‘Not to mention your abundant positivity, I’ve missed that too.’ Cam waved at the bartender. ‘Can I have a Death in the Afternoon, please. Lizzy, do you want one too, or would you prefer a Corpse Reviver? I assume that if youdidkill me in the afternoon, you’d probably want to resuscitate me just to do it all over again.’
I ignored him and smiled at the bartender. ‘Do you mind if I see your menu?’ When he gave it to me, I scanned it, and smiled when I found the perfect one. ‘I’ll have an Adios Motherfucker, please.’
Cam immediately burst out laughing, as if this was some kind of game. Once his laughter had tapered off, he propped his elbow on the table, rested his chin on his hand and watched me. I ignored him.
When my cocktail arrived, I took a slow sip. ‘Delicious,’ I said, even though it tasted horrible and I hardly drank alcohol.
‘I wouldn’t look so self-satisfied if I were you,’ he said.
‘And why not?’
‘Oh look, there’s your avian friend.’ He gestured with his head.
I followed his gesture, and sure enough, there was Blue Eyes. I watched him for a moment, and for the first time, something about him struck me as . . .off. He was seated in one of the only other chairs that conveniently had a direct line of sight to Victor and Amber.
‘You know,’ Cam said casually, ‘you probably should’ve ordered yourself a Godfather.’
I frowned, still staring at the man. ‘Why would I—’
‘Or a Sicilian Kiss,’ he said, cutting me off.
My brain started to churn, a thought swirling around it like a lonely sock in a tumble dryer. Cam rose from his chair as the thought began to crystallise, taking a recognisable shape, and then . . .
‘Shit!’ I whipped my head around to see him walking backwards onto the dance floor wearing a cocky grin, his arms spread out in front of him. He was daring me to join him.
I stood up, and he grabbed my hands. ‘Coming to dance with me?’
‘Who’s that guy?’ I asked as he pulled me towards him. I collided with his chest, and before I could step away, he wrapped one arm around my lower back and raised my other hand as if we were about to start a ballroom waltz.
‘Let go of me,’ I snapped.
‘Not if you want to know who your friend is,’ he said, twirling me around.
‘Fine, who is he?’
‘I was hoping you’d finally ask that.’ And then in one swift move, he dipped me. The air rushed past me as I fell backwards, my stomach flew into my throat and my lungs released all their oxygen in a short, sharp gasp. The whole world tilted, and I thought I was going to hit the ground. But Cam still had his arm around me, and he held me there as if I weighed absolutely nothing at all.
I blinked up at him, my chest heaving as I struggled to catch my breath.
‘Caught you,’ he whispered. Before I could respond, he lifted me out of the dip and I collided with his chest once more. I tried to pull away, tried to grab back some semblance of control, but he was too strong. And he was winning.
I was trapped and had no choice but to play along.
‘I’m going to kill you, Cam,’ I said through a very put-on smile.
‘No, you won’t, because then you’ll never find out who that man you’ve been flirting with really is.’
‘I haven’t been flirting with him,’ I snapped back as Cam swayed us together to the now irritatingly slow beat of the music. It had very inconveniently gone from something poppy and upbeat to some kind of sexy tango.
‘Could have fooled me.’ He took my hand and placed it on his shoulder while his other hand found my waist. ‘Isn’t this the correct position for the tango?’
‘Wouldn’t know, never done one.’
‘First time for everything, I guess.’ The hand on my waist began to move. I looked down at it as it slid around my side and snaked towards my back. I was wearing a backless dress – a contraption I’d never worn before – which meant that his hand came into direct contact with my exposed skin. I tried not to react to the feeling of his warm skin on mine, but it was hard because it felt so . . . so . . .
Shit!
‘You look incredible, by the way,’ Cam said as his hand came to rest on the curve of my lower back. ‘First time I’ve ever seen you in a dress like this.’
