Novel Palace
10
Even if I shouldn’t have been.
“And there will be plenty more of it in the future,” I told her. “Missing one hangout isn’t the end of the world. Besides, your boyfriend is a fucking hard-ass, and he’s going to ride me to hell and back if I don’t start weeding through this case.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, glancing at Ford and then back at me. “So, that’s the reason you’re giving us?”
I focused on Ford and said, “Do you have any work to pass off to Hannah? She obviously has too light of a day if she’s wasting all this time arguing with me.”
She stood, holding the edge of my desk, leaning toward me. “For the record, if I were really arguing, you’d end up going out with them. Because I always win. We both know that.” She winked.
I chuckled. “Good fucking God.”
Her smile grew as she asked, “Drinks this week? I need twin time.”
“Yes.”
“What about me?” Ford asked. “Where’s my invite?”
I looked around Hannah and replied, “Are you a twin?” to Ford.
“I wouldn’t have survived the womb with the way you two go at it.”
“It’s all out of love,” Hannah responded, and then her attention shifted to me. “How’s Friday? Or will you have to work?”
“Get out,” I groaned.
She laughed as she joined Ford in the doorway, both of them disappearing down the hall.
Once I was sure she was gone, I removed my phone from the drawer, opened Oaklyn’s last message where she’d asked what she should bring, and I started to type.
ME
An appetite. Not for food.
FIVE
Oaklyn
E
ven though Camden’s doorman had alerted him of my arrival, he still looked a bit surprised when he opened the door to greet me. Of course, I was dressed a lot differently than I had been last night. Rather than the loungewear that had shown every inch of me, I’d chosen a pair of skinny jeans and a cream tube top that sat at the lowest part of my chest and ended just above my belly button, a navy blazer to go over it, and sky-high heels.
He said nothing as his gaze lowered to my feet and rose to my face, but his expression gave away his approval. I could tell he wasn’t just pleased; he found what I had on extremely sexy.
I was a novice at all things physical, but when it came to clothes and putting myself together, I certainly had the upper hand.
I was sure my expression was revealing how handsome I found him, how sexy he looked tonight, even if I was trying to mask those thoughts. He had wet, tousled hair, as though he’d just gotten out of the shower, wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and a T-shirt that didn’t hide the hard, corded muscles underneath. His signature thin leather bracelets circled his wrist, and his beard was even thicker than it had been when he dragged it over my skin.
A memory that made my thighs clench.
Hell yes.
Even in athletic wear, Camden looked achingly hot.
A type of attraction where I wanted to wrap my legs around his waist and run my hands through his wet locks and cover his lips with mine.
“Are you going to invite me in?” I asked.
He chuckled, like he was taken aback by what I’d asked, and he glanced over his shoulder at the inside of his apartment before connecting eyes with me again. “It’s a lion’s den in there. Are you sure you want to be invited in?”
I’d been thinking about this moment since he’d texted me this morning.
My body was still reeling from the evening before.
His question was a no-brainer.
“Yes, with zero doubts in my mind,” I admitted.
He moved to the side, giving me enough space to slip between him and the door. “Then, enter at your own risk.”
I smiled as I passed him, stalling for the briefest of seconds to take a deep inhale of his cologne, and continued to the kitchen.
I’d been here with Hannah once before, when he first moved in, attending the party he’d put together. In the time that had passed, there were changes. More decor hung on the walls, additional furniture was in the living room, a bar had been set up against the far wall. The tall, wide glass windowpanes were now framed in sheer curtains to emphasize the expansive view of the Hollywood Hills. And to add to the vibe, music played in the background, a tune that was more instrumental than singing, giving my ears the perfect kind of massage.
A pad that had been designed for the bachelor.Content © provided by NôvelDrama.Org.
He made his way over to the bar. “Before we get into the details of tonight, I want to talk to you about something.”
I leaned my back against the corner of the island, watching him pour vodka into a short glass and some red wine from a bottle that was already open. “Okay.”
He knew what I drank and didn’t have to ask.
Another surprise.
One that I loved.
He came into the kitchen and handed me the wine. “It’s about my sister.”
“What about her?”
“Unless you want her to know about us, I need you to play it cool when you’re around her. If she brings me up, you can’t get all smiley and obvious.”
I didn’t clink my glass against his. I just took a sip. “Hold on. You’re giving yourself an awful lot of credit here. You think I’d get smiley if she mentioned your name?”
“After tonight, fuck yes.”
I shook my head, sighing, “Go on.”
“You also can’t act any differently if the three of us are around each other, or she’ll know in a second.”
Besides the nature of this conversation, nothing had changed between us.
Camden had forever been the guy who smiled as he spoke, adding that additional layer of charm into every discussion. He was the guy who teetered the line of friend and flirt. The guy who turned comments into sexual innuendos.