17. Felicity
17
FELICITY
I snuck back into my apartment the next morning even though I knew Nina was probably wide awake and waiting for me. It was Sunday, which meant homemade brunch and gossip.
“Look who’s doing her walk of shame,” her voice rang out as I shut the door behind me.
I laughed. “I’m not ashamed of a thing that happened last night.”
“I’m in the kitchen. I’ve been dying of hunger while you finished your booty call.”
I joined her, hiding a yawn. “Good morning, friend.”
We hugged and Nina pulled back to study me. “Looks like someone had a good time last night. Did you sleep at all?”
I shook my head. “Barely. The man has stamina, and I have needs.”
“Well then, sit and I’ll cook for you this time.” She gestured to the stool at the bar. “Waffles, since our bread was moldy.”
I grimaced. “Sorry, I guess I fell behind on grocery shopping.”
“I get it,” she said as she found the waffle iron in the cabinet. “You’re doing double duty as social media badass and contract girlfriend.”
I frowned, uncertain about the “contract” part of the equation. When Cameron and I had mapped out the boundaries of our relationship, sex definitely wasn’t on the table. Not that I was complaining—I had consented to everything we had done together—but I wasn’t sure where that left us now. Was the contract still in effect, with some addenda? Or were we starting something new?
“What?” Nina asked as she opened the refrigerator door.
The line from the front desk rang, so I didn’t have to talk about my mixed-up feelings about Cameron. At least not at the moment, since she had a way of getting to the heart of things whether I wanted to discuss them or not.
“Are you expecting someone?” I asked as I walked to the intercom.
She shook her head and watched me answer it.
“Hey there,” Carl said. “A guy down here has a flower delivery for one of you.”
“Oh! Um…send them up, please.” My heartbeat sped up a little. Was Cameron actually wooing me after our amazing evening? I tried to envision what sort of bouquet a billionaire might send to thank someone for a night of great sex. Dozens of roses? Some sort of exotic jungle flower?
The bouquet that showed up was much more modest, just a simple cluster of pink and yellow blooms. And the card was made out to Nina.
“They’re for you,” I said, walking the arrangement over to her as I tried to figure out what she’d been hiding from me. Or more specifically whom .
I watched her blush as she read the card.
“Okay, spill it. Who are they from?” I asked.
She turned her back to me to search for a vase. “It’s nothing.”
“ Neen ,” I scolded. “Do you really think you’re going to get away with not answering?”
She huffed at me as she peeled the cellophane off the bouquet. “Fine, they’re from Tyler.”
“Hold on,” I frowned at her. “Are you guys hanging out? I thought the way he acted that night at Frankie’s Tavern scared you.”
“It did,” she agreed.
“…And?” I pressed when she didn’t say anything more.
“And I still think he’s a good guy, even if he screws up sometimes. We still text. I helped him with some lyrics the other night, and I guess these flowers are a thank-you.”
I cornered her in our small kitchen. “So you’re talking to him on a regular basis?”
She shrugged.
“ Why are you being so secretive? Just tell me already!”
Nina sputtered at me. “We’ve been video chatting, nearly every night, okay? It’s actually really fun. He’s tapping into my knowledge of classic lit, and we’re incorporating it into his lyrics. We’re uniting my love of books and music, and I’m having a blast with it. Me, being creative! Go figure.”
She looked a little embarrassed admitting it to me, especially because we’d had a long talk about the life of an addict after the night at the tavern. But maybe keeping in touch via the phone and nothing more was fine. A buffer would keep her from getting too invested.
“Well, that’s really cool,” I replied as I took a seat at the bar counter. “Maybe you’ll get a songwriter’s credit.”
She placed the flowers in the vase carefully. “Yeah, I’ll ask him about that…over dinner.”
“Excuse me, what ?”
She held the card up with a sheepish look. “He asked me to dinner.”
“And you’re going?”
“Well…yeah.” Her back straightened a little, and she nodded as if she’d reached a conclusion. “I really like him, and I want to see where it could lead. He’s different from anyone I’ve ever met, Lis. He’s got vision. He feels deeply, and he’s not afraid to show it. He calls himself a songwriter, but he’s got the soul of a poet.”
Her eyes lit up as she talked about him, and I knew she was already halfway gone. I’d never seen her so excited about someone. It made me nervous—but at the same time, part of me couldn’t help being happy for her. Was it really so bad to take a chance on love? Nina wasn’t the type to make uninformed decisions, so maybe their talks had convinced her that Tyler was in a better place. Still, I had to make sure she was going into this with her eyes open.
“You know you can’t fix him,” I said simply.
“Well, that’s fine, because there’s nothing to fix!” Nina shot back at me. She started angrily gathering the ingredients.
“He’s a former addict,” I said in a quiet voice. “And based on how he acted at the tavern, I’m not so sure about the ‘former’ part. I don’t know how often he uses drugs, but from what Cameron says, he drinks. A lot .”
Nina dropped her head. “Yeah, I know. But he says he’s working on getting to a better place now.” Her cheeks went pink. “He says it’s because he feels a new creative spark thanks to our conversations.”
If Tyler was trying to charm Nina, he sure picked the right approach. She’d always talked about how she wished she could be as creative as the authors she loved, even though she didn’t have an artistic bone in her body. The fact that he was nurturing that ability was probably fast-tracking him straight into her heart.
“Hey,” I said, waiting for Nina to look at me.
“What?”
“Just be careful, okay? I can tell he seems like a special guy, but he’s lived a different life than you have. He ran with a crazy crowd. That changes people.”
“Cameron likes him,” she fired back at me, stirring the waffle mix and eggs with more vigor than necessary.
“You’re right,” I admitted. “And that means something, but a romance is a whole different equation from a friendship.” I paused. “I’m only saying all this because I love you and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I know.” Her whole body softened, and she gave me a warm look. “Thank you. Now, enough about me. Tell me everything about bossman.”
“I don’t know where to start,” I hugged myself and grinned at her. “It’s good!”
She scoffed. “Details please. Campaign first. How is the ‘in the wild’ stuff going?”
“ Way better than expected. But it’s a little freaky because the campaign is set up like people are hunting us, so we never know if we’re being watched or not. Sometimes it’s obvious, but there are some photos from last night that people took in moments when I had no idea people were onto us.”
Nina poured batter in the waffle iron. “Show me.”
I scrolled through the joint Veritique file where everyone was sharing images and flipped to one of the pictures of us outside the theater, before the big kiss when we were just chatting.
“Like this one. It’s not a big ‘look at us’ moment—we’re literally just walking down the sidewalk.”
I held my phone out to Nina, and she squinted at the photo, then looked at me. “Oh, he’s a goner.”
“ Excuse me? How in the world can you read that from this dumb photo?” And could it really be true? I felt a surge of hope, even as I tried to swallow it down.
“Look at his body. He’s totally angled toward you, like you fascinate him and all he wants to do is watch you. And his eyes. There’s something…sappy about them. And that little smile he’s wearing. He thinks you are the cat’s pajamas.”
I giggled at her old-fashioned phrasing and tried to ignore that she was sort of right about the way Cameron looked in the photo.
“You’re no better,” Nina continued. “You’re beaming at him. You look like you want to swallow him whole.”
“I was in my feelings from Hadestown . I think I was quizzing him on Greek mythology.” I scrolled through the images to get to the kiss. “Check out this one.”
Nina leaned closer to examine it. “Holy moly, baby! That is hot ! You belong on the cover of a romance novel.” She fanned herself.
I grinned at the image. Yeah, we looked really freaking good in it.
“So that’s the public stuff,” Nina said as she opened the iron and put the cooked waffle on my plate. “How’s the behind-closed-doors action?”
My face got hot as I took it from her. “Um, yeah, that’s uh…that’s pretty incredible, too.”
“He’s good in bed?”
“Good doesn’t even begin to cover it. He’s mind blowing . Hands down the best lover I’ve ever had. It’s like he cares more about my pleasure than his own. Creative, too. We wound up in positions I didn’t even think were possible!” The syrup I was pouring on my waffle spilled onto the table, so I used my finger to sweep it up. I licked it and was immediately brought back to the way Cameron had paralyzed my entire body with just his tongue.
“He actually wants to make sure you have an orgasm, wow,” Nina huffed out a laugh at me. “Unlike someone else we won’t mention.”
I shuddered. “I’m still having flashbacks to that day he showed up at the office.”
“Yeah, but Cameron stood up for you.” She leaned against the counter and stared at me. “Are you two getting serious? Because it sure sounds like you are.”
I laughed, but even I could tell it sounded a little forced. “No, no way. I know better than to make that mistake. Cameron’s got some major issues thanks to his ex. He got married way too fast and had it annulled almost right away, and those scars are still pretty fresh.”
“So you’re telling me he’s a commitment-phobe,” Nina said slowly. “I think I’m not the only one who needs to guard my heart.”
She might have a point, not that I was willing to admit it. “No worries about that,” I insisted as I shoved a huge bite of waffle in my mouth. “We’re just having fun together.”
“Mm-hmm, sure,” she said, not sounding convinced at all. “Call me overprotective, but what happens if all this fun you’re having together starts to shift into something that feels real? What are you going to do then?”
I propped my fork on my plate and stared into space, chewing through my contemplation. “Then we’ll sit down and talk about it, I guess. Make sure we understand what the other person wants. If he comes back and says he’s not looking for anything serious, I’ll move on. Trust me, I learned my lesson. I’m not about waiting around for men who can’t commit.”
“Good for you,” she cheered. Nina finished cooking her waffle and joined me at the counter. “So what’s next for the dynamic duo?”
“Not sure,” I replied. “We need to touch base with Lucy to see what she thinks. The campaign is building to a crescendo, so right now we’re just doing cute couple-y stuff. The grand gestures are coming.”
“When do you get to the ‘my fake boyfriend is a billionaire’ stuff?” She chuckled. “The ‘private plane to go skiing in Gstaad’ stuff?”
“Darling,” I said, putting on a posh accent. “It’s the wrong season for Gstaad! We need to be looking to Paris. Or maybe Provence.”
“Ooh, fancy,” she swished her hand at me. “And we can’t forget about that gorgeous dress he bought for you. Which I will be borrowing at some point.”
“My closet is your closet,” I insisted.
“In that case, I hope there’s more shopping on the horizon. Snag some cashmere for me. Oh, and a pair of leather pants.”
“First of all, you know we can’t share pants. And second, where in the world would a librarian wear leather pants?”
She tipped her head toward the bouquet on the counter. “I might need to embrace the rock star lifestyle now that I’m a songwriter.”
I nodded. “So you’re a rock star, and I’m a billionaire’s girlfriend. Sounds like we’re starring in our very own romance novel!”
“Speaking of, have I told you that I started working out the genre distribution for Treehouse Books? Obviously, romance will be front and center.”
“ Obviously ,” I agreed. “You know this little partnership with Cameron is bringing us even closer to making Treehouse happen?”
“Yeah, you’re really taking one for the team,” she rolled her eyes at me. “Poor baby over here is being forced into fine dining with a hottie so we can afford to open our bookshop.”
“Stop,” I swatted her.
But she was right. It was probably the easiest job I’d ever had. Hanging with Cameron was turning out to be the best part of my days. And nights.
Now all I had to do was make sure my heart stayed out of the equation.