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‘I personally don’t think moving to Canberra was a great choice for him,’ Chloe continues while Jules’s stomach grows heavy. ‘It seems like he’s isolated himself, which isn’t great for him. Or anyone, for that matter. But he seems his old self with you.’
Chloe gives her an unguarded smile but Jules is still stuck a step behind. ‘Braden?’
‘Oh, yeah. He was dating this woman at his old work and things did not end well,’ Chloe says with a dark look on her face. ‘Not to get into the specifics, but it really shook his confidence. She’s actually attending the conference with you guys.’
‘Really?’ Jules asks, stomach stirring uncomfortably.
‘Uh-huh. Honestly, me and Carrie have been worried about him seeing her again.’ Chloe recaps the mascara, returning it to Jules’s make-up bag, and taking the time to pack the rest of her stuff away, except for a tube of lipstick. ‘That’s why we’re glad you’re with him. Otherwise, he’d be getting all trapped in his own head, turning into a doom and gloom guy. He needs some sunshine around.’
Chloe steps behind Jules to start undoing the hair curlers. With each perfect curl that unravels over her shoulders, the ache grows inside Jules, the one that can only be filled by learning more about Cameron than just his body.
She was riding that post-orgasm high after last night if she thought the sex alone would be satisfying. No way will she be satisfied with just a fling. She wants to know him in all the ways partners know each other. Like what he’s like early in the morning and when he’s tired, what he wears to bed and how he sleeps, what makes him laugh so much he cries, if he’s ticklish anywhere.
Knowing his sisters approve of her—which they must if Chloe felt able to drop so much info about Cameron on her today—helps her stomach settle, though her legs feel shaky as she stands in front of the mirror. Chloe’s made her look classy but still sensual, and in less than an hour, she’ll be seeing Cameron. Her insides clench and she watches in the mirror as her pupils dilate. She hopes Chloe’s right, that he loses his breath when he sees her, because she could use the confidence boost to follow through making this week about sex and pillow talk.
They can ride the conference fling-train together, destination potential long-term dating. Even if it includes a baggage compartment filled with bad break ups and an ex who’s going to be around for the rest of the week.
Chapter 12
Cameron takes the long route from the hotel down to The Rocks, walking through Circular Quay and following the wide path around Sydney Harbour. People crowd onto ferries bound for beaches, the zoo or nature reserves, tourists stop to take photos with the bridge or the Opera House in the background. Kids in school uniforms mill around eating hot chips or ice-creams or both.
It’s … There’s a looseness to his limbs and something light in his chest.
He didn’t expect being in Sydney to feel like coming home.
He’s lived in Canberra for almost a year. Shouldn’t he have settled in there? He unpacked all his boxes. He bought new kitchen utensils. He changed his address for every service he could think of. But stepping through his front door never brings that immediate release like stepping onto these sun-soaked pavements has.
Walking through The Rocks, he passes the sole office of Lin & Luther, one of the biggest publishing companies in Australia, and the one he’s dreamed about working for since he graduated from university. They publish some of the most progressive stuff, especially in the young adult space, and he’d been planning on using his YA-centric work at Cable as a portfolio to apply for a job there. And then the shit with Braden happened and he couldn’t stay and see his largest project through, not to any standard he’d be happy with. Not without costing his mental health.
He doesn’t let himself pause outside the building, but it prompts an inconvenient thought anyway.
Was leaving Sydney a mistake?
Carrie and Chloe would say yes. In fact they have, many times, right from when he first mentioned the idea to when they helped him unload moving boxes from the rented van. His parents didn’t express a view either way, which means they also thought it was a mistake but didn’t want to influence his decision.
He’d been so stuck on the idea of putting distance between himself and Braden, but leaving the state may have been overkill. His CV and professional reputation took a hit, but it’s bigger than that, because the distance has done more than get him away from Braden. His relationship with his family is different, and he and Matteo haven’t spoken in months. He can slip back in with his sisters like no time has passed, but will it be the same with Matteo?
Out of all his old friends at Cable, Matteo is the only one he’d bothered to keep in contact with. Communication fizzling out between them is on his shoulders. Yeah, there was the distance, like he told Jules last night, plus Matteo had the misfortune of being there at Cameron’s lowest. He knows Matteo isn’t on Braden’s side though, and hell, it’s not Matteo’s fault Cameron felt echoes of the gut-churning discomfort and sweaty palms whenever a text came through. He shouldn’t be punished for being a reminder of what Cameron lost due to a relationship with the wrong woman at work.
Hopefully, today can start them back to the friendship they used to have.
He feels at home and out of place at the same time as he takes a seat at the tiny cafe in The Rocks, waiting for Matteo to appear. At least this place hasn’t changed. The sandstone building and hand-painted ‘Giorgio’s Bakery’ on the glass window are as he remembers. The tables still wobble on the cobblestones. The servers are still quick to welcome patrons and bring out menus and a water jug and glasses.
He pours himself a water and holds it between his palms, squinting across to the sun-drenched sails of the Opera House peeking between buildings. He’ll be seeing Jules there tonight. A spiral of warmth twists up his spine. She’s probably with Chloe right now, choosing some fancy outfit that’s going to turn her already stunning looks into bombshell levels of devastating. His blood rushes thinking about it. He hasn’t seen Jules since this morning and there’s a part of him that misses her, and it’s not his dick. Or not just his dick.
Which isn’t a part he wants to look at too closely. Missing is a little close to emotions, which he shouldn’t be having this week. No-strings. A fling. Emotions out of the picture. He nods to himself.
‘Cameron.’ Matteo’s looming presence cuts across his vision as he plops in the seat across the table. ‘Stickler for being on time, as always.’
‘If you’re on time, you’re late,’ Cameron echoes the favourite phrase of an old music tutor he had, setting thoughts of Jules aside to enjoy later.
‘I’m worth the wait though,’ Matteo jokes, running a hand over his shaved head and catching the attention of a passing group of women. He smiles at them and at least two of the women blush. None of them look as cute as Jules with colour over her cheeks though.
‘You? Not so sure about.’ Matteo turns back and reclines in his chair.
‘That I’m worth the wait?’
‘You’ve been ghosting me for months. I thought what we had was special.’ Matteo pouts, stretching an arm across the table.
