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The other ladies agree—aside from Sylvie, who scowls—and I nudge Cam toward the group. To my surprise, he joins begrudgingly, in the back row, since he’s so tall. I’m in the center middle, as always.
“Say cheese,” I call. My phone’s in position on the tripod, and I have a Bluetooth remote that activates the camera.
The entire group says cheese, I push the button a bunch of times, and the camera app snaps some shots.
The ladies shuffle to the table, moving a lot more quickly than I can manage.
While the rest of the ladies find their seats, Sylvie marches over to Cam, her attitude and expression capturing an outraged Duke’s perfectly. She pokes Cam right into the middle of his chest with her walking stick. "I don't think this is the sort of book club you'd be interested in, son,” she says.
"Cam is my guest tonight,” Ruthanne calls from her seat at the table. “Why don't you come sit by me, darlin?" She pats the empty chair next to her with a wink. Cam doesn’t move a muscle.
Millie looks up from her copy of The Duke’s Treasure. "You know, my husband likes to read my romances sometimes."
Cam seems to take an interest. "He does?"
I barely contain a laugh, since I know the direction Millie's stories usually take, and she definitely delivers.
"He says they work better than Viagra."
Cam chokes on a loud inhale.
"What?" Millie tsks at him. "We’re old, not dead."
"I meant no disrespect, Mrs. Baker." He looks at me with desperation in his eyes.
I’m already standing at my spot at the head of the table, so I have to speak loudly for him to hear me. "Don’t you have to work tonight?"
He crosses the room and stands beside me before answering.
"I have some… reports I need to work on, but Ruthanne insisted that if I met her at the library, she wouldn’t ask me for help with her computer for a full month. I figured it was a good deal. Permission to ignore Ruthanne’s calls for thirty whole days." Cam glares at her playfully.
Ruthanne laughs. “You know you love wrangling my computer into submission. You came because you wanted to spend time with Tabitha.”
My cheeks flush even though I know Ruthanne is just being her shit disturbing self. "Cam, as much as I’d love to have you join the book club and as much as I love spending time with you?—”
“Oh, I’m sure you do, dear.” Millie fans herself with her paperback.
I scowl at her and turn back to Cam. “I’m not sure this is your scene.”
He frowns, and I worry I’ve offended him. Then again, why would he be interested in discussing a historical romance?
"I insist he stay and that he sits by me," Ruthanne says, patting a chair she’s clearly holding for him.
Cam sighs and obeys Ruthanne’s command.
"This is a book club." Sylvie raises the novel and waves it at him. "If you haven't read the book, you can’t participate. Those are the rules."
“That’s not quite true.” I start to sit and grunt as the stupid corset digs into my ribs. I lean on the table and take a few deep breaths.
"Tabby?" Cam rushes to my side. "Are you okay?"
"Corset. Too tight," I manage to say.
Cam takes me in, and for a second his eyes darken with concern.
I fully expect him to comment on how ridiculous it is to waste money on a wear-it-once dress, but he frowns and says, "You're not wearing blue."
I look down at my red dress. "No. Why would I be?"
