The Bacelor: Make A Sex Deal

When I glanced at her, her smile was so large that it was cartoonish. Now, I knew why she’d wanted me to come here so badly-she was obsessed with getting Macon and me together.

“Macon and his brothers just got back from Hawaii, where they finalized the land for their newest hotel.” Hannah nodded toward the two others who had just joined the table.

Cooper, the middle child, had almost a surfer look with golden-brown hair and dark blue eyes, and Brady, the oldest, looked like he had come straight from a Milan runway with jet-black hair and these piercing icy-blue eyes.

“Oh, yeah?” I said, turning my head to meet Macon’s emerald gaze. “That had to be an amazing and exhilarating trip. I’m impressed you made it here tonight. Usually, I’m dead for a week after I travel.”

“Mind over matter,” he replied. “Besides, there was a rumor that you were coming tonight, and I wanted to see if it was true.” His stare dropped to my chest and began to lower.

That was when I looked at Hannah.

This was all becoming too much.

And I pointed at myself and said to her, “A rumor that I was coming? Isn’t it funny how rumors get started?”

“If I had to carry you over here, you were coming,” Hannah said.

“That’s one hell of a best friend, always having your back,” Macon added, gaining my attention.

The guilt suddenly hit.

The thought of what had gone down tonight at the restaurant.

The feelings that I had of Camden that racked my chest as I sat here and looked at his best friend, Macon, who stirred nothing in me but a stale wind.

I lifted my wineglass and guzzled down several gulps.

“Some things that Oaklyn is far too humble to tell you are,” Hannah said, leaning closer to me so she could get a better view of Macon as I swallowed, “she’s one of the top marketing brand managers for her company, she just won President’s Club, she’s on a fast track of buying her own condo in WeHo, and even though she’d never admit it, she’s the most incredible cook.”

I loved her more than life itself.

In any other circumstance, I would appreciate what she was doing.

But not now, not with him.

Even if Camden was okay with it-and I assumed he was based on the conversation at the bar-I wasn’t.

Nothing about this felt right.

“And I like to eat.” Macon eyed me as the words left his mouth. “As for the rest, I’m extremely impressed, especially considering you’re what, twenty-four?”

“Twenty-five,” I told him.

“What type of marketing?”

“Digital mostly,” I replied, “but I’ll get whatever medium my client needs or what I think will best suit them. Unlike my competitors, it’s about what’s best for the client, not me.”

“Always putting everyone else first,” Hannah said. “It’s no surprise she does so well; she’s a pleaser at heart. The girl who will bend over backward and run the extra mile to make everyone happy.”

“I don’t know about that-”

“You’re the angel of our duo-I tell you that all the time.”

My stare slowly left her and moved to Macon.

“You’re the angel … is that right?” He paused. “Just how angelic are you?”

I didn’t know how to react.

Or what to say.

So, I picked up my wine and shrugged.

I was sure if any other woman were sitting in this seat, she would have an answer, and it would sound something like, Take me home, and I’ll show you. There was no question that Macon had that kind of charm.

It just didn’t work on me.

I was too Camden-obsessed.

“We’re talking the highest level,” Hannah replied for me.

I casually and inconspicuously kicked her under the table, and she squeezed my hip in response. But it wasn’t a normal pinch. It was the kind where she was urging me to get my flirt on.

“Mmm,” Macon moaned, the sound so low that it vibrated through me, “I like that.” He ran his palm over one side of his beard and then the other, staring me down the entire time, like he was trying to decide what part of me he was going to devour first. “Maybe I need to ask you on a date and see for myself.”

Oh God.

Macon glanced around the room, his stare eventually returning to me when he voiced, “What do you say, Oaklyn? Should we grab a drink sometime?”

His voice was suddenly so loud that it made my ears ring.

So was his question.

“I-”

My voice cut off when I felt a change in the air, like the pressure in the room was increasing, causing a sensation to grow over my body.

One that hadn’t come from Hannah or Macon gazing at me.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

They didn’t have that kind of strength.

Only one person could affect me this way.

I looked up, and that was when I saw Camden, frozen several feet away from our section of tables, glaring at the three of us, like we were doing something wrong. That look only stayed on his face for a few seconds. It didn’t soften or lighten. It transformed into an expression I couldn’t understand.

But the feeling inside me was just as intense.

Since I knew Hannah and Macon were looking at me, I nodded toward Camden and said, “Look, Camden’s here.”

“Finally,” Hannah said as Camden joined our table. “I thought you were never going to come.”

He looked at me as he said, “I had something I needed to do first.”

Something?

Or someone?

I didn’t know what that meant or how I was supposed to read this situation.

I just knew that I didn’t like this feeling.

Macon stood and man-hugged Camden, and once they released, Camden leaned across the table and kissed my cheek, whispering, “Looks like you’re enjoying yourself,” before he moved on to his sister.

For someone who had this uncanny ability to read me, he’d sure done a shitty job.

The moment Camden took a seat, Macon faced me again and said, “So, what do you think, Oaklyn? Is it a date?”

Without giving me a chance to respond, Hannah said, “I told you I was going to set them up,” to her brother. “And see? I totally worked my magic.”

“You sure did,” Camden replied to her.