Page 9 of Warrior's Cross

“Do I look like a whore?” the woman asked him before he could back away from the table. Cameron’s eyes widened, and he could only blink at her.

Julian barked a laugh and shook his head. The sound sent a jolt through Cameron’s gut, and he found himself flustered again despite telling himself he wouldn’t be. Cameron glanced quickly to Julian, who was looking out the window, probably to hide his smile. It made him unbelievably gorgeous. His dark eyes watched Cameron’s reaction in the reflection on the glass.

Despite his surprise and the sudden heat under his collar, Cameron tore his attention away from the man’s transformed face, tipped his head, and answered with the first thing that came to mind. “If you are, ma’am, there’s no way I could afford you.” Cameron bowed slightly and turned away, hoping his haste wasn’t overt as he fled the table. His heart pounded so hard that he felt lightheaded. He stopped at a nearby table of several people to answer questions.

“At least you’re an expensive whore instead of a gold-digging married woman,” Julian said to the woman with a smirk while Cameron was still within hearing range.

The woman sighed loudly and shook her head. “I thought they said you were professional about these things,” she groused. Julian remained silent, merely raising an eyebrow in response. She sighed heavily again and began tapping her wedding ring against her glass nervously. “So, how do we go about this?” she asked.

“Leave that to me,” Julian responded, his voice low and calm. “You’ve already done your part simply by coming here. As soon as I receive payment, we continue.”

“And if I change my mind at the last moment?” she asked with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

“Will you?” Julian asked her in that oddly calm, smooth voice.

She stared at him and then looked down at her drink with a frown. She inhaled deeply and then shook her head. “No,” she answered. “No, I want to do this.”

Julian nodded wordlessly. “Then enjoy your dinner,” he suggested, “and stop worrying about what comes next.”

Making his way back to the service area, Cameron didn’t know what to think about what he had overheard. The woman was obviously joking about being a prostitute. There was no way she would advertise so blatantly if she really were one. He stepped through the doors and walked over to the counter, thinking that he certainly hoped it was a joke. Julian was too gorgeous a man to pay for sex. Then he stopped still, staring at the wall. What if Julian wasn’t the one paying? That last snatch of conversation he’d heard certainly sounded incriminating.

“What’s wrong with you?” Miri asked as she whisked by him.

Cameron shook himself. “Uh. Just thinking,” he said weakly. “I’m okay.”

Miri stopped and looked at him doubtfully. Cameron waved her off. “Just got too much going on,” he said. “Go on.”

“All right,” she responded with a frown as she took her next tray of food and made her way back out into the dining room.

Fifteen minutes later, Cameron emerged with both dinners, setting the tray down expertly before moving to place their plates. He glanced between them to wait for their attention.

Julian watched him as he worked, his eyes following unerringly as his dinner mate looked out the window and rambled about how much she hated Chicago winters. As Cameron arranged the china, he noticed Julian watching him closely and raised an eyebrow in question.

“Thank you,” Julian said to him, the soft words and intent look in his eyes making Cameron feel like the only person Julian saw at that moment was him.

Cameron straightened, smiled nervously, and nodded as he tried to tell himself that he was imagining these things and to calm down.

“You’re welcome,” he murmured.

“Are you always this pleasant?” the woman asked Julian dryly.

“Not often,” Julian answered without taking his eyes off Cameron.

Cameron stepped back with the tray, glancing to the woman before looking back at Julian. “Enjoy your meal,” he said solely to the dark man, feeling a jump in his pulse at his own boldness. Then he edged back from the table.

Julian’s black, unreadable eyes followed his movements, and Cameron paused for a moment, feeling that odd flutter strengthen; then the woman’s chattering voice broke the moment, and he turned to leave.

“If you’ll bring the check back with you,” Julian requested softly.

Cameron looked back at Julian, nodded obediently, and departed; he didn’t even realize he was smiling until he got into the back and one of his fellow waiters gave him a strange look. “What?” he asked suspiciously.

Charles shook his head and grinned impishly. “You’re so completely screwed,” he said with a laugh before moving on with his own tray of food.

Cameron sighed and rolled his eyes. Miri had obviously been talking. He got the check together as requested, despite several of the others chattering around him as they took advantage of a lull in the Saturday night crowd. He wasn’t flustered, just... fascinated, right?

Yes.

He sighed, forcing himself to be honest, at least with himself. He was infatuated. Maybe it was the voice; it was always low and husky, sometimes practically not there. And that one laugh he’d heard...

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