Perfectly Inappropriate

“Mm hmm,” he managed.

She turned over and her warm breath brushed across his face. “Thank you for this weekend. All of it. It was perfect.”

He slowly opened his eyes, and he caught her grateful expression in the moonlight. He slid a hand across her warm cheek and smiled. “It was only perfect because you were there with me.”

Chapter 9

The following morning, Noah kept his promise to deliver Olivia home early enough for her to make it to work on time. Though the second she sat behind her desk and stared at the mountain views on her computer screen’s desktop, all she could think about was Noah. There had been only one other time in her life that she’d felt as grateful as she did now. And that’s when Paige took her in after she walked in on Cameron and Lacie. Everyone needed someone backing them up sometimes. But she found that during these past days with Noah, he wasn’t only there for her, but he was always changing her in unexpected ways.

Every sizzling touch and every moment they spent talking was not transforming her into the new woman she thought she would discover on this journey. She felt like she was coming back to the woman she had been a long time ago. The carefree woman who had existed before she took the web designer job. The person who’d had a spark for life and wanted things for herself. The woman who had believed in hope. And spent her days doing what she loved, not just following along to keep everyone else happy.

She stared across the hallway as Isaac rose from behind his desk and, in grand style, barked orders at his assistant then vanished down the hallway. She began to wonder when it was exactly she lost sight of that woman she used to be. Knowing full well that answer would not come today, she glanced at her monitor, which revealed it was already lunchtime. The morning had whizzed by, and Olivia smiled, anticipating what came next.

Mario’s. Noon? The text from Noah had come around ten o’clock this morning. Her heart had jumped then, and her heart still jumped now in anticipation of seeing him again. She got only an hour for lunch, so she gathered her purse from the drawer, not intending to waste those minutes with him.

Of course, the moment she rose, the phone on her desk rang. She grabbed the receiver and said, “Olivia speaking.”

Shawanda, the receptionist replied, “There is a Cameron Kline here to see you.”

Her stomach promptly jumped to her throat, things coming to her mind. A problem with her house was at the top of that list. “Okay, thanks. I’ll be right there.” She returned the phone to the cradle then hurried down the hallway, hoping like hell for no

other distractions.

She caught sight of Cameron standing near the reception desk. The closer she got to him, the more her earlier thoughts returned. Had Cameron been the reason she had changed along the way and became a woman she didn’t recognize anymore? Or had it been all the responsibilities piling up on top of responsibilities and life simply happening? Or maybe even Noah had been right—Cameron had his own insecurities and to hide them he made her dreams small, and for whatever reasons, she hadn’t seen that at the time? By the time she reached him, she still didn’t know the answer to what had happened along the way. The only thing she knew anymore, when she looked at the man she once loved, was sadness. Deep sadness. Sadness that all she had hoped for them would never be. Sadness that he had taken something beautiful and thrown it all away. Sadness that all her happy memories would be forever tainted by his cheating.

“Hi.” He gave a tight smile when she reached him.

She noted he wore a navy-blue suit and tie she’d never seen him in before. “Hey. What’s up?”

He tucked his hands into his pockets, straightening his shoulders. Once she thought Cameron always looked imposing. Now, after meeting Noah, maybe not so much. “The agent called this morning,” Cameron said. “She’s got some showings lined up, so I figured I’d let you know.”

“Okay, cool.” She returned the tight smile, pretending this wasn’t totally weird. Cameron worked a good twenty minutes away. He never just showed up at her work. Hell, now that she thought about it, they had never even done lunch together. Besides, he usually called about any dealings with the house. She waited for him to explain himself. When he failed to say anything more, she asked, “Sorry, is there something more you needed to talk about?”

He averted his gaze to his shiny black shoes. When he finally looked at her again, a flicker of wariness filled their depths. “I’ve got some stuff to run over with you about everything. Want to go for coffee?”

At that, Olivia restrained her sigh. It didn’t take a genius to get what had brought Cameron here. Noah. “I’m sorry, I can’t. I’m meeting Noah for lunch.”

That wariness in his expression turned to stone. “Can I walk you there?”

This time she sighed. “Sure,” Olivia acceded. She had to walk there anyway. And a little part of her—no matter that she knew it was wrong—liked his jealousy. For the first time when it came to him, she felt on top of the world instead of buried beneath it.

She moved toward the elevator and Cameron followed her. As she pressed the down button, he said, “The agent will be there tonight and tomorrow night, so we can’t be there.”

“Okay,” Olivia said with a nod. She wasn’t living there at all, but that was something that Cameron didn’t know. The elevator doors dinged open and she entered first. Once he stepped inside, she pressed the lobby button. “Is the agent hopeful something will happen?” The sale was taking a long time. Too long. Which wasn’t unusual, especially considering Olivia had dumped a bit of money into the house to fix it up, thinking she would be there forever. She had lived in an older neighborhood, so with the modern fixings, her house now held a higher value. She needed to find the right buyer, that’s all.

Cameron nodded and leaned against the side wall of the elevator. “The agent’s surprised we haven’t sold already.”

Silence fell between them as they exited the elevator and made it outside. Silence that once was comfortable. Now everything had changed. The silence felt awkward and tense, and this wasn’t the man Olivia wanted to be walking down the street with.

When they reached the curb, she waited for a clear path between the cars then hurried across the street. The silence continued, and with each step, Olivia only wanted to get farther away. Blessedly, a moment later, the restaurant came into view. She moved to the side to avoid getting in anyone’s way and turned to Cameron. “Is that all you came to tell me?”

The sun glistened against the caramel highlights in his hair, while he shoved his hands back into his pockets and frowned. “Are you dating that senator?”

Not that she totally hadn’t seen this coming, but still…“Which is your business because…?”

“Because—” He averted his gaze again to his shoes. She never noticed before how hard it was for Cameron to look at her. Maybe because of Noah being so straightforward, and such an aware kind of guy, he’d rubbed off on her. “I know you owe me nothing, Olivia. But we have history, and most of that is good history. I want to make sure you’re all right…with you know…everything.”

Aw, how sweet, nearly spilled from her lips before vomit followed.