Page 43 of Things We Fake
“Of course. There’s no rush,” Emilio said, collecting our plates with quiet efficiency.
Most of the other diners had cleared out, and Brittany’s table was finally empty. Thank the gods of good champagne.
“In case I forget to say it later, thank you,” I murmured. “I had a wonderful time tonight.”
“So did I,” Cam said softly. “And I’m hoping this is just the first of many dates.”
God, please let it be true.
He pulled out his phone and tapped in a number. “Hi, Ray. We’ll be ready to leave in twenty minutes. Thanks.”
Emilio reappeared to take a few photos of us. To his credit, he posed us like a saint moonlighting as aphotographer. And for a couple of people on their first official date, Cam and I moved as though we’d done this a hundred times before. The feel of his hands on my waist and his breath tickling the back of my neck made me drunker than all the wine in the restaurant.
After Cam settled the bill, Emilio returned with my coat and helped me into it. The chill hit me the second we stepped outside, and I shivered involuntarily.
“You’re cold.” Cam slipped an arm around me, drawing me closer. The warmth of him seeped straight through my coat and into my bones.
Ray held the door open, and I rushed into the backseat. Cam followed and pulled me into his arms again. I let myself lean into him—tipsy, full, and happier than I’d ever been. Everything would work itself out. The girls wanted me to take a leap? I was halfway to the frigging moon!
After a few blocks, I glanced up at him. “Why didn’t you tell me you owned Omega Software? I assumed you just worked there. I mean, how many CEOs do in-services with schoolteachers?”
He hesitated, just for a beat. “Does it matter?”
My brow furrowed. “Not really. But it’s not exactly a minor detail.”
He gave a small smile. “I wanted to spend more time with you. When you mentioned you were the liaison for the school, I figured I’d volunteer for the in-service. That way, we’d have an excuse to keep talking.”
I blinked. “You infiltrated the committee for me?”
He grinned. “Technically, it was a mutually beneficial software initiative.”
“You romantic saboteur.”
He chuckled. “What can I say? I like your glow.”
I laughed and curled closer. “Well, my brother will be very impressed. My dad will probably wish you were a winemaker or a mechanic. My mom… she’ll want you to relocate the company to Warwick and start planting babies.”
“I’ll keep the getaway car running. But no way am I leaving you to face Neil and your mother on your own.”
“You say the sweetest things.”
I laid my head on his shoulder and kept it there for the twenty-minute drive back, the city lights flickering past in a slow, lazy blur. When Ray pulled up in front of our building, Cam helped me out into the chilly night air, his hand steady around mine.
He tipped Ray, then we walked up the outside stairs hand in hand.
“Turn around,” he said as we reached the front door.
I did. The full moon had risen, pouring silver over the world like spilled stardust. For a second, I was in an old black-and-white movie—a young Audrey Hepburn gazing up at a handsome Cary Grant, suspended in that cinematic magic that never fades.
“Some say wishes made under a full moon are more likely to come true,” he said. “Do you want to wish with me, Susanne?”
“I do.”
I grinned and closed my eyes.
I wished that whatever we’d started tonight would keep going, and that somewhere down the road, love and sex would be part of it… and when Brittany finally met Karma, I wanted a front row seat.
“All done?” I asked, my eyes still closed.
