CHAPTER ELEVEN
“YOUCAN’TSTAREat her like that, mate,” said Derek.
“I know,” Cameron muttered.
Apparently he had been staring, as evidenced by the fact that he hadn’t heard Derek come up from behind. Which was a bad sign. Cameron rubbed his forehead. He had walked out of his office for some reason, but he couldn’t remember what it was. Because seeing Jackson in that same skirttoday was driving him crazy.
Another bad sign.
He was dying for a repeat of the other day in his office, and just thinking about how he could lift this skirt over her hips was turning him on.
“You’re getting in way too deep, Cam,” muttered Derek. “Let’s get back into your office before the sexual harassment police come by.”
Cameron tore his eyes from Jackson’s curves and duckedinto his office. Derek shut the door and parked himself on the sofa. This guy wasn’t leaving until whatever he had on his mind was said.
“All right, you wanker, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Cameron sank into the sofa next to him and ran his hand through his hair. He blew out a breath. “I don’t know. Something really stupid.”
“Yep.” Derek nodded. “Because you’re staringat her like you’re imagining her doing something dirty.”
He couldn’t stop himself. The moment Derek said those words, he flashed to the scene in his office just a couple days ago. When she’d bent over his desk for him and he’d taken her from behind. He let out a strangled sound of frustration.
“You fuckwit,” whispered Derek. He shook his head. “You’ve already done it for real. Shit.”
Cameron closed his eyes. “Remember that night in the hotel, when I told the three of you that it was our last night to have some fun? Of all the women in Sydney, I picked her up, okay? I had no idea. And it was good. I mean, really good. So much more than anything like that has a right to be.” Cameron shook his head. “And I might have been able to let it be if she hadn’t shown up in our officethe next day, all buttoned up and wide-eyed.”
Derek clapped him on the back a couple times. He actually looked sympathetic. “And now?”
“Fuck if I know,” he said. “Every time I see her, it’s like I can’t tear myself away from her. Even when we’re just sitting in the conference room, I find reasons to keep her talking, just so she doesn’t leave. I can’t help myself, okay?”
Cameron rubbedhis hands over his eyes and let his shoulders sag. “She’s going to leave for real. Soon. And I don’t know what the hell I can do about it.”
“You sure she’s not just playing with you?” asked Derek.
Cameron shook his head. “I don’t think so. But I guess I can’t be sure.”
Derek leaned back into the sofa pillows, and he was silent for way too long. Not good. Derek was from one of the biggestfamilies in the Samoan community in Sydney, and both his father and his grandfather were church leaders. Even though Derek had chosen a different path, people came to him with their problems all the time. And he was never silent.
He glanced over at his friend. “Well?”
Derek raised his eyebrows. “I don’t know what you want me to say. You won’t see a shrink to get over your flying thing.And she lives in New York. There are ten thousand miles of issues. Something’s got to give.”
“A shrink won’t help,” spat Cameron. “I can’t do it. I can’t get myself on a plane. I’m afraid I’ll lose it in a way I’ll never come back from.”
He couldn’t even think of airplanes without flashing back to that crash in the desert and the two men who’d never come back. It was still so real. Theutter panic of knowing the engine had failed and they were falling... The impossible, jarring impact as one side of the plane hit the ground and went up in flames. The heat from the burning wreckage, the slashing pain in his midsection and the inhuman screams coming from the men. He closed his eyes against it all.
“You made it across the Pacific once. You can do it again,” Derek said.
“Simon was with me,” said Cameron. “Just ask him about that plane ride.”
“Okay, okay,” said Derek, his hands up in surrender. “So find another way to spend some more time with her.”
“I suggested she ask the board for more time, but she didn’t even consider it.” Cameron grimaced. “She mentioned a ten-year plan. And she’s got this little red book she writes in. If I could see it, I bet Icould figure this out. But I’m not lifting it from her. I’m not stooping that low.”
Or would he?
His friend patted his arm and stood up. “Sorry, mate. It doesn’t sound good.”
