Redeeming You(31)
He broke the kiss. The low light streaming from the buildings lining the man made canal highlighted his strong features and the faint glimmer of a satisfied smile on his lips. He looked sexy as hell and her heart jumped against her chest.
“Is that better?” he asked.
“Huh,” Taylor said, her eyes heavy-lidded and dreamy, still savoring the taste and smell of him.
“Are you thinking about us now?” he asked trailing his finger over her damp lips.
Taylor forced her eyes to focus on his face and he was grinning down at her. “You’re getting there. I think you still have a lot of work to do to earn my absolute, undivided attention.”
“I plan on doing exactly that all night,” he said, his voice darkly seductive. She should be wary, but right now all she wanted was more, more of him, more time.
The gondola stopped moving and she noticed they had returned to the loading area. Cam slipped his fingers through hers as he helped her out of the narrow black flat-bottomed boat.
“Where to?” she asked.
“If you could go anywhere tonight, where would it be?” Cam glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
“Anywhere in Vegas or anywhere in the world?”
“Anywhere in the world.”
She laughed. “Why, are you planning on making it happen?”
His gaze lingered on her face for a few moments. “Maybe not tonight, but some day,” he finally answered, brushing a kiss across her cheek.
“Hm…that’s a hard one.” She hadn’t traveled many places in her life. She and Alec grew up in a crappy town in Montana. She went to college in Seattle and now she lived with Alec in California. If not for this tour, those three places would be the sum of her travel experience. Then it hit her.
“Alec read me a book when I was little about a little girl in Paris and I would tell my friends my dad moved there for work instead of admitting he died. I’d tell people that I spent my summers there and I’d fabricate all these elaborate stories about what I did—trips to the Louvre Museum, eating fois gras, exploring the Eiffel Tower at night, picnics in Jardin de Reuilly. Google was busy at my house.” She shrugged sheepishly. “Silly, huh?”
“No.”
“Anyway, I’d love to know if it measures up to my childhood imagination and the images on the internet.”
“Paris.” Cam smiled as he slipped his arm around her waist. “Sounds like a plan. Maybe you’ll let me join you one day.”
“If you aren’t sick of me by the time this tour ends.” She laughed pretending as if verbalizing that thought didn’t cut out her heart. “So where are we really going?”
“Dinner.” He nodded into direction of the bright, flashing lights of the casino.
***
Thirty minutes later, they sat in a semi private room of a seafood restaurant, enjoying a crisp bottle of wine and the best lobster bisque she'd ever tasted. The circular room had a floor to ceiling glass wine racking system that partially blocked them from view. Cam had obviously called ahead and arranged the table. She was impressed.
“What do you think?” Cam asked, reaching for her hand under the table and resting their interlocked hands on her thigh.
“I like it,” she lifted her glass of wine from the table and took a sip. “This room is beautiful. Have you been here before?”
“Not to this restaurant, but when I explained that I wanted some privacy, the concierge suggested it.”
Her brow wrinkled as she registered his desire for privacy. Maybe she should walk away now. A relationship was complicated enough without adding secrets and clandestine meetings to the mix. After the fallout with her ex in Seattle, she promised not to settle for another relationship that only offered security and consistency. Now, she was in some sort of quasi-relationship with Cam on the highway to nowhere without any security or consistency. Despite what she told Cam about wanting to have fun and experience life, maybe that wasn’t what she needed either. In reflection, it seemed naïve and borderline reckless.
Cam raised his eyebrows, clearly registering all the doubts racing unchecked through her mind. “Privacy because I didn’t want to be interrupted, not because I don’t want to be seen with you.”
“Except by Alec or the guys,” she added, surprised by how much that fact nagged at her like a broken record even though they didn’t have a choice, at least not yet. She needed to let it go or move on. Limbo wasn’t a good place to be.
“Just for now,” he said squeezing her hand. “When we know where this is going we can share or not share. It’s your choice, but that’s not what this night is about. I’m still focused on impressing you and earning all of your attention.”