Page 49 of The Bachelor

“Let me ask you something,” Camden voiced to her. “Are there any starters on the menu that Kimmy just can’t live without?”

She pointed at her chest, her cheeks reddening. “Me?”

“Yes. You.”

Camden had this unbelievable talent to make you feel like you were the only woman in the room. That he was whispering the question directly in your ear. Even his tone was tantalizing.

Her smile widened, and she reached for a chunk of her hair, holding it, curling it around her finger. “I have two faves. I eat them almost every shift.”

“Bring them.”

She giggled. “But I haven’t told you what they are.”

“You don’t need to.” He traced his lips with his thumb and pointer finger. “I trust you.”

“Wow, okay. You’re definitely going to be my favorite table of the night.” She didn’t glance at me at all when she added, “I’ll be right back with the drinks.”

Once we were alone, I asked, “What if I’m a picky eater?”

“You’re not.”

I tried to find the answer in his stare and couldn’t. “How do you know that?”

“Oaklyn, come on. You’re forgetting we’re friends on social media, and you’ve been in my life for how long?”

Details I was surprised he’d picked up on.

Shocked actually.

But I wasn’t going to focus on that. I was going to change the subject.

“You know, you have such a way with women. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like it before.”

“What do you mean?”

I searched his eyes. “How can you possibly not know what I’m talking about? You just made Kimmy want to straddle you in a matter of seconds.”

His head cocked to the side. “Does that make you jealous, Oaklyn?”

This time, when I laughed, it was the most honest sound even if the reply wasn’t. “No.”

“No?”

“There are zero feelings involved here; therefore, there’s no jealousy.” And because I felt like he needed a little dig for even thinking that, I added, “Don’t flatter yourself, Camden.”

With his arms still resting on the table, his thumbs rubbed together. “With this being the first major lesson, I needed to make sure.”

“Fair enough.” To try and throw him off from reading me even more, I glanced around the large, open space and asked, “Why here? And why a restaurant and not a bar?”

“There are three reasons. For one …” His voice faded out until I met his eyes again. “I’m fucking hungry.”

“Bars have food.”

“But they’re loud and filled with chatter and music. You can hide in a bar, sort of fall into the background and no one will notice. Which brings me to reason number two—restaurants are more transparent, and it’s a setting that will really test you.”

“Are you trying to set me up to fail?”

He licked across the same lip that he’d scraped earlier. “Now, wouldn’t I be a stupid man if I did something like that? You’ve promised me your ass, Oaklyn, and that’s something I want so fucking badly. If I haven’t already told you, your ass is perfect.” He shook his head. “Shit, it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen, and I get to slide my dick inside its tight little hole. And then I get your pussy—another territory that no one’s ever been inside of before.” He leaned even closer to me. “You picked the lesson. You told me you wanted it to happen in public. So, tell me, why would I want you to fail?”

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