Page 586 of Manhattan Bossholes

“I get it. I don’t either.”

“The way he’s acting tonight?” Cameron said darkly. “That’s the old Tyler. He got like this for a stretch after his second album tanked. He went to a pretty dark place. But lately…I mean, he still has bad days, but I thought we were done with this stuff. It hurts to see him backsliding.”

Cameron’s expression was so beaten down that I didn’t even stop to think before circling my arms around him and pulling him into a tight hug. His body tensed for an instant, then gave in, and he wrapped his arms around me, resting his chin on top of my head.

“Thanks,” he said softly. “I didn’t know how much I needed that.”

I was glad to hear he was getting something out of it, because I was enjoying the hell out of it, and I’d hate to think it was one-sided. We held onto each other for a few seconds, and I relished the sensation of being close to him. I hadn’t been hugged by a man in way too long. Even if we were only tolerating one another, it sure felt nice in the moment.

“Car’s here,” Nina yelled to us.

We pulled apart reluctantly.

“Take care, okay? Of Tyler, and yourself,” I said to him.

He gave me a quick nod in return. “Thanks. I will.”

I felt like I needed to lighten the mood. “See you tomorrow…sweetheart.”

He chuckled. “Right, honey.”

We lingered a few seconds longer, the air between us sparking to life, until the driver honked. I ran off, wondering how someone who had seemed so truly awful could shift into someone pretty okay in the blink of an eye.

11

CAMERON

Felicity breezed into my office without even knocking, holding her phone in the air and looking outraged.

“I know, I know, I’ve already seen it,” I sighed, leaning back in my chair. “Guess we need to assume there are always eyes on us.”

“I know that,” she said. “I dressed with the idea that we’d probably be spotted. But after all that time in the bar without sensing anyone watching me, I figured it wasn’t the right crowd for CamLicity, you know? Why’d they have to catch me at the end of the night, when my hair had gone all flat and my lip gloss was gone?”

“Hey, I offered to have a stylist take care of things. Maybe they could have given you some products that would have kept you camera-ready all night.”

Not that she needed any help with that. Yeah, her hair wasn’t as perfect in the photo as it had been at the start of the night, but I liked it a little disheveled, as if I’d been running my hands through it. But of course, I wasn’t going to say that to her. Nor was I going to bring up how cute she looked now. Her hair was a little wild, and the tie on the front of her cream blouse was off kilter.

Her eyebrows drew down and she crossed her arms over her chest. “I just feel weirded out that I didn’t even realize there was a camera on me.”

Truth be told, I hadn’t realized either—which was unusual for me. I usually had a better sense for that kind of thing. But then, Felicity hugging me had been one hell of a distraction.

“On us,” I corrected.

“Whatever,” she started pacing and scrolling on her phone. “I still need to wrap my head around how public this fake relationship is going to be.”

I laughed at her. “You sure you’re in marketing?”

She came to a stop and glared at me.

“Anyway, the metrics for hug-gate are incredible,” I continued. “And people are coming up with new hashtags. Did you see the one about trying to catch us together in the wild?”

“You mean #CatchCamLicity?”

I nodded. “That’s the one. It’s like a contest or something.”

“That’s actually really cool. People are getting invested.” She sighed and plopped down in the chair across the desk from me. “Okay, so that means our next move is to manufacture another moment, but splashier and more deliberate this time. The hugging shots are a casual day-in-the-life angle—now it’s time to sell the glamour. And then I can make sure I look my best.”

“What are you talking about?” I picked up my phone and scrolled to the series of us outside Frankie’s Tavern. Felicity was nestled up against my chest with her eyes closed, and I was staring off into the distance in profile with my chin resting on top of her head. The way our bodies were glued together totally sold that we were a couple in love. “You look gorgeous, even in those jeans.”