12. Felicity
“Ihope they send out an entire meal of just cheese,” I said as I popped a fancy little appetizer made of gruyère and caramelized onions in my mouth. “Because this is the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten.”
Cameron chuckled and pushed the massive white plate on the table in between us toward me. “Please, take mine too.”
I paused and eyed it. “Seriously? Because if you’re expecting me to be all demure and say that I couldn’t possibly, you’re going to be in for a disappointment. All that makeover business has got me starving.”
His eyes twinkled. “Go for it. I’m enjoying your enjoyment. I’m not used to seeing someone eat with such…gusto.”
I paused with my hand hovering over the plate. “What does that mean? Are you calling me a pig?”
“Oh for fuck’s sake, Felicity.” He closed his eyes briefly and let out a massive sigh. “I can’t win with you.” Cameron stared at me, more disappointed than angry. “No, Fagin, that’s not what I mean at all. What I’m saying is that I appreciate that you eat. And that you enjoy your food. Trust me, that’s a rare trait in the women I typically share meals with. It’s usually ‘sauce on the side’ and ‘no bread at the table.’ I think it’s wonderful that I can take you somewhere with great food and have you fully appreciate the experience.”
I grabbed the toast and bit it in half, feeling a little bad for putting words in his mouth. “Okay then. And yes, I love food,” I said as I chewed. “I’m not ashamed to admit it. Between the amuse…” I paused. “What did the waiter call it?”
“Amuse-bouche,” he answered.
“Right. Between that little caviar bouche thingy—which I would normally never try but was amazing—and this fancy cheese on toast appetizer, I can already tell I’m going to need to be cut out of this dress at the end of the meal.”
His eyebrow ticked up at the mention of me getting undressed, and my face went hot.
“Keep in mind we selected the chef’s tasting menu, so it could go either way. Chef Bernard has served me meals that stuffed me to the gills, and then others left me just pleasantly full.”
“Well, either way,” I pressed on. “Thank you for this.”
I gestured around the room, taking a few seconds to appreciate it. La Nuit was the most beautiful restaurant I’d ever been in, but it was not at all what I’d expected. We were seated in the window, for maximum exposure, and the wisteria ringing it was like a picture frame of purple flowers. I’d assumed Cameron would select a sleek, modern space since that seemed like his vibe, but the restaurant looked like it was out of a fairy tale. It was cozy and dimly lit, with the same purple flowers climbing the walls and ceiling all around us, like the plant was taking over and bringing the outside in. It felt like we were in someone’s private country home, with just a dozen tables scattered around the room. I could only imagine how high the checks were given the restaurant’s limited space and its tony Manhattan address. The menu didn’t have prices—which was probably for the best. I was happier not knowing.
I leaned close to Cameron and lowered my voice. “Has anyone noticed us yet?”
He nodded. “I’m sure, but people in here will be very casual about it. No staring or anything. We probably won’t even pick up on it.” He scanned the room quickly. “I see a trophy wife in the far corner who seems to be interested in us.”
I flicked my eyes toward the table in question and smiled at Cameron. “Did you ever consider she might be wishing she was me? That guy she’s with looks to be about a hundred years old.”
“I can tell the difference between a flirty stare and a curious one. I guarantee she’s in on the CamLicity hunt.”
Nerves swirled up inside of me, making my hands shake a little. That was the whole reason why we were here, but it still made me a little uneasy to think of it as a “hunt,” reminding me that we were being stalked like prey. “Why did I agree to this?”
“Hey, hey,” Cameron said in an authoritative voice. “Focus on me, remember? On us. Then you’ll be fine. We both know this is already working.”
I took a deep breath and nodded. He was right. For some reason, when I directed all of my attention to him, I felt fine.
“Now, let’s talk about something fun. Why don’t you tell me about how you and Nina met.”
“Oh, Nina.” I smiled. “She’s the best.”
“I really enjoyed getting to spend more time with her at the bar the other night, although the circumstances could’ve been better.”
Cameron’s expression darkened for a moment, probably remembering the twin nightmares of his brother’s relationship situation and Tyler’s drunkenness.
“We’ve been friends forever, basically,” I said quickly, hoping to keep him from overthinking. “We grew up near each other and started off just casual neighborhood buddies, you know, riding bikes and stuff but, we, uh,” I fumbled for words, because I didn’t want to get into the details about why we became closer. “We really started bonding when we were about ten. We began hanging out more and more, until we became inseparable. Turns out we had a lot in common. We both loved reading. The old stuff, like Nancy Drew and Anne of Green Gables, and new stuff too. We’d grab our books and climb up into the treehouse in her backyard and read for hours. And we’d talk about everything. Our dreams, which boys we liked, who we wanted to be someday.” My heart surged at the sweetness of the memories. “We grew up together, you know? We were roommates in college, and I guess we figured life was better together. At this point, she’s my sister. There’s no one in my life who has been there for me like she has.”
“That’s really special. You two are lucky to have each other.”
“We are,” I agreed. “Those dreams for the future we used to talk about? We’re still holding on to one of them.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Cameron asked.
“We plan to open an independent bookstore together.”
I was a little nervous telling Cameron, not only because he was my boss and hearing about my plans for the shop could make him doubt my commitment to my current job, but also because he was a businessman and might laugh at our plans. Retail shopping was a dicey venture, both Nina and I knew that, but there was something inside of both of us that kept pushing forward, like we had to go for it. Our business plan was finished; all we needed to do was gather the finances to make it happen.
Hence the job with Cameron, which these days was paying better than ever. I was reminded that as lovely as our dinner was turning out, I was still officially on the clock with Veritique.
“Enough about me,” I said as Cameron poured us second glasses of wine. “Tell me about you and Tyler. How did you become friends?”
His lips tilted up. “I answered an ad.”
“Oh, so you’re a mail order bride,” I said with a knowing nod. “That tracks.”
He laughed at me. “Please. Tyler was forming a band. I was a newbie drummer, and I thought I was better than I actually was.”
“Well, that’s cool. Cameron O’Connor, rock star,” I swept my hand through the air like I was envisioning his name in lights. “What did you call your band?”
He gave me a half-smile. “The Torture, which, in the beginning, was pretty accurate. God help the neighbors who had to listen to us practice. Obviously, Ty was always gifted, but the bassist Brett and I were desperation hires.” He shook his head, smiling. “Our first gig was at a school dance at a neighboring middle school, which was bad enough. But I got nervous, because it was my first time playing for anyone other than my parents.”
“What happened?” I asked, taking a sip of wine.
He rolled his eyes at the memory. “I forgot everything! Every bit of every song. Tyler picked up on it pretty quickly, so he kept turning around and mouthing what I was supposed to be playing. It’s a testament to what a great musician he was, even at that age. I limped through the set feeling humiliated, but once it was over those kids acted like they’d just seen a Rolling Stones show. They asked us for autographs!”
“Maybe you missed your calling?” I teased. “It’s not too late to hang up the Veritique stuff and join up with Tyler, you know.”
Cameron grabbed his wine glass and took a long draw. “Oh, no way. I could never live that lifestyle.” His eyes went haunted for a moment. “Plus, even though I definitely became a better musician, I was nowhere near as good as Ty. The best I could have done as a professional musician would have been a job as part of an ensemble on a low-budget harbor cruise.”
“Well, that’s oddly specific.”
“Let’s just say I know my limitations.”
The waiter appeared at our table with our next course. “May I present scallop carpaccio with purple radishes directly from Provence, layered with a lemon confit, and topped with nasturtium.”
He gave us a little bow and walked away.
I stared at the plate in front of me with my eyes wide. “I don’t know what any of this is, but the orange flowers are pretty.”
“That’s the nasturtium. Try it,” Cameron urged.
“The flower?” I scowled at him. “Are you trying to make me look bad? I can just hear them in the kitchen laughing at me, ‘Oh, look at the dummy eating the decoration!’”
Cameron locked his eyes on mine, picked up the flower, and ripped it in half with his teeth, then chewed it without breaking eye contact. “Edible. And delicious.”
I threw my head back, laughing at his serious face. “Okay, okay, maybe you’re not making fun of me after all.”
His expression softened. “You need to start trusting me, Felicity. I’m not trying to sabotage you. We’re a team, remember?”
My stomach went tingly at the sincerity in his voice. “We are.”
Cameron took a bite of the scallops. “Oh, you’re going to love this. If you don’t, hand me that plate immediately.”
“Wow,” I sighed after I tasted it. “This is beyond.”
Since it was an ultra-fancy restaurant, the entire dish was just a few bites I polished off way too quickly. It was delicious, but I was starting to doubt my initial assumption that I’d be too full at the end of the meal.
“Well, that was lovely,” I sighed, sitting back in my chair. “So there’s one more course before dessert?”
Cameron burst out laughing. “My dear, that was course two of eight. Buckle up, we’re going to be here for a while.”
The thought of a long evening still to go filled me with inexplicable happiness. Sure, I was working, but I was also having way too much fun with Cameron.
“Hey, look at me,” he said without preamble.
I did as I was told and felt weird when he leaned closer to scrutinize my face. “What?”
Cameron reached across the table and grasped my chin gently, which sent a flutter down my spine. “You have a dot of lemon confit on your cheek.”
It was at that moment I noticed something in my peripheral vision, outside and just beyond the window. I didn’t turn to glance out because I knew exactly what it was.
Or whom.
“Don’t look, but we have an audience. Outside.” I said, smiling sweetly at Cameron, who was still clasping my chin. “Make this count, okay?”
His expression shifted to a bemused grin, like he couldn’t believe how adorable I was with food on my face. He brought his napkin up to my cheek and wiped it gently while I cast my eyes down, smiling sweetly to telegraph that I was so grateful my knight in shining armor was taking care of me.
“There you go, my dear,” he said, drinking me in so convincingly even I believed it was real. “Oh, wait, hold on. I missed a spot.”
Cameron leaned across the table and cupped my face gently, then angled it so that he could plant a soft kiss on my cheek, right where he’d just wiped it. He paused with his lips pressed against me, and for a moment, time stopped.
He pulled away slowly to gaze into my eyes. I could tell he was asking permission to engage in the kissing clause from our contract, so I gave him an imperceptible nod.
I leaned closer to meet him halfway, holding my breath. Cheek kisses were one thing, but lip-to-lip contact was going to shift our partnership to the next level.
Cameron brushed his mouth against mine, and the sweet sensation immediately made me forget that a few people were gathered outside on the sidewalk, watching the fairy tale unfold. All I could focus on was how incredible it felt to share this moment with him. My body told me, in no uncertain terms, that I was going to be in deep shit if this kept happening.
Cameron moved away reluctantly and sat back down. “Well, that was, uh, nice.”
“Yes, it was,” I agreed, like we were talking about the weather and not the fact that we’d just opened up a portal to who-knows-what.
“Do you think they got the shot?” he asked.
As much as I wanted to glance outside to see how many people had gathered, I forced myself not to. “It was pretty cinematic. I have a feeling they did.”
The waiter reappeared with yet another course filled with things I couldn’t pronounce, and I settled into the new rhythm that was the full dining experience with Cameron O’Connor. By the time we rolled up to our building after our meal, I was full, tipsy, and happy. Based on the way Cameron was acting, I wasn’t the only one. We joked about the elevator getting stuck on the way up to my apartment, and I realized how far we’d come since that fateful ride just a few weeks prior.
I’d expected to say our goodbyes in the elevator so he could head up to his own floor, but he got off with me to walk me to my door, even though there was no one around to see it and we didn’t have to pretend any longer.
I fished my keys out of my purse and leaned against my door. “Thank you. For everything. The amazing dinner. For this dress.” I plucked at it. “And the makeup to make me look all elegant and beautiful,” I gestured in front of my face.
“Now hold on, I take no credit for how beautiful you look tonight. That’s all you.”
I hugged myself. Was this really happening? Was Cameron actually flirting with me, with no witnesses present?
“Turns out fake dating you isn’t too bad. I had a wonderful time,” I said, suddenly shy.
He leaned against the door, just a foot away from me. His eyes traveled around my face, pausing on my mouth.
“You don’t even know,” he murmured, moving to me and taking me in his arms. He paused a moment to give me the chance to back away, but there was no way I was going to miss the opportunity to kiss him, fully and for real.
And when we did? My knees nearly gave out.
All the pent-up tension from the sweet kisses at the restaurant funneled into a kiss that lit my body on fire. I felt a little animalistic as our bodies connected, like I couldn’t get enough of him. He pulled me close, then closer still, and I loved that he seemed as into the kiss as I was. His mouth was a mixture of soft and strong, signaling that he was ready to go as far as I’d let him.
But what the actual hell were we doing?
We’d agreed to a professional fake relationship, with a contract and everything, yet here we were, making out with no one else around to see it—just for us. Just because we wanted to. Even though it felt magical, I knew we had to stop. We needed boundaries if we were going to make this charade work, because without them I had a feeling I’d do something I’d regret.
Like wind up in Cameron O’Connor’s bed.
I moved away reluctantly and touched my fingertips to my lips, trying to ignore the pull to kiss him again. Cameron looked physically pained by my choice, but he respected it—letting me go without a murmur of protest.
“Good night, Mr. O’Connor.” Then without another word, I slipped into my apartment and exhaled for what felt like the first time all night.