Cami continued to make contacts with local businesses, collecting brochures for companies who rented out and guided groups on ATVs, mountain bikes and horseback riding. She discussed package agreements for the ski resort with Gage, and met with local golf courses within an hour’s drive.
Job applications were rolling in. Cami talked with the new HR manager, who happened to be Sage’s half-brother, Harrison. He would be joining them on the mountain before the end of the week. If there was one thing Cami could say about her dad, he liked to keep it all in the family, more or less. She wasn’t sure if that was an advantage or not.
Lana arrived back at the house Wednesday night, an hour before Vince was due to pick up Cami for their date. Soon after her arrival, she came knocking on Cami’s open door.
“So what’s the 411 on you and Vince? A second date already?” Lana asked as she breezed into the room and perched on the corner of the bed.
Cami sat at her mirror and tweaked her hair. “It’s just a second date.” But she could see the smug gleam in her reflection, and a glance at Lana confirmed she saw it as well. Vince had called to verify the time he’d pick her up, but they’d both been on the run, and the conversation had only lasted a couple of minutes. She couldn’t wait to have more time with him.
“Spill. When did he kiss you the first time?” Lana demanded. “I can’t believe you refused to give me any details!”
They could have been back in high school, Cami thought, but she had missed the close camaraderie the two of them had lost as their lives headed in different directions and different cities over the past decade. “He took me for a hot air balloon ride on the Fourth. It was charming and exciting, and almost nauseating because we climbed over three-thousand feet.”
Lana put a hand to her stomach. “Holy smokes, that’s high. Is there actually oxygen up there? I mean, we’re nearly twelve-thousand feet already. It’s a wonder we didn’t all get altitude sickness when we came here last time.”
“Don’t be dramatic. Anyway, the flight was amazing, and he was great . . . and fun, suave and smart. The man has so many angles I hardly know what new facet I’ll uncover next.” She glided her lipstick on, rubbed her lips together, then checked it out in the mirror. “Anyway, I decided to be honest and tell him I first flirted with him because I figured Dad would never approve.”
Lana’s eyes grew round and her mouth fell open for a second. “I can’t believe you said that! Cami, I’ve never known you to be straight-up rude to a nice guy before.”
“Not nice ones, no. But then I told him he was way more than I thought, and I was having fun with him.” She frowned slightly as she picked through her cosmetics to find the right blush. “He told me Dad tried to convince him the two of us would be perfect together, and Vince had decided I must either be ugly or socially inept, until he met me.”
She grinned at her sister in the mirror. “It was quite enlightening, and honestly, only intrigued me more—which doesn’t make any sense, but there you go.”
Lana’s eyes bugged out. “So when did he kiss you? Before or after your heart-to-heart?”
“After. Smack dab after, and I have to say, Trent so pales in comparison in the kissing department. Trent could probably have taken lessons from the teenaged Vince and learned something, the man is seriously talented.” It felt good to say it, especially with the nasty aftertaste her ex had left after his last visit.
Lana sat in surprise for a long moment. “Okay, that’s . . . hmmm. Isn’t it great when the guy really knows what he’s doing? Night and day difference. I remember . . . Well, anyway.”
Cami twisted around in her chair and eyed her sister. “Whoa, who have you been kissing lately? I haven’t heard about you with anyone for a while now. Almost a year. And why not?” She wiggled her eyebrows when she thought of Gage. “You know Vince has a couple of hot friends—”
This time it was Lana’s turn to protest. She slashed her hand down, cutting off the comment. “No, we’re not going there. No blind dates, no set ups, no men of any kind. Period.”
Odd coming from a woman who had been pretty active on the dating scene since her teens, and Cami thought she sensed an edge of hurt in her sister’s words. “You want to talk about it?”
Lana’s face hardened. “No. Just go ahead and give me the lowdown on the contacts you’ve made this week.”
Deciding it was okay to let Lana have her change of subject—there wasn’t time to needle an answer out of her right now anyway—Cami recapped her activities. “You’ll find the contracts on your bedroom desk and I’ll send you an email with my notes tonight so you can check them over in the morning.” She slid her feet into a pair of silver, strappy, heeled sandals and checked her cute purple Dior dress in the full-length mirror. She looked good.
The doorbell rang and Cami grabbed her coordinating clutch and headed out. Sage called up the stairs, “Cami, Vince is here.”
Cami had to remind herself her sandals weren’t made for rushing down stairs as she reached the open staircase leading to the great room. It was ridiculous how excited she was for this date—she wasn’t a fresh-faced teen anxious to get to the prom.
Vince came into view, eyeing her as she descended. “Wow. Do you need more words, because I’m afraid if I try I’ll trip over my own tongue,” he said as she reached the bottom. He took her hands and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
The comment made her grin. “I think wow will do. And right back at ya.” Whatever Cami had expected, it hadn’t been the navy suit with a stark white pinstripe. He’d said to dress up, but she’d never imagined ‘up’ was for him included a suit coat. He looked every bit as appealing clean shaven as he had with a sexy scruff of beard. “I admit, I’m not sure what you have in mind tonight.”
A smile curved his lips. “Good.” He turned to Lana. “It’s good to see you again. Hope you don’t mind me taking off with your sister when you probably just got in.”
“I’ll catch her when she comes back. It sounds as though she’s been working hard all week. And Vince, sometime I’d like to take a ride in your balloon.” She lifted a hand as she added a caveat, “But without the kissing, since she’d break off all of my fingers.”
Cami rolled her eyes, but he laughed. “As soon as I get a chance I’ll arrange to take you both up for a ride.”
“I’m going to hold you to it. Now have a good evening.”
“I guess we have her approval,” Cami said as she gave Vince’s hand a light tug toward the door. “See ya,” she said to Sage as they walked by. The two of them had shared bits of conversation over the previous few days, but they’d both been very much wrapped in their own pursuits. Sage seemed to have put her hurt over Cami’s thoughtless comments in the park behind her, but Cami couldn’t forget them.
It occurred to her maybe Sage had been a little lonely in the past few days. Despite the free time on their hands, she rarely went anywhere besides the hotel. Cami pushed that to the corner of her mind to consider some other time—when she didn’t have tall, dark, and handsome taking her out.
They rounded the patio to the driveway and she grinned as a classic Mustang in metallic blue came into view. She sent him a sideways glance. “Borrow it from Jeremy?” She was relieved as she’d only ever seen his truck and her dress and his four-wheel drive weren’t a great combination.
He put a hand over his heart. “You wound me. Jeremy did help me fix it up, but this baby’s mine. It’s nothing compared to your Z4, of course.”
“Few things are.” But she loved the lines and angles of the Mustang. “What year is it?”
“1967.” He opened the door for her. “I bought it when I was fourteen, spent the next two years pouring all my summer earnings into getting it to run.” He shut the door when she was seated and circled around to his side. “Best investment I ever made,” he said when he was putting on his seatbelt.
“I bet you got a lot of chicks with this car,” she suggested, though she had the feeling she already knew the answer. It wouldn’t have been a classic back when he was in high school, but a hot Mustang was a hot Mustang at any age.
He grinned but declined to answer, making her like him better for not bragging or denying the truth.
As they pulled onto the road, she asked, “So where are we going, anyway?” “You’ll see.”
It ended up being a little mom-and-pop shop off the beaten path with fabulous pasta and a soft, romantic atmosphere.
“I never would’ve expected to find this here,” Cami said as Vince held her hand across the table. The staff was friendly and her spinach linguini in pesto and the slice of tiramisu she’d shared with Vince had been incredible. “If it wouldn’t offend Rosemary, I’d put a bug in Lana’s ear about trying to steal the chef. On the other hand, we have three restaurants, and a number of openings coming up, maybe I will anyway.”
Vince laughed. “Since Carlotta owns the place, I doubt even you or Lana could convince her to jump ship.”
“Oh, well, you can’t have everything.” But she made a mental note to add it to the restaurant list for the concierges.
“How is Rosemary in the kitchen, anyway?”
Cami took a sip of her water; she’d stopped at a single glass of wine. “I hear she’s fabulous, but I haven’t had a chance to sample anything she’s cooked yet—except espresso, and she’s a whiz at that. Best on the planet!”
“And you?” He lifted her hands, kissed the backs of her fingers slowly, eyes focused on her face. “What are you good at?”
She felt a frisson of anticipation rush through her at the contact. “I’m a whiz at a lot of things, and I can make my own meals when I must, but cooking isn’t my biggest talent. You?”
“I make a mean spaghetti.”
She couldn’t look away, felt sucked into his dark gaze. “Yeah? Anything else?”
He turned her hand over and traced the inside of her fingers and along her palm with kisses, demonstrating how good he was at seducing a woman’s senses. “Coffee. Cold cereal. Peanut butter sandwiches—I make the best you ever tasted.”
Air shuddered into her lungs at his touch and the fluttering in her chest that he was so good at producing had returned. wondered how such a simple touch could affect her so much. “Maybe I’ll give them a try sometime.”
“I’ll make sure of it.” He lowered her hand, his expression regretful. “I suppose we ought to head back. I have to be up before sunrise.”
“Already?” She could have sworn they’d only been there for an hour or so.
He chuckled. “We’ve been here over three hours. I think they’re hoping to close soon.”
She glanced around them and realized there was only one other customer in the building. “Well, then.” She pulled her hand free and stood. A glance at her watch proved it was nearly ten. “This was a great idea.”
He tossed a tip onto the table as he’d already paid their tab. “I’m glad you approve.” He threaded his fingers through hers and led her to the door. “I thought something different was in order, to show you I’m more than a glorified mower of lawns.”
“I had already figured that out,” she reminded him.
“Yes, so you said.” They walked through the front gardens to an arch covered in climbing roses, still in bloom and filling the night with their soft fragrance. Twinkle lights had been wound into the arch and along the bushes beside the path. He turned her into his arms. “You’re an amazing woman.”
“I’m glad you think so.” It was all she got out before he covered her mouth with his.
This kiss was as different from the first as night from day. Where the first kiss had been gentle, sliding into sensual, this one started strong, and only grew deeper. He slid his hands up her arms—which were covered in goosebumps—and to her neck, tipped her head, and took it deeper.
Cami felt like she was drowning and didn’t care about coming up for air. She held on and pulled him closer, tasting his mouth, nipping at his bottom lip.
When she eased back, she thought if he was going to make a habit of sending her head whirling, she’d have to stop wearing high heels. She felt wobbly and held onto his arm for support while she got her bearings. “You have a way of knocking me for a loop.”
“The feeling’s mutual.” He took her elbow, steadying her, and they continued to his car.
After a far less explosive, but every bit as mind-numbing kiss when they reached her front door, Cami floated into the house to find Rosemary and Jonquil in the great room with Lana and Sage.
Lana smirked at her. “I’m glad you had a good time.”
“I didn’t say that.” But she couldn’t wipe the smile from her face.
“Like the stars in your eyes aren’t enough? How stupid do you think we are?” Rosemary asked. She pushed a long fall of blonde hair behind her shoulder. “I’m almost surprised you noticed we were in the room.”
Cami beamed at them. Then her brain kicked in and she saw the worry on their faces. Rosemary and Jonquil shouldn’t have been there. When had they arrived? Had something happened after she’d turned off her phone? Her smile fell and she crossed to them. “What’s going on?”
A frown came over Lana’s face. “We didn’t want to ruin your date. You’d better sit down. There’s another media issue we need to handle.”