‘Correction: that was the one thing you needed to know.’
I laughed again and we sauntered into the staff room, barely getting a ‘hello, goodbye’ out of Su, who came racing out of her office at the sight of us and disappeared as quickly as she’d materialized.
‘It amazes me that anything gets done around here,’ Cam said, shrugging out of his jacket. ‘She’s never here when she should be.’
I grunted at that, completely used to Su’s physical absence and as always grateful for it.
The bar soon started to fill up. As usual on a Tuesday, there weren’t many customers, but we were kept relatively occupied.
We weren’t busy enough to diminish our attraction to one another, however. For some reason, being behind the bar together seemed to heighten the tension. Was it the confined space? I didn’t know. All I did know was that I spent half the time with one eye on my work and the other on Cam.
Joss was right. I was absolutely aware of every move he made.
And speaking of Joss, I wasn’t at all surprised when she stopped in at around nine thirty. I was surprised she was alone, but she explained that Braden was working late and Ellie and Adam were on a date.
‘So you were bored and thought you’d come to work?’ I asked, sliding her a Diet Coke as she settled on to a stool at my end of the bar. I didn’t think so. I thought she was worried about me.
Joss just smiled and then nodded in greeting to Cam, who had just noticed her presence, but he was too busy talking to a customer to come over. No, not a customer. My eyes focused more carefully on the girl he was grinning at so flirtatiously. Becca and a friend. She handed him his aviator watch and Cam leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to Becca’s lips.
I felt an ache rake across my chest, unfamiliar and brutal.
My eyes slid back to Joss and she had one eyebrow raised at me. ‘What you’re feeling … it’s called jealousy. It’s a vile emotion, I know. However, it also tells you that Cam is definitely more than just someone you’re attracted to.’
‘We barely know each other.’
‘From what you’ve told me, you know each other better than almost anyone else does.’
Somehow, this was the truth. I leaned forward on the bar, frowning at my friend. ‘Yeah, how did that happen?’
‘How did what happen?’ I turned my head to see Cam approaching, fastening his watch on his wrist. Becca and the other girl were gone. He waited for an answer, his eyes curious on mine.
I decided to hedge. ‘You really are a nosy bugger, aren’t you?’ I teased.
Cam tipped his head to the side, contemplating me. ‘Deflection?’ His eyes glittered as if something had just occurred to him. ‘You were talking about me, weren’t you?’
I wanted to wipe that cocky smile off his face.
Joss groaned. ‘You and Braden should be forced to join a club for men who need to get over themselves.’
My eyes slid to her in amusement. ‘Blatant displays of egotism will be punished in the form of making them wear Speedos in freezing-cold conditions.’
‘And possibly withholding food.’
‘No. Sex. Withholding sex.’
Joss bit her lip. ‘I don’t know if that would work for me.’
I eyed her incredulously. ‘Are you telling me you couldn’t go without sex for a few days?’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘Where is your willpower?’
My friend took a swig of her Diet Coke. ‘Hey, you haven’t had sex with Braden Carmichael.’
No, I hadn’t, although I almost blushed remembering I’d definitely tried to get myself into the position to do so. ‘Yeah, but I’ve had perfectly good sex and I could still abstain for a few days.’
‘Perfectly good sex?’ Cam interrupted us, drawing both our gazes. His voice was low with some unnamed emotion. ‘Abstain?’ His now heated eyes ran the length of me before returning to meet mine. ‘Then he isn’t doing it right.’
My heart puttered to a stop before choking and wheezing. When it got back up to speed, it took off in a drag race. All that sexual heat rolled over me and I felt my knickers grow damp with want.
‘Jesus C,’ Joss croaked. ‘Now I’m turned on.’ She jumped off her stool, checking her phone. ‘I think I’ll go home and see if Braden’s back from work.’
And just like that she left us simmering in our sexual chemistry.
I smiled weakly at Cam. ‘How’s Becca?’
A few customers approached the bar and we both moved to serve them. As we were preparing their drinks Cam answered tightly, ‘Becca’s fine. How’s Malcolm?’
‘Fine.’ He’d taken me for lunch during my break from work that day and I’d managed to convince him that everything was hunky-dory.
‘Cole text yet to say if he’s home?’
I found myself grinning like an idiot at his concern, and my customer grinned back at me, clearly thinking the look was for him. I quickly handed him his change and turned to Cam. ‘Yeah, he’s home.’
His eyes crinkled at the corners, adding another one of his expressions to my favourites. ‘Good.’
The rest of the night flew by. We worked, we talked, we joked, but the sexual undercurrent remained. When we walked home after our shift, we did so in utter silence. I could say it was just tiredness, but my whole body was vibrating like a tuning fork just strolling beside him. We said goodnight at his door, and as I took the stairs to my flat with his eyes on my back, I wished, not for the first time, for a different life – that Cam was single, that Malcolm wasn’t a part of my life that I cared about, and that for once I could do what I really wanted to do.