Page 11 of Warrior's Cross

“Of course. In twenty-four hours I’ll be in the Caymans, mourning my dead husband. I have no reason to come back.”

“Good. Finish your meal.”

Blake cut off the recorder with a click and looked up at Cameron with a small smile. “Thank you, Cameron,” he said in a pleased voice. “You didn’t hear that,” he instructed with a grin.

Cameron shrugged. “I don’t hear a lot of things,” he said with a small smile, though he thought the exchange exceedingly odd. A lot of people talked about delicate things at restaurants, forgetting the help that moved around them silently. He didn’tknow what was going on, and he didn’t think he wanted to know.

“Well, you’ve done your good deed for the week, at any rate,” Blake informed him as he picked up the phone at his elbow and dialed. “What did you think of the woman?” he asked slyly as he waited for an answer.

Cameron’s lips twitched. “She asked me if she looked like a whore,” he said significantly.

“She might as well be,” Blake grumbled good-naturedly. “We’ll see how she likes a nice eight-by-ten cell,” he added with relish. “Don’t put me on hold!” he shouted into the phone, and then he cursed under his breath and looked back up at Cameron. “Julian, huh?” he asked with a small, knowing smirk.

“That’s what she called him,” Cameron offered weakly. “You asked—”

“That is his name,” Blake assured him. “What do you think ofhim?” he asked, the smirk growing into one of his signature mischievous grins.

“Think ofhim?” Cameron echoed with a slight crack to his voice.

His mind raced as he tried to think of something appropriate. “Uh. He tips really well, and he doesn’t ask for outlandish things. He’s a good customer,” he finally said, not sure what he could say without revealing how he felt.

“He certainly is,” Blake agreed with a nod, though his smile didn’t fade. “Did he say anything to you about this?” he asked as he waved at the recorder on the desk. “Or did he just thrust it at you and grunt like he usually does?”

Cameron thought about it, his eyes going out of focus. “He asked me if I would do him a favor if he asked. I said maybe.” He shrugged again.

“Slightly foolhardy of you, considering the man asking the favor,” Blake chastised as he tapped his pen impatiently, still holding the phone to one ear.

Cameron snapped out of it and answered without thinking it through. “What about him? It’s not like I know him. I mean, if a gorgeous woman asked you for a favor, wouldn’t you say yes?”

“Probably.” Blake laughed softly. “Ha!” he exclaimed suddenly. “No no no; don’t put me on hold,” he growled into the phone. He looked up at Cameron and grinned wickedly. “Go ahead and take off, Cam,” he advised with a jerk of his head. “Let the others clean up tonight.”

“Okay,” Cameron responded in amused confusion. Blake was obviously doing something he was enjoying immensely, and when Blake was enjoying himself, it was hard not to be amused.

He gave Blake one last look as the man turned away and started talking. At least Blake hadn’t teased him after that “gorgeous” line. As he walked down the hall and toward the kitchen to get his coat, Cameron told himself to stop thinking about the man named Julian. He rolled his eyes. As if that would do any good now.

The man known as Julian Cross paced restlessly as he waited for midnight. He held his phone in his hand, had been holding it long enough that it had grown warm, in fact, and he glanced at the time display every few seconds as the hour neared. Finally he allowed himself to dial Blake Nichols’ number.

“I wondered how long you’d wait,” Blake said in greeting.

“Shut up,” Julian grumbled as he forced himself to stop pacing. “Did you get it?” he asked worriedly. He’d harbored doubts about using the waiter as a delivery service, but Blake had more than once assured him the man was reliable anddiscreet, and Julian’s own slight infatuation had pushed him into being incautious. He’d been fretting over it ever since—something he wasn’t prone to do.

“It’s safe right here in my hot little hands,” Blake answered. He paused. “Did you really think Cameron wouldn’t bring it to me?”

“Hey,” Julian grunted in annoyance. “When something leaves my hands, I worry, okay? That’s what I do. I don’t trust you or your harebrained ideas any farther than I can throw you.”

Blake chuckled. “Well, you can stop worrying. Cameron delivered it just like he said he would. He didn’t even listen to it first.” He paused again. “Why’d you ask him? Why not bring it to me directly? You knew I was in my office.”

Julian pressed his lips together and then pursed them thoughtfully.

He thought about pointing out that there was always the possibility that he was being followed and traipsing back into the private offices to see Blake whenever he wanted probably wasn’t a good idea. But Blake already knew that. He was simply poking at one of Julian’s very few vulnerable spots. Blake knew Julian was interested in Cameron, and he just couldn’t help himself from teasing Julian mercilessly about it.

“He’s more fun to look at than you are,” Julian finally answered instead of giving a more serious answer.

Blake’s laugh rang out. “You’re an ass,” he responded delightedly. “Oh, by the way, did you know you’regorgeous?”

“Yes, I was aware,” Julian answered without missing a beat. He waited a moment before he gave a suspicious, “Why?”

A snicker came across the line. “Never mind. I made the call, and they’ll get this thing to the right people. Good job, by the way. She wasn’t as smart as we gave her credit for, huh?”

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