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“London,” she said, holding my gaze, dropping her voice to something that made me feel warmer inside. She looked at me like it was just the two of us here on the roof, here in our showstopping dresses—mine in scarlet and hers in that baby blue that was the color I saw in my dreams now—and I wanted to lose myself in that little world just for the two of us. “You took your sweet time coming back, didn’t you? Just leaving me to fend for myself in a crowd like this one…”
“Somehow I think you can manage it okay, dearest.”
“Without you? Not for a minute, darling.” And with some force, some effort, she took her gaze away from mine, looking over to Ruth, smiling warmly her way. “And here’s the tardy one who kept London waiting in a garage. Give me a minute to decide whether or not I still like you.”
“Nice to see you, again, too, Cameron,” Ruth said. “Glad to know you two are going to tag-team pick on me again even at this kind of event.”
“Don’t worry about Ruth,” I murmured closer to Cameron’s ear. “She’s only looking at Julio tonight.”
“Julio?” Cameron raised her eyebrows, matching my whisper. “Well, it can only be better than the last man.”
Ruth put her hands on her hips. “Are you gossiping about me when I’m standing two feet away?”
“Of course,” I said, turning back to her. “Go grab a drink, okay? I want some time with Cameron, I missed her.”
“Missed her—you were waiting for ten minutes.”
“Ten long minutes. Go, go.” I ushered her away, and she sighed, going with her hands up. Cameron made a face next to me.
“You’re sending Julio to the bar too?”
“Ah, what the hell. First time in a while Ruth’s had a decent man catch her attention.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “Ah… you’re a good friend. I’m sure Julio won’t mind a sugar mommy… didn’t she just get a big promotion at that new job?”
“Flying up the ladder. Hey, she deserves it. She’s clever, attentive to detail, good at winning people over, and damn smart, so long as there’s not a man who could bench-press her in the room.”
She stepped up closer to my side, snaking an arm around my waist, and she pulled me into her. “I’m feeling particularly possessive tonight,” she whispered. “So if it gets me more time with you…”
I bit my lip a little, a shiver running down my spine. “Not that I’m complaining,” I said, “but I’m pretty sure you’re particularly possessive every night.”
“You’re being difficult on purpose.”
“Oh, you noticed?”
She laughed, kissing my cheek. “This is your collection, darling. The collection to represent all of the things you are for me. And if I’m being honest—to represent all the things that we’ve done together. You know what I’m talking about.”
“Ah.” I felt a blush prickle over my cheeks, even when I tried to fight it back. I ducked my head. “I guess… when you put it that way, it’s a little… exhibitionistic?”
She dropped her voice even lower, the quietest whisper in my ear. “It’s all I’ve been thinking all day. And considering that I haven’t gotten my hands on you in a while with all the work this launch has been…”
She hadn’t gotten her hands on me in a while in that it had been three days since we’d had sex, but I’d found Cameron’s libido spiked when she was in the zone with the job, putting out work in the office every minute. More than once my attempts to show up at her office with coffee and lunch just to make sure she was taking care of herself ended with me under the desk, or… well, or me on top of the desk.
Not that I was complaining. Maybe I was the same way, because I also hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her all day. Of course—I wasn’t sure I’d stopped thinking about her since I met her.
“Sure this place isn’t going to be a bit busy a bit late?”
She laughed low in my ear, kissing my cheek again—a bit lower this time, more along my jaw. Just risqué enough to make my pulse pound without getting too much attention. “If it comes down to it, I’ll carry them out of the suite personally. I have plans for you.”
Well, who would I be to get in the way of plans?
I tried to engage normally with the event, go from place to place with Cameron smiling at everyone and nodding along, engaging with a hundred important people whose names I knew to varying degrees—when it came to this part of the work, I was just the pretty girl on her arm, but hell, if it was Cameron, I didn’t mind that for a second. But despite my best efforts, my mind kept roaming back to her promises, even when we were standing by the railing with important business partners talking over serious matters with drinks. My eyes kept flicking back to Cameron, and I think she was the only one who noticed. And I think she liked what she noticed.
Turned out she wasn’t the only one who noticed, though—I was back at the bar getting another drink when I heard a glass set down next to me, and I looked over at where María slid in next to me, looking stunning in a simple, sleek black dress with a gold statement necklace. Her complexion was so full lately—that life back in her eyes, the light that had slowly dulled ever since the accounting fraud scandal that felt like a lifetime ago now.
“You and that girl make me sick,” she said, her voice too light and cheerful for the comment.
“Hm. Strikes me as slightly harsh, especially from my boss.”
