Page 21 of A Matter of Time
“That sounds great.”
As we made plans for lunch, I remembered Dex’s question about whether Jason’s interest in me extended outside the realm of business, but I didn’t really get any of those signals from him. It sounded like a business meeting and nothing more.
After confirming the details, I left Jason and made my way over to Cam’s office. He had already settled behind his desk, wearing a blue-and-white striped shirt that had no business looking as good on him as it did. His eyes were on his computer screen, and when he saw me, he quickly clicked a few things closed.
Not suspicious at all.Looked like he still didn’t want me to know exactly what he was up to.
“Morning. I almost thought you were gonna be late.” He offered me a smile but I thought I detected a hesitation behind it. Was he actually…nervous?I had never associated that word with Cameron Bailey.
“I just had to talk to Jason for a minute,” I explained as I walked in. “Do you want the door closed or open?”
He glanced towards the open doorway as if it were a lifeline from the horror of being in an enclosed space with me. “Open, I guess. How’re Dex and Shawna doing?”
“As good as can be expected.” I had no intention of sharing more than that with him. Setting my bag down on his desk, I grabbed the chair in front of me and pulled it around to the same side he was sitting on so I could see his screen. “We’re here to get you organized, though, so let’s dive right in.”
He swallowed as I took a seat next to him, and I wondered if the scent of my perfume affected him just as much as his cologne did for me. It seemed that way, but unlike him, I had no intention of letting it show.
“I… uh, I thought you might like some coffee first. You know, Monday morning and all. Here.” From the top of the small filing cabinet next to him, he grabbed a take-out coffee cup and a small brown paper bag.
As nice as the gesture might be, I didn’t want to set that kind of tone for the week. “Look, Cam, I know Friday was strange and confusing. At least, that’s how it felt for me. But now that we’re in the office, you need to treat me the same as you would any other consultant. Would you buy coffee and a blueberry muffin for someone here to audit your taxes?”
He hadn’t told me he had a blueberry muffin in the bag, but after he brought it up the other day, I made an educated guess and he didn’t deny it.
“Actually, I would,” he told me with a shrug, seeming to relax a little more after I made my expectations clear. “This is me, Tonia. You don’t have to drink the coffee, but that ain’t gonna stop me from buying it.”
If that didn’t sum Cam up perfectly, I really didn’t know what would.
“Well, it would be a shame to let it go to waste,” I gave in, taking it from him. The coffee did smell very good, and just the idea of the warm muffin had my mouth watering. “But only because it’s Monday.”
“Got it,” he promised. “So, where do we start?”
As soon as we got into my planned outline for the morning, the time actually passed quickly. He was already doing a lot of things right, and I recognized a lot of his organizational tactics from things he used to do even back in high school. When he told me about exactly what his job entailed, I could hear the enthusiasm he had for it, and in spite of everything, I found myself feeling pleased for him that he enjoyed his job, just like I did.
Almost before I knew it, my phone gently chimed to let me know our time was up.
“That should give you some things to get started on, at least,” I told him as I packed my things away. The coffee and muffin had long since disappeared, but I brushed a few lingering crumbs into the trash. “We’re together again tomorrow afternoon, so you can let me know if you have questions then.”
He gave me a rather impressed smile. “I enjoyed that, Sugar. You know your stuff.”
“Tonia,” I reminded him, glancing quickly over at the door to make sure no one had heard that before returning the compliment. “You know what you’re talking about too.”
“I better if I want to keep my job,” he replied with a laugh.
“Well, I can put in a good word for you with the boss,” I teased him back. “We’re just about to go for lunch to review how things are going.”
The smile immediately dropped from Cam’s face. “You and Jason are going for lunch? Again?”
“Is that a problem?” I paused in the middle of packing my things back into my bag. “It’s not really any of your business.”
“It’s not,” he quickly agreed, glancing at the door as well to make sure we were still alone. Maybe we should have closed it after all. “It’s just that after what happened on Friday with Bradyn, I just don’t want you to end up in another awkward situation. Jason… well, I think he likes you.”
“He told you that?” Maybe Dex had been onto something after all, and I had to admit to feeling flattered at the idea. But why would Jason have been talking to Cam about me? “I didn’t think you had said anything to anyone here about knowing me.”
“I haven’t,” he assured me. “And he didn’t tell me, exactly, but I got that vibe. Look, I ain’t trying to tell you what to do, Tonia. Trust me, I know how well that works. I just don’t want you to get blindsided again like you did the other day, and at least this time, I’m not driving 200 miles just to tell you something you already know.”
I had to smile at that, and I supposed I appreciated him giving me the heads-up, although it still seemed like an odd thing for us to be talking about. “Would it bother you if something did happen between me and Jason?”
His lips tightened just a fraction. “It’s not really any of my business, like you said.”
