Page 29 of Staging Love
Camilla let out a shaky laugh, running a hand throughher tangled hair. "Honestly? I'm a mess. I woke up and you were holding me, and I just..." She trailed off, struggling to find the right words. "I realized how big this is for me. How much I want this - want you - in my life. And I'm terrified because I've never felt this way before, and I've already messed everything up so badly."
Jade listened intently, then reached out and took her hand, interlacing their fingers. "Thank you for being honest with me.”
Camilla squeezed her hand, drawing strength from the contact. "What about you? How are you feeling?"
Jade was quiet for a long moment, her gaze fixed on their joined hands. "I feel... weird," she finally admitted. "It's been a strange night. I've done a lot of thinking."
Camilla's heart clenched, fear gripping her as she waited for Jade to continue.
"I believe you," Jade said. "I believe that what you feel is real. And I don't think either of us saw this coming."
"You do?"
Jade nodded. "Yeah. I mean, don't get me wrong - I'm still hurt and confused about a lot of things. But I can see the sincerity in your eyes. I can feel it in the way you touch me, the way you look at me. That's not something you can fake."
"So where do we go from here?" Camilla asked. “I mean, privately. Between us."
Jade's eyebrow arched. "That depends. If we were dating, would you still marry a stranger on paper for convenience? Someone other than me?"
"No," Camilla said firmly, without hesitation. "Absolutely not. It was a stupid idea to begin with, but it seemed practical at the time. I don’t know what I was thinking."
Jade nodded, seemingly satisfied with theanswer. "Despite our different stances on marriage, I can somehow understand where you were coming from. You should have still told me the whole truth, but I get it."
Camilla hesitated. "So... you were talking about dating?"
A faint blush crept up Jade's cheeks. "Well, isn't that what we're doing? Sharing a bed? Sharing both difficult and beautiful moments? Figuring things out together? I know it’s only been a few days but we’ve kind of sped things up, being stuck here together and meeting the family."
Camilla felt a smile spreading across her face. "Yeah," she said. "I guess it is."
They sat in silence, processing the weight of what had just been acknowledged between them. Camilla tried to wrap her mind around this new prospect. “Do you really want to date me, after everything?”
"I do," Jade said, leaning in to kiss her. “How do you feel about being in a relationship with a woman?
Camilla chuckled softly. "It's funny,” she said. “My first thought would be how my family feels about it, but that's really not an issue anymore, is it?"
Jade tilted her head, considering. "Did you even think about that before? That they might have a problem with you being gay when you hired me to play your fiancée?"
"Not really," Camilla admitted, frowning. "I didn't even think that far ahead because it wasn't my reality then. It seemed so simple at the time, but now that it's real..." She trailed off, her eyes meeting Jade's. "Now I have a lot to process."
"That's understandable,” Jade whispered. “It's a big change."
"I want you to know I'm not taking this lightly. It's a big thing for me, something I have to get used to. But at the same time, being with you feels entirely natural." Camillapaused. “And as far as my family is concerned, they’ve really taken it in stride, haven’t they? At least I can sort of skip the difficult coming-out part.”
“They’ve been great,” Jade agreed. “They’ve made me feel so welcome. I really like everyone. She scrunched her nose, then added with a wry smile, "Well, maybe apart from Theresa.”
Camilla groaned, rolling her eyes. "Oh God, Theresa. I’m with you on that."
Jade furrowed her brow. "You know, I've been wondering... Why does Theresa want your father's company so badly? I mean, her mother has a successful business too, right? Couldn't she grow in her mother's company and eventually take over one day?"
Camilla let out a bitter laugh. "Oh, it's simple really. Theresa is greedy. She wants it all."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, she's already the finance director at Cupid's Gifts," Camilla explained. "And on top of that, she's also a majority shareholder in her mother's company. But here's the thing - Aunt Vivian is way too young to step down anytime soon. So in the meantime, Theresa's set her sights on gaining control over Cupid's Gifts."
Jade's eyes widened. "Wow, that's... intense."
"Yeah. For Theresa, it's always been about accumulating as much power and control as possible. She's never been satisfied with what she has. It's always about what she can get next."
