“Take care of him and I’ll make sure you have something to look forward to when you get back,” Felicity said as she kicked off her heels. “Maybe I’ll even send you some creative photos while you’re out there.”

  I’d never leashed up my dog faster.

  The first photo arrived when we exited the building. An image of Felicity from the neck down, ending at the top of her breasts. It was framed so beautifully that it was a work of art. I could see the hint of one nipple. I groaned.

  “Hurry up, bud,” I said to Boris, who wanted to sniff every signpost on the block. “Please.”

  My phone sounded again. This time the photo was of her leg propped up on the counter in my bathroom, from her inner thigh down to her pointed toe. Modest, but still sexy as hell, because I could only imagine what was reflected in the mirror just beyond where the photo cut off. Was she still wearing her panties, or was she naked? My entire body coursed with need for her.

  “Boris, my man, you’re killing me,” I joked. But I couldn’t blame him; we’d been gone for a few hours, and I was about to be busy for couple more.

  Another ding on my phone, followed by a Veritique alert. They’d been going off all night, but I had been too focused on being with Felicity to check them.

  “Oh, fuck,” I groaned when I saw her latest photo.

  She was now in my bed, on her elbows and knees. She’d managed to angle the camera over her shoulder, to capture her body from her mid-back to her ass, framing the perfect sweep of her skin to her gorgeous full cheeks. It was like she was poised and waiting for me to get behind her and thrust deep inside.

  Boris finally finished his business and took off for the building. I ran even faster than he did, desperate for another photo or better yet, the real thing.

  My phone dinged again as we took the elevator up. The final photo was of Felicity’s midsection, with her hand clutching between her crossed legs like she was fingering herself. I banged the elevator button as if it would make the damn thing move faster.

  “I’m back,” I shouted as I opened the door. “You better be naked on the bed and waiting for me.”

  I wrenched my tie off and unbuttoned my shirt as I strode down the hallway to my room. I kicked my pants and briefs off as I crossed the threshold to my bedroom and froze.

  Felicity was bent over the bed with her ass facing the doorway. She glanced over her shoulder at me.

  “Do you like?”

  I let out a primal groan and stalked over to her. I grabbed her hips and dropped to my knees to bury my face between her legs.

  “Cameron,” she whimpered the moment my tongue touched her nub.

  I pressed my tongue against her, gripping her hips to stabilize her. She moaned as I made love to her with my mouth, and each little cry only made me work harder to bring her to the edge. My cock was hard and throbbing for her, but I wanted to see her come undone before I buried myself in her heat.

  I wanted her to feel as desperate and wild as I did.

  “Oh, Cameron,” her voice went higher, and her breathing went shallow. I felt her sweetness throb against my tongue as she cried out and the orgasm rolled through her. It seemed to go on forever, and I loved that I could make her feel so good. I finally let go of her hips, and she collapsed onto the bed, so I leaned over to my nightstand to grab a condom.

  “Where are you?” she asked in a dreamy voice. “I need you inside of me.”

  I wordlessly picked her up and climbed onto the bed with Felicity cradled in my arms. I arranged her on top of me. She leaned closer to kiss my neck, and I sunk back onto the bed with her straddling me.

  “You’re letting me drive?” she teased, rolling her hips against me.

  “Sort of,” I said gruffly.

  I raised her up, and she positioned herself with the tip of my cock just touching her wetness. In this moment, she was in control. But not for long.

  Felicity plunged down and we both cried out at the sweetness of the sensation. From that moment on, our lovemaking went feral, with Felicity bucking on top of me, then me flipping her over so I could take control, and finally taking position behind her to bury myself deep inside of her. All the while, my fingertips worked her clit, drawing from her a stream of high-pitched cries of pleasure.

  When I finally came, I let out a grunt that echoed around the room. The orgasm was so powerful it was as if I’d been deprived of sex for years.

  I took care of the condom, and we collapsed in a heap, breathing heavily. I closed my eyes and let my hand rest on her hip, just to reassure myself she was still near. I didn’t realize we had both dozed off until an hour later, when she shivered against me.

  “You okay?” I asked, pulling the blanket over her.

  She looked at me with sleepy, grateful eyes. “I’m perfect.”

  “I need some water. You too?”

  Felicity shook her head and nestled against the pillow, looking like she was already fast asleep again. I watched her for a few moments, taken with the angel dozing in my bed. I finally wrenched myself up and headed for the kitchen. Boris raised his head to see if I was okay, then settled on the couch.

  My phone was on the counter, lit up with texts from Tyler. Fuck, what was wrong now? I’d been so consumed by Felicity all night that I’d never even thought something could be going down with him. Was he in need of a car, trapped in some hellhole apartment god knows where? Or had he “forgotten” his guitar somewhere again, and wanted my help trying to track it down? The fact that he was texting meant he wasn’t in jail, at least.

  Tension built behind my temples as I checked. I was all he had, I needed to be there for him, now more than ever.

  “Bro, listen to this,” the first message read. A recording followed, and I could barely make out the song. It was a band playing an old Neil Young song we used to play to close our first set back in the day, and they sounded as amateurish as we did. I laughed softly as the memories came flooding back.

  The rest of the texts were various “remember when” strolls down memory lane. I appreciated that he was thinking of me and tried to ignore that the texts got messier and more disjointed as the evening progressed.

  I switched to check the hundreds of Veritique alerts. The “in the wild” challenge had taken off, and there were photos of us taken from angles I couldn’t even figure out. Were people in the trees?

  The shots of the kiss outside the theater were predictably perfect. In a few, Felicity had her arm draped back, like the famous photo of the sailor kissing the nurse, and in others she was clinging to me. Once again, the effect was so impressively romantic it looked like the moment had been staged.

  My hands down favorite photo was from Junior’s. Felicity had just taken her first bite of cheesecake, and her eyes were squeezed shut in ecstasy, with her fork in the air like she was conducting an orchestra. I was gazing at her with pure wonder, wearing a little smile.

  It was a perfect stolen moment. I saved the photo and walked back to the beauty in my bed.

  17

  FELICITY

  Isnuck back into my apartment the next morning even though I knew Nina was probably wide awake and waiting for me. It was Sunday, which meant homemade brunch and gossip.

  “Look who’s doing her walk of shame,” her voice rang out as I shut the door behind me.

  I laughed. “I’m not ashamed of a thing that happened last night.”

  “I’m in the kitchen. I’ve been dying of hunger while you finished your booty call.”

  I joined her, hiding a yawn. “Good morning, friend.”

  We hugged and Nina pulled back to study me. “Looks like someone had a good time last night. Did you sleep at all?”

  I shook my head. “Barely. The man has stamina, and I have needs.”

  “Well then, sit and I’ll cook for you this time.” She gestured to the stool at the bar. “Waffles, since our bread was moldy.”

  I grimaced. “Sorry, I guess I fell behind on grocery shopping.”

  “I get it,” she said as she found the waffle iron in the cabinet. “You’re doing double duty as social media badass and contract girlfriend.”

  I frowned, uncertain about the “contract” part of the equation. When Cameron and I had mapped out the boundaries of our relationship, sex definitely wasn’t on the table. Not that I was complaining—I had consented to everything we had done together—but I wasn’t sure where that left us now. Was the contract still in effect, with some addenda? Or were we starting something new?

  “What?” Nina asked as she opened the refrigerator door.

  The line from the front desk rang, so I didn’t have to talk about my mixed-up feelings about Cameron. At least not at the moment, since she had a way of getting to the heart of things whether I wanted to discuss them or not.

  “Are you expecting someone?” I asked as I walked to the intercom.

  She shook her head and watched me answer it.

  “Hey there,” Carl said. “A guy down here has a flower delivery for one of you.”

  “Oh! Um…send them up, please.” My heartbeat sped up a little. Was Cameron actually wooing me after our amazing evening? I tried to envision what sort of bouquet a billionaire might send to thank someone for a night of great sex. Dozens of roses? Some sort of exotic jungle flower?

  The bouquet that showed up was much more modest, just a simple cluster of pink and yellow blooms. And the card was made out to Nina.

  “They’re for you,” I said, walking the arrangement over to her as I tried to figure out what she’d been hiding from me. Or more specifically whom.

  I watched her blush as she read the card.

  “Okay, spill it. Who are they from?” I asked.

  She turned her back to me to search for a vase. “It’s nothing.”

  “Neen,” I scolded. “Do you really think you’re going to get away with not answering?”

  She huffed at me as she peeled the cellophane off the bouquet. “Fine, they’re from Tyler.”

  “Hold on,” I frowned at her. “Are you guys hanging out? I thought the way he acted that night at Frankie’s Tavern scared you.”

  “It did,” she agreed.

  “…And?” I pressed when she didn’t say anything more.

  “And I still think he’s a good guy, even if he screws up sometimes. We still text. I helped him with some lyrics the other night, and I guess these flowers are a thank-you.”

  I cornered her in our small kitchen. “So you’re talking to him on a regular basis?”

  She shrugged.

  “Why are you being so secretive? Just tell me already!”

  Nina sputtered at me. “We’ve been video chatting, nearly every night, okay? It’s actually really fun. He’s tapping into my knowledge of classic lit, and we’re incorporating it into his lyrics. We’re uniting my love of books and music, and I’m having a blast with it. Me, being creative! Go figure.”

  She looked a little embarrassed admitting it to me, especially because we’d had a long talk about the life of an addict after the night at the tavern. But maybe keeping in touch via the phone and nothing more was fine. A buffer would keep her from getting too invested.

  “Well, that’s really cool,” I replied as I took a seat at the bar counter. “Maybe you’ll get a songwriter’s credit.”

  She placed the flowers in the vase carefully. “Yeah, I’ll ask him about that…over dinner.”

  “Excuse me, what?”

  She held the card up with a sheepish look. “He asked me to dinner.”

  “And you’re going?”

  “Well…yeah.” Her back straightened a little, and she nodded as if she’d reached a conclusion. “I really like him, and I want to see where it could lead. He’s different from anyone I’ve ever met, Lis. He’s got vision. He feels deeply, and he’s not afraid to show it. He calls himself a songwriter, but he’s got the soul of a poet.”

  Her eyes lit up as she talked about him, and I knew she was already halfway gone. I’d never seen her so excited about someone. It made me nervous—but at the same time, part of me couldn’t help being happy for her. Was it really so bad to take a chance on love? Nina wasn’t the type to make uninformed decisions, so maybe their talks had convinced her that Tyler was in a better place. Still, I had to make sure she was going into this with her eyes open.

  “You know you can’t fix him,” I said simply.

  “Well, that’s fine, because there’s nothing to fix!” Nina shot back at me. She started angrily gathering the ingredients.

  “He’s a former addict,” I said in a quiet voice. “And based on how he acted at the tavern, I’m not so sure about the ‘former’ part. I don’t know how often he uses drugs, but from what Cameron says, he drinks. A lot.”

  Nina dropped her head. “Yeah, I know. But he says he’s working on getting to a better place now.” Her cheeks went pink. “He says it’s because he feels a new creative spark thanks to our conversations.”

  If Tyler was trying to charm Nina, he sure picked the right approach. She’d always talked about how she wished she could be as creative as the authors she loved, even though she didn’t have an artistic bone in her body. The fact that he was nurturing that ability was probably fast-tracking him straight into her heart.

  “Hey,” I said, waiting for Nina to look at me.

  “What?”

  “Just be careful, okay? I can tell he seems like a special guy, but he’s lived a different life than you have. He ran with a crazy crowd. That changes people.”

  “Cameron likes him,” she fired back at me, stirring the waffle mix and eggs with more vigor than necessary.

  “You’re right,” I admitted. “And that means something, but a romance is a whole different equation from a friendship.” I paused. “I’m only saying all this because I love you and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “I know.” Her whole body softened, and she gave me a warm look. “Thank you. Now, enough about me. Tell me everything about bossman.”

  “I don’t know where to start,” I hugged myself and grinned at her. “It’s good!”

  She scoffed. “Details please. Campaign first. How is the ‘in the wild’ stuff going?”

  “Way better than expected. But it’s a little freaky because the campaign is set up like people are hunting us, so we never know if we’re being watched or not. Sometimes it’s obvious, but there are some photos from last night that people took in moments when I had no idea people were onto us.”

  Nina poured batter in the waffle iron. “Show me.”

  I scrolled through the joint Veritique file where everyone was sharing images and flipped to one of the pictures of us outside the theater, before the big kiss when we were just chatting.

  “Like this one. It’s not a big ‘look at us’ moment—we’re literally just walking down the sidewalk.”

  I held my phone out to Nina, and she squinted at the photo, then looked at me. “Oh, he’s a goner.”

  “Excuse me? How in the world can you read that from this dumb photo?” And could it really be true? I felt a surge of hope, even as I tried to swallow it down.

  “Look at his body. He’s totally angled toward you, like you fascinate him and all he wants to do is watch you. And his eyes. There’s something…sappy about them. And that little smile he’s wearing. He thinks you are the cat’s pajamas.”

  I giggled at her old-fashioned phrasing and tried to ignore that she was sort of right about the way Cameron looked in the photo.

  “You’re no better,” Nina continued. “You’re beaming at him. You look like you want to swallow him whole.”

  “I was in my feelings from Hadestown. I think I was quizzing him on Greek mythology.” I scrolled through the images to get to the kiss. “Check out this one.”

  Nina leaned closer to examine it. “Holy moly, baby! That is hot! You belong on the cover of a romance novel.” She fanned herself.

  I grinned at the image. Yeah, we looked really freaking good in it.

  “So that’s the public stuff,” Nina said as she opened the iron and put the cooked waffle on my plate. “How’s the behind-closed-doors action?”

  My face got hot as I took it from her. “Um, yeah, that’s uh…that’s pretty incredible, too.”

  “He’s good in bed?”

  “Good doesn’t even begin to cover it. He’s mind blowing. Hands down the best lover I’ve ever had. It’s like he cares more about my pleasure than his own. Creative, too. We wound up in positions I didn’t even think were possible!” The syrup I was pouring on my waffle spilled onto the table, so I used my finger to sweep it up. I licked it and was immediately brought back to the way Cameron had paralyzed my entire body with just his tongue.

  “He actually wants to make sure you have an orgasm, wow,” Nina huffed out a laugh at me. “Unlike someone else we won’t mention.”

  I shuddered. “I’m still having flashbacks to that day he showed up at the office.”

  “Yeah, but Cameron stood up for you.” She leaned against the counter and stared at me. “Are you two getting serious? Because it sure sounds like you are.”

  I laughed, but even I could tell it sounded a little forced. “No, no way. I know better than to make that mistake. Cameron’s got some major issues thanks to his ex. He got married way too fast and had it annulled almost right away, and those scars are still pretty fresh.”

  “So you’re telling me he’s a commitment-phobe,” Nina said slowly. “I think I’m not the only one who needs to guard my heart.”

  She might have a point, not that I was willing to admit it. “No worries about that,” I insisted as I shoved a huge bite of waffle in my mouth. “We’re just having fun together.”

  “Mm-hmm, sure,” she said, not sounding convinced at all. “Call me overprotective, but what happens if all this fun you’re having together starts to shift into something that feels real? What are you going to do then?”

  I propped my fork on my plate and stared into space, chewing through my contemplation. “Then we’ll sit down and talk about it, I guess. Make sure we understand what the other person wants. If he comes back and says he’s not looking for anything serious, I’ll move on. Trust me, I learned my lesson. I’m not about waiting around for men who can’t commit.”