The Dare Collection July 2019. Nicola Marsh
you crazy. Just some soft tones to warm up the place and a few key pieces to bring it all together.” She frowned. “Maybe a plant or two. You have someone who cleans?”
“Once a week.” He didn’t spend enough time at home to truly make a mess, but he liked how fresh the place felt after his cleaning lady had been in.
“Often enough to keep certain plants alive as long as it’s not too fussy.” She nodded to herself. “Maybe a fern or something. I’ll have to think about it.”
Despite his determination to hold on to the promised reprieve, he couldn’t help speaking. “Have you ever thought of doing this?”
“We are doing this, Cameron.” She waggled her eyebrows at him.
He snorted. “Get your mind out of the gutter. I mean this—the interior designing thing. You’ve been in here five minutes and already have a better bead on things than the original guy I hired. You totally changed the feel of both the front office and the boardroom in a way I would have said was impossible before I saw it done. With the ability to work both in commercial spaces and private residences, you could make a killing.”
Something like interest flared in her blue eyes before she shook her head. “I have degrees in sales and design. That’s barely in the same realm.”
“Because it’s not part of your precious plan.” Bitterness soaked into his words, turning them ugly.
Trish crossed her arms over her chest. “There’s nothing wrong with having a plan. You wouldn’t have gotten to the place you’re in now without a plan.”
“Plans are nothing if you can’t adapt them, Trish. They’re not meant to be set in stone. Life changes things.” He could keep going, but every line of her body screamed a resistance to talking about this. “Take your bath. I’m going to order food.” He turned on his heel and stalked out of the bathroom.
When he’d realized he loved her, he’d truly thought there was some solution to the way she clung to plans as if they were the word of God. He still thought there were options moving forward...but she had to meet him halfway.
Not today.
Nothing would happen today.
He chafed at the restraint, hated the fact that things remained up in the air because of his own doing, but hell if Cameron saw a way around it. Lose her now, or lose her in a few days.
I know which one I choose.
* * *
The weekend wasn’t the relaxing oasis Trish had hoped. Tension strummed between her and Cameron, a cord growing tighter with each passing hour, filled with things neither of them said. The sex remained better than amazing, but after every time, she lay in Cameron’s arms, feeling like they were saying goodbye without words.
Worse, she didn’t know how to stop it.
He’d thrown out the interior design thing so casually, as if it was the easiest thing in the world to change her life course. She wasn’t flighty. She didn’t jump ship just because things got hard and the future didn’t look like she thought it would. Just because she was good at colors and getting a feel for a room didn’t mean that her dream of being in corporate fashion wasn’t valid.
You’re talking yourself in circles.
It was all she seemed capable of doing.
To distract herself while Cameron was in the shower, she checked her email on her phone. A small break of their rules for the weekend, but justified. Mostly. She scrolled absently, deleting junk mail to whittle down the number she’d have to handle on Monday, but stopped when she recognized a name. Mandy? Trish clicked on the email and nearly dropped her phone.
Hey girl,
So I’m sure you remember my brother, Tom. He’s working for Barton Fashion and they’re looking for a corporate buyer. I was a total brat and sent your résumé along without mentioning it, but they want an interview! Below is the contact information, so just give them a call and set it up.
Fingers crossed for you!
XOXO, Mandy
Trish read the forwarded email, her heart beating harder with every word. It wasn’t just any fashion retailer company. It was Barton Fashion. They were in her top three dream companies to work for when she’d first compiled her list back in college. Getting a job there...
Except she was already committed.
Damn it.
She closed her eyes, took several deep breaths and tried to focus. An interview wasn’t a job offer. Surely Cameron could do fine without her for a day once they scheduled it. It wouldn’t be the end of the world.
What if you get the job?
The thought was almost enough to make her laugh. What if she got the job? Her life plan hadn’t worked out once in the two years since she graduated college. There was no reason to think her cursed streak would end now, when she was finally starting to come to terms with the fact that maybe her plan wasn’t her be-all and end-all. She forwarded the email to Aaron as a courtesy and set her phone back down.
What would happen to her and Cameron if she got the job?
Barton Fashion was based out of San Francisco, which was about as far away from New York as someone could get and still remain in the continental United States. That was part of the attraction when she’d first put the company on her list. She’d wanted distance and enough time to figure out who she was without her family hovering. Without a safety net firmly in place should she fail. If she got the job, it would be a chance to see if she could actually stand on her own two feet without someone there ready to catch her.
Long-distance relationships happened, but she wasn’t sure if she and Cameron had a strong enough foundation to pull it off. Yes, she liked him. Yes, she kind of more than liked him. But without the amazing sex cementing them together? With work pulling them both in different directions?
She just didn’t know.
Trish picked up her phone again and emailed Barton Fashion to arrange an interview. There was no point in borrowing trouble.
She had enough as it was.
CAMERON STALKED AROUND his office. Something was off, but he couldn’t put his finger on the source. It could be all in his head...but he didn’t think so. Instead of the weekend bringing them closer together, Trish had become more and more withdrawn as it went on.
He stared hard at his door, but he’d effectively trapped himself in here. He told her he would respect the work boundaries between them, which meant he couldn’t haul her in here and demand an explanation. And after the day was done, she’d go back to her apartment and...
And what?
Nothing had changed. There was no reason for the dread curdling his stomach. Tomorrow she would be back in the office, and the next day, and the next. They didn’t have to spend every night together, despite the fact that he wasn’t keen on the idea of more distance between them.
You hold her too close, and you’re going to suffocate her.
Fuck, he didn’t know how to do this. Relationships were iceberg-scattered waters under the best of circumstances, and this was hardly that. It didn’t help that Trish wouldn’t talk to him.
Footsteps sounded down the hallway, and Cameron’s chest got light. She was coming to talk to him. This weirdness had to bother her as much as it bothered him, and she wasn’t too conflicted to put it all out in the open here and now. Trish had never been afraid of anything, so there was no reason to think she’d start now.