, just looking at her, so she reached for the landline on her desk.
He threw his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay, I’m going,” he said, as she picked up the receiver.
She didn’t know what his deal was, but she was absolutely serious when she said she would call someone to come get him. She was not going to stand for being harassed every day. She didn’t place the receiver down until he was heading for the door. Once he was out of her office and the door was shut, she dropped back in her chair with a groan. She didn’t think Ricky was going to give up, and she didn’t want to have to report him for harassment. Her friendship with his father meant too much to her. She heaved out a long sigh. That meant the rest of her month at Anderson was going to be painfully exhausting.
CHAPTER 8
He was one of the quickest thinkers that ever took a signal.
– MacLean Kennedy, American sportswriter & author
Javi had been shocked when Cami messaged him about attending the banquet with her. He hadn’t thought she’d go through with it, but maybe she just needed a little help sticking it to her ex. Or maybe she didn’t want her brother to be viewed as a liar. Either way, he’d been invited to the banquet that was so important to Little Dicky. That banquet ended up being for the Arizona Bar Association’s Annual Awards Ceremony. The black-tie event was being held at a ritzy hotel downtown, not far from Camdyn’s office.
Javi didn’t own a tux and had been worried about locating one on short notice, but he’d found a rental shop that had been able to accommodate the last-minute askandhis muscular physique. In the past, when Javi had needed a tux for events with his Pensacola team, like a gala fundraiser for the local children’s hospital, his big frame—specifically his thighs—had made finding a properly fitted tux difficult.
He’d always gone stag to those Pensacola events, and usually many of his teammates did, too. He hadn’t worn a tux on a date since his senior prom in high school. He was about as nervous picking up Cami tonight as he had been back on his senior prom night picking up Yoselin Batista.
Cami had texted him her address, and when he arrived, he found that she lived in a nice complex. He easily found her unit and hit the buzzer by the door. A few moments passed before the door swung open to reveal Cami. She took his breath away. His eyes took her in from head to toe and back to head again. Her dark hair was pulled into an updo, with a couple strands framing her face. She wore a long black form-fitted satin dress with a slit on the left side going just above her knee. It had a straight neckline that cut across her chest, but high enough that no cleavage was visible. He would have called it a sleeveless dress, except there were little shoulder straps on each side made out of a fine gold chain with thin ribbons of black satin woven through them. Definitely a decorative accent and not for supportive purposes. Her only jewelry was a pair of gold studs in her ears and a dainty gold bracelet on her right wrist. If he had thought she was gorgeous before, he didn’t even know what to call her now exceptperfection.
“Te ves muy guapa,” he said with a sigh when his eyes met hers.
“Thank you. You look good, too. Give me just a moment and we can go,” she said as she turned to a little side table and grabbed a gold clutch before sliding her feet into a pair of black heels.
When she turned back, Javi offered her his arm and she took it. He walked them down to his truck and helped her in. By the time he’d made it around to his side, she’d already made herself at home, folding down the visor and gazing in the mirror to touch up her red lipstick. Javi wasn’t normally a fan of red, buton Camdyn’s lips, it was his new favorite color, and he hoped he’d get to wear some of that red before the night was over.
The drive to the banquet hotel was short. Javi handed over his vehicle to the valet and then escorted Cami inside. They found their way to the ballroom, and outside the massive doors was a seating chart. It seemed tables had been purchased by different firms and he noticed Callahan Law was listed for table twelve. It hadn’t occurred to Javi until then that Camdyn’s family would also be at the event.
They proceeded inside and found a multitude of round tables draped in black throughout the room. Each looked as if they could sit a dozen people. In the center of the room was a small stage and an empty dance floor. Most people were mingling or over by the left wall of the room.
“What’s over there?” asked Javi.
“Those will be the baskets for the silent auction. After dinner, we’ll go have a look. No need to bid this early,” she replied as she led him by the hand through the tables.
They were the first to arrive at table twelve. He pulled out a chair for her, and as she lowered to sit she said, “I probably should have warned you that we’d be sitting with my family tonight. I was originally supposed to attend with Ricky and sit with the Anderson firm, but I didn’t want to deal with any of them. I interned with Ricky’s father, Richard, when finishing college. He was an amazing mentor and most of the partners there are very good, but I wouldn’t have been invited to sit with them if not for dating Ricky.”
“No offense, but what’d you see in that guy?” he asked. The encounter in the coffee shop had been brief, but long enough for Javi to see Ricky for the self-centered jerk he was.
She sighed. “Looking back, I think Richard genuinely liked me, respected my family, and had hoped Ricky and I would make a good match. He thought I was smart and saw anopportunity to get a daughter-in-law that he’d be proud of. I think he encouraged Ricky to pursue me. I think Richard filled Ricky’s head with the possibility of an alliance with my family and a possible merger to grow their law firm later.
“At the same time, Richard was pressing me to give Ricky a chance. I wasn’t really interested, but he seemed nice enough, and was relentless in pursuing me, so I eventually agreed to go on a date with him. Our first date was to an event similar to this, and while there we were invited to join another couple at a different event a few nights later. Suddenly, we were dating. I wasn’t that into him, but I wasn’t sure how to break it off without upsetting him or Richard. Catching Ricky with his dad’s admin assistant gave me the way out I was looking for.
“It also gave me the push I needed to resign from Anderson. Richard had made it seem so beneficial for me to stay on at Anderson after graduation, and the process was seamless for me to go from intern to employee. I like routines, so I just went along with it, even though we’d both known my intention had always been to work with my grandpa and uncle. I’ve been hating myself for choosing not to ever since.”
Javi didn’t like hearing Cami beat up on herself. Their conversation had gotten deep fast, and he appreciated her being so open with him, but it was time to change the subject. “Is that why I’m here tonight? You just went along with the date your brother threw out for you?”
She cut him a look with a smile that made his insides melt. “No. I wasn’t gonna pass on my brother unknowingly serving up what I wanted.”
He draped his arm across the back of her chair as he leaned closer. His voice was rough and low when he asked, “And what do you want Cami?”
She held his eyes and answered, quick and to the point, “Another night with you.”
“Are you gonna come home with me after this?” he asked.
