Page 18 of Instant Bond

He laughed a little, nuzzling more deeply into me. “Okay.”

We were quiet after that, just resting and absorbing each other, until it was close to time for Ty’s bus to bring him home from school. I could tell Cameron regretted of having to tell me to leave, but I understood. He’d struggled telling me about Ty, but explaining to your child that you were seeing someone new was much more complicated.

The way he kissed me before I left, a long, deep, slow kiss that threatened to halt my brain function made it clear he wanted to see me again. As soon as was humanly possible for both of us. The feeling was completely mutual.

Nearly a week passed without him having a day off. It was difficult not seeing him in person, but we sent messages back and forth all day, which helped.

When I found out one of our executives needed to cancel on attending an out-of-town brand event and I was the only one who could take their place, I knew I’d want to see Cameron before I left, even if it was only for five minutes between him getting off work and getting home to greet Ty.

What time does your shift end tomorrow?I asked him in a text. Before he could answer, there was a knock on my office door.

Lucas entered, and my mood immediately plummeted.

“What do you want?” I asked.

He pulled up a chair to my desk and plopped down in it.

“You know, people are gossiping about you,” he told me. His voice was condescending and annoying as always.

“I don’t care. Do you have something business-related to discuss with me?”

“Thisisbusiness related,” he informed me. “People are saying you dragged some twinky little lollipop in here for a spa day. Is that true?”

Giving him a withering look, I tried to scrape up any patience I had left for his presence. “Your point?”

“Is that your idea of a date or something? It’s weird that a guy like you has absolutely no game.”

“It wasn’t a date,” I countered. “And your opinion of my dating prowess is worthless to me. Like your opinion on everything else.” Regardless, it didn’t matter if he was right or not. Cameron liked me for me, not what I could give him. For once.

“Anyway.” He waved my answer away. “I actually came because I wanted to apologize. It’s been awkward as hell between us, and it’s lame to have tension with someone you work with.”

“We don’t work together.”

“Sure, we do,” he argued. “We’re both going to the convention this weekend, aren’t we?”

“You’re going to that?” I could barely suppress a groan.

“Yep! I’m going as a brand ambassador. They’re using me for social media content.”

“How wonderful for you.”

“So anyway, I’m tired of things being weird between us. I get you’re not into me. Apparently, I’m not your type.” It was an understatement, but one I didn’t care to confirm or elaborate on. “So let’s just start over, clean slate.”

“Fine.” The slate could be cleared, but I still didn’t like or trust him. He was a sneaky, manipulative person. He’d always been willing to go to any lengths to get what he wanted, ever since we were kids in school.

“So go out for a drink with me after work. As friends,” he added quickly.

It was the last thing I wanted to do, but if there was even a small chance of his sincerity, I wanted to encourage it. If it would cause fewer encounters with him in the future, it would be worth it.

“Who else is going?” I questioned. He gave an innocent shrug of his shoulders in response.

“I didn’t really ask anyone else, so just us, I guess?”

I wanted to roll my eyes to the ceiling, but it was just as well. Without other people to add their conversation, it would be over quicker.

“Fine.” He gave me the name of the place, which I jotted down into my phone. I noticed that Cameron had responded to my text as I did, so I rushed Lucas out.

That evening, at the sophisticated little bar Lucas had directed me to, I sat across from him, completely unsure what to say. It was awkward and I didn’t want to be there. He did not share my feelings for our current situation.

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