Unspoken Words (Unspoken #1) (10 page)

“I didn’t send anything to the girls.” Camryn and the waitress are talking, when the waitress points in the direction of the bar. Camryn looks in the direction where she indicated, and a guy holds up a drink and smiles at her.

I strain to see who the guy is, to see if I recognize him. He’s standing with a group of guys. None who look familiar. There is a buzzing in my brain and the sharp pain ends in my chest. I’m restless now as an uneasy feeling works its way into the pit of my stomach. I’m overwhelmed with the sudden feeling of jealousy. She’s my girl.

“Who the fuck is that?”

“I have no idea, but I’m about to find out in a second.” Lincoln walks away and takes the back stairs leading to the main floor. I watch as Lincoln approaches the girls at the table. Morgan and Lincoln are talking but the other girls are just standing there. Camryn waves the guy over to their table, which immediately pisses me off. The guy leans in and kisses Camryn on the cheek.

“Dude, do you know him?” Looking over my shoulder, Christian watches the same scene I am.

“I have no idea who he is. Do you?” As I watch the guy pull Camryn into a hug, my body tenses. Lincoln sticks his hand out and the guy shakes his hand. The guy talks to Lincoln and Morgan, and Camryn points up to the VIP area. The guy waves his friends over, now there are five of them standing there at the table with them. Another guy pulls her in for a hug. He must have said something to her because she leans back to look at him and laughs. Camryn and Morgan begin to walk away, and the rest of the group follows. “What the hell is she doing bringing them all up here? Has she lost her mind?”

Christian pats me on the shoulder. “Calm down, man. Obviously she knows them. Wait and see what she says.” The words no sooner leave Christian’s mouth, when the door to our private room opens and everyone comes in.

Lincoln walks over to where we are standing and pulls us aside. “She knows them. She saw them perform last year in California and wrote a piece on them. Believe it or not, she actually sat next to the lead singer and the guitarist on the plane yesterday.”

“I saw the way he watched Camryn down there. That guy was way too into her for my liking.” My jaw clenches, and my eyes narrow toward the guy standing on the other side of the room. The one who seemed to be a little too interested in Camryn.

Camryn walks over to us and leans into my side. I raise my brow at her.

“I see that look in your eye. Shall I ask?” She stands on her tiptoes to get closer to my ear. “Are you being protective, or are you jealous?” she asks in a seductive purr.

I scoff at her accusation. Knowing all the damn while that she hit the nail on the head.

“Don’t act like this, Jamie. I know them, they’re nice guys.”

“Nice guys, huh?”
Oh shit.
She’s right. I’m jealous. I can’t believe I am jealous of some tool I have never met.

“Stop it. We met last year when I wrote a review about them for my column. I sat next to Chad and Buffer on the plane yesterday. I had no idea they were going to be here tonight. Chad gave me his business card, but I never gave him my number.”
That little bit of information makes me smile.

Nodding my head, but I don’t take my eyes off of the guys. “What’s the name of their band?” Christian walks over to join our conversation, when Cami says their name, Troubled Pasts, Christian’s eyebrows shoot to his hairline.

“They’re Troubled Pasts?” Christian asks with a look of recognition on his face. I am completely lost on what is going on here. Looking at Christian, “Do you know them?”

Cami eyes the two of us as if we have three heads. Christian pulls me closer to him by putting his arm around my shoulder, “They, my friend, are our new client. We have a meeting with them at the studio on Tuesday morning at ten o’clock.”

I turn to face him. “You have got to be shitting me,” I mutter with complete surprise on my face.

“Nope,” Christian replies with a shit-eating smirk on this face.

Camryn calls Chad over. With his cocky swagger, he approaches us.

“Guys, this is Chad. He is the singer in the band, Troubled Pasts.” Cami introduces.

Christian shakes his hand, then I do the same. Christian speaks up first, “I’m Christian Townsend, Camryn’s brother, and this is my best friend and business partner, Jamieson Banks. We own Townsend and Banks, LLC. We have a meeting set up with your band on Tuesday morning. It’s nice to meet you . . . small world. I had no idea you knew my sister, Camryn.”

“It’s nice to meet you too. I had no idea that Camryn knew you. Our managers set this meeting up for us. I only met Camryn last year when she did a piece on us for
Key Notes.
” Chad calls the rest of the guys over and introduces them. We all shake hands, Camryn walks away and heads over to be with the girls. Lincoln stands with them, keeping a watchful eye on everyone. Lincoln is one who takes everything in. I thought I was tough on welcoming newcomers into our group, but Lincoln is who you need to get past in order to be in our close circle. Lincoln gives me a look, as if I got this covered.
Mingle with your clients. I’ll keep an eye on the girls.

CAMRYN

I
GRAB MY
cell off the nightstand to look at my calendar for the next three months, I’m booked solid. This was the only week that Shelby didn’t have events scheduled, so I took advantage of spending quality time with my family and friends. I didn’t realize just how much I needed this down time to relax and enjoy myself.

This week has blown by in the blink of an eye. I spent Monday at the spa with my mom and every night my mom has shown me a new dish to prepare for dinner. She thinks I don’t cook enough being that I live alone, so she is showing me quick meals that I can make. Our house has been a revolving door this week with different guests stopping by to visit or stay for dinner.

Karsen and the girls were able to come to dinner on Thursday, which was Karsen’s only day off from the hospital.

My cell vibrates in my hand. I look down and see a text from Morgan.

Morgan: Hey. What time are you heading to Aces tonight?

Me: Not sure yet, I’ll definitely get there before Jamie starts. Will Karsen be there? I know she works a lot of hours at the hospital.

Morgan: Being an ER nurse will do that. Not sure if she is or not. I haven’t talked to her. Are you excited to finally see Jamie perform?

Me: It’s been ages since I’ve seen him perform, so YES, I am excited.

Morgan: Aces should be packed. Side Effects pulls in a decent crowd.

Me: I’m looking forward to it. C-ya tonight.

Morgan: C-ya.

There is something about seeing him on stage, commanding the audience’s attention that I find undeniably hot. The way he interacts with everyone is what makes his performances memorable.

Tomorrow night I have an event in Boston, so Christian and Jamie are going with me. Christian was a little reluctant at first, claiming he didn’t want to go. But I played the guilt card since I will be traveling a lot while I am home, and won’t get to see him as much as I would like. So after persuasion, they both agreed to make the four-hour ride with me.

I shower and slip on a pair of skinny jeans, my Boyce Avenue t-shirt and a pair of chucks when Morgan texts me that she’s reserved us a table. Morgan said that she isn’t sure if Lindsey and Karsen are coming. I am hoping tonight is low key since we have an early morning. I send a quick reply to Morgan that I’ll meet her there at nine o’clock. I apply a minimal amount of makeup and blow dry my hair into loose curls, then pull it back into a ponytail.

My phone rings and I hurry out of the bathroom. Christian’s name flashes across the screen and I slide my finger to answer. “Hey, brother, what’s up?”

All I hear is Christian laughing. “Hey . . . Cami . . .”

“It’s me. I said hello, what’s up?”

He must have stepped away from the crowd, because the line quiets, “What time do you plan on getting to Aces?”

Checking the clock on the nightstand I see it’s only eight o’clock. “I’m finishing getting ready, then I’m meeting Morgan there at nine. Why, are you there already?”

“Yeah, I got here a little while ago. Jamie needed help setting shit up. Parker had something to do and won’t get here till right before they go on. I just wanted to check to see if you needed a ride.”

I smile knowing that my brother always worries about me. “Thanks, but I’m good. I have dad’s Range Rover. We’re going to need it to head to Boston tomorrow, so I figured I would save us a trip back home in the morning to grab it. I’m just gonna park it near your place and catch a cab over to Aces.”

“Okay, call me when you are on your way and I will meet you outside.”

“Sounds like a plan. See ya in a little bit.” Once I hang up with Christian, I gather what I need for the weekend and throw it in my small suitcase.

Christian is waiting outside of Aces as he promised when my cab pulls up. I pay the driver, and walk over to meet him along the wall. Christian nods his head in the direction of the bar, “It’s pretty packed in there, good thing Morgan saved a table for us.”

The music booms outside before Christian even opens the door. There is a line outside half way down the block of people waiting to get in. Once Christian opens the door, it is mad chaos before my eyes. He was right, the place is packed. Most of the high top tables are now placed along the outskirts of the room allowing more room in front of the stage.

Christian leads me toward the table where Lincoln is talking with Morgan. When Morgan notices me by Christian’s side, she walks over and hugs me. “Tonight should be a blast, Jamie has a great set lined up,” she yells over the loud music.

Knowing that we can’t have a conversation with how loud it is, I just nod my head acknowledging that I heard what she said. I look around the room to see if I recognize anyone when I spot Jamie on stage. He’s talking to the band members. Lincoln walks away and heads toward the bar along the back wall. I notice that he sends a waitress in our direction to take our order. I’m keeping it pretty simple tonight and order a vodka and cranberry.

When the waitress returns with our drinks, I pull out one of the stools to sit next to Morgan. Christian is working on the soundboard and I see Jamie walking over in my direction. He carries himself with confidence. He is built like a sex god. He has muscles in places that I didn’t know muscles existed.

He looks absolutely gorgeous tonight in his black, fitted, long sleeve shirt and jeans. His shirt sleeves are pulled up showing off his arms of colorful tattoos. He has his Boston Red Sox
hat turned backwards, which I love. I love Jamie’s hair whether it’s under a hat or not.

I can stare at Jamie for hours and never get tired of looking at him. I have always thought he was attractive, but recently I have come to the realization that he is downright sexy. He is tall, rawboned, with a ruggedly handsome face. I would love to know what it feels like to have the weight of his body pressed against mine. To have his lips on mine. I squirm in my seat, when I realize I’m getting turned on just sitting here thinking about all the things I want him to do to me. As Jamie walks toward me, we never breaks eye contact. His hazel eyes are mesmerizing. Hazel like mine, flecked and ringed with gold. Sometimes it’s like Jamie and I can have an entire conversation with just our eyes. I’m just really glad he can’t read my mind right this minute.