Page 8 of Bad for Business (Pembroke Hills #2)

EIGHT

RYKER

“Davenport!” Jude Kensington yells my name from outside the men’s locker room at Pembroke Hills Country Club.

I give him a smile as I make my way toward him.

Jude is a good friend of mine. He might be a little older than me, but he’s always the life of the party, which means we get along really well. He’s a great guy, and seeing him here this afternoon settles the unease that was creeping in.

The moment I left Camille alone at the house, I felt guilty.

I know she’s just trying to help, but her words in that room hurt me.

She called me a mistake so effortlessly.

As much as I hate to admit it, I think she meant it, which crushed me because I’d never be able to call what happened between us a mistake.

It was only one night, but I liked her. For a moment in her room, I had hope that maybe I’d see that version of her again.

And then she obliterated all of my hope by saying we meant nothing.

“Hi,” I say to Jude as I come to a stop in front of him. “It’s been a while. How’ve you been?”

He runs a hand through his wet hair, making me wonder if he’s spent the morning and early afternoon golfing.

It wouldn’t surprise me. “Work’s been so fucking busy.

I don’t want to have to leave as often this summer, so I’ve just been trying to get everything taken care of in Manhattan.

What about you, Davenport? What have you been up to? You’re a little early for the season.”

I scratch the back of my neck, not wanting to tell him the real reason I’m at Pembroke.

He doesn’t need to know that my father hired a publicist to spend the summer with me and that somehow that publicist bruised my ego enough to send me over to the club sulking instead of doing what she asked me to.

Jude keeps his eyes on me with his typical easy grin plastered on his lips.

He waits patiently for me to answer. I gather my thoughts, wondering how much I want to confess.

“Got myself in a bit of trouble with the press,” I admit, knowing he’s probably already seen it, and there’s no reason to hide it.

We run in the same circle. The heir to a billion-dollar company accidentally leaking plans months before they’re meant to go public is a big deal.

“Came to the Hamptons to lie low. Plus, a lot of the board members spend the summer here. Figured it wouldn’t hurt to get on their good side. ”

Jude nods. “Happens to the best of us.” He reaches out and claps an encouraging hand over my shoulder. “I have faith in you. If anyone can charm a board, it’s you. Do you have any plans for this evening? Want to grab an early dinner with me?”

I give him a smile, some of the pent-up tension leaving my body.

Jude’s confidence in me is something I didn’t realize I needed.

He and I are very similar. Compared to our social circles, we’re the more carefree and fun type.

Even if he’s more easygoing than most, the board at his company still respects the hell out of him. That’s exactly what I want.

“I don’t have any plans at all,” I answer, Camille’s face popping into my mind. As if on cue, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out, finding her name on my screen. She insisted on exchanging numbers on the short plane ride here, and now I’m kind of wishing I’d held off.

I stare at the phone for a moment before shoving it back into my pocket and focusing on Jude.

He lifts an eyebrow. “You sure? Not a lot of people are here yet, so I thought it’d be good to catch up a little, but I get it if you can’t.”

I shake my head and point toward Pembroke Grill. “Yes, let’s eat.”

Jude smiles and gestures in the restaurant’s direction. “Sounds good.”

“I didn’t know how much you’d be around this summer,” Jude offers before taking a drink of his water.

We’ve been seated for almost an hour now, just catching up and it’s been nice.

For the first time since my father shared the news, I don’t completely dread the idea of spending the summer here.

I’m reminded how much I like the men I’ve met because of family and business.

After my mother passed, I might’ve started spending too much time with guys I went to school with who don’t really have to work a day in their lives.

They don’t take anything seriously, so I hadn’t been either.

Catching up with Jude reminds me that it’s okay to grow up a little and live up to the expectations of being lucky enough to be born into a family empire.

I sit back in my chair, letting out a long breath as I’m reminded of just how much my mom loved this place. “To be honest, I didn’t know if I’d be back much either. I didn’t realize I was avoiding coming here until I was forced to.”

“Forced?” Jude asks, his head cocking to the side slightly.

My mouth snaps shut for a moment as I figure out a way to spin my slipup that doesn’t involve admitting that my father hired what is essentially a babysitter for the summer and that I had no choice in coming here.

I give him a grin and playfully roll my eyes.

“Might be dramatic. But forced , as in this place is where my future board will be for the summer. I had to come impress them.”

He gives me a nod before taking another drink. “You’ll impress them. If you need anything, just let me know.”

“Thanks,” I tell him, placing my palms against the table. “So where’s Cal? It seems like I always see the two of you together.”

Jude smiles. Callahan Hastings and Jude Kensington are always together.

They’re best friends, and I hadn’t realized how odd it was to see one without the other until right now.

“Cal’s coming down next weekend. He’ll be excited to see you.

You can talk to him about how to get a board to love you.

He can do no wrong in his board’s eyes.”

I laugh. “That’s probably because Cal doesn’t do any wrong. He’s likable but doesn’t fuck around. He gets the job done. It’ll be nice to see everyone this summer, for sure.”

I’m about to ask Jude what his plans are for the rest of the week when movement from the corner of my eye catches my attention.

I look over Jude’s shoulder, my stomach dropping when I see a familiar face stomping in our direction.

Camille glares at me from across the room, her steps confident and purposeful as she heads right to us.

“Oh fuck,” I mutter under my breath, sitting up straighter in my chair as I realize that the angry look on her face might actually scare me a little.

“What’s wrong?” Jude asks, turning around in his chair to follow my line of sight.

Camille closes the distance to the table. She doesn’t even spare a sideways glance toward Jude. All she does is focus her wrath on me.

“You missed our meeting,” she hisses. Her chest rises and falls in angry breaths. She keeps her voice low and composed so as not to disturb the other patrons, but the tone is still harsh.

“I didn’t agree to the meeting,” I respond with a smile.

Jude glances between me and Camille with a curious look on his face.

Camille narrows her eyes. “I don’t care. We’re having our meeting.”

Jude clears his throat, his eyes wide as he takes us in. Finally, she tears her angry glare from me and looks over at him.

“I’m Camille.” She offers her hand out to him, and he quickly takes it, a smile spreading across his face as they shake hands.

“Jude Kensington.” His smile gets even wider. “How have I not seen you here at the club? Are you a new member?”

Camille gives him a tight smile. “My father’s a member. Troy Vaughn. Maybe you’ve heard of him.”

Jude’s eyebrows go to his hairline at the information she gives him. He looks over at me once before looking back at her. “So you’re a Vaughn? From Vaughn PR?”

Camille nods. “I am. And if you don’t mind, I’d like to speak to my client.”

Jude chuckles, his gaze moving to focus on me. “Client, huh? Ryker forgot to mention he was here with a publicist.”

Camille lets out a soft snort. “Yeah, well, he’s doing his best to ditch me. Unluckily for him, I’m not that easy to get rid of.”

I groan. “I’m busy, Camille. Can’t you see I’m having dinner with Jude?”

Jude’s lips part in shock. He probably wasn’t expecting the disgruntled tone I used with her. I can’t help it. She brings it out of me.

“Jude, mind if I join the two of you for dinner?” Camille sets a large binder down on the table, not even waiting for him to answer before she takes a seat.

“How’d you even get in?” I ask, curious to know the answer.

Even with her father as a member, not everyone is given the ability to add plus-ones.

It depends on your standing with the club and how long you’ve been a member.

I know my father added her as a plus-one with me for the summer, but she would have needed my help to get her checked in.

“I asked nicely,” Camille offers, taking one of the empty seats at our table.

I stare at her blankly for a few seconds before crossing my arms over my chest. “You? Asking something nicely? Not a chance.”

“I’m a professional, and I can be nice. They were very enthusiastic about getting me checked in. They kept going on and on about how nice you were. Which is weird because…is that niceness in the room with us? I couldn’t tell right now by how you’re speaking to me.”

“What can I say? You bring out the worst in me.”

Jude whistles. He sits up in his seat, running a hand over his mouth as he watches us closely with the biggest grin on his face. “This is good. I didn’t know I’d be getting so much entertainment before everyone else showed up for the summer.”

“Jude,” Camille begins, plastering on that polite smile once again. I can see right through it. I know it’s fake, but the way Jude looks at her makes it obvious he doesn’t care if her smile is real or not. He waits eagerly for her to continue her thought.

“I’m sorry to ruin your dinner plans, but my client is in dire need of a PR makeover, something his family is paying me a lot of money to do.

I’ll make sure he has plenty of time for dinners with friends this summer, but for now, do you mind if I steal him from you?

We need to come up with a plan, and while I thought he could be mature for once and do it at the time I asked him to, I was wrong.

Now, he’s left with me with no choice but to interrupt his impromptu dinner plans because I have to do my job. ”

Jude lifts his hands up. “I don’t want to get in the way of any important plans. I’ll catch you later, Ryker.” He scoots his chair back and stands up.

I watch him with my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open. He’s not even going to question her about ruining our plans? Call her rude? Nothing?

I follow suit and stand up. “You really don’t have to go. Camille and I can plan any other day.”

“No, we can’t.”

I look over my shoulder at her for a moment before looking back at Jude. “Ignore her. Let’s finish dinner.” I point to the chair he was just sitting in.

Jude smiles and shakes his head. “Sorry, Davenport. Vaughn PR is the best of the best. If Camille wants to meet, I have no doubt that your board will be eating out of your palm in no time.”

Why do I feel a little bit betrayed by him?

He winks at Camille, just shoving the knife deeper that he seems to be Team Camille instead of Team Ryker.

Camille gives him a sickeningly sweet smile. Hopefully he can tell how fake it is. “It was so nice to meet you, Jude. Thank you for having some common sense. Care to share some with your friend since he clearly doesn’t want to impress his future board members?”

I scoff. “I never said that. I just don’t think I need your help.”

Jude’s hand clamps down on my shoulder. He squeezes it. “If your family is hiring PR, you probably need the help. Best of luck to you, Davenport.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose between my thumb and pointer finger. “Thanks. I’m going to need it.”

Jude tucks his hands in his pockets and strolls away. He doesn’t seem to care at all that Camille messed up his plans for the night.

Speaking of Camille, when I pull my eyes from Jude and look at her, I find her already watching me. She pulls out a notepad from her large purse and carefully sets it down on top of the binder she’d brought in.

“Sit,” she demands.

I do as she says, knowing at this point, I have no choice but to listen to her.