Chapter 19
My eyes burn from staring at the laptop screen for hours. I rub my temples to relieve the headache that’s setting in. A yawn escapes my lips. I stretch my body to loosen the tension in my neck.
I check the clock, and my eyes widen in shock.
“Eight? How?” I sit up straighter, alarmed by the discovery.
I should’ve gone home two hours ago, but the reports aren’t finished.
The gala seating plan still has gaps with almost everyone on the list opting for the front row seats, no thanks to my boss’ ploy to win everyone’s favor.
“Brie,” the object of my thoughts calls, making me flinch. She’s standing in the doorway with a bottle of what I assume is strawberry juice.
“These documents were supposed to be sorted by six. It’s now eight and you’re still dragging your feet. Do you realize how important—”
Her scolding stops mid-sentence. Her whole face changes into a saccharine smile
I blink, confused, and then when I turn, I see why.
Cameron is approaching from the other side. My heart skips a beat at the sight of him in that blue vest that outlines his abs. What’s he doing here?
I don’t miss how Mrs. Randolph brushes invisible dust from her dress and adjusts her necklace.
He finally gets to my office, and I notice a bag of food in his hands.
Mrs. Randolph’s smile grows wider as she walks into the room fully. She even pats my shoulder.
“I’ll come back for those later,” she says, smiling like we’re best friends. “Goodnight, Mrs. Gray.”
Acknowledging me as Mrs. Gray now? Even though I didn’t turn in our marriage certificate? Wow, progress.
I stare after her as she leaves. Later? Later when? It’s already eight. Is ‘later’ going to be by midnight? Maybe tomorrow? I’m not going to stick around to find out.
Cameron steps forward, still holding the bag. “Hey, babe. I brought food.”
I blink again, still trying to process this.
This is the first time we’re in the same space since he left me in bed the other day.
He’s been avoiding me, that much is obvious and somehow I can’t help but wonder why.
I don’t even want to be bothered about it, so I don’t go down a dark hole I won’t be able to come out of.
“Food?” I ask, pushing the thoughts to the back of my mind.
“Dinner,” he clarifies, setting the bag on my desk like it’s normal. “I noticed that you left him early this morning and haven’t been home since so I decided to pop in and check on my lovely wife.”
I just stare at the bag, then at him. Cameron Gray, the grumpiest man alive, just showed up at my office at 8 p.m. with takeout. I’m waiting for someone to jump in and scream, “Surprise! Gotcha!” but after a few minutes, I realize that it’s actually real.
“Who put you up to this?” slips out before I can stop it.
He raises an eyebrow. “You’re welcome?”
I shake my head, trying to ignore the flutter in my chest. “You shouldn’t have, Cameron.”
“You need food,” he says simply. “So, eat.”
I fold my arms and glare at him. He’s not going to get away that easily. “You know, there are delivery apps for that, right? I could have easily made an order.”
He shakes his head. “Nice try, Brie but newsflash, I’m not leaving here until you have a bite.”
That shuts me up. I look down at the bag again.
“Fine,” I mutter, pulling it closer. The smell of warm pasta and garlic hits me, making my stomach growl loud enough for him to smirk.
“See?” he says.
I glare, but a smile tugs at my lips. I hate how right he is.
I glance up at him. He’s leaning against the edge of the desk, arms crossed, watching me eat without batting a lash.
I drop my fork with a clatter. “Seriously, though. I’m curious. What’s the catch? Is there a photographer hiding somewhere? Should I reapply my makeup?”
“No,” he says flatly. “Can’t a man just be nice?”
I want to tell him that nothing goes for nothing, but I resist the urge to. It will probably make him throw a fit and leave and I don’t want that.
I force a laugh, shaking my head. “Well. Congratulations, you’ve not only done a good deed by coming here but you have gotten Mrs. Randolph to believe our charade. Maybe you should drop by more often.”
He huffs out something that might almost be a laugh. “Noted.”
The apartment is too quiet when I finally drag myself into bed, the kind of quiet that’s unsettling. My body’s beat from today’s workload but my head won’t give into the exhaustion yet. It’s replaying everything that went down at the office like a reel.
My phone vibrates and I squeal when I see Julia’s name on the screen. Just the person I want to talk to.
“Hey, girlie.”
Her voice sounds tired but still carries warmth. “Hey, babe. Didn’t wake you, did I?”
“No. I just got back a while ago. I can’t even sleep.”
“Same,” she breathes out, this long sigh that sounds like she’s been carrying it all day. “I’ve been buried in my research work since this morning.”
I roll onto my side, frowning into the dark. “Yeah, how’s that going? Have you made any headway?”
“Yeah. Thought it would be simple, you know? Translate, compare, analyze, and go straight to documentation but the dialects here, damn, they’re so complicated, and the natives never give me straight answers.
Most of their dialects boggles me. I can’t tell if it’s me not catching it or the fact that it’s just difficult. Either way it’s exhausting.”
I shut my eyes and picture her slumped over some desk with papers everywhere and a coffee that went cold hours ago. “Don’t quit. You’ll figure it out. You always do.”
She laughs a little, “I wasn’t planning on quitting. Just needed to rant for a minute.”
“Good,” I murmur, smiling into the pillow.
“So, Mrs. Hockey. How’s that going?”
I swallow nervously and stare at the ceiling, trying to find the right words. I finally sigh. “It’s complicated, Julia. I don’t know anymore.”
“Okay, spill all the tea. Now I need to know. Complicated, how?”
I cover my face with one hand. “We… slept together.”
She goes quiet, then whistles. “About time.”
“Don’t.” I groan into my hand. “It wasn’t like that. Afterwards he gave me the cold shoulder and shut me out completely. I didn’t even see him in the house, only heard him in his room most days. That was until tonight.”
“What happened tonight? You have to be fast with these juicy details, babe. It’s best served hot.”
“He showed up at the office.”
“What? Wow!”
“Yeah, I was surprised too. He came with food.”
For a second there’s just silence, then Julia bursts out laughing so loud I pull the phone away from my ear. “He brought you food? Mr. I-Don’t-Care-About-Anyone?”
I roll my eyes, feeling the heat pool in between my legs. That has been happening a lot recently. “Don’t make it sound like he proposed, Julia. He just made sure I ate, then left. That’s all.”
“Mm-hmm. Baby steps. And how’d that make you feel?”
How did it make me feel? Confused. Caught off guard. A little ruffled in a way I don’t want to admit but I can’t tell her that. I nibble on my bottom lip.
“I tried to thank him when I got back here, but he’s not home. Probably back to pretending I don’t exist.”
Julia hums knowingly. “Classic. Still, that’s something. He’s making an effort.”
I shake my head hard even though she can’t see me. “Don’t. Don’t start turning this into something it’s not.”
“Babe, I’m not doing that. I’m just saying, guys like him don’t show up with food for no reason but hey,” her voice softens, “remember what this is. It’s an arrangement, not a real relationship.”
“I know,” I whisper. “I won’t forget it,” but somewhere inside me, another voice whispers the opposite.
I curl tighter under the blanket, holding the phone like it’s my anchor at this moment.
Don’t fall for him, Brie. Julia’s right. Don’t be stupid. Don’t hope for something that doesn’t exist.
The conversation changes to other topics after that. When the call finally ends and I close my eyes and try to sleep, all I can see is Cameron’s face.
I’m in serious trouble.