Kate

When I awoke several hours later, I found that I had somehow landed myself in a little world known as every girl’s fantasy. As my eyes began to focus, I took in Camden Atwood lying next to me. I cursed myself for the rush of excitement that I had gotten at his closeness. I couldn’t help but stare for a moment. He was beautiful. That lush mahogany hair that my fingers desperately wanted to run through, that cocky little dimple that even in sleep was just visible on his face beneath a light smattering of stubble, and of course those impossibly long lashes. I smiled for a moment in spite of myself but sobered almost instantly when I realized that my hand was partially rested over his, as though I had reached for him in sleep. Shit! Just as I was about to sneak my hand away quietly, Cam shifted on the bed, nestling in a bit closer to me, momentarily paralyzing me.

A wave of panic swept over me as reality began to come into focus once again. I was making such a mess of this tour. After I had “allowed” Cam to arrive nearly an hour late to the Toronto press junket, I had gotten an earful from the studio publicists. I had learned early on in my career that studio reps were more than happy to kiss your ass until you fucked up their intricately planned schedules and that was when the fangs came out. The best part was when Megan asked sweetly if she needed to “loop in Evelyn” to help with the situation. How kind of her. As much as I hated getting a tongue lashing, I knew Megan was right. I needed to get a better handle on my client.

I stole a glance at our slightly touching hands and knew with great certainty that I was headed in the wrong direction in that regard and could feel my promotion slowly slipping away from me. Not only that, but I had wanted to be good at this…to be able to prove that I had chosen a path far less uncertain than the one I had been born into. I desperately wanted to be moving toward something that I could really be successful at and stand on my own two feet doing in the future. This whole situation with Cam was slowly making me doubt myself, and I hated that.

Just then the flight attendant popped her head into the open stateroom door. “Ahh, you’re awake!” she whispered a bit too loudly, instantly making me sit up in bed and waking Cam.

I nonchalantly moved my hand away from Cam’s, hoping that he hadn’t noticed the contact in the first place, but I knew from the look in his eyes that he had. Shit.

“We’re about to make our final descent into Tokyo. If you wouldn’t mind taking your seats in the main cabin for landing, I’d appreciate it.” She smiled sweetly, entirely nonplussed by whatever she had walked in on.

“Of course,” I said, springing to my feet as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

The flight attendant returned to whatever secluded corner she had magically appeared from, leaving Cam and me to sort out the awkwardness that had fallen over the room. I had no idea what to say. I was torn between wanting to sincerely thank him for rushing to my aid and desperately wanting to maintain a professional distance from this man despite the fact that Cam had now seen me in the worst possible state. Rather than engage, I busied myself with straightening out my now severely wrinkled clothes and re-securing the hair-tie that now only loosely kept my hair in a messy ponytail.

“Are you feeling better?” Cam asked cautiously, seeming to know instinctively that he would need to be the one to break the ice.

I sighed as I finally forced myself to regard Cam. “I’m…a little embarrassed, I suppose, but I guess I’ll survive,” I said blandly as my eyes locked on Cam’s perfectly delicious abs peeking out from the bottom of his shirt as he engaged in a full body yawn. Cam eventually sighed as he folded his muscular arms across his chest.

“How long did you say you had been working for Evelyn?”

I returned my eyes to Cam’s, a bit puzzled by the question. “Three years. Why?”

He chuckled to himself. “Then I’m sure you remember the time that TMZ caught me locked out of a hotel room in Las Vegas sans clothing following a hot tub rendezvous gone awry.”

I grinned as I remembered the grainy photos of Cam barely covering his considerable junk with only his hands in the hallway of an elegant five-star hotel, looking beyond startled as he stared down the lens of an unexpected pap’s camera. Fortunately, Evelyn had worked her magic and had somehow been able to suppress the photo, thus making certain that what happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas. I’d had a peek at the shots before they had been destroyed though, and they were now permanently etched into my brain. I couldn’t stifle my grin at that thought.

“Well, that was my most embarrassing moment and from the look on your face right now, I’m guessing you were privy to that shit show, am I right?”

“I may have glanced at those photos once or twice,” I said, now trying not to laugh outright.

“Between the two of us, I think I win the most embarrassing moment competition, and to be quite honest, it’s really a small miracle that I’m even able to look you in the eye, love. You’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about. Wish I could say the same,” he said, flashing me a sheepish grin just before tucking a stray lock of hair behind my ear, sending yet another trill of excitement through my body. I turned away from him abruptly, determined not to be sucked into his charm.

“Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better,” he said, seeming to abandon his usual aggressive flirtation with me as he backed away benignly.

The move confused me a bit, but as the plane pitched, I regained my composure.

“I should go…I…I need to, umm…brush my teeth,” I stammered and abruptly turned away from Cam’s intense gaze. As I departed, however, I quickly swiveled back around feeling a bit rude.

“Cam?”

“Yeah?”

“I…should really thank you for that back rub. If this acting thing doesn’t work out for you, I think you’ve got a real future there.”

He laughed in earnest, suddenly easing my anxieties just the slightest bit. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

I left Cam behind in the room but could sense his amused eyes following me as I departed, which at once made me feel frighteningly powerful and entirely vulnerable all at the same time.