His mouth gave a very slight twitch. “I don’t think I’ve heard someone use the term “swimmingly” to describe nightclubbing before.”

  I bristled. “Well, now you have."

  His voice grew quieter. “Did you meet anyone?”

  “I met lots of people.”

  “Men?”

  “Some of them were male, yes.”

  I watched Cameron’s jaw move in a funny way, but he didn’t respond. Interesting. Perhaps he wasn’t finding this as easy as I imagined. I shouldn’t have lied, but an insecure part of me wanted to test him. I wanted to know if he felt possessive of me, if he worried about someone coming along and snapping me up during our self-imposed separation, the same way I worried about other women catching his eye.

  “They also had zero interest in me. I was merely Lilah’s wing woman,” I said, hoping to assuage any possible worry.

  He didn’t show any outward sign of relief, which left me still wondering how he felt. Cameron was such a closed book at times, especially over the last two weeks.

  Georgia finished up her phone call and came to join us. “Good morning, Maisie,” she said before taking the third seat at the desk. She pressed a button on her telephone. “Nadia, you can send in the first interviewee.”

  “I think I feel more nervous than the person about to be interviewed,” I blurted jokingly.

  Cameron only arched a brow while Georgia cast me a kind smile. “Don’t be nervous. Cameron and I will be asking most of the questions.”

  Feeling more at ease, I smiled as Nadia opened the door and ushered in the first candidate, Rosa Avila. I remembered she was Cameron’s favourite. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, with a dark bob and a prim-and-proper style of dress.

  The first three interviews went well, and then the fourth and last candidate of the day entered the room. Damien Holt. He wore jeans and a leather jacket, which I thought was a risky wardrobe choice considering he was applying for what was essentially a desk job. He had sandy blond hair, stubble, and bright-blue eyes. His forehead was a little too high, and his upper lip too thin, though overall, he was attractive.

  Not that that mattered, of course.

  I opened my notepad to a fresh page then glanced up and found Damien looking at me, a faint smile shaping his lips. What was that about? Georgia’s voice drew his attention away.

  “Hello, Damien,” she began. “Can you start by telling us a little bit about yourself?”

  “Well,” Damien replied, his attention going from Georgia to Cameron and then to me, again giving me that enigmatic smile. Maybe he was just a smiley sort of person. “I graduated from the University of London with an MA in Library Science four years ago. Since then, I’ve worked for two years in the library at Exeter College, and a year and a half with a research team in Cornwall College. I moved back to Torquay a few months ago to care for my father, who’d fallen ill. Thankfully he’s now on the mend, which is why I’m currently on the job hunt.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry he was ill, but I’m glad to hear your father’s getting better,” Georgia said. “Your previous jobs were academic in nature. How do you feel you’d fare in an investigative environment?”

  “It’s true I’ve only ever worked in academic research, but I think the end goal is generally the same, to discover and compile the correct information. Honestly, I did love my previous work, but now I want something more challenging, which is exactly what I think this position will be.”

  “It’s not all challenges,” Cameron put in. “Some of the research work we need done can be quite monotonous and, dare I say, even boring at times.”

  Damien nodded. “That goes without saying. No job is all excitement all the time.”

  “I would venture to say there is very little excitement,” Cameron scoffed.

  I narrowed my gaze at him. He hadn’t been like this with the last three interviewees. In fact, he’d been uncharacteristically polite.

  “Well, speaking as someone who’s held this job for a number of years,” I said, “in my opinion, there is quite a bit of excitement, if research is what excites you. And since it’s Damien’s profession also, I’m sure it excites him just as much as it does me.”

  Stop saying the word excite.

  A hint of amusement played on Damien’s face. “You’re right. Research excites me very much.”

  Great, now he’s at it, too.

  Cameron cleared his throat. “Moving on. Can you tell us what you feel are your greatest strengths and your greatest weaknesses?”

  I glanced at him a moment, and his expression was stern. While getting to know him over the weeks before Christmas, I enjoyed burrowing past his defences and making him smile, laugh even, especially since his smiles and laughter were so rare. I’d witnessed some of his frostiness thaw, which was why it was odd to see it return now. Had I said something wrong, or did he just not like Damien very much?

  Cameron and Georgia asked a few more questions of Damien before thanking him for his time.

  “We’ll be in touch within the next few days,” Georgia said as she walked him to the door. She closed it behind him and turned back around to face us. “Well, he was surprising.”

  Cameron snorted. “Who turns up to a job interview wearing jeans and a leather jacket? You might as well not show up at all.”

  “True,” Georgia said. “But in spite of that I actually quite liked him. Plus, of all the candidates, he’s got the best work experience.”

  “I like him, too,” I added. “We went to the same university, and I can tell you it’s not an easy ride. It takes hard work to graduate with first-class honours.”

  Cameron narrowed his gaze at me slightly before looking at Georgia. “Even so, I prefer Rosa. Her credentials are just as good as Damien’s, in my opinion, and unlike him, she attended in suitable interview attire.”

  “Yes,” Georgia agreed. “That was an unfortunate choice on his part that I’ll have to take into consideration.”

  “I think Damien is better for the job,” I said. “I like Rosa, too, but Damien’s work experience definitely puts him ahead of the pack. With any of the other three, it could take me weeks to train them. With Damien, I could have him trained within a couple of days.”

  “Right, well, I don’t know about you two, but I’m famished,” Georgia put in before rising from her seat. “I have a lunch meeting in town, but I’ll see you both back here in an hour.”

  “Yes, see you then,” I said as she left and I began picking up my things.

  A moment of silence elapsed between Cameron and me. We were at odds on who Georgia should hire, and it was creating a tense atmosphere.

  “Of course you think Damien’s the better choice,” Cameron grumbled under his breath.

  I placed a hand on my hip and turned to look at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He scowled, eyes on Georgia’s desk. “Nothing. Forget I said anything.”

  I narrowed my gaze. “Are you insinuating that I want to hire him for his looks?”

  Cameron exhaled a deep breath and lifted his gaze to meet mine. “Do you like how he looks?”

  “His looks are irrelevant. And if…” I paused, bit my lip, and tried to keep my thoughts to myself, but it was useless. I took a step closer to him so that we stood mere inches apart. “If you could pull your head out of your arse for five seconds, you’d see he’s the most logical person to hire.”

  Cameron blinked. We held each other’s gazes for a full five seconds, at loggerheads. Then, quite unexpectedly, his attention lowered to my mouth.

  There was a dark look in his eyes that made me breathe faster. His scent invaded my space—the ocean-fresh cologne he always wore, and whatever fabric softener he used on his clothes. I’d never thought fabric softener could be so intoxicating.

  He lifted his hand and very lightly touched the ends of my hair. The tense atmosphere thickened and evolved into something new. All I wanted to do was reach out and touch him.

  His eyes dropped from my lips before he squeezed them shut, his shoulders slumping. “You’re right. I’m being pig-headed. He is more qualified. It’s just that with you I find I can be very…” His words trailed off.

  “You find you can be very what?” I pushed, dying to know what he’d been about to say.

  Shoulders straightening, he re-opened his eyes. “Unreasonable,” he answered huskily.

  I swallowed tightly, not knowing how to respond. When the office door opened, I immediately stepped away from Cameron.

  It was Nadia. “So sorry to interrupt,” she said, glancing at Cameron. “There’s a call for you in your office.”

  He turned away from me and headed for the door. “Thank you, Nadia. I’ll go answer it right away.” He followed her out.

  I was left standing there, reeling from the encounter. The way he’d looked at me affected every part of me. His eyes had this way of laying me bare, body and soul. All I wanted to do was lean into him, breathe him in.

  These were not appropriate thoughts to be having in the workplace.

  I straightened and left Georgia’s office, closing the door behind me.

  Alone in the lunchroom, I sat down to eat my sandwich, head still swimming with thoughts of Cameron. I just couldn’t seem to get him off my mind.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” came a voice.

  Lilah gazed down at me and I mustered a smile. “Hmm, I was thinking I would not be attracted to someone who was walking down the street, snapping their fingers and shuffling their feet while singing ‘do wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo.’ In fact, I’d consider crossing to the other side of said street.”

  She barked a laugh. “You’re such a little weirdo. But yeah, song lyrics make no sense sometimes. Like, I definitely don’t want my lover getting with my friends.”

  “Exactly! And no one becomes a pinball wizard by sense of smell,” I added. “It just doesn’t happen.”

  Lilah, still laughing, took the seat next to mine and opened her pasta salad. She took a few bites before asking quietly, “So, what’s been going on with you and you know who? He seemed…I don’t know…weird with you this morning.”

  I’d yet to fill Lilah in on everything that came after the Christmas party. I think in a weird way I was still processing. Cameron and I were in some kind of limbo, the lines of which seemed more hazy than clear-cut.

  “Um, nothing really. I start my investigator training with him soon, so we decided to keep things professional.”

  She gave a rueful look. “Well, that’s not very scandalous.”

  “Sorry to disappoint.”

  I was grateful when Miles and Rory entered the break room, because it meant we couldn’t continue talking about Cameron. Normally, I loved having personal chats with Lilah, but it felt like this thing with Cameron was too difficult to talk about. Mainly because I wished it could be different. I wished we didn’t have to wait for a more appropriate time to be together.

  And I wished Cameron wasn’t so stoic and level-headed. A part of me yearned for him to be emotional and open with his feelings, for him to refuse to put how he felt for me aside. To confess that he simply couldn’t bear to be without me. Alas, he wasn’t going to do any of those things, which meant I had to keep these yearnings and wishes buried deep inside.

  Miles and Rory both shot me somewhat frosty looks. After what happened with the whole Secret Santa thing, Rory was slowly trying to turn people at the office against me. So far, Miles was his only convert, but it was only a matter of time before he got Jenny and Kieran on his side, too.

  Was this what a toxic work environment meant?

  “You need to say something to Georgia about Rory,” Lilah spoke quietly. “He’s being a dick.”

  “I’m just going to ignore him until he moves on to something else,” I said. I realised I’d spoken too loudly when Rory levelled his gaze on me.

  “Who are you going to ignore?”

  “Maisie and I were having a private conversation,” Lilah told him sharply.

  I stood, refusing to engage in any drama. “Actually, I better get back. I have a bunch of work to catch up on since I spent all morning sitting in on the interviews.”

  Rory narrowed his eyes as I passed by him. “Thinks she’s better than us now.”

  I shot him a cold look. “Believe it or not, Rory, I really don’t think about you at all.”

  With that, I walked out of the break room, though I felt Lilah’s beaming pride that I’d stood up to him. Maybe he’d quit thinking I was an easy person to bully now.

  I was on my way to my desk when I heard knuckles rapping on glass. I glanced up and saw Cameron in his office, motioning me over.

  “Did you need something?” I asked as I entered, wary after our earlier encounter.

  Cameron rounded his desk and handed me a copy of a book. It was tattered and old, the cover showing a picture of a tree and a little boy holding up a mask of a hare. The title read Masquerade by Kit Williams.

  I looked to Cameron, curious. “What’s this?”

  “It was published in 1979,” Cameron explained. “The author was an artist who devised an elaborate treasure hunt, the clues to which could be found in this book. He had an eighteen-karat-gold pendant of a hare made as a prize and hid it in a secret location, spurring a countrywide hunt. It was actually quite ingenious and a very clever marketing ploy for its time.”

  “Oh,” I said, flicking through the book. “Did anyone ever find the hare?”

  Cameron nodded. “Yes, but not until years later. There was a scandal because the man who found it was actually seeing the ex-girlfriend of the author. People believed she told him where it was hidden. So, technically, no one really successfully solved the puzzle.”

  “Huh. I guess people will always find some way to cheat. But…why are you showing me this?”

  “The success of Masquerade brought forth a slew of similar books known as armchair treasure hunts and a brand new genre came about,” Cameron replied. “Guess who wrote one?”

  I lifted my attention from the book. “Who?”

  He almost appeared excited to share this information. “Edward Harrington.”

  My eyes widened. “As in Mr. Harrington who owns Trinkets & Treasures?”

  “The very same. His book was called Butterfly Quest, but I haven’t managed to track down a copy since it’s out of print. The prize was a golden, bejewelled butterfly broach.”

  I stepped closer, excited now. I was delighted that he was looking into this, humouring my weird hunch. “Does this have a connection to the pink sapphire rings? Have you figured out what happened?”

  His pleased expression dropped slightly as he ran a hand over his jaw. “No. I’m still working on that. But it’s an interesting find. Apparently, Harrington’s book was pulled from the shelves only six months after it was released in 1998. The publishing house never revealed why.”

  “That is interesting,” I agreed.

  Cameron sat down, and I took the seat opposite his desk, mulling over the information. When I looked up, he was studying me, an intense expression on his face that had me shifting in place. “Do you think there was something untoward going on and that’s why they pulled the book?”

  Cameron pressed his lips together, drawing my attention to a place I tried not to focus on too much. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “I’ll do some digging. See if I can find anything.”

  “Yes, please do. You…have a skill for coming up with unique angles.”

  My mouth curved in a smile. “Was that a compliment, Mr. Grant?”

  He tried to scowl, but I could see he wanted to smile, too. “Don’t push your luck.”

  “Well, I should be getting back to work,” I said, sliding the chair back.

  “Wait.” Cameron looked almost embarrassed now.

  I leaned forward, taking a surreptitious glance through the glass wall to check if anyone was watching us. They weren’t. “What is it?”

  He cleared his throat. “About the ASMR thing that you like…”

  “Yes?”

  He lowered his gaze. “It’s not a, uh, sexual thing, is it?”

  My cheeks heated, and I let out a nervous laugh. “Oh my God, no, it’s not sexual. It’s more like meditation, I guess. It’s relaxing. Here, let me show you.”

  I walked around his desk so that I was right next to him. Bending down to use his computer, I brought up a page on his web browser. I did a quick search, then hit play on a video of a woman whispering quietly into a microphone.

  “When you listen to her, do you feel a sort of pleasure from how she’s speaking? Some people get tingles on the back of their neck or down their spine.”

  Cameron’s features were drawn in concentration. “No. I don’t feel any of that. It’s actually kind of irritating.”

  “Oh, well, I guess that means you’re not susceptible. It’s normal. Some people like it, some people don’t.”

  He turned in his swivel chair, his knee brushing against my leg in the process. He looked at me, eyelids lowered. “Do you feel that? Listening to this?”

  The woman was still whispering into the microphone. At intervals, she tapped her acrylic nails against it, making a quiet yet pleasing thump, thump, thump sound. Why was my throat dry all of a sudden?

  I nodded, belly tightening at his keen attention. “Y-yes,” I answered finally.

  He leaned the tiniest bit closer. “You have tingles on the back of your neck?”

  All I could do was give another nod.

  Cameron’s voice lowered to a whisper now, the same as the woman in the video. His face was full of curiosity and intrigue. “Do you feel it from me? When I talk like this?”

  Okaaay. I guess this could be a sexual thing, coming from the right person. Tingles skittered all down my spine, so much stronger, more intoxicating than the ones solicited from the video. Cameron was giving me a fully immersive experience. I even felt tingles at the backs of my knees, something I hadn’t had before.

  Straightening, I tried not to let him see how much his voice affected me. “It doesn’t work that way,” I lied stiffly and made my way to the door. “I’m going to my desk now.”