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EMILIA
Emilia’s head was whirling. God, this was amazing. His body was rock-hard as he pushed against her and his scent filled her head. Heat soared through her and she wrapped her arms more tightly around his neck, silently pleading him for more. In the back of her mind, she heard a chiming, dragging her out of the moment when she realized it was her phone. They broke apart and she leaned her forehead on his shoulder, taking a deep breath.
“I have to answer, cause I’m at work and it might be work related,” she said, her voice low.
“Okay,” his voice mirrored the emotion in hers.
“Just a minute.”
His husky laugh vibrated through his chest, making her smile as she reached for her phone.
“Hello?”
“Hi Emilia, it’s Bethany here from the youth center. Have you got a minute?”
Emilia had to step away from Cam as her heart started racing. Had something gone wrong with her replacement? Had something happened to one of the kids? She took a deep calming breath.
“Sure, Bethany,” her voice shook a little. “Go ahead.”
“Well, we have a new project that we want to get started up and I know you didn’t want to volunteer anymore, but we honestly can’t imagine anyone better for the job, so I thought I’d just ask on the off chance you’d changed your mind.”
“That’s very flattering, Beth, but I—”
“—Before you say no, hear me out.” Bethany was well-liked at the youth center. She was also well-known for being a bit of a bulldozer and not taking no for an answer. At almost seventy, she was formidable. “It’s a one-off project that shouldn’t take more than a few hours over a few Saturdays. You won’t be committing to the same regular gig you had with us before, unless you want to?”
“Umm,” Emilia hesitated. “I’m not sure. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you, to be honest.”
Bethany’s warm chuckle sounded down the phone line. “I know, dear, which is why I insisted I be the one to call. We would love to have you, specifically, on this project because we have faith in your talent as an artist and your ability to relate to the children.” Emilia felt tears well up in her eyes. To hear those words from no-bullshit Bethany was like soothing balm for her soul. “You’ll be painting a mural with the kids on the east wall of the center, so it might take up three or four afternoons, because we want you to also design the mural yourself. You’ll have free reign. Complete creative control, I can’t emphasize that enough.”
“When would the project start?”
“As soon as you can. I will tell you this, Emilia. Not to pressure you, but just to really drive home what I’m telling you. If you say no, the project will be scrapped. We literally can’t imagine doing this with anyone else.”
“Okay,” she took another deep breath and looked at Cam, who was watching her closely. The look in his eyes steadied her. “Lock me in, Bethany. I can start as early as this Saturday.”
“That’s my girl! I’ll email you the details as soon as we have final group numbers, now that we have a start date. If you could start drafting some designs as soon as possible and send them to me, that would be perfect.”
“Okay, I will,” a wide grin spread across her features. “I’ll talk to you soon. And Bethany?”
“Mmm?”
“Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome. Thankyou.Bye, dear.”
“Good news?” Cam asked as she hung up.
“Um, yeah, I think so. That was the youth center. They just asked me to run an art project. It starts this Saturday.”
“That’s fantastic!” Cam moved in and gave her hug. “I can’t wait to see the work you do and I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks. I think I might be a bit excited about it, actually. Nervous. But excited.” She moved back, keeping her arms around his neck and kissing him warmly on the mouth. For the first time she felt like she had something to look forward to. And it was, in part, because of Cameron. “Thank you.”
“What for?” His eyes darkened and his gaze moved to her lips, sending heat through her.
“For listening to me on Saturday and not judging at all. Talking to you really helped sort myself out and without your help, I don’t think I could have said yes to Bethany, but I’m so glad I did. So, thank you.”
A knock on the kitchen door and Mia’s whisper came through clear as crystal. “Hey, if you two are in there, Pete’s looking for Cameron. Just so you know.”
“Shit,” Cam said. “I better go before he finds me here with you, or I’ll never live it down.” He gave her a quick kiss and grinned as he left the kitchen.
Emilia had no idea why, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that in the space of a few minutes, everything she thought she knew about her life had been completely turned on its head. And she liked it.
