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CHAPTER TWELVE

I had to drag myself to brunch the next morning. I was excited to see my friends and catch up, but I hadn’t gotten much sleep. I thought I’d fall asleep as soon as I crawled into bed, exhausted and sated by everything that had happened, but instead my mind stayed awake, racing with hopes and worries.

“Whoa, you okay?” Emilia asked as I dropped down into my chair at the round, wrought iron table outside of Sunny Side Eatery.

I pulled off my sunglasses, grimacing as the late morning sunlight burned my sensitive eyes. “Yeah, sorry. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Work?” Brooke asked, shooting me a sympathetic look.

I shook my head. “No, not work for once.”

Emilia raised an eyebrow at me. “What is it then?”

Before I could answer, the waitress came over to take our orders. I ordered a mimosa and a spinach and mushroom omelet for myself, then Emilia and Brooke ordered.

After the waitress left, they gave me confused looks.

“If I tell you,” I began, “you have to promise to keep it a secret.”

“Of course,” Brooke said. “When have we ever spilled?”

That was true. We’d been friends for years, sharing all kinds of secrets, and none of us had ever betrayed each other by sharing secrets. I took a deep breath, knowing I could trust them.

“I slept with Cameron last night.”

Whatever they were expecting, it wasn’t that, because their jaws dropped.

“What?” Emilia gasped.

“I need a full story,” Brooke demanded, tapping the table with her forefinger.

The waitress appeared, dropping off our mimosas. Once she left, I took a long sip, hoping the sweetness would work some magic on me and wake me up. “You know that charity auction I called you guys about the other day?”

They both nodded.

“Well, I took your advice and invited Cameron,” I told Brooke before looking at both of them. “I, uh…I had a bit too much to drink. Cameron had to sober me up.”

“And then what?” Emilia asked, leaning forward.

“We kissed,” I said, deciding to skip the part where he got me on my knees to suck him off. There were some details that didn’t need to be shared. “And he dropped me off at home.”

“That’s it?” Brooke asked, looking surprised.

“We kissed again at work,” I said, half-lying again. “I was having a bad day, and he… calmed me down.”

“Hang on,” Emilia interrupted, pointing at me. “Why do you look so flustered about a kiss?”

“Huh?” I pressed a hand to my cheek, and sure enough, it was warm. “Well, you know how long I had a thing for him.”

Brooke and Emilia shared a look.

“No,” Brooke began slowly. “You look way too embarrassed about just an innocent kiss.” Her eyes went big. “You didn’t do anything naughty, did you?”

“Keep your voice down!” I hissed, glancing around to make sure no one had overheard. “Listen —”

“Oh my god, you two totally fucked in your office, didn’t you?” Brooke said.

Emilia gasped. “In your office? At work? No way.”

“No,” I said loudly. “No, we didn’t,” I said in a quieter voice. “We just…he just…ate me out,” I finished in a whisper.

Both of them gaped at me. But instead of looking judgemental, it was more a mix of shock and amusement.

“Alison!” Brooke said. “I would have thought you were way too uptight to do something like that at work!”

“Well, afterwards I told him we had to stop,” I said, then took a sip of my drink. “And we did, for a while. But I…needed to blow off some steam. So, I decided to catch up with Russell for drinks, but instead I ended up at Cameron’s apartment.”

“So this was last night?”

I nodded. “We decided to keep seeing each other, but in secret.” I covered my face with my hands. “Logically, I know it’s a terrible idea, but…I can’t brig myself to stop it. This is what I’ve wanted for so long.”

Brooke and Emilia were silent for a few moments as they processed everything that I told them. I shifted in my seat impatiently, not knowing what to expect. They always teased me about my crush on Cameron, but they knew as well as I did how risky it was getting involved with him.

They were career women themselves. Would they put their careers at jeopardy for a man?

“You’re happy with him?” Emilia asked me.

I thought of last night. The sex had been amazing, but it had also been so nice and peaceful just laying in bed together, talking.

“It’s early days. I have no idea what we’re doing, but…yes,” I admitted.

Brooke smiled and reached out to squeeze my wrist. “We’re happy for you. We know you’ve liked him for a while, even if you kept trying to deny it.”

I shrugged. “It’s just new,” I said. “It scares the hell out of me, but I like feeling happy like this. ”

“You’ll have to be careful,” Brooke said. “One wrong move, and both of your reputations will be ruined. Your business too, Alison.”

I nodded slowly, my stomach twisting. My mind had already conjured up the worst things that people could say. Manipulation. Abuse. Corruption. It could all turn into a soul-sucking fiasco that ripped apart everything that I worked for.

Yet, I still agreed, despite the risk.

Was I stupid? Or brave?

“I’m sure everything will be fine, as long as you’re both careful,” Emilia said.

I relaxed a little. “We will be,” I said.

Our meals were brought out, and we all went quiet as we ate the delicious food. Afterwards, they started teasing me and pushing me for steamy details. I laughed and played coy, and soon my stress melted away.

The rest of brunch was lighthearted as Brooke and Emilia talked about the latest things going on in their lives. Brooke was busy with a huge corporate case, and Emilia complained about a male coworker she despised. Even though I was engaged in the conversation, Cameron still lingered in the back of my mind. I would see him tomorrow, and despite my excitement, I also knew we had to be careful.

No mistakes. No stumbling. No miscommunication.

We had to pretend we didn’t mean anything to each other outside of work. I just hoped we could actually pull it off.

Monday felt like the longest day ever.

I checked the tiny clock on the bottom right corner of my computer screen for what felt like the hundredth time, my impatience turning into frustration. How could a day feel so long? It felt like I had been at work for nine days instead of nine hours.

Cameron walked into my office. I parted my lips to greet him, but I steadied myself, not even allowing myself to smile at him. The blinds weren’t shut, so people could see us.

“Yes?” I said, keeping my usual straight expression.

Cameron offered me a faint smile. “I wanted to see if there were any last-minute things you needed me to do. It’s almost five o’clock.”

“Right. Let me think.” As excited as I was for our plans after work, I was still at the office and needed to focus. My professional life couldn’t suffer because of my personal life. “I have a meeting tomorrow with a few members of LearnQuest. Can you make sure the conference room is prepared for it?”

“Already did it,” Cameron replied.

“I can’t think of anything else,” I told him as I smoothed my hands over my lap where my dark blue pencil skirt covered my thighs .

Cameron’s eyes shifted downward, his jaw tensing for a second. “If you think of anything that I can do for you, just let me know.”

“I definitely will,” I assured him, holding his darkening gaze as the seconds went by torturously slowly.

Cameron took another glance at my skirt and swallowed hard. “I think I’m going to double check the conference room. Just in case.”

The side of my mouth turned up. I nodded and turned back to my computer, regaining my composure once he left my office. I decided to over-prepare for my meeting tomorrow and research LearnQuest again, reading through their mission statement.

At 4:59, I shut off my computer and started gathering my things. Typically, I was the last to leave the building, but I didn’t want to be late for my plans tonight. I lingered in my office for an extra few minutes to make sure that Cameron left before I did, though.

We couldn’t be seen together in any capacity besides our typical interactions during the workday.

Once I left the building, I headed home like normal, but the big difference was that someone was going to be waiting for me when I got there. By the time I reached my apartment door, Cameron was lingering in the hallway with a smile on his face.

“Look at you being punctual,” I said as I unlocked my front door .

“Have I ever not been on time?” he asked.

Before I could even switch on the light, Cameron pushed me up against the door, his lips crashing against mine. I wound my arms around his neck, pulling him closer as he pinned me against the door. He deepened our kiss, his tongue sliding against mine, his hands roaming over my body, squeezing my waist and ass.

“Today was torture,” I breathed out as he kissed the side of my neck. “Is every day going to feel like this?”

“We just have to stay busy,” Cameron whispered.

I shuddered a little, the light chill of my apartment clashing with the aroused fire burning within me. When Cameron released me, I switched on the foyer light, and led Cameron into the main area of my apartment. His eyes swept around the large, combined living room, rec room, and dining room. The kitchen was through a door to the left, and the two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and my home office were down a hallway straight ahead on either side. The master bedroom also had a balcony view, which was my favorite part of my luxury apartment.

“This place is huge,” Cameron murmured as he glanced around, his eyes sweeping over my leather sectional and mounted flatscreen television.

“Are you hungry? We could cook dinner together.”

Cameron snapped out of his daze and nodded to me. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

We decided to make pasta. Most of the time, I ordered food, because it saved time, which meant more time to work on my business. But today, I didn’t feel the need to maximize every minute.

We took our time, laughing as we moved around the kitchen. It wasn’t long before a delicious, savory smell filled the kitchen, making my stomach rumble.

“I’m starving,” I said.

Cameron wrapped his arms around my waist as he stood behind me. He was tall enough to rest his chin on the top of my head, but he still had to lean down to do so. “You didn’t eat much today.”

“There’s been a lot of work to do.”

“There’s always a lot of work to do,” Cameron pointed out.

I turned around in his arms, my hands moving to rest on his biceps. “I don’t want to talk about work. I want to talk about what we’re going to watch while we eat.”

Cameron lifted an eyebrow at me as he glanced in the direction of the dining room. It was still in the main area with the living room, but it would’ve been inconvenient to try and watch television from where the dining table was situated. “We’re not going to eat at the table? Or the island?”

“Not unless you want to. It’s usually just me eating here, and I hate eating in silence, so I like watching TV while eating,” I explained. I hoped that didn’t sound too pathetic .

Cameron smiled. “I know what you mean.”

“So, what do you like to watch?” I asked him, coming upon something that I didn’t know about him. We didn’t exactly take the time to chat about pop culture and media at work.

Cameron released me so that he could check on the boiling pasta. “Anything anxiety-inducing.”

A surprised laugh broke from me as I grabbed a strainer from one of my lower kitchen cabinets. “Anxiety inducing? You like watching things that stress you out?”

Cameron smirked and followed me to the sink with the pot in his hands. “It doesn’t stress me out, but it might stress other people out.”

“Like drama? Or horror?” I asked, holding the strainer steady as he poured the water out of the pot. Cooked noodles tumbled into the strainer, which I gently shook to get the rest of the water out.

“I like both,” Cameron said as we returned to the stove, completing the last step of combining the noodles with our simmering Alfredo sauce. “But let’s go in the middle. Thrillers.”

I nudged him with a pleased smile. “I love thrillers. There’s actually this new TV show I was wanting to check out. Want to try that?”

“Sounds perfect,” Cameron replied, his face brightening. “You know, I kind of pegged you as a crime drama type.”

I shrugged. “When I’m in the mood for it. Thrillers are my favorite, though. Something about the suspense.”

Cameron held my gaze for a few seconds. There was a shift in his expression, but I couldn’t properly read it before he looked away to toss the noodles in our sauce. “I think we did a pretty damn good job.”

“Only one way to find out,” I said as I plucked a fork from my silverware drawer. I swirled a small bundle of noodles around it and offered the bite to Cameron.

Cameron gently took hold of my wrist, steadying my hand as he tasted our concoction. “That’s great.”

I smiled, letting him take the fork from my hand to return the favor. My eyes met his as my lips wrapped around the fork, desire briefly flashing in his eyes. “Wow. That’s probably the best Alfredo I’ve made.”

“Probably had something to do with me,” Cameron replied.

Laughter bubbled from me as I shook my head at him. I didn’t fully realize how quiet my home had been until he showed up.

This was all so… domestic. It was a strange feeling, but it wasn’t unwelcome. Growing up, there were nice moments when I saw my parents hanging out in the kitchen together, whether they were making coffee in the morning or cooking dinner at night. I remembered watching them from the dining table while eating breakfast or doing homework, enjoying the peace of the moment .

“You okay?” Cameron asked as he tilted his head.

I snapped out of my distant memories, not realizing that I had been quiet for so long. “Yeah, sorry. Let’s eat.”

I served two bowls and we walked into the living room, sitting on the sectional together.

I put on the new thriller TV show and sat back, our arms brushing as we got settled side by side. As the show started playing, I tore my attention away from it for a second just to take in the moment. I didn’t realize how much I wanted something like this until actually experiencing it.

The peace. The naturalness. The comfort.

I could see this becoming my new normal, but then uncertainty clouded my mind. How long would this last? Maybe soon, I’d crave having my own space — being alone again.

I fell deeper and deeper into my worries until I felt a gentle kiss on my cheek. Cameron shot me a warm look before turning his attention back to the television as intense music started playing.

If I didn’t get out of my own head, I was going to miss the good part. And that didn’t only apply to the television show.