Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 43827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
No matter what I told myself now, the memory of that kiss was always going to be at the forefront of my mind. Now here alone I can take that shit out and dissect it. Did she have to taste like that? Did she have to shatter my hard won control in a million pieces? How was I supposed to stay away from her for her own good when she got under my skin like that?
Chapter 1
CAMI
“Cami, you have got to calm down, you can’t go doing anything rash here. You’re still trying to live down your last episode remember.” I calmly listened to my best friend of fifteen years while I took a sip of my gin and tonic. Inside I was a fuming mass of destruction ready to detonate; outwardly I was the same debutante princess my daddy had raised me to be.
My old trick of counting backwards from a hundred was wearing thin, and quite frankly there wasn’t much keeping me from letting loose. I knew everyone was probably watching and waiting to see what I would do next, but I wasn’t about to give them the satisfaction. I felt like an ass sitting here among half the town with my life in shambles.
Daddy wasn’t here to pick up the pieces as he usually does whenever I get myself in a jam. Daddy, he was going to be so disappointed, I hate disappointing daddy. He’s always giving so much and never asking for anything in return. He’s my staunchest supporter no matter what, always in my corner.
It was probably time I stopped making rash decisions like the one that had led me to where I am at this very moment, but sometimes life just screwed with you and you had to do something about it. Poor daddy, he’d shelled out all that money and now it was all gonna go to waste. I chugged the last of my drink as I gave one last thought to my daddy and what my latest escapade was gonna do to him.
Thinking about my daddy also reminded me of something else he’d raised me to be. He wouldn’t want me to sit here and wallow in self-pity. I could almost hear him in my ear. ‘Well Cami girl, us Sutherlands are a resilient bunch. We like to take life by the balls and hang on ‘til the end’.
I slammed the glass down on the bar top and hopped off the stool tottering on my sky-high heels. It was a wonder they’d served me. At five feet nothing and about ninety pounds, I didn’t look a day over twelve. That was a whole eleven years younger than my actual age of twenty-three.
I eyeballed the other patrons who had the good sense not to even break a smile at my dilemma, not that most of them would, I was very well liked if nothing else in these parts. But I was sure there were a few who was more than happy to see the town’s reigning princess fall flat on her face. The thought made me see red and I straightened my shoulders and headed for the door with my head held high.
“Oh boy. Where are we going Cami?”
“Mary-Joe you sit your squeamish ass down on that stool. I’ll be back lickety-split.” She grabbed for my arm but I was already gone. Heading for the exit in my four-inch heels, hip hugging jeans and my specially made satin and lace Henley that made my girls look damn near perfect.
The night wasn’t chilly enough to warrant a jacket so my ass was on display. I usually hid it beneath my fringe jacket that was the envy of the county, because I wasn’t too fond of putting my goods out there like that, and my derriere was a little rounder than most, though that seemed to be the new in thing. I guess it was a testament to how far gone I was that I wasn’t paying too much attention to such things, and who could blame me?
I could hear the murmurs behind me as I was sure everyone and their mama had already heard the news. That just burned me up even more. I hated the idea of anyone whispering about me behind their hands, worst I hated the thought that some of them might even be feeling sorry for me. That was a fate worse than death if you ask me. One thing I’ve never been is a poor soul, and I wasn’t about to become one on account of some no-account jackass who didn’t know when to keep it zipped.
I hotfooted it to my little powder blue convertible that daddy had got me for my last birthday to replace the pastel pink one I’d had since I was eighteen. Daddy! If, no when he heard about this, there was going to be hell to pay. I figure better me than him. Brady Sutherland is not known for his warm and fuzzy side. There’s no telling what he would’ve done if he’d been here when the story broke.