Chapter 23

"W ell?" I said, still feeling like a lunatic for doing this in the first place, but I turned slowly in the living room, showing Ruth the dress. Ruth whistled low, and Earl half-raised his head from sleep, cracking his eyelids at me before he went back to sleep.

"Damn," Ruth said.

"Hair, too?"

"Try pulling a couple loose strands forward, past your ears. You know, effortless look."

Feeling impossibly self-conscious, I tugged some of my hair forward, the fresh curls bouncing along my cheek. Ruth grinned.

"You're winning her over no problem."

I glanced down at the dress, a dusty red one with a narrow waist and a loose flowing midi skirt layered with sheer fabric. "Not exactly an old hand at dressy dates… so I really appreciate the help."

She put her hands on her hips, standing up from my armchair. "Isn't that all you were doing your last few weeks at Queen Pearl? Taking her on dressy dates?"

"Well, yes. But we weren't calling them that."

She laughed. "Damn, though, but you're confident now. I could use a bit of that."

"Hey, you want my help looking good for a date, I'm here. But you've always had the better eye for fashion…"

"More just getting this guy to notice I'm hitting on him. You remember Marco?"

I wrinkled my nose. "You're hitting on Marco? Have you lost your mind?"

"God, let me finish. He's got a friend. Damien. As hot as he is dumb. I've been batting my eyelashes at him for ages now and he won't do a damn thing."

"Sometimes you've got to be… direct."

She laughed. "Yeah, seems to be working for you. I mean, damn. One day at the new job and you're already bagging multi-millionaires."

"Uh-huh. Which shoes should I go with?"

"I like your monochrome look. Got anything that matches that red?"

I did, as it so happened. And Ruth gave me a big hug as I headed out the door, promising to make sure Earl got his dinner on time, and I felt so nervous as I called a cab that it felt like I'd be sick.

Something about telling Ruth about the date, getting her help with styling, made it all so much… realer. And I was suddenly a teenage girl trying to put the moves on her first crush, all blushing awkwardness. But it was really my first time proper—my last girlfriend and I had kind of just fallen into something together because it felt easy.

This? This was lightyears different. And maybe it was okay to be nervous about that.

I texted Cameron telling her I was on my way, and the taxi driver must have been choking on my nervous energies, because he kept glancing at me in the rear-view mirror until he said, "Something big?"

I laughed nervously. "Yeah… a date with someone you wouldn't believe I've got a chance with. Wish me luck, okay?"

He gave me a big smile in the mirror. "Ah. Good luck."

La Mar was an elegant place right on the water, looking out at the glistening high-rise structures of Miami Beach, all lit up against the dusky backdrop with midnight creeping on over the ocean. The air smelled sweet and warm as I stepped out of the cab, my heart hammering as I headed for where Cameron stood by the entrance, wearing the same black wrap dress she'd worn that first night as Amelie. I waved to her, and she glanced at me, stopping, a smile playing on her lips as she looked me over.

"Can't even get inside before you check me out?" I said, and she gave me a playful smile.

"What, you want me to stop?"

"Okay, no." I laughed, a nervous rush in my chest as I tucked a strand of hair back, dropping my voice lower. "You, um… you look gorgeous."

"You too. Is this a new dress?"

"How can you…" I cleared my throat. "Right. You probably know fabrics."

She laughed. I felt myself blush. I wasn't expecting to be called out immediately. I turned to the water.

"My friend helped me pick it out. She's got a better eye for fashion than me."

"Hm. Told her you were off charming clients again?"

I shot her a challenging smirk. "Now you do want me to play the salesperson angle?"

She smiled wider. I folded my arms.

"No, actually. I told her I was off on a date with Cameron Mercier, and I was willing to move heaven and earth to impress her. Don't worry," I said, putting a hand up, "she's one of my best friends. She can keep a secret."

Her smile dropped, just a little, something there that I couldn't read—studying me, eyes narrowed just a fraction. Finally, breathlessly, she shook her head and spoke just loud enough for the two of us. "You're quite hard to resist like this."

My heart lurched. Desperately, I played it cool. "Like what?"

"Telling me you want me. Telling your friends that you want me. And trying to be the best you can to impress me. It's… entirely too attractive."

"Ah, well…" No playing cool anymore. I felt my face burn, and I looked away. "I mean, if it's as simple as just buying a new dress, I'm getting a new one every day. Ruth's going to be sick of taking me shopping, though."

"You don't need to do all that," she laughed. "But it's rather nice seeing you talk about your friends."

"Oh, uh…"

"Feel like before you would have just described her as your coworker."

My face prickled. "Huh. Yeah, probably."

"Besides," she said, folding her arms, a smile dancing over her lips, "you're going with other people to buy clothes as if I'm not right here? I know a few things about dressing you."

"I mean…" I felt my face burn, but I wasn't backing down. Not when I knew how much Cameron liked it when I didn't. "I suspect you know about a bit more than dressing me, but if you're suggesting another date, the answer is yes."

I saw it again—the subtle tightening in her neck, the flare in her eyes. "Are we getting a bit ahead of ourselves now?" she said, and I shrugged.

"Are we? You tell me, Miss Mercier."

"Hm." Her smile only widened. I turned to the doors.

"In that case, if you're going to suggest another date at any point, the answer… well, I'll let you try and see. Shall we get inside, or do you want to miss our reservation and stand out here all night?"

It was a bit of a funny-looking building with a rounded shape and a sort of dusty green color, but the interior was nothing short of stunning, dark wood meeting glass and plant walls, accents of playful color livening up the space. A neatly dressed hostess with a bright Brazilian accent and deep-toned skin took us across the restaurant and out to the back, where she seated us by the railing with the lights of Miami Beach cutting out glimmering shapes against the night sky and shining over the water, and Cameron looked at it all with that same wonder she'd had when I'd started showing her properties. The way her face lit up when she saw something stunning to her—my heart ached at that sight like nothing else.

I was completely out of my mind to try courting her. But I'd have been more out of my mind not to.

Compared to how tense she'd been over the phone, in her office, and even on the tour earlier today, Cameron was practically glowing right now. She talked freely, asking me how things were doing in the wake of the Queen Pearl collapse and how I'd ended up deciding to work for Leon, and when I mentioned the bitterness at them being the ones kicking me out of my apartment, Cameron frowned, looking up from the garlic-parmesan scallops she'd just started on.

"You're getting kicked out of your apartment?"

"Oh, well… I mean, sort of. They're just choosing not to renew my lease. De facto, anyway. Spiking my rent by almost double so I leave."

"Is that legal?"

"Not strictly. But they know nobody can bring them to court in time to do anything about it."

She frowned, spearing her food, holding it up on her fork and twirling it idly in the air.

"What?" I said, something churning in my chest.

"You never mentioned."

"Well… it wasn't exactly appropriate to bring up."

She smiled lightly. "Aren't you something of an expert in finding places to live?"

I scratched the back of my head, looking out over the water. "Well, you know… it's mostly for a different price range than I'd be renting for myself. And it's not like I can't find a place, even though Leon is quite the pay cut from Queen Pearl, just…" I pursed my lips. "Well, call this my final judgment on whether I stay in Miami. This job, this… this case. So I'm hesitant to sign any leases right now."

"And you have how long now?"

"Bit over a month."

She looked down, and she was quiet for an anxious second before she relaxed, meeting my gaze again. "Well," she said, her voice lighter, "let me know if there's any way I can help. Obviously, we can't let the venerable Earl of Westlake be inconvenienced."

"Too true…" I felt my face prickle, but I smiled through it. "Thanks. I'll be okay, though. I'm a big girl."

"I mean, I'd be one to agree…" She looked, just for a second, but long enough for it to be unmistakable what she was doing, at my chest. I laughed, my face burning.

"Cameron!"

"What?" She put her hands up, doing a bad job fighting back her smile.

God, though, if I didn't want to let her see all she liked.

The food was mouthwateringly good, tender seafood bursting with flavor, but more than that, just seeing the way Cameron enjoyed it… if she hadn't admitted she hadn't gone out for food much lately, her face now would have been a giveaway. I stared, maybe a bit too much, just taking her in—the way she thrilled in these small pleasures, experiencing them like it was the whole world.

It was stunning.

We wound down with carajillos after the meal, and once the drinks were running low and our conversation ran to a natural lull, we both found ourselves with our eyes wandering to the horizon, the glimmering lights of Miami Beach like artificial stars on the water.

"Thank you," Cameron said, softly, pulling me out of my thoughts. I glanced back over at her, but she wasn't looking at me, holding her glass to her lips and not drinking from it, just staring out over the water. "For tonight," she said. "It's… I've needed something like this."

I watched her, my throat tight, for an anxious, heart-pounding second before I dared to put words together. "My pleasure. Thank you for coming with me. I've loved this."

"Haven't had proper Peruvian in some time," she said, a glimmer coming into her eyes. "You know how to make a girl happy."

"It's good, right? It's one of my favorites."

"Might be mine too now," she said, and that sweet, delicate smile that danced over her lips was to die for. I'd never known what people described—that magnetism towards a person, the aching urge to kiss them, how they could draw you in past your own resolve with just a look—but Cameron made it all crystal clear.

"So," I said, drawing the word out. "Is now when you're going to ask me on another date?"

She pursed her lips, looking back out over the water. My immediate urge was to move in, softening the pain point, take the pressure off and let the idea sit in her mind and come back for a second try—but it stank of artificiality right now.

Right now, my heart just wanted to wait and see what she said. And after a second, she sighed, hanging her head.

"Maybe there is some bad luck at play," she said, her voice airy, distant. "Of all the times for you to show up in my life, stealing my heart…"

"Maybe so." I paused. "But… lately I've been thinking luck is what you make of it."

"Have you?" She glanced back at me, a smile dancing over her lips. "Moving on past the superstitions, then?"

"Trying." I shifted back in my seat, crossing my legs, putting my arms out. "For example, maybe my timing is perfect."

"Oh, is it, now?" Her smile widened.

"Why not? If I hadn't come along right now, maybe you'd have done something you'd regret."

Her smile faltered, and she turned back to the water. After the silence stretched on too long, I got a tension in my gut like my insides were coiling, and I relaxed my pose, leaning forwards.

"Sorry. Not trying to make light of your situation."

"If you hadn't come along, maybe this wouldn't have happened," she said, her voice distant—like she was whispering to someone across the water. "He wouldn't have done this. I could still be living like before."

I measured my breaths carefully, just watching her for the longest time, pushing down the heavy feeling in my head, before I heard myself speak—softly, gently. "There's a but there."

"Oh, is there?" Her tone lightened, but she still wouldn't look at me.

"I know the ways you talk. I may have watched a couple of your interviews, too…" I looked away. "Just while I was missing you."

She sighed, a sad smile on her lips as she took a sip of her cocktail. "I speak differently in an interview than I do here."

"I'm aware of that, too. Made me feel special."

She laughed. And then it went away, as she looked down into her drink. "So I suppose there is a but there."

"And… any hints on what it might be?"

"Maybe more of a so. " She swirled her drink, occupying herself, like she was trying to pull up the will to say it. "For example… maybe none of this would have happened if I hadn't met you, so… why do I not regret that I did? So why am I not upset about it?"

The tension slipped out with a whooshing sensation, and I took a long breath, steadying myself. "Maybe something like… seeking joy is intertwined with facing pain?"

"There's no good without the bad?"

"Maybe that's a less pretentious way to say it."

"Hm. You say pretentious, I say formal speech as befits an attendant to the Earl. "

I tipped a hand. "See, you get it."

Her smile faded. "I've… very much enjoyed tonight. But we shouldn't keep doing this."

I laughed, surprising both of us. "Ah… what was it? Should, shouldn't. I'm tired of those words. Let's just do what we want."

She shot me an incredulous look. "London. Are you really pulling my own words on me?"

I glanced down at my fingernails. "Hm. It would seem I am."

"Unbelievable." Still, that smile didn't seem like she was too upset about it. "You know…"

"Tell me."

"You have quite the force of will, London."

I tucked a strand of hair back. "Is that a compliment, or a complaint? Could go either way."

"It should be a complaint. It isn't." She set her drink down, leaning in and folding her arms on the table, her eyes sparkling. "Do you have any sense of consequences? Really, any?"

"Er…" I shrugged. "Maybe I don't. My whole life's been a series of things going wrong even when I do things right. But isn't that all of life? If playing by the rules and doing things right means you still get into trouble, why not have some fun along the way?"

She smiled, eyes narrowed a fraction, and she watched me like that—careful, studying—for an eternity before she spoke in a low voice. "Six thirty on Thursday. I'll pick you up. Don't try to figure out where we're going, and wear whatever you like."

I felt something surge in my chest, but I schooled my reaction, fighting a smile and losing. "Oh, and you've decided what my answer is already?"

"I've taken a stab in the dark. Think I might be right."

Well, she'd always had a good read on me.