Page 133 of Masters of Control

“I’ve heard that. Maybe we could do both? The Native American museum in the morning, have lunch, then the Air and Space Museum in the afternoon? Or is that too much?”

He wasn’t sure if she was asking whether there were too many things in the museums for them to have time to do it all or if she was asking if that was too much of her, but either way, the answer was the same.

“That’s perfect. Just make sure you wear comfortable shoes.” He grinned, then his smile broadened when she reached out and pulled him against her.

“As much as I don’t want tonight to end, I’m freezing and getting in my car. I can’t wait for this weekend.” She didn’t wait for him to answer before planting a hot kiss on his lips. He angled his head to deepen it. They kissed for a long, wonderful moment before she pulled away, leaving his lips warm and tingling in the cold air. “Good night, Freddy.”

“Good night, ma’am.”

With a sweet smile, she got into her car and started it.

Stepping back, Freddy watched her drive away before he headed down the street to the garage where he’d parked.

Chapter Nineteen

Freddy

“Oh my God, this is so good,” Camille moaned around the mouthful of food she’d just spooned into her mouth. “The flavors are amazing.”

“Here, try this,” Freddy said, lifting a fork full of the seasoned meat from his plate. Watching her eat was its own form of pleasure. He passed the fork over and nearly sighed with her as she took a bite.

The whole morning had been wonderful. They’d headed to the top floor of the museum so they could work their way down until they reached the food. He hadn’t been in a while, so the visiting exhibit was new to him, and the artwork was fantastic. They’d walked through the whole thing holding hands, stopping to point out things that caught their attention and chit chatting in general.

The only thing they didn’t talk about was work.

“I’ve never had museum food like this,” she said after swallowing. “I feel like it’s usually fried food.”

“A lot of the museums around here have gotten a lot better, but yeah, there used to be a lot more chicken tenders and soggy overcooked cafeteria hamburgers and stuff like that. Now there’s more variety in all the museums. The Museum of Natural History has great salad bowls.”

Camille shook her head in amazement.

“I am kicking myself for not getting out more,” she admitted, her lips turning downward. “I needed this. I don’t care what happens with work. I’m going to make it a point to get out of the house more often and go exploring.”

“If you want company, I’d be happy to help.” He didn’t want to be pushy, but he was really enjoying himself today and was pretty sure she was, too.

“Oh, I’m counting on you to know all the best spots,” she teased. “It would be like having my own personal tour guide.”

Freddy laughed. That didn’t sound bad to him at all. Maybe they could even do some actual tours. She’d probably enjoy that. There were some really great ones downtown. He’d heard good things about a comedy tour and had always wanted to do one of the Segway tours if he could talk her into it. He didn’t know why, because the people always looked ridiculous, but he’d always thought it would be fun to go on one.

“Eventually, I’m going to get you up to the top of the Monument if you leave it up to me.” He winked, and Camille shook her fork at him.

“Don’t be naughty,” she replied, her voice turning a little huskier with the implied threat. It wasn’t a real order, though, more like ‘go ahead, so I have an excuse to punish you.’ Freddy’s favorite kind of order.

He grinned at her, unrepentant, and something sparked in her dark eyes. The air thickened around them, an erotic tension filling the space between them, before Camille blinked and shook it off. Still, the energy between them lingered.

“So, Air and Space is next. You said something about an IMAX theater? I won’t lie. I wouldn’t mind getting a break to sit down.” She grinned. “Even though you warned me to wear sneakers, I’m not used to walking this much in one day.”

Neither was Freddy, but he spent a lot of time on his feet behind the desk at Marquis, which helped. They finished lunch talking about all the things the Air and Space Museum had to offer and looking up movie times. Camille wanted to do it all, which sounded great to him.

Walking up the mall to the museum was freezing, so they were relieved when they stumbled into the warm museum entrance.

“Oh, wow,” Camille said, unwrapping herself from her jacket and pulling off her gloves and earmuffs. The front of her hair lay flat against her head, held in place by some kind of band, leaving the back half of her curls free to fly. The wind had ruffled them a little but not much.

The plain green shirt she was wearing skimmed her curves, showing her shape without clinging to it. Her jeans did plenty of clinging. Draping her jacket over one arm, she reached out with the other hand and Freddy laced his fingers through hers.

“By the way, have I told you how good you look today?” he asked, making her laugh because it had literally been the first thing he’d said to her, and he’d repeated it more than once.

“If you’re expecting me to get tired of hearing it, you’re barking up the wrong tree.” But her attention wasn’t really on him. It was on all the things hanging above them and displayed around them. The main room of the museum had some pretty incredible, very large displays.