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She nodded. “My friend Matt says I should apply for a job in LA.”

“Oh yeah?” he said. “Isla told me about your redundancy. I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay,” she said. “I put myself forward for it. I had some sort of epiphany that I’d worked there too long and needed a change.”

Cam nodded. “That sounds good.”

She smiled. “Except, as soon as it happened, I crapped myself, and I’ve been living in a bubble of abject terror ever since.”

He laughed. ”What’re you frightened of?”

“Everything,” she said. “I like to have everything mapped out, but this time there was nothing else lined up. It was pretty much the first move I’ve ever made on impulse, and it has backfired.” She sighed. “I think Isla took pity on me, knowing I’d be lost with nothing else lined up, and that’s why she asked me out here…as a distraction.”

Cameron was studying her as she spoke, and it sent her pulse through the roof. He rubbed the top of his bottle along his bottom lip and Nina found herself wishing she were that bottle.

He took a sip. “I think you’re being too hard on yourself. You’ve made a brave decision and bought yourself some time to decide what’s next. You don’t have to find the answer straight away.”

There was something reassuring about his words and his tone. Nobody had put it in those terms before. No one said she should take her time and really think about what she wanted.

“What’s the job in LA?” he asked.

“For a big drug company,” she said. “There’s a lot of action in my scene stateside.”

“I can imagine,” he said. “But you don’t like the idea of moving there?”

“Not really. How can you tell?”

He smiled. “Just a hunch. What’s putting you off?”

She hesitated. “All the friends and family stuff. I don’t know anybody out there.”

“Yeah, you do,” he said. He pointed the top of his bottle over to the side of the pool then back to himself. “You know Ash and me.”

He kept her gaze as he smiled, his hazel eyes penetrating her inner being. Move out to LA and hang with my new best friends—hot- producer-guy and gorgeous social-media-girl.

Heat rose in her cheeks. Why did he make her feel like a teenager? Perhaps because that was the last time she’d had a major crush on a celebrity.

Cam touched her arm. “You’ve got goosebumps. I’ll go get you a fresh towel.”

He headed through the water then lifted himself out onto the side. His muscles rippled as the water washed over his skin and Nina gulped hard. Hopefully he’d assumed that her goosebumps were from the cold of the pool and not from his proximity. She went to the edge and followed him out. She wrapped the towel he offered around herself and took a seat next to him on one of the pool beds, bringing her beer with her.

“Why don’t you find out about this job?” he said. “If it doesn’t sound your thing, leave it. But if it’s a good opportunity, go for it. It’s not like it’s set in stone if you change your mind.”

She nodded. “I know you’re right. I’m just a coward.”

He shook his head. “You aren’t. We all get a little scared sometimes.”

She smiled. “Even you? Up on that stage catering to the masses?”

Cameron smiled back. “Even me. And I’m not kidding about knowing Ash and me. We’d look out for you.”

A warm feeling filled Nina’s chest.

He drained his bottle and made to stand. “Can I get you another?”

She nodded. “Yes, please.”

He craned his neck over to where Ash was lying. “She’s asleep, so I guess it’s just you and me day-drinking.”