Dating the Rebel Tycoon(21)

'It's in my bedroom.'

'Of course it is. Is there any better place from which to spy on your neighbour's trees?'

'There's only one way to find out.'

She tugged her fingers so hard something popped that she wasn't sure ought to have popped. 'I'll take your word for it.'

She stretched out her tense hands, and again didn't quite know where to   look-while he stood at the bottom of the stairs clean-shaven, handsome   as they came, oozing cool, calm and collectedness. Pure and   unadulterated Kelly.

And in that moment Rosie knew she'd been kidding herself; she'd bitten off far more than she could chew.

Cameron was secure in the lifestyle he'd been born to, while it had   taken her half a lifetime and a lot of fight to become half as   comfortable in her own skin, and she was still very much a work in   progress.

If the two of them came together in the kind of collision she felt was   on the horizon, he'd not show a dint, while if genetics counted for   anything she could well be damaged beyond repair.

When he threw his keys into a misshapen wooden bowl on a chunky hall-table at the bottom of the stairs, the sound made her jump.

She blew out a stream of air, her eyes scooting over the table to find   that it was covered in clutter-a baseball cap, a couple of loose   computer back-up-stick thingies on brightly coloured lanyards, a camera   bag tipped over and empty, a coffee cup with remnants on the rim and a   messy pile of opened envelopes in need of throwing out.

The flotsam and jetsam of a real life. And a reminder that Cameron   wasn't just a name, or a bank balance, or an alma mater, or an archetype   she could shove into some pigeon hole that suited her.

Above all else he was a man. A real man. Possibly the first authentic man she'd ever known.

Warmth curled throughout her insides, loosening all the immobilised   places inside her. The feelings that tumbled in its wake came too thick   and fast for her to even hope to herd them somewhere safe. She just dug   her toes into her shoes and waited for the waves to stop.

Thankfully Cameron was in the kitchen by that stage, with his back to   her and his head deep in the fridge, one hand wrapped about the edge of   the door, the other wavering near the top shelf, letting out the cold   air and not giving a hoot.

'I had a crazy day today,' his muffled voice said. 'One level of chaos   after another, starting with some attitude from your friend Bruce. It's   made me so hungry I'd eat the fridge if I had a knife sharp enough.'

Rosie was so addled; if he came out of there with a lasagne he'd cooked for her himself, she thought she might just faint.

He ducked his head round the door and his cornflower-blue gaze caught hers. She blinked and stared right back.

He was gorgeous. And this was the all-important third date. But was she   willing to yield to everything that concept entailed, even knowing that   afterwards he wouldn't be going anywhere?                       
       
           



       

As though he knew the exact nature of her thoughts, the corners of his   mouth lifted lazily, creating the sexiest creases in his cheeks,   adorable crinkles around his eyes and such a provocative gleam in those   eyes it was as good as an invitation.

Maybe she hadn't bitten off more than she could chew. Maybe she just had   to adjust her perspective on who he was and how much of him she could   handle. She just had to trust herself that she'd absolutely know the   moment to pull out before she'd gone too far. Or maybe, just maybe, he   was worth going over the edge for.

'I have no idea what I was hoping I might find in there,' he said.   'There's not a single thing I know what to do with. How does Chinese   takeaway sound?'

Rosie let go at the breath she felt like she'd been holding for the past half an hour. 'Sounds perfect.'





CHAPTER NINE




AN HOUR later Rosie sat at the kitchen bench, three of the four white   boxes of noodles empty. She abandoned the final unopened box before   leaning against the chair back and laying her hand over her stomach.

Beside her, Cameron laughed. 'For a moment there I thought I might have   to throw myself in front of the leftovers to save you from yourself.'

'No fear. I know when to quit.'

Cameron's laughter subsided to an easy smile. And Rosie smiled back. The   freak-out that had afflicted her early in the evening had faded to a   reminder to take care. Once she'd mentally adjusted the limits of what   she could handle, she'd begun to relax into Cameron's effortless   company.

He'd long since ditched his jacket, and Rosie her poncho and shoes. A CD   played softly in the background. A fire crackled in the hearth. And  the  conversation fell into a natural lull.

Rosie's naked toes curled around the bottom rung of the stool and her   eyes blinked slowly. All snug and warm, the past few nights finally   threatened to catch up to her.

'You have a little smudge … ' Cameron said, his voice low and soothing.

She opened her eyes to find him staring at her mouth, a hand hovering so   close to her lips that they began to tingle. Her tongue darted out to   swipe at the left corner of her mouth.

He smiled, frowned, then gently wiped a half-centimetre lower. Whatever   speck of sauce he found there he proceeded to lick off his finger. And   suddenly sleep was the last thing on her mind.

She leant her elbows on the bench and leant her chin on her upturned   palms. 'Of all the places in all the world one can be, how is it that a   guy like you ended up staying so close to home?'

His eyes narrowed. 'It's not that close.'

The edge in his voice had her shifting to face him. 'St Grellans is five   minutes from here,' she shot back. 'And your parents' house is, what,   two suburbs over?'

'The fact that I wanted to live in the finest part of town isn't reason enough?'

'Nope. Not for you.'

He picked up his beer and took a slow sip, watching her over the top of the glass. 'How many days ago did we meet up?'

'Two,' she said.

'But this is our third date?'

She nodded. His cheek twitched, and he took another long sip, his eyes   never leaving hers as he let that thought sink in. Her leg began to   jiggle beneath the bench.

He put down his glass, but kept hold of it as he looked into the amber   bubbles. 'I grew up in Ascot. Meg's still at home, though she stays at   Tabitha's bachelorette pad in town half the week. Brendan's in   Clayfield, close to his daughters' school. Dylan's place is neck-deep in   cafés in Morningside. So you're right; we are all a stone's throw from   home.'

She crossed her ankles to stop the jiggling and shoved a hand into her   hair as she let her upper arm sink against the bench. 'So why didn't you   move to the other side of the city when you had the falling out with   your dad? Or the other side of the country, for that matter? Or the   world. I've done it, several times over. It's too easy.'

He tipped his glass and let it fall back upright before pushing it away   and giving her his full focus once more. 'And imagine where you might   have ended up had interplanetary travel been on the cards. I hazard a   guess that this place wouldn't have seen you for dust.'

Three dates. That was as long as they had really known each other. She   thought she had him figured out, but it hadn't occurred to her til that   moment that maybe he had her figured out too.

She wrapped her hands about her shoulders, her fingers sliding against   the white cotton T-shirt and digging into soft flesh. 'But we're not   talking about me.'                       
       
           



       

His hand slid along the bench to tap her elbow. 'How about we do?'

She shook her head slowly. 'No need. Unlike yours, my life is all figured out. No more analysis necessary.'

He watched her for a few long seconds before sliding his hand beneath   her elbow, and turning her on the spot until she was looking out the   window at the view of the Brisbane skyline.

His low, rumbling words brushed the hair against her ear as he said,   'That view of that city is what inspired me to do what I do. I can see   almost every building I've built from here, and I spend way more time   than I ought to admit to sitting by the pool, fantasising about where   the next one should go. And that view reminds me that, while I am   creating the future of the city, I need to be mindful not to take   anything away from the aesthetic created by those who came before me,   and hope one day another developer will do the same for me.'

As Cameron's words came to an end, Rosie felt like she was stuck in a   kind of suspended animation. Her eyes were locked on the peaks and   valleys of the teeming metropolis glittering brightly in the dark   distance. And with his deep words echoing in her ears for the first time   she saw the profound beauty he saw. In what he did. And in who he was,   the true man deep down inside the fortress.