‘Well, if we want to get close to Amber and Victor, you need a ring worthy of the company they keep. Here.’
Before I could protest, he took the ring from my finger and then pulled my hand towards him. And then, he slid the ring onto my finger. It should have been stupid and ridiculous. It was, but . . .
The careful motion, the way his thumb grazed my hand as he brushed it over my knuckles, the way he twisted the ring into place until it fit perfectly. Something about all that sent a strange, unwelcome flicker down my arm.
A bang in my chest, a heightened awareness of his finger on mine.
‘There, perfect,’ Cam said softly, and dragged his eyes back to mine. They locked on to me and a feeling so overwhelming and uncomfortable filled me to bursting point.
I pulled my hand away as quickly as I could and then cleared my throat because a lump had just taken up residence there.
‘Perfect! Sure, nothing says perfect more than grand larceny and possession of stolen property.’
I turned around and started striding again, but all I could feel was the ring, all I could feel was his fingers on my knuckles and the feeling that was still pounding away in my chest.
Yup, if Lizzy were aStar Trekcharacter, she’d definitely be a Vulcan. Logic, control and this habit of protecting herself with sarcasm like it was a deflector shield. But the thing with Vulcans was this: for all their coldness and perfectly arched eyebrows, they weren’t emotionless. And Lizzy certainly wasn’t either. Because I could see the cracks in her armour starting to show.
And how did I know for sure?
That kiss . . .
You didn’t kiss someone like that if you didn’t still have feelings for them.
And that ring . . .
I’d noticed the hitch in her breath and the quiver that had run up her arm.
She wasn’t as good at hiding her feelings as she thought.
CHAPTER 33
The soft lighting of the restaurant screamed romance. Great! It smelt of expensive perfume, money and grilled seafood. Cam and I strolled through the tables hand in hand, trying to look like we didn’t want to kill each other – well, that I didn’t want to kill him.
As agreed beforehand, we deliberately walked straight past Victor and Amber. And right on cue . . .
‘Oh my God, it’s you!’ cried Amber.
I plastered a look of shock on my face and turned around. ‘Oh my God, girlie pop!’ I gushed, while my very soul cringed. ‘How was your massage?’
‘Amazing. You?’
I rubbed the back of my neck. ‘So good, I can’t remember the last time I felt this relaxed.’
Victor, who had been swirling the whisky in his glass (only the rich swirled their whisky), narrowed his eyes slightly. ‘Wait – do you two know each other?’
‘Oh my God, yes! This is the girl I was telling you about!’ Amber replied.
He blinked. ‘That’s uncanny, because this’ – he gestured at Cam–‘is the man I was just telling you about. The hero who saved my Patek Philippe from the sand.’
So Cam had done the old false rescue: steal something from someone and then ‘find’ it to gain their trust.
‘I take it off when I’m sunbathing, and I don’t know what happened this time, but when I was done, I couldn’t find it.’
‘I’m glad I could help.’ Cam extended a hand, and Victor clasped it in a firm, manly grip.
Amber clapped her hands together. ‘This is so cute – we all know each other!’ She turned to me, flashing her perfect teeth. ‘I was just saying to Vic how cool it was to meet you and how generous you were.’
I let out a breathless little laugh. ‘That makes two of us! I was just telling . . .’ I hesitated for a fraction of a second, my mind racing. What name had Cam given Victor? I glanced at him pointedly.
