8. Felicity
Iswiveled my head to try to figure out what Cameron meant and saw a giant black blob sprinting across the lobby toward us.
“Oh my god, are we getting attacked by a dog?” I asked in a panic.
“Sort of, but in a good way,” Cameron laughed.
He placed my grocery bag on the ground and crouched down to absorb the hit from the oversized dog. What I thought was going to be a scary takedown turned into a goofy hello from a dog who looked like he didn’t understand how to move his body. It was a blur of paws, tail, and slobbery snout as Cameron tried to pet the pup.
“This monster is mine,” he laughed. “Meet Boris.”
In an instant, the dog discovered there was another human to greet, so he dashed to me and started the same playful spinning and jumping.
“Whoa, whoa, hold on mister,” I said, trying to set my grocery bags down so I could pet him.
“Sorry guys,” a voice echoed down to us.
Boris turned, then dashed toward the man running across the lobby but changed his mind at the last minute and juked right to go say hello to Carl the doorman.
“Looks like somebody needs a dog trainer,” Carl smiled as he petted Boris.
The other guy finally collected the leash and walked over to us with Boris finally under control.
“Well, that was my workout for the day. Remind me to keep a tighter grip on the leash,” he said with a sigh when he reached us. “He was literally running circles around the lobby. He’s fast!”
“And strong,” Cameron agreed, leaning down to give his dog a kiss on the head. He straightened and glanced between us. “Felicity Rhodes, meet my old friend Tyler Boyd.”
“Hey, I’m not that old,” Tyler laughed.
I squinted at the handsome, dark-haired guy. “Why is your name so familiar?”
He smiled awkwardly for a minute and shuffled his feet. “Uh, not sure.”
I stared at him. “We’ve met, I’m sure of it.”
“Oh, trust me, if our paths had crossed before, I’d never let you forget it.” He winked at me playfully.
“Oh come on, you’re relentless, Tyler,” Cameron groused.
“Now I remember!” The flirty vibe brought it all into focus. “I saw your band at The Sty. With my friend Nina, we were in the front for a while. You were amazing!”
“Oh, wow, okay,” he bobbed his head. “Thank you, I appreciate that. I wouldn’t say those guys are my band, though. We just sort of jam together.”
“Tyler’s more of a solo artist, if you ask me,” Cameron added. “He’s at his best when he’s up there on his own.” Nina had said he’d had some big hits back in the day, right? I’d meant to find the videos on YouTube, but that was the night I got stuck in the elevator with Cameron, and after that, every thought of Tyler had totally slipped my mind.
Tyler punched his arm. “My biggest fan. You guys going up?”
Cameron nodded. “I’m going to help Felicity get her groceries to her place first.”
“I’ll help too, I’ve got a free hand, as long as Boris doesn’t take off again.”
He cradled one of my bags on his hip, and we all headed for the elevator together. I swallowed a dorky grin because I knew Nina was going to absolutely shit herself when her musician crush walked into our place. I hoped she was still dressed from work, because she’d looked especially devastating when she left this morning. I wanted to warn her, but there wasn’t enough time.
“I’m right over here,” I said when the elevator door opened, leading the way down the hall. I knocked as I unlocked the door. “Nina, are you decent? We have company.”
“Who’s with you? Jenny?” she asked, referring to the girl across the hall who sometimes joined us for margarita nights. “Jen, if that’s you, you should know I’m better than decent,” her voice echoed out. “My bra is off, my sweats are on, I’m downing my second glass of wine and life is good!” She came out of her room, saw the group of us and froze.
“Hi!” I waved cheerily. I pointed at Cameron and Tyler. “Company!”
“With a dog!” Nina squeaked out, holding her wine glass out in front of her. “Uh…hi!” She glanced back at the guys and froze again. “Oh my god, you’re Tyler Boyd! In my apartment! What the hell is going on?”
“I’m here with my buddy Cam and this beast,” he answered. “I guess I carried a watermelon.” He shifted the bag in his arms.
“Hold on, did you just quote Dirty Dancing?” Nina asked incredulously.
“Guilty,” he chuckled. “I heard you were at my last show, thanks for coming.” Tyler upped the wattage of his smile and Nina nearly swooned. “I remember you—that red hair is something else.”
“Really? You actually saw me?”
He beamed at her. “How could I miss you? You sang nearly every word of every song. I almost handed you the mic!”
“Oh my gosh, I could never!” She cracked up at the thought. “I can’t even do karaoke.”
“Well, maybe I need to find that out firsthand,” Tyler said. “I’ll be the judge of your voice.”
“Stop,” she gushed flirtatiously, flipping her hand at him. “I’m the worst.”
Boris pulled away to say hello to Nina then explore our apartment. Tyler barely noticed.
“Which song from the set did you like the best?” he asked. “I hope you didn’t hear me go off key during ‘That Night.’”
“You did? You sounded perfect to me! I really liked ‘A Toast to Us,’ but you changed the chorus, and that caught me off guard,” Nina said, walking closer to Tyler. “I liked what you did with it, but I was super curious why you sang totally new lines. Tell me everything.”
Tyler smiled sheepishly and began explaining how the changes in his life made him want to switch up the lyrics, acting like there was no one else in the room but Nina. I finally caught Cameron’s eye and nodded toward the kitchen.
“Can you help me unpack? I could use some extra hands.”
He understood that something interesting was brewing between our friends, so he followed me into the small space with Boris just a few steps behind him.
“He’s quite the charmer,” I said as we set the bags on the counter. “Should I be worried?”
Cameron scowled at me as he started unpacking. “About Tyler? Nah, he’s good people.”
“But he’s like, a rock star,” I said, pointing out the obvious as I pulled the tangerines from the bag. “They’re not exactly known for stability. I love Nina like a sister, so if Tyler is a mess, please tell me. I’m serious.”
Cameron handed me a loaf of brioche, trying to hold it high enough so Boris couldn’t grab it. “And I love Tyler like a brother, so I get it. I’ll always be on his side, but to be perfectly honest with you, he’s had a rough go of it.”
I tsked. “So I should warn Nina to keep her distance.”
“Now hold on,” Cameron said, sounding defensive. Or maybe protective? “Tyler the man is incredible. He’s got the biggest, best heart. Empathy like no one else. But Tyler the rock star…well, he’s in a different headspace. Ty hit it big, fast, and that does something to a person. He ran with a crowd who liked to party hard, and he got caught up in that lifestyle. When his sophomore album flopped, all those new friends who had become his whole world ditched him, and it broke him. Now, he’s trying to find his footing again. Sometimes he slips up, and I have to step in to deliver a friendly beat-down. That’s actually what I was up to the morning we met. I was worried about him, and I was trying to get to his apartment quickly.”
Hearing that Cameron wasn’t just being a selfish prick about the cab shifted everything about that initial encounter. How else had I been wrong about him?
“He’s lucky to have you,” I murmured, focusing on searching my crowded cabinets for open space instead of the warmth spreading in my chest.
“Thanks. I’m right there with him, every step of the way.” Cameron placed a box of tea on the counter. “He’s an amazing friend.”
“So he’s not a pump-and-dump kind of guy?” I asked, peeking into the bag to see if I missed anything.
Cameron froze holding a box of pasta in the air. “Did you seriously just say that to me?”
I slapped my hand over my mouth, because until that moment, I’d half-forgotten Cameron wasn’t just a dude in my apartment, he was my boss.
“Sorry, I’m just looking out for Nina,” I said, my shoulders up by my ears.
We unpacked in silence for a few minutes.
“But…is he?” I asked in a quiet voice.
I held my breath until Cameron finally cracked a smile, then dissolved into laughter.
“I haven’t heard that phrase since college; what the hell, Felicity?”
“It’s an important question!” I insisted. “I’m looking out for my girl.”
“Okay, let me put it this way for you; I love my dog more than anything, and I let Tyler take care of him. Do you think I’d trust this beast with just anyone?”
He dropped to one knee to pet Boris, and the dog danced in place.
“Okay, you trust him with your dog, point taken. I don’t need to warn Nina about Tyler.” I watched Boris stare adoringly at Cameron as he got back to unpacking. “Where did you buy him? He’s a gorgeous dog.”
“I don’t buy dogs,” Cameron replied in the derisive voice I was more familiar with. “He’s a rescue.”
I ignored his tone. “No way! Why would he need to be rescued? He’s basically a perfect giant schnauzer.”
“Yeah, he is. He’s exactly what the breed standard describes. But a dog is more than just a set of physical characteristics, and unfortunately not everyone realizes that.” Cameron frowned. “He was originally purchased as a puppy out on Long Island by a family who didn’t know anything about what a working dog needs. He grew out of the adorable puppy phase and demanded more attention, but the family didn’t have any interest in providing it. He turned destructive, and their solution was to move him from the house to the garage.”
“No! That’s awful.”
Camron nodded. “Yeah, it is, but gets worse. He started chewing holes in the walls and barking all day and night. The family thought it might be a better idea to leave him in the yard, but he’s smart as hell, so he figured out how to scale the fence. He took off and got hit by a car. A good Samaritan brought him to the vet, and when they called the family to tell them what happened, they said he was too much trouble and never came to pick him up.”
It was my turn to drop to my knees to pet the sweet dog. “Boris! You poor baby!”
He wiggled and licked my face like he was trying to reassure me he was fine now.
Adopted by a billionaire? I’d say he was better than fine.
I looked up at Cameron. “How did he make his way to you?”
I could feel him watching me pet Boris, which made me self-conscious. Was I doing it wrong? When I glanced up at him, he was smiling at us with so much warmth in his expression that it made my heart stutter. I quickly refocused on the dog.
“My assistant Daniel was visiting his parents out on Long Island and ended up taking their cat to the same vet where Boris wound up. He heard the whole story and immediately thought of me. I’m a sucker for a hard luck story, so of course I adopted him.”
It was hard for me to imagine Cameron being a sucker for anything but fat sales reports. Could it be possible that he was actually a softie, deep down?
“I set up a little fund for the clinic for other animals in the same situation,” Cameron continued. “Turns out people dump their pets at the veterinarian all the time—if the cost of treatment is too much, or the animal is old, or just unwanted. It’s heartbreaking, but now there’s a cushion to make sure those animals get treatment and wind up in a safe place.”
I chuckled at the thought of his “little fund.” I’m sure Cameron had provided enough financial support to create an extra wing for unwanted animals.
I gave in to Boris’s demands for more pets and sat down on my kitchen floor. The dog plopped onto my lap and rolled onto his side, so I had full access to his belly.
“He really likes you,” Cameron mused.
“Please. I saw how he was in the lobby. He likes everyone.”
“No, this is different. He’s sort of obsessed with you.”
For the briefest moment I wished Cameron was talking about himself, but reason took over. Why would a billionaire have any interest in someone like me? And besides, the kindhearted dog owner stuff was just a tiny facet of the person I knew as a complete bosshole.
But…which part was the true Cameron O’Connor?
“I need to get him home, or else he’s going to start helping himself to your groceries. He knows when it’s dinnertime.”
I laughed as Boris went from a full recline in my lap to upright alert at the mention of dinner.
“Told you,” Cameron chuckled. “Anyway, thanks for taking my mind off the bullshit I’m facing.” Tension briefly flashed across his face.
“I owe you thanks for being my grocery sherpa.” I stood up and paused. “And for being an ear about the Unhinged Heart stuff.”
“I thought we weren’t ever going to talk about that again.”
“Right, of course!” I pretended to cross it out in the air in front of me. “Striking it from the records.”
“Exactly,” he said agreeably.
We stared at one another in silence for a few seconds, like neither one wanted to move out of the bubble we’d created in my tiny kitchen. Boris broke the spell for us, running to the doorway, then turning back to bark at Cameron.
“See what I mean? Dinner,” he said, following his dog out.
Tyler and Nina were still engrossed in conversation in our family room, so much so that they didn’t even notice when we appeared.
“Boris and I are heading upstairs,” Cameron said.
I kept forgetting my boss lived in my building. I sort of liked the idea and hated it at the same time.
“Right, me too,” Tyler said quickly.
Nina finally woke up from the spell he’d cast on her, blinking like she was adjusting to bright light. “It was so great talking with you. Thanks for the advice.”
“Advice?” Cameron frowned as he glanced between the pair. “Are you an aspiring songwriter?”
She laughed. “No, not even close. Tyler told me about a fantasy series he’s reading, and now I want to read it too.”
“We could start a texting book club to discuss it,” he said, sounding adorably excited.
I glanced at Cameron, and he shrugged helplessly.
“Anyway, we’re out of here,” he said. “See you Monday, Fagin.”
Whydid it feel flirty?
The minute the door shut behind them, Nina squealed silently and jumped up and down, clapping her hands.
“Did that really just happen? Tyler Boyd was in our apartment?”
“Don’t get too excited. He’s besties with a bosshole,” I said, trying to ignore the fizzy sensation in my chest.
Nina snorted at me. “Bosshole? That guy? Did you see the way he acted with his dog?”
“I guess,” I said with a noncommittal shrug. “But who doesn’t love dogs?”
“I think you forgot to tell me something very important about your new boss…”
I tipped my head at her in confusion.
“He’s hot as hell!” she covered her mouth and burst into laughter.
“Nina, no he’s not,” I grabbed a pillow and tossed it at her, hoping she didn’t see my red face.
“Oh, but he is, you’re just too stubborn to admit it. And methinks he might have a little thing for you.”
My heartbeat quickened, but I tried to ignore it.
“Methinks?” I laughed at her. “Okay, Shakespeare, maybe I need to get you out of the stacks.”
“Whatever,” she said as she tossed the pillow back where it belonged. “I’m just telling you what I observed.”
“Maybe it was pure hatred you picked up on? Because we’ve had a bumpy getting-acquainted stage.”
“Well, as the Bard says, the course of true love never did run smooth.”
“True love,” I sputtered, mustering up a laugh. “Please.”
But a teeny tiny part of me wondered if a guy like Cameron could ever fall for a girl like me.
I choked on the thought. Yeah right. We’d be lucky if we got to tolerating each other.