Page 73 of Ashley & the A-Listers

Ashley grinned. “Through dedication to your many training instructors, and eating well?”

Cam shook his head in a very serious manner. “Nah, it’s all about the sleep.”

The food was amazing, and Ashley eventually relaxed, because in this corner where it was just them, it was easy to block out all the other diners.

“Dessert?” the waiter asked, and Cameron agreed before anyone else could. He never wanted this night to end.

As the waiter walked away, a young woman in a sparkling pink dress approached the table.

Dylan sat up straighter, moving to the end of the booth, ready to intervene. She looked harmless enough, though, as she earned all of their attention.

Her cheeks flushed. “I’m so sorry to interrupt, and this is probably really rude of me, but I just had to ask.” She lowered her voice. “Are you Cameron Thomas?”

Dylan stood up. “We’re in the middle of dinner right now?—”

Cameron knocked on the table once. “It’s fine.” He addressed the girl. “No photos tonight, but I can sign something for you, if you’d like,” he offered with a smile.

Her blush deepened and Cameron tried not to feel awkward about the way Ashley’s gaze lingered on him.

“Sorry, I know it’s a bad time. I just couldn’t miss this chance to tell you how much I loved you inOmega’s Valentine. I’ve got a slip of paper here somewhere,” she said, and began rummaging around in a small purse.

Cameron blinked. “Really? That one?” That was one of the first movies he'd done when he was just breaking into acting. It had been a terribly cheesy rom-com, but he’d had fun making it.

“Yeah, it was just so sweet. It’s one of the movies my pack and I tend to watch on rainy days.”

Cameron’s chest felt funny about that.

“That’s really sweet of you to say,” he said, and accepted a small piece of paper, torn from a tiny notebook, and a pen. He signed it with a flourish and added a little heart, a tiny thanks for watching, and handed it back to her.

“TheHeat of the Momentmovies are great, too, of course, but I’m a romantic at heart,” she gushed. “Oh my god, thank you again. I’m so sorry to bother you. Have a great night with your pack,” she said, and scurried off to join a pack of alphas waiting not too many feet away.

His cheeks heated at the assumption she’d made, and felt everyone at the table recognize it, too.

He cleared his throat. “Sorry about that,” he said, and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.

“Does that happen a lot?” Ashley asked, and sipped her wine.

The tension fled as she led the conversation. “Not too often,” he said. “Usually I’m wearing a hat or a mask or something to disguise myself.”

“You do look red carpet ready,” she said, glancing over him, eyes shining.

“That’s a high compliment,” he told her. “You look like you could stand right beside me.”

Her cheeks turnedpink,and Cameron wanted to cheer.

“Alright, smooth talker,” River drawled. “Dessert is here,” he said as the waiter approached with a few little trays of beautiful crème brûlée.

The night ended far too soon, and Cam wished they could order dessert ten times over just to keep Ashley at the table.

He liked spending time with her outside of the gym, beyond running drills and sparring.

Tomorrow,he told himself.

“So we’ll see you tomorrow morning, then?” he asked as they awaited the valet.

“Yeah. Are you guys cool meeting at my place, and we can go from there?”

“Of course.”

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