Page 86
Smiling, I held out my hand toward her.
“Nadia, this is Shay. She’s my—um—” He rubbed the back of his neck. “My—friend?”
Nadia laughed softly. “You sure?”
A wash of color appeared on Cam’s cheeks. “She works at the distillery.”
“Ah.” Nadia graced me with a warm smile of greeting. “Pleased to meet a friend of Cam’s. Known the boy since he was in diapers.”
Cam’s mouth tightened. “Please, Nadia—”
“Did he tell you I used to babysit him? He’d sit on my lap and tell me he loved me ‘infinity a million.’”
My heart melted at the adorable picture that formed in my head. “No, he didn’t mention—”
“How’s your mother?” Cam asked a shade too loudly.
Nadia grinned like the Cheshire Cat. “Fine as always. Daddy took her to Savannah for a few days.”
“That’s wonderful,” said Cam.
“If you say so,” she said with a fond laugh. “I say she’s spoilt. Follow me.” Nadia led us to a spot near the windows. Camden pulled out my chair, and I ran my hand over the polished sparkles on our table after I sat. The stone warmed under my touch.
Nadia handed me a menu with a grin. “Enjoy.”
As I glanced over the options, my stomach sank. Not a single dish was within my budget. Even the side salad pushed my limits.
“I’m probably biased, but this really is one of my favorite spots,” Cam said, breaking through my consternation. “Even when Nadia does her best to embarrass me.”
I laughed. “Yeah? Why’s that?”
He turned his menu to point at an item. “They have these pear crepes with honey I’ve never been able to find anywhere else.”
“Honey, huh? You really go for that stuff.”
Before he answered, the server arrived to take our drink orders. When I asked for water, Cam eyed me strangely. “You didn’t finish your coffee at the office. Don’t you want some?”
“No, thank you. I’m fine with water.”
He stared at me a beat, then ordered his own coffee. The server left, and Cam clasped his hands on the table—a replica of his father’s position earlier, though with far less rigidity. “It’s hard to argue for you staying when I don’t know why you’re really leaving.”
I dragged my fingernail over a grain of bluish crystal in the tabletop. “What do I even offer that you can’t get from someone else?”
The intense blaze lit his eyes before he dropped his attention to my hand. “I don’t know how to answer that. You’re…entirely unique. Who else is like you?”
Two things happened at once. First, my brain glitched—an inconvenient affair, given I was meant to respond rationally to such a touching sentiment. Second, my heart retaliated against logic by tripping into a funky rhythm. Why did this off-limits, infinitely desirable man also have to be sweet? At some point, the Unfairness of Life must have challenged me to a duel, and was handily winning.
“Perhaps—” I cleared away the rasp in my voice “—you could put out an ad?”
“I don’t want to put out an ad.” His blue eyes flicked up, then darted right back to my hand drawing shapes over the stone. “I want you.”
My puddle of a brain begged me to ask him in what capacity he wanted me, but the voice of reason finally won and reminded me the answer was professionally.
Though he was certainly making it difficult to remember that.
“What will it take to get you to stay?” he asked.
I hesitated. My earlier emotional impulsiveness in quitting before I secured another job had given way to stark reality. I couldn’t mooch off Maribel and Ravi forever, but working with Shep for the foreseeable future prickled my pride. If I stayed after marching out, would he think I was planning to continue my apparent attempt to seduce away his son’s money?
