Chapter 32
The night was humid, like every other night, but tonight it felt hotter, and I didn’t think it was just the weather. I tugged at the hem of my dress for the fiftieth time in a matter of minutes.
‘Stop fidgeting.’
‘This dress is a nightmare.’ I gave the offending thing another tug. ‘How do women wear these? It’s like being shrink-wrapped or something.’
‘Stop touching it; you’re not giving it a chance to be comfortable. You keep yanking at the hem.’
‘That’s because there is no hem. This isn’t even a dress. It’s a single piece of fabric cosplaying as a dress. I’ve seen napkins that are more dress-like than this.’
Cam smirked, but before he could respond, my heel caught on an uneven stone and I stumbled. I barely caught myself in time.
‘You need to practise walking in those things too,’ he said, looking down at my feet.
‘I’m afraid there isn’t a course that teaches you how to walk on tiny pointy sticks without breaking your ankle.
And also, don’t tell me how to do my job.
In fact, do that again and this little arrangement between us is over and you can figure out how to get Victor all on your own.
Remember, I’m doing you a favour, so don’t—’
‘A favour?’ Cam cut me off and then smiled slowly. ‘So is that what all that was about earlier, doing me some favours?’
‘I’m talking about a professional favour, not a personal one.’
‘Isn’t that what Captain Sisko said in Deep Space Nine? “Pale Moonlight” was the episode, I think. Called it a professional favour for the Federation, but really it was all driven by personal reasons.’
‘Don’t you dare bring my favourite TV show into this,’ I said, pointing an accusatory finger at him but also wondering how the hell he knew that.
‘How do you know Star Trek isn’t my favourite TV show too?’
I folded my arms. ‘Because you once told me you hated it.’
‘I got into it.’
‘You got into Star Trek?’
‘Yeah,’ he said, like it was the most normal thing in the world. ‘After that night, when we stopped talking, I missed you and I figured . . .’ He hesitated and gave a little shrug. ‘I figured I’d get to know you a little better.’
‘By watching Star Trek?’
‘Exactly.’
‘How did watching Star Trek help you get to know me?’ I asked.
‘I think you can tell a lot about a person by their favourite TV show, book or movie.’
‘And what did Star Trek tell you about me?’ I crossed my arms defiantly, waiting for the no doubt ridiculous analogy that Cam was going to present me with.
‘I realised that you’re very Vulcan.’
‘More like a Klingon,’ I corrected him.
‘No, you’re Vulcan,’ he insisted. ‘They come across as cold and distant, totally emotionless. They push people away with their logic and control, but deep down, they feel everything.’ He stepped closer to me.
‘They just don’t know how to show it, and also, they think showing it will make them look weak. But it doesn’t.’
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Something about his assessment of me left me feeling uneasy. A cold, prickly feeling started rising on the back of my neck, making me itchy. I reached around and tried to scratch it, but it wasn’t that kind of feeling.
‘You’re wrong,’ I finally managed to say.
I pulled at the hem of my dress one last time, then turned with a flourish and set off towards the restaurant, swaying my hips as I walked.
I’d decided to embrace the ridiculous outfit.
So what if it didn’t have a hem, who needs a hem anyway?
And so what if with each step it crept higher and higher?
So what if it pulled so tightly across my breasts and ass that I might as well consider it an outer layer of skin?
It was not going to own me. I was going to own it, even if that meant beating it into submission.
‘Very impressive,’ Cam said from behind me.
I tossed my hair. ‘I know.’ And then, because the universe hated me, and the dress knew what I was thinking, my heel caught again. My foot twisted, my ankle wobbled, and before I knew it, I was toppling sideways into a bush. My arms flapped about uselessly and I fell with a very undignified oomph.
Cam looked down at me for a moment before extending his hand. ‘Need help?’
I glared up at him. ‘Nope.’
‘You sure?’
‘Yup!’
‘Fine.’ He put his hand into his pocket, adopting a casual pose while he watched me struggle to untangle myself.
One heel was stuck in the dirt, a branch was jabbing me in the ribs and there were leaves in my hair.
But still I was not going to accept this man’s hand.
Eventually, with one almighty yank, I freed myself.
‘There,’ I said triumphantly.
‘Indeed, there.’ Cam’s eyes dropped to my legs and I looked down.
My dress had risen so high that the hem was around my belly button and my little white panties were on full display.
‘Eyes up.’ I clicked my fingers in front of his face, but when he didn’t move his gaze, it was time to get forceful. I stuck a pointy nail under his chin and physically pushed his head up.
‘See, not very Vulcan of me. And if you’re not careful, I’ll battle you to death like a Klingon too.’
‘I wouldn’t go into battle like this, though.
’ And then, I felt his hand on my hem. He started to pull the dress down, very, very slowly, his fingers grazing my naked skin as he did.
He paused momentarily when he reached the top of my panties, but then locked eyes with me and continued to pull.
I tried not to react as his knuckles grazed my stomach on the way down, a feeling that made me want to explode.
‘There,’ he said, smoothing the dress back into place. But he didn’t move away; instead he just stared at me, as if he was daring me to do something. So I did. I jabbed my finger into his chest.
‘The point of tonight is to gather intel on Amber and Victor. Nothing more, nothing less. Got it? It’s purely professional. That’s all.’
‘Didn’t seem that professional earlier. And doesn’t seem so professional now either.’ He looked down at my finger. ‘It’s not common to assault your co-workers, I believe.’
‘Assault?’ I scoffed. ‘Keep this up, Cam, and I’ll really show you what assault is.’ I stepped closer to him, as threatening as I could be. And then he . . . he . . .
Laughed! He fucking laughed.
‘Cam, I mean it. I will literally—’
‘What?’ He cut me off again; this was becoming a habit I didn’t like. ‘Knock me unconscious? Choke me out? Throw me to the sharks? What will you do, Lizzy? What will you do?’ He walked towards me, and my finger buckled against his weight. ‘I thought you were all about being professional?’
‘I am.’
‘Well, then I think you’re forgetting something.’
‘What?’
He reached down, pulled my finger off his chest and wrapped his entire hand around it. ‘We’re supposed to look like we’re in love, baby.’
‘That’s going to be difficult.’
‘At least let me hold your hand,’ he said.
‘You are holding it,’ I pointed out, looking down at it.
He loosened his grip and slowly slipped his fingers into mine. The sensation made my pulse race. I just hoped he couldn’t feel it, because now it felt like my heart was beating in each and every one of my fingertips.
‘You’d better not take advantage of this situation. You’d better not play this up,’ I said.
‘Of course I won’t, you know me.’
‘Yeah, I do. And that’s what I’m afraid of.’
‘Big smile, sweetie,’ he said, and steered me down the path towards the restaurant.
‘I’m smiling on the inside,’ I said through gritted teeth.
‘Have I told you how ravishing you look tonight, sweet pea?’ he asked.
‘Call me that again and I’ll show you how not sweet I can be.’
‘Oh, I know you’re not sweet, trust me. But I’ve always thought that sweet is a little basic? Sugar is sweet, a doughnut is sweet . . . You?’
He stopped walking, bringing us to a halt, then turned to face me again. I fixed my eyes on the path ahead of us.
‘You’re more complex. More sweet and sour, with a bit of chilli thrown in too.’
Even though I hadn’t looked up, I knew he was smiling at me; no, not smiling, it was more of a smirk.
‘Good thing I like my meals with a little more bite.’ Cam pulled me again and once more we were walking.
If he wanted bite, I would show him bite. He had no idea . . .
‘Oh, and one last thing,’ Cam said, stopping.
‘What?’
‘Your outfit isn’t complete.’
‘No shit,’ I said, looking down at the not hem.
‘That’s not what I mean.’ Cam reached into his pocket and pulled something out. ‘Open your hand,’ he said.
I signed, irritated, but opened it anyway.
‘Close your eyes now.’
I didn’t. Instead I rolled them at him. ‘Cam, hurry, we are going to be late.’
‘Here.’ He dropped the small object into my hand and I knew exactly what it was because it momentarily blinded me.
‘It’s . . . it’s . . .’ I stared at the massive diamond ring on my palm. ‘Where on earth did you get this, Cam, it’s huge?’
I looked up at him and he smiled at me, the kind of smile that said . . .
‘Where did you steal this from?’
‘Steal is such a harsh word. Borrow more like it.’ His smile grew.
‘Okay, fine, where did you borrow this from?’
‘You know the yacht at the dock, the really, really big one?’
‘Yeeees,’ I said suspiciously, not sure I was going to like what he was going to say.
‘Well, the owners are vacationing in the Alps, they dock their yacht here and will only be back in a few months. The safe was very hard to crack, but I have skills.’ His smile only grew.
‘Don’t worry, it will be back in there soon and they won’t even know it was borrowed.’
I eyed him for a moment.
‘No security cameras, no alarms, no one was around. It’s like it never happened.’
‘You better hope so,’ I said and then took it between my fingers and held it up to the light.
‘The valuation certificate in the safe says it’s worth $500,000, so you better not lose it.’
‘What?’ I rapid-blinked at him.
‘Well, if we want to get close to Amber and Victor, you need a ring worthy of the company they keep. Here.’
Before I could protest, he took the ring from my finger and then pulled my hand towards him. And then, he slid the ring onto my finger. It should have been stupid and ridiculous. It was, but . . .
The careful motion, the way his thumb grazed my hand as he brushed it over my knuckles, the way he twisted the ring into place until it fit perfectly. Something about all that sent a strange, unwelcome flicker down my arm.
A bang in my chest, a heightened awareness of his finger on mine.
‘There, perfect,’ Cam said softly, and dragged his eyes back to mine. They locked on to me and a feeling so overwhelming and uncomfortable filled me to bursting point.
I pulled my hand away as quickly as I could and then cleared my throat because a lump had just taken up residence there.
‘Perfect! Sure, nothing says perfect more than grand larceny and possession of stolen property.’
I turned around and started striding again, but all I could feel was the ring, all I could feel was his fingers on my knuckles and the feeling that was still pounding away in my chest.
Yup, if Lizzy were a Star Trek character, she’d definitely be a Vulcan.
Logic, control and this habit of protecting herself with sarcasm like it was a deflector shield.
But the thing with Vulcans was this: for all their coldness and perfectly arched eyebrows, they weren’t emotionless.
And Lizzy certainly wasn’t either. Because I could see the cracks in her armour starting to show.
And how did I know for sure?
That kiss . . .
You didn’t kiss someone like that if you didn’t still have feelings for them.
And that ring . . .
I’d noticed the hitch in her breath and the quiver that had run up her arm.
She wasn’t as good at hiding her feelings as she thought.