ROMANCE: Mr. Mystery: (New Adult Bad Boy Romance) (Contemporary Mystery Short Stories) (97 page)

Camden moved through the room like she had a hundred times before. It seemed like nothing had changed. The old world glamour of the stately looking décor, the women outfitted in lovely dresses, the smell of cigar smoke wafting in from the veranda, it was all like she left it. She loved this place and the memories it held. She used to come to this country club almost every weekend with her parents, but it seemed like the grandeur of this place shone even brighter now in her absence.

It felt like ages since she had been here, though it had only been two years. So much had changed in that time, though. When she was last here it was with the naivety of youth on her side, the carefree attitude that only exists when you have no real burdens. When she was here last she didn’t realize she wouldn’t be back, didn’t realize she would be leaving behind so many regrets.

The dining room was filling up, patrons filing in after having finished their round of golf. Camden made her way across the room to her parents table. The jovial smile slid from her father’s face as she approached the table and sat. He turned his attention from her, back to Mr. Weston. She could feel the cold radiating off of him from where she sat. He was still upset with her. Still disowned her I suppose. She wouldn’t have come tonight if she realized he still felt that way. Her mother had convinced her on the phone that he missed her; that he wanted her to come to the club tonight.

Camden sighed. She should have guessed her father wouldn’t have bent so easily. When she left he told her he would never forgive her. He was a man of his word, too. From beside her, Camden’s mom leaned over and patted her hand.

“Don’t look so fretful, dear. Aren’t you having a good time?” Her mother looked at her with kind eyes and Camden couldn’t help but smile at her. She loved her mother and had missed her. She couldn’t count the number of times she wished she could call her mother and ask her advice or opinion. Tonight was a gift. The first crack in the stone wall they had thrown in her face.

Her family had been surprised when she told them she was pregnant, but they were supportive. When she wouldn’t tell them who the father was, though, they had shut her out. They couldn’t understand why she didn’t want his money, his ring, his future. At the very least his child support. She could have raised her baby with the same luxuries she had grown accustomed, if only she would
be reasonable
. And if she wasn’t going to use the fathers’ money to raise her child, she wasn’t going to be able to use theirs, either. But she had made her choice and she wasn’t going to back down.

“I’m having a lovely time, mother. It feels good to be here again.”

Her mother smiled and nodded her head. It was her mother who had called, who had convinced her father to reserve an extra spot at their table, who wanted to see her grandchild. Isla was already a year and a half old and had no one in the world but Camden. No matter how cold her father was being, she didn’t want to rob her mother of that opportunity. She didn’t want to rob Isla of that opportunity.

“Good, I was hoping you would feel that way. You always loved this place. When you were little you would beg to come with us, and cry if ever you weren’t able. It seemed fitting to meet here, and I wanted us to meet on neutral territory. So we all felt comfortable.”

“It doesn’t seem like dad is feeling very comfortable.”

“Oh you know him. It takes a lot to make him change his mind. Just wait until after dinner, he’ll be in a better mood then.” She gave Camden’s hand another pat before turning back to the Westons.

The Westons had been their regular dinner companions for as long as they had been coming to the country club. Camden’s father was an accountant and by anyone else’s standards he wouldn’t have met the criteria to join the club. The Westons, however, had been clients of his and good friends. They had sponsored his application and they had kept up their friendship all these years.

Her father was always so proud of his status here. The club was a means of making better connections, better wages, a better life for his family. Camden supposed that’s why he was so mad when things ended up the way they had. He worked hard all his life to give Camden the opportunities she had available to her, only for her to ruin them. Then not salvage her reputation by trying to marry the man.

As supper service began and she was once again faced with her father’s icy stare, Camden wasn’t so sure her mother had been right. It would take a lot more than a porterhouse steak and a good cigar to changer her father’s mind.

*****

Dinner had gone without incident. Of course Camden’s father didn’t even so much as glance in her direction, but that was to be expected. After the meal was finished, the men had excused themselves to the veranda for a cigar and a drink. Once the men were gone the ladies crowded their chairs together and started in on their usual gossip. Camden stayed and listened for a while, but then she too excused herself. The hallways and corners of this place held too many memories, and she didn’t know when she would be invited back.

As though drawn, Camden made her way through the room, past the tall oak doors, and into the empty hallway beyond. The intricate tapestries and painting that hung in the hall reminded her of hours spent roaming these halls, exploring. Growing up in a middle class home for most of her life, this place represented a whole other world, one in which she was eager to be rapt.

Ahead Camden could see the light filtering in from her favorite spot, a little nook tucked around the far side of the grand staircase. It was a private alcove, a small niche left over from a renovation that took out the old servants’ staircase to enlarge the kitchen facilities.

The awkward space was just big enough for a small bookcase filled with old volumes, a worn leather club chair and a small window overlooking the gardens. When she was young Camden would sit back there and pretend she lived in this grand place, the alcove transforming into her very own room in the house. As she got older she found the privacy of the spot good for many other things.

Rounding the far end of the broad stairs, Camden smiled at the sight of it. It looked exactly the same as the last time she saw it. She placed her hands on the window ledge and peered out. She closed her eyes and inhaled the rich scent of leather and wood polish, the faint smell of roses filtering in beyond the glass.

She tilted her head at the vaguely familiar scent of pine and spice that began to settle around her, just second before she felt strong arms envelop her from behind. A warm body pressed against her back, hands on either side of hers. Camden’s heart beat quickened, her body knowing exactly who pressed against her.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here tonight, Cam.” Vaughn whispered against her neck. “It’s been a while.”

Camden shivered under the whisper of his breath against her skin, the press of his lips to her neck.

“It has. I didn’t think you would be here tonight.”

“Yet you came to our spot.” He said between peppered kisses on her neck.

“So did you.”

A low chuckle reverberated against Camden’s skin, sending tremors through her. Vaughn always had that effect on her. Camden could feel the scrape of his teeth on her shoulder and his hands curving around her hips. His palms explored her backside, trailing lower until they met the hem of her dress. Dragging her dress up over her hips, his fingers edged down between her thighs.

Camden shivered at his lightest touch, worming against him. A finger slipped between the silk of her panties and her skin. Camden took in a sharp breath as Vaughn’s exploring finger slipped onto her clit. She bucked into him at the pulse of pleasure that surged through her. Camden arched forward, her nipples pressing against the cold glass, easing the ache.

He nestled his hard ridge into her and he urged her legs to spread wider. “Can you feel how happy I am to see you? I came around the corner and saw you standing here and my cock damn near jumped out of my pants.”

Camden pushed back into him, wet heat pooling between her legs. The hand he had on her hip caressed over her ribs and up to palm her breast. Through her dress, Vaughn teased the hardened bud. The nip of his fingers was mimicked by a nip of his teeth against her ear lobe.

He moved his hand from her breast, and from behind her Camden could hear the scrape of Vaughn’s zipper. Anticipation welled within her. With his finger still at her tight bundle of nerves, Vaughn moved the scrap of silk to the side. The tip of his cock rubbed against her wet heat. Camden leaned into the window ledge, pushing her backside into the sweet rhythm of his strokes. Vaughn growled his approval, plunging into her. Camden stifled a moan as he filled her, tightening around the familiar rub.

As Vaughn began to drive into her, Camden could feel herself being consumed by the pressure of his hand at her clit, the feeling of his cock filling her repeatedly. The rasp of their breathing seemed loud in the hushed nook, and Camden held back another moan, instead settling for pushing back against his driving force. She smiled at the strangled sound that came from Vaughn. She loved driving him crazy, pushing him to lose control when they could get caught if they did.

Camden’s hips met him thrust for thrust, her walls tightening down around him. Vaughn abandoned his ministrations at her clit, and wrapped his arms around her waist, molding himself to her body, burying himself in her. Camden turned her head to the side, seeking his lips. Her imploring mouth was met with his, their tongues melding fiercely.

Camden began to shudder with pleasure, her moans swallowed by Vaughn. He buried himself deep into her spasming sex until he too was racked with shudders. Vaughn collapsed against her, hands coming to rest beside hers on the window ledge.

“Why did you stay away for so long?” He whispered into her hair, his breathing coming in jags.

Camden stilled. She hadn’t expected to see Vaughn tonight. She had only prepared herself to set things right with her parents, she wasn’t ready to face things with Vaughn just yet. Suddenly having sex with him just like old times didn’t seem like such a good idea.

“What did you hear? I’m sure there was some sort of gossip going around here.”

Vaughn straightened, zipping his pants and straightening her dress before coming to stand beside her.

“Some bullshit about you going to stay with an aunt. Or you decided to go away to do some more schooling. Or both. I didn’t buy either of those stories.”

Camden kept her face forward, not ready to look at him yet. She couldn’t trust herself when she looked at him. She never could say no to him, she gave him everything. In this very spot he gave her first kiss, she lost her virginity to him, they revealed things about themselves that no one else knew. Camden worried that Vaughn would pressure her into telling him where she went. But instead he just looked at her, waiting.

“What about you?” Camden said into the silence.

“Me?” Vaughn said, turning to look out the window, too. He blew out a breath. “Business as usual. My Dad retired last year, so the business is officially mine.”

“You’ve been running the company for years, it must be nice to finally have that work acknowledged. That would make you the youngest CEO, right?”

“Right you are.” He said with a curt nod.

“You don’t sound as happy as I thought you would.”

“I’ve been working so hard to get there, all the while thinking that was what I wanted. I guess I just figured that any emptiness I felt would be fulfilled once I took over.”

“But it’s not?”

“You know what they say- it’s lonely at the top, money can’t buy you happiness, and all that.” He said with a self-deprecating smile.

“Vaughn Kincaid, have you become a hippie while I’ve been gone?” Camden said with mock surprise.

“I may be a lot of things but I don’t think we have to worry about that. You were more the peace, love and rock and roll type out of the two of us.”

Camden smiled. There was never really a ‘two of us’ between them. When they had first met 10 years ago, Camden was 14 and Vaughn was 20, home from Yale for the summer. There was always a barrier between them. Age at first, then propriety, then status. Camden long ago gave up the idea of ever being more than Vaughn’s casual fling, his amusing doe eyed idealist. The Kincaid’s didn’t end up with girls like her.