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Yeah, right. This had to be some sort of weird mind game, though she couldn’t figure out what the point was. “If you’ll forgive me for being blunt, I don’t see what my theoretical relationship with Cameron has to do with this deal.”
“Nothing at all.” Nikki’s red lips curved, just a little. “It’s a purely selfish curiosity to get a better look at the kind of woman who could manage to have him tripping all over his feet like an eager puppy. I’ll admit that I don’t see it. You’re beautiful, of course, but the peppy cheerleader thing doesn’t seem like it’s a solid match for O’Clery.” She lifted a single shoulder. “Then again, what do I know? Good for him. And good for you, too. He’s got a heart of gold if you can get past the dumb-ass shit he says and the pissy attitude.”
She still couldn’t get a read on Nikki, couldn’t tell if this conversation was exactly what it presented to be on the surface or if the woman was trying to undermine something. She couldn’t help comparing herself to the other woman. They weren’t even on the same planet, and she couldn’t be more opposite if Cameron had intentionally picked her for that reason. Rationally, she knew it didn’t matter. He and Nikki were ancient history—and a brief one at that—but Trish looked at her and saw everything Trish would never be.
Someone completely at ease in their skin and confident enough to handle any and every situation life threw at them without breaking her powerful stride. Someone who’d perfectly executed their plan for life, despite any hurdles thrown in their way.
No, Trish was just Trish. She let her smile drop. “Frankly, I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”
“So you do have some backbone. Good.”
The door opened and the men filed back in. She couldn’t shake the suspicion that they’d been hiding out in the hallway while this conversation went down and, as happy as she was that Cameron had managed to keep his temper through the first half of the day, she still wanted to kick him under the table for abandoning her with Nikki.
It shouldn’t have mattered anyway. Nikki had never been a girlfriend, and Trish certainly wasn’t. They were both flavors of the week... Maybe we should get T-shirts or something. Her joke fell flat, even in her own head, and she tried to set the whole uncomfortable feeling aside. It shouldn’t matter what Cameron and Nikki’s past was, because the woman obviously had no intention of letting said past get in the way of this business deal.
Would he expect the same from Trish when this was all over?
The rest of the meeting passed without incident. Concord Inc. signed the contract, which extended the trip to London since Cameron had to be on-site to set up the security requirements.
And Trish would go home.
Guess things are ending quicker than I could have anticipated.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CAMERON MIGHT NOT be entirely in tune with other people’s emotions, but he would have had to be particularly dense not to notice something was wrong with Trish. After their lunch break, she’d been subdued, her light dimmed. He’d tried to catch her eye a few times, but she resolutely refused to look his way. He could explain it away as her focusing on the deal...
Right up until she tried that same shit as they walked back to the suite.
He noticed a sign for a pub and hooked her waist. “Dinner.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Oh yeah, Trish was pissed. Cameron ignored her protest and guided her into the low light of the pub. He took a quick look around and headed for a table far enough into the room that she wouldn’t get a chill when the door was opened to let a draft in. He held out a chair for her, his irritation battling with amusement as she huffed and dropped into it.
Once he was settled on the other side, he leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Now you’re going to tell me what crawled up your ass back there. I played the good boy and kept my mouth shut, and the deal went off without a hitch. Which means something else happened to make you mad. Tell me.”
Trish shrugged out of her coat and let it drape over her chair. Then she started shredding the paper napkin in front of her. Her anger disappeared, replaced by...embarrassment? She finally sighed. “I’ll book my return ticket to New York as soon as we get back to our rooms.”
He sat back. “I know you’re pissed, but running back to the city seems a little dramatic, don’t you think?”
“Dramatic?” Her light brows slammed together. “Are you kidding me? I’m not being dramatic. I’m being reasonable. You don’t get to call me dramatic.”
He knew better than to point out that her tirade was nothing if not dramatic. “Something upset you. If you need to yell at me to get around to telling me what it was, fine. But you will tell me.”
