Land's End

5 | no offense

"Yes, this gentleman booked the last room. Sorry."

I turned back to see Uncle Joe watching us. I mouthed to him so that it was the moment to use his connection to get me the room.

"I need this room," I said to Riley. "And I know Uncle Joe."

"I came first," Cameron replied beside me, shooting me a frustrating grin. "The room is mine, Amberoni."

"Are you friends?" Riley asked.

We said no in a union. It was astonishing we could agree on this at least.

"Is she your bride?" Uncle Joe asked behind me. I couldn't believe he chose to be nosy about my personal life right now instead of getting the room for me.

"I'm not his bride," I said firmly.

"She's not my bride," Cameron said simultaneously, his face turning red.

I looked between Uncle Joe's and Riley's skeptical looks. They didn't believe us. Did I really look tasteless? My gaze traveled down Cameron's body, from his dirty Nikes to his worn jeans and his tee shirt that was snug on him due to sweat, and paused on his abs underneath. I wasn't a fan of the athletic type, but abs didn't hurt anybody. How long did he spend time at gyms to make those?

Pulling my gaze away from him was as painful as plucking hair. It wasn't my fault his body improved, and he looked the type that would make your head turn for a second glance on the street. He was rotten inside, anyway—it didn't matter he had a swoon-worthy façade.

Riley's loud sigh turned my head toward her. "Come to terms with each other."

The weight of my legs amplified with the realization that I'd have to convince Cameron to give me the room or I had to be a guest at Uncle Joe's house. The latter was a nightmare.

I'd lost everything today. My dignity, my faith in love, and my fiancé. Then, I lost my way. I wasn't going to lose this room to Cameron. I smiled at Riley before I grabbed Cameron's arm and dragged him to an isolated corner of the corridor to talk.

He crossed his arms over his chest as I said, "Let me have the room."

"Why would I do such a dumb thing?"

Pull the victim card. "Look at me," I said with a trembling voice. "My fiancé left me at the altar, I had to flee the scene to save myself from the embarrassment, then I ran into the last person I wanted to see, no offense, and thanks to him, I am literally in Land's End, lost and exhausted."

"You've just insulted me in half of your speech."

"I didn't insult you," I replied with a soft tone, leaning my back against the wall. "I'm merely stating facts."

Cameron put a hand on the wall beside my head and hovered over me. Suddenly we were closer than I'd wanted us to be, but his eyes were filled with amusement. "Since we are stating facts," he said casually, his eyes on me. "This frustrating woman, no offense, is not getting the room."

Pops' voice echoed in my ears, saying you are impossible, Berry. He'd said it to me when we were in the middle of an argument, and I got carried away with it. I felt like that now, but Cameron was nothing like Pops. Merciless. He was giving me tit for tat.

If I continued to go against him, he'd take the room. At this point, I had no choice but to convince him to share the room with me. The thought made me cringe. Cameron Wright wasn't going to make it easy. He was going to make me work for it.

As he turned around to leave, I caught his arm. "Cameron," I said, not hiding the desperation in my voice. "Share the room with me."

His eyes trailed down my hand around his arm, so I released it immediately. There was a knit between his eyebrows when he looked up at me as if he was contemplating how to reject my offer.