Page 21 of Love in Bloom

“We’re supposed to go check out the hotel and dress for dinner, and Connor needs to unpack. I’d better go.”

“Be careful.” Connor’s forehead creased with worry.

“I will.”

“We love you.” Maddie blew her a kiss.

“Love you too.”

“Oh, Camille, who is paying for all this?” Connor gave her a significant look.

Uh. Fair point. “Bye.” Camille ended the call and rested the phone against her forehead. She took several breaths to steady herself and finished unpacking. She and Tristan definitely needed to have a chat about their marital finances and set some ground rules. Otherwise, she’d lose her head and her heart in the next eight days.

Camille opened the doors to find Tristan laid out on the couch, staring at the stunning view of the Mediterranean beyond orange rooftops outside the sliding glass doors. She set her hands on the back of the couch and fingered the fabric.

“How much of that did you hear?”

“All of it.”

Camille winced.

“Your cousin sure does love you.” Tristan shifted his gaze to stare up at her, and she felt her heart hitch a fraction.

“He does,” she agreed.

“I like him.” Tristan swung his legs over the side of the couch and came around to her. “I’ll unpack, and we’ll go explore.”

She laid a hand on his arm. “Who’s paying for this trip?”

“I am.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think that’s fair. If we were married, we’d have combined our money to pay together. I want to pay for half.”

“Camille.” He ran a hand through his hair.

“How much is it?” she pressed.

He whispered the amount in her ear.

Camille’s stomach dropped. That would make a significant dent in her checkbook but not destroy her savings. “I can have my bank wire you the money.”

“Please don’t, Camille. This adventure was my doing, not yours.”

“Yes, but I agreed to come. We’re taking this tour because of me.”

“You think you’re the only one interested in all we can learn here?”

“No. I’m sure you have your academic reasons, same as I do.”

“Academic, of course,” he murmured.

“Please, I don’t want to feel like I owe you anything.”

He frowned. “You think I’d extract ‘payment’ in other ways?”

“No,” she protested. Though the thought had crossed her mind. Blokes who bought her dinner thought she owed them a kiss. This was far more than dinner.

He crossed his arms. “Have it your way, Camille. Wire the money.” He whipped out his phone and sent a message. “There’s my account number.”

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