Chapter Two
Froth and Grind always had an early afternoon rush.
It was the time of day when people, especially office workers, needed a caffeine boost to get through the second half of their day.
Camille Hendricks saw a lot of familiar faces in the coffee shop for their lattes, mochas and espresso shots and did her best to remember them all.
But there was only one man she always looked forward to seeing.
Leo.
She didn’t know anything about him other than his first name and that he paid for his drink with a Black Card, which put him firmly in another stratosphere. His suits looked tailor-made, showing off his muscular body and he was hot.
She’d known that from the moment he first came into the coffee shop a couple of months ago. Those brown eyes locked onto hers, and she nearly forgot her own name.
Their first interaction had been brief, and he hadn’t looked at her twice. Over time, she’d managed to get in a little flirting when he ordered his drinks, but they’d never had a conversation about anything other than his order. Until today, when he’d asked about her Santa hat.
“You know, I’ve always wondered what it looked like when a person had stars in their eyes,” her coworker, Mona, said with a snicker. “Now, I know. You’re staring at Mr. Peppermint Mocha like he hung the moon.”
Cammie pulled her eyes away from Leo, her cheeks warm from being caught ogling a customer.
Ignoring Mona’s knowing smirk, Cammie tried to act innocent. “I wasn’t staring at him. I was just… gazing out the window, and he happens to be sitting right in front of it. Total coincidence.”
Mona chuckled. “I’m not buying what you’re selling. Why don’t you just ask for his number?”
Cammie’s eyes flickered over to Leo again, and she considered her friend’s suggestion. She wasn’t the shy type, but asking out a regular didn’t seem smart.
“I don’t know,” she said. “He’s a steady customer. What if I ask him out and he says no? Then, I’d have to see him all the time, and it would be so awkward. For us both.”
Mona shrugged. “He’d probably just find another coffee shop. It’s not like there aren’t plenty of them in New York City.”
Cammie frowned. “I don’t want him to stop coming here.”
Mona raised her eyebrows up and down suggestively and nudged Cammie with her elbow. “You’ve got it bad, girl. Like, doodling Mrs. Peppermint Mocha in your notebook and obsessing over his Instagram posts, kind of bad.”
Her light-hearted teasing reminded Cammie of high school, when she and her friends would gossip about boys and do the exact sort of things Mona mentioned. Cammie was twenty-four-years-old, and it was ridiculous to act like the teenager Mona had described.
Laughter bubbled up inside of her, and she let it out, causing her friend to roll her eyes and smile. “I’m not quite that bad,” she said when both of their laughter trailed off. “I’m just enjoying the view, that’s all.”
Mona’s eyes shifted to the side, and she leaned in close. “Well, if there’s more to it, now might be your chance to find out. He’s coming this way.”
Cammie’s head snapped in Leo’s direction, and she saw that her friend was right.
Leo wove his way around the tables scattered throughout the shop, his eyes locked on her.
The smile on his face was subtle yet intimate, his lips curved up in a half-grin.
Not to mention the almost mischievous glint in his eyes.
Cammie’s pulse skittered, and she suddenly didn’t know what to do with her hands as watched him approach.
She crossed her arms, then worried that seemed too standoffish.
So, she impulsively grabbed one of the smallest coffee cups, only to be left standing there awkwardly with it in her hand, as he stopped in front of her, placing his drink on the counter between them.
“Hi,” she said, defaulting to her best customer service smile and friendly voice. “Is everything okay with your drink? Or did you want something else? A pastry maybe?”
“Actually, I was hoping you’d be able to join me. I’d like to talk to you for a minute over coffee.”
Is this really happening?
She’d been trying to ignore the crush she had on this guy for a month, yet here she was, nodding as she accepted his invitation to join him at his table. She made herself a peppermint mocha and joined him, nerves making her stomach jump before she’d even had a sip of caffeine.
Despite how she’d tried to downplay her attraction to Leo while talking with Mona, she had to admit she had a hopeless crush on the guy.
Considering she didn’t know anything about him, it was a superficial thing, but the butterflies in her stomach when he walked into the shop and the spark of excitement she experienced when their eyes met made her think there was potential between them for something.
She wondered if he felt it too, if that’s why he’d asked her to join him.
Cammie settled into the chair across from Leo, pulling off her Santa hat and trying not to look self-conscious even as she ran her fingers through her hair. Not easy to do.
“So… are you excited about Christmas?” she asked before he had a chance to speak.
He raised a single eyebrow. “Excited? Not exactly. I’m looking forward to spending the day with my family, but I can’t say that I’ve been excited about Christmas since I was a kid.”
She shook her head, and felt the smile pull at her lips. “Then you’ve been doing Christmas all wrong.”
He lifted one shoulder. “Well… sometimes it’s a stressful time of year,” he said, wrapping both hands around the cardboard to-go cup holding his coffee. “Like this year. I can’t even think about enjoying the holiday until I’ve secured a date for my company Christmas party.”
Wondering if that’s why he’d asked her to join him, her smile grew wider. “I find it hard to believe that a man like you can’t find a date to a party.”
He smirked and took a sip of his mocha. “It’s not a problem I usually have, but this party is special. I don’t just need a date. I need someone to play the part of my long-time girlfriend.”
He proceeded to explain how he needed a woman to act like she was in love with him, to convince a client that he was a serious, commitment-type of man.
Cammie’s heart dropped as her expectations were crushed.
He wasn’t asking her out. He needed someone to play a part.
Anyone would do, and it sounded as if he was desperate.
But she wasn’t, and she shook her head. “I don’t think I’m the girl for this.”
“Are you a terrible actress?” he asked, but the flirty tone of his voice didn’t feel as good as it would have a few minutes ago.
“I’ll have you know that I killed it in my high school’s production of The Wizard of Oz. I was a flying monkey.” Despite her disappointment, she couldn’t contain her normal, playful personality.
The words startled a laugh out of him, and Cammie felt it in the center of her chest. She held back a sigh, thinking that it was such a shame this wasn’t going anywhere.
“Then it sounds like you’re perfect for the job,” he declared.
Hearing him call it a job drove home the fact that he was not asking her out, and she hid her disappointment by taking another sip of her coffee. “I can’t just walk into your party and pretend to be your girlfriend. I don’t know anything about you. You’re a stranger to me.”
But that wasn’t the only reason she was saying no. She liked him and he wanted to use her for business purposes.
He held out his hand and she rested her palm in his, wishing she could ignore the warm tingle that shot up her arm on contact.
“Hello. My name is Leo Watson. It’s nice to meet you.”
She smirked at his game. “Camille Hendricks. But everyone calls me Cammie.”
“Nice to officially meet you, Cammie,” he said as he pulled his hand away. “Now, we’re not strangers.”
She was about to point out that knowing his last name wouldn’t be nearly enough to convince anyone they were a couple, but then his last name registered. “Did you say Leo Watson? As in, you might be related to Jenny Watson?”
She doubted there was a connection. Watson was a fairly common last name, and this was New York City. There were so many people here, there was no way she’d get lucky enough to run into a relative of the woman she’d been trying to meet for months.
He wrinkled his brows and forehead. “Yes, Jenny is my sister. Do you know her?”
Cammie shook her head. “I wish.”
His eyes opened wide in surprise.
“Not in a stalkerish way or anything like that,” she rushed to add. “I just admire her work. She runs one of the most successful PR firms in the city and it’s a dream of mine to work for her.”
He glanced around the coffee shop, and she had no doubt he wondered what exactly a barista could do for his sister’s company. That is what she’d be thinking if she were in his shoes.
“This is a just a job for me, a way to pay the bills,” she explained.
“My passion is graphic design, and not to brag or anything but I’m good.
I studied it at NYU, but something happened, and I couldn’t complete my degree.
” Not knowing if she was losing him, she went on.
“I believe I have the talent needed, but I can’t land an interview with any respectable firm because I don’t have a diploma. ”
She knew she was oversharing, but she couldn’t help it. The inability to land a job in graphic design had been a huge disappointment, and she could rant about it for hours.
Not that she would.
Probably not.
But Leo studied her with what she could only describe as a calculating look in his eyes. “What if I got you an interview with Jenny?” he asked.
Her own eyes widened. “What? Can you do that?”
“She’s my sister, and we’re close. So, yes, I can do that. I’ll give you one better. I guarantee you an interview and in return, you can help me out at the party. Look at it like we’re trading favors.” He leaned forward, the gleam in those chocolate brown eyes oh so tempting.
She didn’t even have to think about it. That interview was all she’d wanted for months, and if one evening of playing pretend with a handsome man would earn her the opportunity to get her foot in the door, she’d be out of her mind to refuse.
She truly believed that if given the chance to show Jenny Watson her portfolio, the other woman would consider hiring her.
Cammie rested her elbows on the table and leaned toward him. “How about we think of it as a gift exchange? That’s more in the spirit of the holiday,” she said, chuckling as he rolled his eyes.
“Okay, Mrs. Claus. We’ll call it a gift exchange.” He shook his head, obviously exasperated, but his grin told her he was amused. “So, do we have a deal?”
She nodded. “We do.” But then she took him in, the expensive suit, the gold cufflinks, and she realized she had a problem. “Just how fancy is this party, exactly?”
He shrugged. “Black-tie. My boss is using the event to impress current and potential clients, so to use your words, it’ll be very fancy.”
She’d been afraid of that. “Then, I think we should add a few terms to our deal, Mr. Businessman. I’m going to need a formal dress for this party. I haven’t attended a black-tie event before, but somehow, I doubt any of the sundresses in my closet will work.”
One side of his mouth lifted in a half-grin. “I’ll get you a dress.”
“And some shoes!” Mona called out from behind the counter. Cammie looked around and realized that most of the other customers in the shop had cleared out while they were talking, and the quiet allowed Mona to overhear their conversation.
Cammie laughed and shook her head at her friend.
“Shoes, too,” Leo agreed, rubbing his palms together, obviously pleased.
He held his hand out again, and she had the ridiculous thought that she’d prefer to seal the deal with a kiss, but she buried that idea in the back of her mind. This wasn’t a real date. It was a business arrangement, no matter how she tried to dress it up with a Christmas bow.
She firmly shook his hand, ignoring the heat of his touch and the sparks she could swear lit up her skin.
Before he left, Leo handed her his embossed business card so they could make arrangements to meet up a couple of times before the party next week and get to know one another. If she was going to pull off this charade, she needed to know more about Leo Watson than his coffee order.
But she wouldn’t allow herself to fall for him. Not at all. She was smarter than that.