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There’s still no response, but the wariness in Jules’s gaze eases fractionally. ‘You haven’t smiled at me since this afternoon, you know,’ he says.
‘I know.’
‘But did you know I miss seeing it?’
She narrows her eyes at him but it’s the honest truth. She must see it on his face, because the last of the hardness in her expression fades, and she sighs.
‘Alright. We’re good.’
The band around Cameron’s chest loosens and he sucks in a big lungful of air. ‘Thank fuck.’
Jules’s lips quirk, then she drops her gaze to the table. ‘And I’m sorry.’
‘Sorry? Why’re you sorry?’
‘I shouldn’t have forced you to talk about the Cable stuff.’ She shrugs and twists her hands together. ‘It made you uncomfortable.’
An understatement. ‘Yeah, but hey.’ He leans over the table and she lifts her gaze to him. ‘If it gets me back in your good graces, I’d do it again. I’ve always liked talking to you. And—’ He swallows, stopping the words by rote. Then realises, heart racing, he doesn’t want to.
‘I don’t want to be the guy that keeps running away from shit,’ he says. ‘I want to be able to talk about my emotions and my fears. Of spiders and more serious stuff. I want to talk to you. I want to talk with you.’
The words feel true as they leave his mouth, even though five minutes ago he would’ve sworn the exact opposite.
The twinkling look in her eyes and the first genuine smile she’s given him all night may have something to do with the change of heart.
Chapter 20
They order food and drinks and when Jules smiles at him after the server leaves, all is right with the world. Mostly. He feels like he’s experienced an earthquake and his insides are still jostled out of place, but he can breathe normally, so he’s claiming a win.
Jules’s fingers tap on the table to the beat of the background music in the restaurant. She’s relaxing in her chair, looking at him without any hardness in her eyes, and there’s a surge of sunny emotions racing through his body as he watches her. The little smile on her lips, the way her hair falls over her shoulder, drawing his eyes to the hint of cleavage. Those fingers tap tap tapping and her silver bracelet catching the light.
‘Sorry.’ She flattens her palm against the table when she notices where his gaze is.
‘No need to apologise. It’s cute.’
Her brow furrows. ‘I thought you didn’t like the descriptor ‘cute’?’
‘Applied to me, yeah. But I think it suits you.’
She blushes a cute pink. ‘You don’t think I’d prefer—What word did you use the other night? ‘Desirable’?’
He laughs. ‘Don’t worry. You’re that too.’
She gives him a sultry look from beneath her lashes and his blood diverts southwards. He’s not even mad he’s getting half-hard in a restaurant after one flirty look. These are the kind of bodily reactions he wants. Not that constricting tightness in his chest because she wasn’t smiling at him.
‘What’s your go-to album when you need a pick-me-up?’ he asks, feeling music is a safe topic for them, and it’s either initiate a conversation or lean across the table and devour her. The way he wants to drag his teeth up her neck isn’t suited to a public place.
‘Album or song?’ Jules folds her arms on the table and leans over them. Her gaze drops to his lips.
‘Both.’
‘Okay. Song is probably ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’, The Communards version. Album is … ooh, that’s trickier.’ She laces her fingers together and scrunches her nose up. ‘It’s actually probably this compilation album I have of 80s pop songs, otherwise … maybe She’s So Unusual, Cyndi Lauper’s first album.’
‘Have you ever dressed as her for a costume party?’
Jules narrows her eyes at him. ‘Maybe.’
Cameron laughs. ‘That’s a yes. Do you have photos?’
