Max turned to Jackson and flashed her a smile. “That invitation includesyou, Ms. McAllister.” Cameron glared, but Max ignored him. “We wouldn’t want you to get the impression that Blackmore Inc. is just a man’s club. We welcome women into all areas of our business.”
Jackson rolled her eyes, smiling. “Noted. But no thanks.”
Cameron was going to strangle Max if he had to listen to his friend harass Jackson for another minute.
“Suit yourself,” Max said easily.“Cam?”
Derek gave Cameron a wary look and clapped Max on the back. “He’ll catch up with us if he wants to.” The three men nodded to Cameron and disappeared into a taxi. Leaving him standing with Jackson.
“Is Max ever serious?” she asked.
Cameron shrugged. “Occasionally. A couple things get under his skin.” Like the subject of his family. And Natasha. In the time that Cameron had knownMax, those were the only two subjects he had ever seen his friend get heated about.
Jackson tilted her head and looked at him. “Do you mind if I walk with you a bit?”
Of course he minded. It meant every ounce of his energy was going toward not touching her. Not watching her soft, full lips as she spoke in that husky voice.
But if he said no, he was an asshole. Correction: he was alreadyan asshole. But he didn’t need to make the situation worse.
Cameron sighed. “I was going to walk over to Haymarket for some dumplings. You’re welcome to join me.”
She hesitated. “Um, okay.”
He nodded his head down the street. “This way. It’s a bit of a walk.”
Jackson smiled and pointed to her feet. “I bought a new pair of walking shoes.”
Cameron made the mistake of lookingdown at them. He didn’t know shit about women’s shoes, and these looked roughly the same as any other pair. But of course he didn’t stop his observations at the shoes. His gaze lingered at her ankles before tracing the curve of her legs up to the hem of her skirt. Today’s was just short enough to get him thinking about her thighs. Shit.
Cameron shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking.Jackson caught up a moment later.
“Listen,” she said breathlessly, “I just wanted to thank you for putting in the effort today with UNHCR. I talked with the director for a while before you got there, and he was beyond thrilled about the exposure.”
Cameron nodded.
“He said that donations come in at times of crisis, but the money tends to dry up when the crisis is no longer on the frontpages,” she continued. “Something like this brings people’s attention back.”
Cameron glanced at her as she spoke. Her cheeks were flushed, and she was gesturing with her hands like she actually cared about what she was saying. Her eyes were alive. And she looked beautiful.
He raised an eyebrow at her. “You already got me in front of the camera. You don’t need to sell me the idea anymore.”
Jackson stopped in the middle of the busy sidewalk and put her hands on her hips. Cameron turned and met her gaze, and he found more than a hint of irritation in it. The lunch crowd bumped around her, but she didn’t seem to care.
“I’m not selling anything, Cameron. Raising money for a good cause is important.”
Cameron crossed his arms. “If that’s what you feel strongly about, then whyare you working in corporate PR, for companies like my father’s?”
There. He’d said it. This was the question that had irked him since she’d shown up in his office for the first time. Why had she taken a job with Harlan?
Jackson’s arms fell from her hips, and she looked away, frowning.
“That’s complicated,” she said.
Cameron took a step closer. “We’re long past complicated, Jackson.I’d like to know.”
“It’s personal,” she said, still not looking at him. “You know, you’re just as much a threat to my job as I am to yours.”
He blinked. All this time he had worried about her leveraging her power over his job, and she had been anxious about the same thing? That he’d use sex to manipulate her somehow? Cameron’s shoulders fell. It was just the kind of thing Harlan Blackmorewould do.
