Page 19 of Out on a Limb

“Okay.”

Usually, this was when guys acted all tough and swaggered away. But Walker opened his arms for a hug, a surprise for Cameron. He took the mature route yet again.

Cameron hugged back, but pulled away quickly. An extended whiff of Walker’s aftershave would prove deadly to his decision-making abilities.

“I’ll see you around Starbucks,” Walker said.

“Have a good day at work!” Cameron powerwalked away. He couldn’t stop thinking about how well that went, how well the whole night and following morning went. It might have just been the best hookup he’d ever had, despite no hooking up involved. As he made a right turn and headed toward his apartment, a sense of sadness swarmed over Cameron when he realized that he would never spend this much time with Walker again—exactly as he wanted.

CHAPTER eight

Walker

Subject: Why were we in

The Food Network Magazine three years ago? We’re a shampoo brand. We should not be advertising in food magazines.

Patricia’s incessant emails had become more incessant thanks to the review. She spent her days scrutinizing every aspect of every media plan they executed for Radiance over the past six years.Why did they run a commercial on ESPN two-and-a-half years ago? Why weren’t they doing more with beauty websites?

Walker pictured himself yelling at his computer screen. He wished that Patricia would conduct a modicum of due diligence for these questions rather than treating Walker’s email like Google. But he did the mature thing, took a cleansing breath, and calmly emailed back that The Food Network Magazine skews heavily female, that ESPN was part of an old campaign for Radiance’s male shampoo brand, and that running on popular beauty websites would have cost them money they didn’t have in their media budget.

He thought that once he got promoted to Associate Media Director, he would be more in control. He would have a team he could manage. He did have associates and supervisors under him, but Patricia preferred to communicate directly with them, lest she have to trust anyone.

“Just breathe,” Lucy said in the breakroom. “She’s just nervous. We’re all nervous.”

Walker’s chest tightened up, thinking about them losing the review. He should spruce up his résumé, but the thought of applying for other jobs sounded worse than eating chopped liver.

His mind would rather think about Cameron. He had tried focusing on his email and on pulling past reports, but it was no use. Naked Twister would never leave his head.

“What’s his name?” Lucy asked.

“What?”

“You have a stupid grin on your face.” She filled up her water bottle. It had pictures of her kids around the sides. “Nobody is ever that happy about working in Excel. Who’s the guy?”

“It’s no one.” Walker blushed. A flash of Cameron, naked under his covers, watching him get dressed this morning flitted through his mind.

“Liar!” Lucy said too loudly. Walker gestured for her to keep it down.

“Sorry.” She clapped quietly. “I’m just so happy for you, Walker. You need to get back on that saddle. It’s been a while.”

“It hasn’t been that long of a while.” He went through his mental sex calendar. “Has it?”

“It has. There was that high school teacher last June. And then you got freaky with that one guy shortly after the divorced was finalized.”

“How do you remember that?”

“I’ve been with the same man for twenty-six years. I need to live vicariously through you. I’m old.”

“Well, so am I. This guy,” and here Walker leaned in close to Lucy and checked to make sure the room was empty “he’s a college student.”

Lucy clamped her hand over her mouth.

“He’s twenty-two,” Walker added, as if that made it that much better.

“Walker!” she whisper-yelled. “Walker!”

“I know.” Walker shook his head. It had been a few days since he and Cameron parted ways on his driveway, and he hadn’t had the nerve to see him. He started going to the Starbucks in his own building.