“You were giving me what I asked for.”Begged for.“I want more…”
He glared at me. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“I do.”
His gaze broke from mine and he lifted his phone to read a message. “Sorry.”
I cringed at the interruption to the conversation I’d been psyching myself up to have. Last night he’d relented, proving that our relationship was evolving and that our bond was strengthening. I was ready to satisfy him. Even if it meant facing off with the worst kind of pain. His penchant was legendary, but I’d endure anything for him.
His silence dragged out the tension as he sent his text off.
“Is it Shay?” I glanced at his phone.
“Yes.”
Shay Gardner was his head of security and right-hand man. They were as close as brothers after they’d bonded while in Afghanistan during a dangerous mission to rescue Cole’s brother Henry. Even now Cameron refused to discuss it.
“Shay’s arrived.” He shrugged. “He wants to know why we’re not there.”
I reached for my wine glass. “Me too.”
This detour was making us late.
“I thought we’d explore your reason for keeping us a secret at work.” He sat back and narrowed his gaze.
“Changing the subject?” I threw him a playful smile.
“That other matter is closed.”
“Cameron—”
“Mia.” He leaned forward. “Can I get you anything else? More water?”
To my left sat a full glass of sparkling Perrier. My shoulders slumped in disappointment.
How had Richard described Cameron?“He loves to watch you burn.”
What Richard hadn’t told me was that Cameron was the one who would light the fire and then stand back to savor your awakening. Those memories of once believing Cameron and I could never be still lived on in my nightmares. That was why going against his wishes was so damn hard. I wanted to please him.
I wanted,no, needed him in my life.
He’d been my light in the storm and I wasn’t ready to turn my gaze away from the beacon that had saved me.
Cameron finished off his drink. “Perhaps your reluctance to tell your friends about us is related to how we met? You’re concerned you’ll reveal too much?”
“When I’m ready to let them know I’m dating you they won’t need to know the details. I’ll say we met at my last job.”
And that was true…Cameron had strolled into the coffee room at Enthrall when I’d been hanging out with his dominatrixes Scarlet, Lotte, and Penny. It had been a party atmosphere, right up until he’d walked in and thrown everyone into a spin with his alpha-dominance.
“I’ve already explained,” I said, lowering my voice. “I want a promotion at work from within my department. I’ll prove I’m successful on my own merit.”
“You’d be treated very well if people knew about us. Better than you are right now.”
“What have you heard?”
“Merely an observation.”
I imagined he was referring to his executive assistant Susan, and the way she’d taken a dislike to me after catching a flirtatious grin I’d given Cameron in the Cole Tea Shop. My boss Dana was a class-A bitch, too, though I didn’t tell Cameron. It would be nice not feel Dana shooting daggers at me throughout the day, but I wasn’t the only one who experienced her bullying. She was hard on everyone.