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My heart lurched. Desperately, I played it cool. “Like what?”
“Telling me you want me. Telling your friends that you want me. And trying to be the best you can to impress me. It’s… entirely too attractive.”
“Ah, well…” No playing cool anymore. I felt my face burn, and I looked away. “I mean, if it’s as simple as just buying a new dress, I’m getting a new one every day. Ruth’s going to be sick of taking me shopping, though.”
“You don’t need to do all that,” she laughed. “But it’s rather nice seeing you talk about your friends.”
“Oh, uh…”
“Feel like before you would have just described her as your coworker.”
My face prickled. “Huh. Yeah, probably.”
“Besides,” she said, folding her arms, a smile dancing over her lips, “you’re going with other people to buy clothes as if I’m not right here? I know a few things about dressing you.”
“I mean…” I felt my face burn, but I wasn’t backing down. Not when I knew how much Cameron liked it when I didn’t. “I suspect you know about a bit more than dressing me, but if you’re suggesting another date, the answer is yes.”
I saw it again—the subtle tightening in her neck, the flare in her eyes. “Are we getting a bit ahead of ourselves now?” she said, and I shrugged.
“Are we? You tell me, Miss Mercier.”
“Hm.” Her smile only widened. I turned to the doors.
“In that case, if you’re going to suggest another date at any point, the answer… well, I’ll let you try and see. Shall we get inside, or do you want to miss our reservation and stand out here all night?”
It was a bit of a funny-looking building with a rounded shape and a sort of dusty green color, but the interior was nothing short of stunning, dark wood meeting glass and plant walls, accents of playful color livening up the space. A neatly dressed hostess with a bright Brazilian accent and deep-toned skin took us across the restaurant and out to the back, where she seated us by the railing with the lights of Miami Beach cutting out glimmering shapes against the night sky and shining over the water, and Cameron looked at it all with that same wonder she’d had when I’d started showing her properties. The way her face lit up when she saw something stunning to her—my heart ached at that sight like nothing else.
I was completely out of my mind to try courting her. But I’d have been more out of my mind not to.
Compared to how tense she’d been over the phone, in her office, and even on the tour earlier today, Cameron was practically glowing right now. She talked freely, asking me how things were doing in the wake of the Queen Pearl collapse and how I’d ended up deciding to work for Leon, and when I mentioned the bitterness at them being the ones kicking me out of my apartment, Cameron frowned, looking up from the garlic-parmesan scallops she’d just started on.
“You’re getting kicked out of your apartment?”
“Oh, well… I mean, sort of. They’re just choosing not to renew my lease. De facto, anyway. Spiking my rent by almost double so I leave.”
“Is that legal?”
“Not strictly. But they know nobody can bring them to court in time to do anything about it.”
She frowned, spearing her food, holding it up on her fork and twirling it idly in the air.
“What?” I said, something churning in my chest.
“You never mentioned.”
“Well… it wasn’t exactly appropriate to bring up.”
She smiled lightly. “Aren’t you something of an expert in finding places to live?”
I scratched the back of my head, looking out over the water. “Well, you know… it’s mostly for a different price range than I’d be renting for myself. And it’s not like I can’t find a place, even though Leon is quite the pay cut from Queen Pearl, just…” I pursed my lips. “Well, call this my final judgment on whether I stay in Miami. This job, this… this case. So I’m hesitant to sign any leases right now.”
“And you have how long now?”
“Bit over a month.”
She looked down, and she was quiet for an anxious second before she relaxed, meeting my gaze again. “Well,” she said, her voice lighter, “let me know if there’s any way I can help. Obviously, we can’t let the venerable Earl of Westlake be inconvenienced.”
“Too true…” I felt my face prickle, but I smiled through it. “Thanks. I’ll be okay, though. I’m a big girl.”
