I handed over my card to pay for my items. He tapped it, then handed it back. “It was lovely to meet you, Maisie. Don’t be a stranger!”

  I smiled and waved as I left the shop. Nick was a delight, even if he wouldn’t tell me what Cameron had said. I headed to the bakery for my usual start of the week box of donuts, opting for cinnamon sugar in light of it being Christmas Eve.

  When I arrived at the office, I left the donuts in the break room before making my way to my desk. Passing by Cameron’s office, I saw it was empty and an idea struck. Perhaps a little gift would put him in a festive spirit. I pulled the small keepsake card I’d bought with my latte from my bag and snuck inside his office. Glancing from side to side, I made sure nobody was around before I set the card on his keyboard.

  Feeling like a sneaky little Christmas elf, I went to my desk and fired up my laptop, smiling to myself. Over in the break room, I could already see Terry getting to work on his mulled wine.

  I loved Christmas Eve so much!

  I was midway through composing an email when I saw Cameron walk into his office, a cup of coffee in hand and a folder under his arm. He must’ve been with Georgia, informing her of everything that went down over the weekend with Christina.

  I watched, a little thrill in my belly as he set the folder and coffee down on his desk. He appeared to do a double take, spotting the card. My lips curled in a grin. When he looked around the office, I flicked my gaze back to my laptop, scrubbed the grin off my face and stared intently at my screen. After a few more seconds, I glanced back and saw Cameron smiling fondly down at the card. A whoosh of happiness went through me. He liked it!

  Did he know it was me who put it there? He must’ve. I mean, who else would’ve done it? Then I remembered Jenny’s newfound crush on him. It would make sense for her to leave something, a little thank-you for the apology he gave her.

  It dawned on me that this whole thing could backfire.

  I felt deflated for the rest of the morning, going about my usual routine. Lilah and I shared a donut in the break room around ten thirty and afterward, I headed back to my desk. Something caught my attention from the corner of my eye, and there perched against my mini cacti was the card.

  Cameron knew it was from me!

  Wait a second, why was he returning it? Was he trying to say he didn’t want it, or was he telling me that deep down he thought I was lovely, too? When I looked up, I found him watching me through the glass wall of his office. A warm flush spread through me when I saw a faint, affectionate smile grace his lips.

  He was definitely telling me he thought I was lovely, too.

  Was this actually happening?

  I turned and tried to focus on work, but it was useless. Cameron liked me back, but what did it mean? Did he want to be more than friends? Should we request a meeting with Georgia to inform her we intended to start seeing each other? I vaguely remembered that was the protocol for employees who wished to start a romantic relationship.

  Perhaps I should just go over to his office now and ask him. Be upfront.

  I nodded to myself. Yes, that’s what I would do.

  Standing from my desk, I straightened my shoulders and started walking. I was almost to Cameron’s office when Georgia strode by and entered ahead of me, all business.

  I froze. Now probably wasn’t the best time to question him about his feelings, so I made a quick, and let’s face it, comical U-turn and walked right back to my desk. Jenny, whose desk was directly across from mine, eyed me curiously.

  “You know when you walk out of a shop and realise you’re going the wrong direction, so you have to turn back around?”

  “No, not really,” she said.

  “Okay, never mind.” Jenny obviously didn’t have my awkward gene.

  I caught a glimpse of myself reflected in the blank screen of my laptop and my mood lifted. Today I’d gone to the trouble of putting tinsel in my hair. It was wrapped around my ponytail. I also wore a red sparkly jumper with my black pencil skirt and reindeer earrings. I loved festive wear and donned it with pride every December. I thought of Cameron and how he always wore the same thing, never changing no matter the weather or the season. I wondered if perhaps there was a part of him that was too insecure to try something different. Then again, he probably just didn’t care much for fashion.

  A few minutes after I’d approached his office and subsequently pulled a U-turn, I saw Georgia leave. Cameron was alone again. Now could be a good time to go over there, but I’d lost my nerve.

  Maybe after lunch.

  A little while later, Lilah appeared at my desk. “Want to grab a cup of coffee?”

  I nodded and smiled, needing a distraction to take my mind off you know who. We headed to the break room, which was thankfully empty, and sat down for a chat.

  “By the way, I heard about what happened with the Moretti case,” Lilah said. “I can’t believe you went to school with that Claire lady.”

  “It’s a small world I guess. I knew I’d seen her before, I just had to wrack my brains to remember. So technically it didn’t take too much investigative skill.”

  “Don’t be so modest. I come across leads by accident all the time and claim them as my own personal genius,” she said with a wink. “You should, too.”

  I chuckled and took a sip of coffee before standing. “I’m going to get a biscuit. Do you want one?”

  “Are there any chocolate digestives left?”

  “I’ll check.”

  I was up on my tiptoes, searching through the cupboards when someone entered the room. Somehow, I sensed it was Cameron. Perhaps from the clip of his expensive leather shoes, or maybe it was the faint waft of his crisp cologne.

  “Cameron, I see you declined to enter into the spirit of the season,” Lilah said teasingly, obviously referring to his suit. I guess I wasn’t the only one who noticed his lack of festive wear.

  “Red isn’t my colour,” he replied, deadpan.

  I was still reaching for a packet of chocolate digestives when an arm reached by me and plucked them off the shelf. I turned to look at him, his dark eyes peering down at me. I inhaled sharply, eyelids fluttering.

  “Here you go,” he murmured.

  “Thanks,” I replied quietly and took the packet from him. Our hands touched for a brief second, and I tried to ignore the pleasurable tingles that skittered across the back of my neck.

  He reached out and fingered the tinsel in my hair, a hint of a smile gracing his lips when he said, “Cute.”

  I felt like I couldn’t breathe for a second, totally forgetting that Lilah was witnessing all this. Cameron went about making himself a coffee, and I returned to my seat.

  “I just got off the phone with a contact of mine from the police station,” he said without preamble.

  My eyebrows jumped. “Oh?”

  “Christina is still insisting that Moretti was in on the theft. She revealed their whole scam in exchange for a more lenient sentence.”

  “But why would he steal his own money?” I asked, my brow furrowing.

  “She says she convinced him he’d be able to claim the money back from his bank, which isn’t exactly the case. You have to prove you had nothing to do with the fraud, which Moretti couldn’t do since he was engaged to Christina and spouses tend to have access to one another’s accounts.”

  “If that’s true, then he’s an idiot. No bank is going to refund a quarter of a million pounds, at least not without a thorough investigation,” Lilah put in.

  “His restaurants were failing and if they tanked completely, he would’ve lost whatever liquid assets he had,” Cameron said. “Moretti needed to double his money to stay afloat and Christina presented him with the supposed means to do that. You’d be surprised what people will believe when they’re desperate. Apparently, she has evidence to prove he was in on it, too. I think this is why he dropped the case. At first, he wanted to find her and get his money back. By using private investigators, he thought he could avoid the police being involved. I suspect Christina got in touch and let him know that if she went down, she could take him down with her, so he got scared and backed off.”

  “Oh my God, you’re right,” I exclaimed, thinking back on the phone call I’d heard Moretti having. “Before our last meeting, I overheard him having a weird argument with someone on the phone. I think he and Christina were still in touch. It must’ve been after this that she discovered he’d hired investigators, so she let him know about the evidence.”

  “It makes sense,” Cameron agreed.

  “Have they arrested him yet?” Lilah asked.

  “They’re on the way to his house as we speak.”

  A silence fell, and I shuddered to think how it would feel to be in Moretti’s shoes right now. Then I glanced at Cameron. We shared a prolonged look and I suspected he wanted to talk. Good. I wanted to talk, too. We needed to discuss what exactly was going on between us, because there was no denying that we’d become more than two people who simply worked at the same office.

  Cameron cleared his throat. “Well, I’d better get back.”

  “Sure, yeah,” I replied, heart pitter-pattering inside my chest.

  Once he was gone, Lilah eyed me closely, suspicion written all over her face. “What was that about?”

  I feigned ignorance. “What was what about?”

  “You and Cameron, making sexy eyes at each other. He touched the tinsel in your hair and said it was cute. Cameron Grant! Coming from him that was practically a marriage proposal.”

  “You’re imagining things. We became friends while working on the case together, that’s all.”

  “Bullshit.”

  Remind me, why was I lying to my best friend who was also a private investigator who sussed out lies for a living? Exhaling heavily, I stood and went to close the door. I couldn’t risk anyone overhearing this, and it was time to come clean. Besides, it wasn’t like Cameron had made even a remote effort to hide things just now. In fact, the way he acted made me wonder if he was even interested in hiding anything at all. I thought back on our interactions, and shockingly realised I was the one who’d been pushing the secrecy from the outset. He merely went along with it, not voicing whether or not it was actually what he wanted.

  I thought on how closed off and stiff he’d been with me afterward, only softening towards me slowly as the days went by. Had I hurt his feelings by asking him to forget our night together ever happened? The irony of me being the one to hurt Cameron’s feelings wasn’t lost on me. And now I was confused as to what to do next. Maybe it was a good idea to tell Lilah, get some advice.

  I focused my attention on my friend. “If I tell you something, you have to promise not to breathe a word of it to anyone else.”

  Her animated, ice-blue eyes got huge. “Oh my God, what happened?”

  “Promise, Lilah.”

  “Okay, I promise. Now tell me what the hell is going on. I’m going to burst here.”

  I clasped my hands together, nerves thrumming through me. It had been less than two weeks, but I felt like I’d been keeping this secret for months.

  “You remember the night of the Christmas party?”

  Lilah nodded. “Yeah, sorry I left you on your own that night. I had way too much to drink. I almost slept with Kieran. That would’ve been a big mistake.”

  Make me feel better about myself, why don’t you.

  I swallowed. “I actually ended up spending the entire party talking to Cameron.”

  “Really? I mean, I saw you two talking, but I didn’t know it was for the whole night.”

  “Yes well, I had way too much to drink, too, but unlike you, I didn’t have the smarts not to go home with anyone,” I confessed.

  Her eyes grew even larger now. “You went home with Cameron?”

  I nodded.

  “Oh my God!” She put her hand to her mouth, like she couldn’t believe it. Then, she grinned, “You know what? I kind of love that for you.”

  I frowned. “You do?”

  “Sure. You haven’t had a boyfriend since I’ve known you, and you’re way too much of a catch to keep yourself locked up indoors all the time. Although I’ll admit if I lived in a house as delightful as yours I probably wouldn’t want to go out either.”

  I flushed and sipped some coffee. The hot beverage didn’t help. I put the cup down and looked at her. “We agreed not to discuss it, to leave it behind us.”

  “Well, hell, Maisie, it doesn’t look like he’s left it behind him. It looks like it’s at the forefront of his mind. And his penis.”

  I widened my eyes at her, glancing at the door just to make sure it was still shut. “Will you keep your voice down?”

  Now she giggled, taking a big bite out of her chocolate digestive as she studied me. “It’s always the quiet ones.”

  “I drank way more than I’m used to. That’s the only reason it happened.” Keep lying to yourself.

  “Don’t you think it’s a bit of a coincidence that he asked you to work with him on the Moretti case while I was sick? When has he ever asked you for help before? It’s definitely because you slept together. He wants a round two, even if he won’t admit it.”

  “You’re not helping.”

  “I’m telling you the truth.”

  “Yes, well, there won’t be any round two.” More lies, you’ve already kissed him senseless by the photocopier.

  “Says you.”

  The door opened, and Miles walked in, carrying an empty mug. He looked between Lilah and me and arched an eyebrow. “What are you two in here whispering about?”

  “We’re making a list of men at the office, from most shagable to least,” Lilah joked.

  Miles appeared interested. “Really?”

  “Oh my God, you’re gullible,” she chuckled.

  Now he glowered and turned to the coffeemaker, murmuring something under his breath that didn’t sound very kind.

  “I better get back to work,” I said and stood.

  Lilah exhaled. “Yeah, me too.”

  “Don’t forget we’re exchanging Secret Santa gifts later. If either of you two got me, my gift better be a good one,” said Miles.

  Almost as though we were synchronised, both Lilah and I rolled our eyes and left the break room.

  “Who did you get this year?” I asked her.

  “Rory. I bought him a male-grooming gift set from Boots,” she replied. “You?”

  “Jillian from HR. I got her some fancy chocolates.”

  “Good choice. Jillian loves her chocolate,” said Lilah before heading for her desk.

  As soon as I sat down, my phone rang. I picked it up without looking at the screen to see who was calling. “James & Peterson Investigations, Maisie Wilkins speaking.”

  “Maisie,” came a voice that I instantly recognised as Cameron’s.

  I swivelled in my chair and found him watching me from his office. “Cameron. Is there something I can help you with?”

  He was silent a moment, then when he spoke his voice was raspy, “It was you, wasn’t it? You put that card on my desk.”

  I resisted the urge to smile. “It reminded me of you.”

  There was a soft chuckle, and I swear my heart did a backflip inside my chest cavity. The sound of Cameron Grant chuckling softly over the phone was enough to give a girl heart palpitations.

  “Well, no one’s ever quite described me as lovely before.”

  “That’s because you don’t let anyone get close enough to know you.”

  “Oh? Do you feel like you know me now, Maisie?”

  God, the way he said my name right then. I wasn’t equipped to deal with the effect it had on me. Also, that was a minefield of a question, so I avoided it completely.

  “Why did you return it?”

  “I think it describes you far better than me. You should keep it. You deserve it more.”

  “But I got it for you.”

  Our eyes met across the office. He held my gaze with a lustful expression. “Why don’t you come to return it, then?” he said, his voice low and sexy.

  Gulp.

  “I can’t. I have work to do.”

  His tone was cajoling. “It’ll only take a minute.”

  “If you want it so badly, you should come get it yourself.”

  A pause then. “I do want it.”

  We were still looking at each other. I had to turn away, unable to take the intensity he was channelling at me. What had gotten into him today? He was acting downright frisky. Totally unlike himself. Then again, people tended to get a little giddy at Christmas, though I never expected Cameron to be one of those people.

  A long, tension-filled silence elapsed. All I could hear was the faint noise of his breathing, and even that was sexy. What he said next surprised the hell out of me.

  “Meet me by the photocopier in five minutes.”

  “W-what? Why at the photocopier?”

  He didn’t answer, instead replying, “Five minutes, Maisie,” before hanging up the phone.

  I stared straight ahead, mind racing, heart aflutter as I put the phone down. When I looked over to Cameron’s office again, he sat typing on his computer like normal. Had he really just said that? Maybe I’d imagined it. But no, five minutes later, he stood up and left his office.

  Nerves flooded my system. I didn’t want to go meet him, but I didn’t not want to go either. Without fully thinking it through, I let my body move on autopilot. A minute later, I walked into the photocopying room. Cameron waited, leaning against the machine, arms folded. He’d removed his suit jacket, so all he wore was a shirt and slacks, his tie perfectly in place. My fingers itched to loosen the tie, pull it off him and throw it on the floor.

  “Hey,” I said in the meekest voice imaginable. I needed to get it together. I cleared my throat. “I mean, hello, um, Cameron.”

  “Hello Maisie,” he replied, then took a step towards me. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the back of the room, opened the stationery closet and dragged me inside. His breathing was heavy as he closed the door and flicked over the lock. Then he pushed me against the wall and pressed his chest to mine.

  My body responded instantly, my nipples hardening, thighs clenching.