Chapter Nine
Sue
Hard to believe, but by six-thirty Saturday night I was actually ready.
Mr. Pierre had chopped off a couple of inches, added some highlights, and worked his magic until my hair fell in soft curls down my back the way it had that one time in high school when I accidentally looked amazing for prom.
His makeup wizard introduced me to a taupe eye shadow that made my brown eyes look as though they’d been sprinkled with gold dust. A dab of sheer foundation, a sweep of peach blush, and just the right coral lipstick later, and I didn’t recognize the pretty face in the mirror.
I’d picked the pale blue lingerie tonight and had slipped on some thigh-high stockings before putting on my new dress. I completed the outfit with three inch heels, my black clutch purse, and Nikki’s jewelry. Mamma mia, I was glowing!
Now, I paced my small apartment, ready and waiting for him to show up.
Jesse had forced me to remake my bed with the red satin sheets from the seduction kit.
Truth be told, I didn’t plan to seduce Cam tonight.
It wasn’t my style, and I didn’t know if I was ready for this step yet.
But since the girls said I should go with the flow, I wanted to be prepared—just in case.
One by one, the girls texted me to wish me good luck, as though I was going to war, which didn’t help my nerves. I felt a bit like a virgin bride about to face her new husband on their first night together. How ridiculous was that for a thirty-year-old woman?
Ange’s text included a photo of her wearing a wide-brimmed, straw bonnet with a purple velvet ribbon covered in tiny white lilacs.
Her message read, Found my hat! Next week it’s your turn and you’re not getting away again.
Enjoy your evening and make sure your hunk enjoys it too.
Remember, you’re a fabulous sex goddess and every man in that restaurant will want to do you! *five wink emojis*
I sighed, repeating like a zombie, “I’m a sex goddess. Every man wants to do me. Blah blah.”
By 6:55 I was a basket case, imagining everything that could possibly go wrong. I’d lit the candles and then blown them out twice. What if when I opened the door, there was a draft so strong that my curtains caught fire?
I stared into the mirror for the hundredth time and barely recognized myself.
What if Cam showed up and he liked the way I looked, but then saw the real me again and didn’t?
What if I tripped in my heels, said something stupid, got spinach in my teeth?
What if he didn’t have sex and seduction in mind?
What if I’d misread everything and this wasn’t a date-date?
What if it was just a pity dinner to erase the memory of Porn Night?
I didn’t even know if he was single. He’d implied he didn’t have a wife, but he could have a girlfriend or a fiancée back in Denver, and here I was coming on too strong.
Panic filling me, I was halfway to my bedroom to change into a simpler outfit when I heard a knock at the door.
I froze. He knocked again. My brain kicked into gear. Words from ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade” filled me. Into the valley of death...
Get a grip, Morelli! This has to be better than hat shopping, right?
I inhaled, giving up on trying to slow my racing heart as I opened the door.
Cam’s face registered shock at seeing me. He blinked, his gaze turning smoky with appreciation as it moved over my body.
“Wow. You look... amazing. Not that you didn’t before, but… This is a side of you that I haven’t seen yet. I wish I’d asked you out sooner.”
“It’s never too late.” Was that throaty, flirty voice really mine? Hell, these clothes were power! The sexy undies, elegant dress, and fancy jewelry had wrapped me in confidence I didn’t know I owned. “You clean up nicely too. Want to come in for a drink before we go?”
He nodded and stepped inside. I took a moment to admire him properly.
He wore a tailored midnight-blue suit, paired with a shirt a shade darker.
The absence of a tie and the top button open showed a glimpse of his strong neck.
The colors turned his deep brown eyes into dark, mysterious pools.
As he ran his hand through his hair, I saw the glint of a Patek Phillipe on his wrist. He’d walked straight out of the pages of GQ.
And he came bearing gifts.
“These are for you.” He held out a sleek blue paper bag and a bouquet of fresh-cut tulips. “I didn’t know what flowers you liked, so I picked a classic.”
I blinked at the chocolates, then grinned as I recognized the gold script on the dark box. “La Maison du Chocolat? You don’t mess around.”
“Well, you did have stolen chocolate stashed in your smock the other day. Figured it was a safe bet.”
“It wasn’t stolen, it was borrowed. Thank you so much for these.” I took a moment to admire the flowers, then placed them on the kitchen counter in my one and only vase. “Tulips are my second favorite flowers.”
“And the favorites are…?”
“Sunflowers. But they’re out of season now, obviously.”
He smiled slowly, as though procuring sunflowers in April was the new challenge of his life.
It was the smile of a man who knew he was attractive and used it to his advantage.
While I wasn’t at all immune to his charm, I decided right then and there that I was going to be a challenge for him.
I might end up as a notch on his bed post and he on mine, but not tonight.
I went to the fridge, took out a bottle of white wine, and poured some into two glasses. I handed him one.
“Thank you. Here’s to us.” He raised his glass to mine in a toast. “It took us a while to get here, and I’m excited to see what fate sends our way.”
“To us.” I clinked my glass gently against his, wondering what he’d meant by saying it had taken us a while to get here. We’d only met a week ago, and that was certainly not a long time.
I sipped my wine, while silence filled the room. Damn! I sucked at small talk. This was going to be a long evening.
“So, how’s your sister-in-law doing?” I asked in the end. It was either that or the weather.
“She’s doing great. She’s mastered the crutches, and also uses the furniture for support. My nephew’s quite impressed with her creativity, although Craig thinks she needs to slow down.” He chuckled. “My brother is always the overly cautious one. I tend to dive into the deep end without looking.”
There was something about the way his gaze was fixed on mine as he said the words that had me thinking he was implying a whole lot more. Was I the deep end? If he wanted to dive in so quickly, he had another thing coming—and that wouldn’t be me, not tonight anyway.
I swallowed, moistened my lips, and sipped my wine once again, keeping my tone flirty but light. “I suppose I’m a little like your brother. I usually take time to weigh my options, but every now and then, I’ll do something impulsive.”
He smiled. “Like jumping into the middle of a food fight?”
“Yeah, like that.”
“Any other exciting stuff happen this week?”
“No, thankfully. The week was pretty uneventful at school. How was yours?”
“Busy. I did have a funny incident while moving into a new office, as my name was initially spelled Cameroon Jones.”
I laughed, narrowly missing spraying beer all over him. “Mister Cameroon has an exotic ring to it.”
“I’m sure it will be my nickname from now on.”
“You should stick with Cam, although I suppose that could be turned into Came.”
He emptied his glass. “He came; he saw; he conquered could be my new motto,” he quoted Julius Caesar with dramatic flair.
I finished my wine. “I can see that working, assuming you have something to see and conquer.”
He looked at me, waves of heat radiating between us. “There’s always something to see, but conquering? That takes a little more time and effort. Things worth having are worth working for—that’s actually my motto.”
The look he gave me melted me to the core, no doubt raising my temperature. My skin burned. I gulped, unable to think of a witty comeback. The flirty goddess was running away under this blatant display of pure masculine sexuality. Maybe I’d bitten off more than I could chew by accepting this date.
While I stood there struggling for something clever to say, Cam looked around my apartment.
“I like what you’ve done to the place. It’s minimalist and practical, but also cozy.” He indicated a couple of landscapes on the wall. “Those are Jesse’s, right? The girl who lives downstairs?”
“Yes.” I arched my eyebrows. “How did you know?”
“Sebastian has a couple of her paintings in his living room and one in his bedroom. I was with him when he picked them up at an art show a couple of years ago. It’s too bad she stopped painting. She’s very talented.”
“She hasn’t stopped—well, not completely. She just doesn’t have as much time now that her dad died, and she manages the hardware store alone. One of these days, she’ll hire an assistant manager and go back to doing some of the things she loves.”
“We should all spend time doing the things we love.”
I swallowed, heat pooling in my stomach. The chances were that making love to this man would top my list. He gave me the impression he was so intense in bed that sex with him might kill me, but what a way to go!
Setting down his glass, Cam smiled, the glint in his eyes telling me he knew how his words had affected me. “Ready to go?”
I nodded, reached for his empty glass, and carried it along with mine into the kitchen. When I stepped back into the living room, somewhat more in control of myself, he was holding my coat for me.
“You smell so good.” His mouth was inches from my ear, his breath sending goosebumps racing down my spine. “I ordered a car. It should be waiting for us downstairs.”
“You mean an Uber?”
He gave me a small, mysterious smile. “Something classier than that.”
I tied my coat and followed him out of the apartment, locking the door behind me. We were at the bottom of the stairs when Cam stopped.