18. Cameron
CAMERON
Iwasn’t used to so much good news all at once.
I took a few minutes at the start of the day to survey the response to the latest antics with Felicity in the quiet of my office.
After navigating the fallout from my father’s mistakes for far too long, the shift to nonstop positivity in everything associated with the Veritique brand was a shock to my system.
Instead of doom scrolling through the news, I found myself looking forward to what the public had to say about Veritique, and more specifically, CamLicity. Because they were eating us up.
I obviously knew that romance was the cornerstone of our family business.
There were too many love stories to count that included a Veritique ring.
But standing in personally as a focal point for it had not been on my agenda.
I’d expected to chafe against the campaign’s ridiculousness, but instead I found myself eager to see what we were going to get up to next.
Felicity transformed what should’ve been an exercise in my ability to tolerate publicity bullshit into an adventure.
A very sexy adventure.
I placed my phone down on my desk and swiveled my chair to look out at the skyline.
The woman had injected herself into my bloodstream.
Even when I wasn’t consciously thinking about her, she was right there, somehow.
Any time there was a lull in my day my mind automatically went to her on her knees in front of me, or face down on my bed…
I shifted to adjust my growing hardness, because I couldn’t let fantasy Felicity throw me off track again.
Focus on the work. The mantra had always kept me on track, so I turned to my laptop to dive into my day. Only a hundred and fifty new emails in the past twenty-four hours. I got ready to dive in but paused when I saw the OneDrive “Memories of this day” message.
There was only one period in my life when I took a lot of photos, and it wasn’t a timeframe I liked revisiting, so I don’t know why I clicked it open. I knew what would be waiting for me inside.
Sure enough, it was an image of me with Carolina. She was beaming with her head resting on my shoulder, squinting at the camera in the bright sunlight.
Fuck. As I studied the photo, I realized that the “Memory of this day” was a major one. Carolina and I were in Central Park. Today was the anniversary of the day I’d proposed to her.
Sparks of tension flared up behind my eyes. I’d moved past the pain of the relationship, but I certainly didn’t want reminders of it. I wished I could warn the guy in the photo that everything was going to turn to shit just a few months later.
I didn’t even hesitate to delete the picture. Maybe I could draft Daniel into wiping my photo stream clean of Carolina to prevent reminders like this from popping up? No sense dwelling in the past. Hell, no sense even remembering the part that had her name on it.
“Cameron?” Alessandra’s voice rang out from the doorway. “I hate to interrupt, but everyone is waiting for you in the conference room.”
I stood up quickly, angry at myself for letting the past derail my present.
“I’m on my way.”
When I walked into the room, everyone started clapping and cheering for me. Had I forgotten my own birthday? What the hell was going on?
I glanced at the whiteboard and saw a slide that read, “Celebrating Five Million Followers.”
“There he is!” Lucy shouted over the noise. “One half of the most powerful couple on the internet!” She turned to scan the room. “Felicity! Get up there.”
Felicity stood up and smiled shyly at everyone as she made her way to where I was standing. How was it possible that she looked even more beautiful than the last time I’d seen her? She was in a soft purple dress my personal shopper had selected, and all I could imagine was ripping it off her body.
“Hey,” she said quietly when she reached me. “I guess we’re doing pretty good work together.”
“I guess so,” I said, throwing my arm around her and giving her a friendly side-hug. Even that little bit of contact was enough to trigger X-rated thoughts.
I needed to get a grip.
We all took our seats with Felicity right beside me instead of at the far end of the table.
Sandrine stood up. “Okay, folks, let’s kick off this meeting by celebrating how incredible our CamLicity campaign has been! Major thanks to Lucy for coming up with it.”
The influencer was uncharacteristically modest as everyone clapped for her. “I take zero credit,” she yelled over the noise. “It’s all because of those two.”
“Our social media growth is breaking records, folks. We didn’t think we’d crack five million for months, yet here we are,” Sandrine said, gesturing to the whiteboard, which was now flashing metrics and comments from followers.
“The attention is wonderful, but what’s even better are our sales milestones.
Monique is here to give us a quick snapshot.
But I’m sure you already know the latest numbers, Cameron,” she hastened to add.
I nodded like I was on top of it and silently beat myself up for not checking them first thing this morning. What was happening to me?
Monique stood up, grinning. “I have three words: record breaking sales.”
The room broke into applause again.
“We’re not even in peak season, yet we’re seeing numbers that rival our holiday sales,” she continued.
Monique went on to explain how the CamLicity campaign was directly impacting our growth, pointing to parallels between what we were posting and what people were buying.
Engagement rings were hot sellers, of course, but even the pieces Felicity had casually worn during our moments together were taking off.
The Trésor bracelet she had on in the Junior’s cheesecake photo was now on backorder.
“All that to say,” Monique turned to us as she wrapped up. “Never stop doing what you’re doing, you two. And I hope I get an invitation to the wedding.”
Everyone laughed at the impossibility of it. I chuckled along as a nagging thought started to take root. Exactly how was this charade going to end?
I shook my head. It wasn’t the time to worry about it. I needed to stay in the now, the incredibly positive, record-breaking, heart-stopping now.
“Thanks, Monique,” Sandrine said as she took over the meeting. “Okay, now let’s dig into our projections and how the campaign can factor in—”
“Excuse me, Sandrine,” I said, standing.
The room went quiet. I was usually more of an observer in marketing meetings, and I could see the stricken looks on people’s faces as they wondered what bombshell I was about to drop.
“We’ve all been working hard,” I said. “I’m so proud of this team, and I think I need to show you how much I appreciate your efforts. That’s why as of noon today, we’re taking the afternoon off for a team building event.”
I watched as my employees glanced at one another, raising eyebrows and looking confused and a little apprehensive.
I couldn’t blame them. Back when my father was in charge, team building events usually included physical challenges in the woods while being barked at by some grumpy former military dude.
“At the Black Door Spa,” I added.
The whoop that went up in the room could probably be heard throughout the entire building. Felicity grabbed my hand and squeezed it.
“They’re closing down the spa just for us, which means you can take advantage of all of their services.
The saunas, pool, massage therapists, aestheticians, hair stylists, nail technicians, and chef will all be at your service for the afternoon.
I’ll have a private van service ready to pick everyone up out front at noon. ”
Of course, I hadn’t planned for any of it, but I knew Daniel could pull it together within the hour.
Everyone had a price, even if it meant Black Door was going to be disappointing their roster of already scheduled clients for the day.
I’d make sure to pay for their rescheduled services and upgrades as well, so I doubted they’d kick up too much of a stink.
Felicity joined me on the walk back to my office.
“I can’t believe you did that! I’m in shock.”
I glanced at her, frowning. “And why is that?”
She realized she’d accidentally insulted me. “On a workday, I mean. It’s just so nice.”
“Are you saying I’m not normally nice to my employees?” I picked up my pace, enjoying a little sparring with her.
She laughed and sighed at the same time, almost jogging to keep up with me. “Nope, we’re not doing this. You’re trying to bait me, but I’m resisting!”
We both paused outside my door, and I grasped her shoulders to pull her closer to me. I gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. “Good girl, you’re learning.” I released her with a gentle push.
Felicity swatted me on the chest. “Don’t treat me like Boris.”
“Excuse me?” I widened my eyes at her. “You just hit me,” I said in a low voice. “I think I need to take you into my office and give you a paddling for insubordination. Bend you over my desk and teach you a lesson.”
She bit her lip and looked up at me through her lashes. “Ooh, was I a bad girl?”
“Very.”
Anyone looking at us down the long hallway would assume we were discussing business.
“Oh, but you can’t spank me, because I…um…forgot to wear underwear today,” she pouted. “My poor bottom would turn all pink.”
I stifled a groan as my cock started to stiffen. I opened my office door and stepped aside. “I need to see you. Now.”
She gave me an evil smirk. “Well, that’s a shame, because I have some work to finish up before we leave at noon.
” She glanced down the hall to make sure no one was near and reached out to press her hand to the front of my pants.
She curled her fingers against my swollen length, and I had to fight to keep from dragging her into my office.
“Maybe, if you’re lucky, we can, ahem, reconvene at the spa? ”
“Felicity,” I turned her name into a command. “You’re killing me.”