Then You Happened

  “Sierra, who’s this man that just walked into your house?”

  Here we go. I sort of felt bad for Cameron, having to be subjected to the likes of Delia. I walked over to him and hooked my arm in his. He looked at me strangely.

  “Mother, this is Cameron. He’s the escort I rented for the week. He’ll be staying in the guest house. He’s here to fulfill my needs.”

  The horrified look on her face was priceless. Rosa was holding back the laughter and Cameron’s eyes grew wide as he looked over at me.

  “Oh. I see. It’s nice to meet you, Cameron. I’m Delia, Sierra’s mother.”

  She looked at me with that stuck-up look she always had on her face. “I didn’t know you did things like that.”

  “There’s a lot of things you don’t know I do.” I winked and then took a drink of my tequila.

  Cameron was at a loss for words, but I think he got the hint when I squeezed his arm.

  “We’re just about to sit down for dinner. Would you care to join us?” I asked.

  She cleared her throat and sat down at the table. “No, thank you. I’m going to make this quick, since you’re obviously busy.” She glared at Cameron. “I have my doubts that Ava is going to make it into the final round for Miss Teenage California. She isn’t focusing and I think it’s because of a boy.”

  I reached my hand across the table and touched her arm. “Oh my God, a boy! No way!”

  “This is no time for jokes, Sierra. I’m serious. I want you to have a talk with her. Tell her that boys are no good and they just will get sick of you and throw you away, like Ryan did to you. You have experience. Share it will her.”

  Ouch. That really stung. Cameron looked at me and then looked down. I picked up my glass of tequila and finished it off. Rosa turned her head and looked at me with sadness in her eyes. She walked over and grabbed my glass from the table and refilled it. I was at a loss for words because what my mother said stabbed me so deep in the heart that I felt it ache all over again.

  “I’ll talk to her,” I said as I took another drink.

  “Thank you. I knew I could count on you. Now, I must go. I’ll speak to you later darling. Ta ta, Rosa. It was nice meeting you, Cameron, I think.”

  She left and Rosa set our plates of food on the table. There was complete silence in the kitchen. I couldn’t even bring myself to look at him. I was humiliated. Suddenly, Rosa spoke up.

  “Go on; eat your pasta. I’m going to go home now. I’ll see you both in the morning. Sierra, don’t give what that woman said a second thought. Brush it off, girl. You know how she is.”

  I forced a small smile as Rosa left. “Now you know why I drink,” I said as I held up my glass.

  “Water?” Cameron asked in confusion.

  I handed him the glass and he sniffed it. “Oh, that’s not water.”

  “I’ve had to live with that shit all my life.”

  I realized what I’d just said and stopped. I wasn’t about to revisit my past with Delia and I certainly wasn’t going to share it with Cameron.

  “I’m sorry, Sierra,” he said.

  “You have no reason to be sorry and I don’t want to talk about it anymore. You better eat your dinner before it gets cold. Do you drink alcohol?”

  “Yeah.” He laughed.

  “Let me guess. You’re a beer kind of guy.”

  “A majority of the time, yes. But I do like my hard liquor too.”

  “Like?”

  “Vodka.” He smiled.

  “Grey Goose?”

  “Yep. Grey Goose is great.”

  I got up from the table and walked over to the cabinet next to the sink. I took out a bottle of Grey Goose and a small glass. I held both up as I walked back over to the table. He flashed me his bright smile and I swear to God I started dripping, and not from my armpits. I poured some vodka in the glass and handed it to him.

  “Cheers.” I smiled as held up my glass and threw back the tequila.

  We started eating the dinner Rosa made for us. Cameron sat across from me and he seemed to really enjoy Rosa’s pasta.

  “This is so good. I haven’t had a home-cooked meal in a very long time.”

  “You’ll get one every night now. Rosa is a superior cook.”

  He looked across the table at me and smiled. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure,” I said as I put the fork down and wiped my mouth.

  “Why did you tell your mom that you hired me as an escort?”

  I laughed as I took a sip of my tequila. “Delia and I have a different kind of relationship. I don’t like to tell her too much about my life because she likes to put me down.”

  “Why would she do that?”

  “Because she’s Delia and she couldn’t mold me into the perfect little princess she wanted me to be. It’s exactly what she’s doing with Ava right now. When my parents got divorced, I lived with my father for two weeks out of the month. He threw me into the corporate world and taught me everything I needed to know. I guess you could say that he molded me into what he wanted me to be and my mother resented him for that. So, when Delia asks me things that are none of her business, I tell her things to shock her.”

  “I think you really did shock her with the escort introduction.” He chuckled. “The look on her face was kind of funny.”

  “She’ll figure it out soon enough why you’re really here.”

  ****

  Cameron

  Dinner was great and, when we finished eating, I asked Sierra if she wanted to go sit on the patio.

  “I thought maybe since I’m going to be living here for a while and working on your house all day, maybe we should know a little bit about each other.”

  “Okay,” she said as she grabbed the bottle of tequila, vodka and both our glasses. “Let’s go.”

  I followed her outside and we sat down in the oversized, cushy lounge chairs. “The view is really beautiful, Sierra. I can see why you bought this place.”

  “Sunset is my favorite time of the day. I like to come out here and watch it set over the hills. So, Mr. Cole, tell me about you. You already know about my crazy mother.”

  I laughed as I took a drink from my glass. “Well, you know I’m from North Carolina. My dad started the company when he was twenty years old with a hundred dollars in his pocket and a hammer. Now that he’s retired, he and my mom opened up a small fruit market down the road from the house. Did I mention that I have five brothers and sisters?”

  Sierra nearly choked as she sipped the tequila from the cup. “What?! There are six of you?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh because she was so cute in the way she said that. “Yep. There’s Austin who’s eighteen, Jolene, who’s twenty, Mark, who’s twenty-two, Kelly who’s twenty-four, Jaden who’s twenty-six, and then me, who will turn the big three-O in a couple of weeks.”

  “Really? When’s your birthday?” she asked.

  “July eighteenth” I replied.

  She looked at me and cocked her head. “My birthday is July eighteenth and I’ll be the dreaded three-O too.”

  “No way!” I said.

  “Yes way!” She laughed. “Wow. Look at that; we have something in common.”

  “We sure do.” I smiled.

  I couldn’t help but stare at her. Shit. The more we talked, the more I liked her. I didn’t want any of this. I couldn’t fall for her because I wasn’t staying in Los Angeles. From what I gathered by the bits that Delia and Kirsty said, her heart was broken pretty badly and I would never want to hurt her. Los Angeles wasn’t my home and, to be honest, I didn’t know if it ever could be.

  “Are any of your brothers in the building business?” she asked.

  “Nah. Austin works for my parents while he goes to school. Mark is a bartender at a bar in town, and Jaden just passed his bar exam. Jolene is still in college. She’s studying architectural history and Kelly is a hairdresser who’s happily married with a baby.”

  “I take it you’re all really close?”
br />   “Yeah. We’re a very close family.” I smiled.

  “And you like to build things, right?” she asked.

  “I do. It all started with Legos when I was a kid.”

  She laughed and smiled.

  “I don’t mean to get too personal, but do you have a girlfriend back home?”

  “Nope. No girlfriend.” I wondered why she was asking. Was she curious for a reason? I decided to throw her question back at her.

  “The guy from your office; is he your boyfriend?”

  She poured some tequila in her glass and sipped it before answering my question. She wouldn’t look at me when she finally decided to answer it.

  “No. He’s not my boyfriend. He’s just a friend. Listen; it’s getting pretty late and I have to be up early for work, so I’m going to head up to bed.”

  “Oh, shit. I forgot to tell you. Is there another room you can sleep in? I still have all the plastic covering everything. Tomorrow, Paolo and I are going to get the wall painted and then, as soon as it dries, I can put up the shelves. Then you’ll be able to display all your stylish shoes.” I smiled.

  “Sure. I can stay in the guest room.” She smiled back as she got up. “Sleep well in your new bed, Mr. Cole. I’ll see you in the morning,” she said as she walked into the house.

  I would sleep well if she was in my bed, lying next to me. The thoughts I didn’t want to have kept filling my head. How her lips would taste when I pressed mine against them. How soft her skin would be when mine was touching hers. How soft her hair would be while I ran my fingers through it. How beautiful and soft her breasts were and how good it would feel to be inside her. How good would it feel to make love to her all night long and wake up with her body wrapped around mine.

  Chapter 13

  Sierra

  “Holy shit!” I yelled as I rolled over and curled up into a ball. Cramps. Fucking holy hell of all cramps. I picked up my phone from the nightstand and called Rosa. She should be here by now. She was always here at six a.m.

  “Why are you calling me from your phone, senorita?”

  “Pills, Rosa. I need cramp pills. I can’t move.”

  “I’ll be right up.”

  These damn cramps had been getting worse by the month. Every time Kirsty made me a doctor’s appointment, I canceled. Why? Because they started to feel better and then I was over it. But today; today was the worst yet. I sent Kirsty a text message.

  “Call Dr. Hollis and get me in today. I’m dying.”

  “You’re not dying and if you would have kept your previous doctor appointments, you wouldn’t be in so much pain.”

  “I swear I’m firing you.”

  “See you soon,” she replied.

  Rosa walked in the room and handed me two ibuprofen pills and a glass of water. I smelled it first just to make sure she wasn’t trying to be funny. I popped the pills in my mouth, washed them down with water, and then curled back up in a ball.

  “Thanks, Rosa,” I said as I put the pillow over my head.

  “You get up now and get ready for work. I’ll make you a bagel.”

  I pulled my hand out from under the covers and motioned at her to go away. She didn’t shut the door and, a few moments later, I heard footsteps in the room.

  “Rosa, I told you to go away.”

  “Umm. Good morning,” Cameron said.

  Shit.

  “Are you not going in to work again?” he asked.

  “I’m going.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “No, I’m not okay. What’s with the thousand questions?” I snapped as I threw the pillow across the room and looked at him in my morning mess. “I have cramps. Really, really bad cramps. Cramps so debilitating that I can’t move.”

  “Oh. Sorry about that. Do you have any chamomile tea?”

  I looked at him in irritation. “I don’t think so. Who the hell drinks chamomile tea?”

  “My sisters used to get horrible cramps and they would drink a cup of tea and they said it really helped.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, really.” he smiled.

  I picked up my phone and dialed Kirsty.

  “I’m almost there,” she answered.

  “I need you to stop and get me chamomile tea.”

  “For what?”

  “Don’t question. Just pick some up, please, and hurry!”

  “Okay. Okay. I’ll be there soon.” Click.

  I pulled the covers over my head. “Okay, you can go now. I don’t need you seeing me like this.”

  Next thing I knew, he pulled the covers down and, when I looked at him, he had a wide smile across his face.

  “I don’t mind seeing you like this. I think you’re kind of cute.” He winked and then got up from the bed.

  I watched him walk out of the room and I lay there as my panties became moist. Shit. The ibuprofen started to take the edge off the pain, so I crawled out of bed. I walked down the hall to my bedroom. I stepped inside my closet and screamed when I saw Cameron standing there.

  “Jesus Christ, you scared me,” I squawked.

  “You knew I was finishing your closet today.”

  “I didn’t expect you to be creeping out in here.”

  “Creeping out? What the hell does that mean?”

  “Listen, I have to get my clothes. Can you please leave until I shower and get dressed?”

  “Yes, boss,” he said with an attitude as he walked away.

  I rolled my eyes and stepped into the shower. As the hot water streamed down my body, I thought about Cameron and how sweet he was when he was telling me about the tea. But then his attitude when he scared the shit out of me. Like it was my fault. Fuck him. I was in no mood. I got out of the shower and got dressed. I threw some mousse in my hair and let it air dry into waves while I applied my makeup. After putting on my Chanel suit and jewelry, I walked downstairs, only to find James, Cameron, and Kirsty sitting at the table, eating breakfast.

  “I made your tea,” Rosa said as she handed me the cup.

  “Good morning, Sierra,” James said.

  “Morning.”

  I took my cup and sat down at the table next to James. Kirsty pulled out her iPad and began to rattle off the events of the day.

  “You have back-to-back meetings all day. How the hell am I going to squeeze in a doctor’s appointment?” she said as she looked up from her iPad.

  “I don’t know. Just do it.”

  “Are you feeling better?” James asked.

  “Yeah, I am. Thanks to Cameron for suggesting this tea.”

  He glanced up from his plate and gave me a small smile. He finished the last of his eggs, took his plate to the sink, and walked upstairs without saying a word.

  “What did you do to him?” Kirsty said through gritted teeth.

  “I didn’t do anything to him!”

  “The senorita yelled at him,” Rosa said.

  “I did not.”

  “You did. I heard you. I was coming up the stairs and I heard you yell at him.”

  James looked at me and grabbed my hand. “Go apologize, Sierra.”

  I sighed and left the kitchen. I went to my room and pushed the door open. “Hey, Cameron.”

  “Yeah,” he said without even turning around.

  I walked over to where he was standing by the wall. “I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to give you an attitude. I’m on edge, you know, with the cramps and hormones out of whack. I’m a terrible PMS’er.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I get it.”

  I turned around, and as I started to walk out of the room, I heard him say, “Have a good day, Sierra.”

  “You too,” I replied.

  ****

  “How long have you been having cramps like that?” Dr. Hollis asked as I lay on the table against the scratchy paper wrap with my feet in the stirrups.

  “For a couple of years, but they seem to be getting worse.”

  “Have you ever been on the pill?” he asked as his fac
e stared up my vagina.

  “No.”

  “What do you use for contraception?”

  “The sponge and condoms.”

  He pulled the speculum out of me and I let out a deep breath. I was all for having something up there, but not that thing. This was one doctor’s appointment I always tried to avoid. He removed his rubber gloves and washed his hands.

  “I’m going to write you a prescription for birth control pills. They’ll help the cramps. But if you continue to have them this bad while on the pill, you are to make another appointment. There could be something else going on.”

  “Like what?”

  “You could have some endometriosis, ovarian cysts. The list could go on and on. But, let’s try this first. I know how busy you are and you’re not exactly good about coming in for regular visits.” He smiled as he handed me the script.

  “Thank you, Dr. Hollis. I’ll give these a try and if things don’t get better, I’ll come back.”

  “Sounds good. Take care, Sierra.”

  He left the room and I got dressed. James was waiting for me out in the waiting room. Yeah, I made my driver come into the office with me.

  “Well, what did he say?” James asked as we walked out of the office.

  “He put me on the pill. He said it should help. Now, how fast can you get me to the office? Kirsty has been blowing up my phone. I have a meeting in fifteen minutes.”

  “I’ll do my best, but traffic sucks this time of the day,” he said.

  ****

  Cameron

  Paolo and I stood back and looked at the wall. We had just put the last coat of paint on it and I was getting hungry.

  “As soon as it dries, I’ll put up the shelves.”

  “Do you need me to help you?” Paolo asked.

  “Nah. I need you to get to the Ross job and help Malcolm put down the tile on her bathroom floor. I can put up the shelves myself. But first, let’s go grab some lunch. I’m starving.”

  We walked downstairs and Rosa was in the kitchen.

  “Where are you two going?” she asked.

  “We’ll be back. We’re going to grab some lunch.”

  “Oh no,” she said. “I’ll make you lunch right now.”