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He cops the reprimand on the chin and crosses his fingers they never find out the real reason he’s ignored the texts.
‘The symphony is perfect for you two. It’s totally romantic.’
Which is why it’s a bad idea to invite her. He can keep his emotions in check when things are confined to the bedroom, and he has to keep them in check if he’s going to get to the end of this week without hurt feelings. Put him and Jules in a ‘totally romantic’ set up and things could get sticky. Jules made it clear last night. This is a fling. He wants, no, needs it to be that too.
‘I didn’t promise. I said I’d think about it.’ He’d had to concede that far so his sisters would let him escape the lunch table yesterday.
‘You can think about it while you’re listening to the performance.’
‘That’s not a convincing argument.’ Cameron shovels some muesli into his mouth.
He turns to watch Jules, who glances up at him and smiles, quick and cheerful, before dropping her attention to her phone.
‘Hang on,’ he tells Chloe, remembering something Jules had asked him last night, about wanting a guide to show her the ‘adult’ side of Sydney. Seeing the symphony must count as an adult activity. Classical music and champagne. And he knows from their phone calls and her choice of sleep shirt that she’s as into music as he is, so she’ll actually enjoy it, not like the one time he brought Braden along.
The chest whirlwind stirs hopefully, but this is him being friendly, not romantic. Jules wants a guide and he has access to tickets. It makes sense.
‘Okay,’ he tells Chloe. ‘Do it.’
Chloe lets out a gleeful screech that pulls Jules’s attention to him again. Her eyebrows raise in a question.
He presses his phone to his chest so Chloe can’t eavesdrop. ‘Do you have any plans tonight?’ he asks Jules.
‘No.’
‘Do you want to come see a concert at the Opera House with me? The Sydney Symphony Orchestra is playing.’
Jules’s mouth pops open. ‘The Opera House? Tonight?’
‘Yeah.’
A smile spreads out over her face. It’s like watching the sun appear. ‘Yes. I want to do that. Oh my gosh, that would be incredible.’
‘Great.’ The whirlwind picks up speed in Cameron’s chest, spreading warmth through his torso. He pinches himself hard enough to bruise.
Returning Jules’s smile, he picks up the phone again. ‘Jules is in,’ he tells Chloe. ‘I’ll get Carrie to text me the details.’
‘It’s a date!’ Chloe proclaims. Cameron doesn’t bother correcting her before hanging up. He’s got better things to concentrate on, like Jules staring at him like he’s a knight in shining armour. It makes him want to grab her round the waist and kiss her. If she’s this excited by the idea, what’s she going to be like when they’re actually at the Opera House?
‘I can’t believe you got me a ticket to the symphony,’ she says.
‘Technically, Carrie did,’ he says. ‘She’s played cello with the orchestra for years.’
‘I had no idea Carrie played. That’s incredible.’ She folds her arms on the table and leans over them.
Cameron echoes her position, bringing their faces closer together. Her eyes are bright and sparkling and he can’t take his focus off them. They look different in the morning light than they had in his bed last night.
‘Have you seen the SSO perform before?’ he asks.
‘No, never. But I used to listen to a lot of classical music with my Grandma, and she’d try to listen to any of their recorded concerts when they ended up on the radio.’
‘Sounds nice,’ he says, hearing fondness clear in her voice.
‘Yeah. It was nice. She’s where I got my love of classical music from.’ She reaches for the salt shaker, shaking even more onto her half-eaten eggs. ‘Do you remember those Bugs Bunny, Looney Tunes symphony things they did? With, like, Ride of the Valkyries, William Tell.’
Cameron squints, a hazy memory coming to mind. ‘Was there one set in a barber’s shop?’
Jules leans back in her seat to laugh. Cameron watches her joy like she’s the New Year’s Eve fireworks, echoing bursts of pleasure going off in his own chest. She’s as hot and bright and as dangerous up close.
