Page 55

They left the elevator, and she led the way to her room, opening the door and letting him in. He went straight out onto the terrace. Nina closed the door. “Do you want a drink?” she called through.

“Yeah,” he replied. “Something alcoholic.”

It was only ten a.m. but Nina figured he needed one, so she lifted out a couple of miniatures and mixers and took them onto the terrace, deciding she would join him in solidarity. That’s what friends did, after all. Except I want to be more than just his friend.

She took a seat. He was standing resting his hands on the balcony railing.

“Cam?” she said, holding out his glass.

He turned to take it from her, locking his gaze with hers as he drank. “Thank you.”

He took a seat next to her.

Nina sipped from her glass. “How’re you feeling?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know how to answer that.”

She nodded. “What happened in there?”

He sat forward and leaned on the table, fiddling with his glass. “I went over and asked them what was going on. Ash burst into tears and told me she was sorry. Zac sat there with a smirk on his face. Apparently, they’ve been hooking up pretty much the whole time we’ve been here.”

A wave of nausea engulfed Nina and her heart ached for him. “I’m so sorry.”

He glanced at her. “Thank you.”

“Can you work it out?” Nina asked. She couldn’t help but feel that Ash deserved a second chance after everything Zac had put her through, even though Nina had to admit she was jealous of Ash’s relationship with Cam. She took a breath and stuffed those envious feelings deep down.

He shook his head. “I told her it was over. To be honest, I don’t think she minded.”

Nina frowned. “Really?” Ash couldn’t be choosing Zac over Cameron. She needed her head examined if so.

“Yeah. I think her infatuation with him has been there the whole time we were together,” he said, swirling his drink and taking a large slug.

Pain stabbed in Nina’s heart at his resigned tone. “That’s really shitty. I’m sorry that they’ve hurt you so badly.”

Cameron drained his drink and leaned back in his chair. He turned so that he was level with her. “The thing is, I can’t say that I feel hurt.”

She frowned. How could he not after all those revelations? “You aren’t?”

He shook his head.

Nina studied him. “Then why don’t you seem yourself?”

“Because I feel guilty,” he said, staring at her with an intense look in his eye.

She shook her head, frowning. “Guilty?”

He shifted his chair closer so that he was right next to her. The seats had no arms, so his thigh grazed hers and their shoulders touched. He nodded. “And the reason I feel guilty is that I’m relieved.”

She blew out a deep breath. “You’re going to have to explain yourself, because you’ve lost me.”

He smiled. “I’m relieved because my relationship with Ash was over before we even came out here. To be honest, I’m not sure how meaningful a relationship it was anyway. She was using me to try to get away from Zac, and I felt like I was rescuing her from him.”

She examined his expression, reading the implication behind his eyes. “He reminded you of that horrible boyfriend your mum had…so you wanted to help her?”

“I think so,” he said. “It’s not that I didn’t find her attractive. It’s just that there was no more to it than that.” He met her eyes again. “And I want more.”

Nina nodded slowly. “You’re relieved because this gave you an excuse to end it but not to hurt her feelings by rejecting her.”