‘Libby, let me do this. I swear nobody will notice.’
‘I suppose it would be good to have the night to think about what to do,’ I say, looking at Cam. ‘What do you think?’
It appears Cam doesn’t need to think twice about it.
‘Hide under that blanket while I drop Lois off with the others,’ he tells me. ‘I can see them just up ahead. When all the trucks pull up outside the villa, Lois, you jump out.’
‘Don’t worry, sis. I’ve got this. Cam has told me about the blind spot and the secret meetings.’ She waggles her eyebrows at me. ‘Cam, meet me tomorrow morning. Oh, my God. I’m so excited. I’m going to be on telly!’
‘That was such a fast emotional turnaround even for you, Lois. Rage to excitement in less than a minute.’
‘It’s my trauma training. Nurses learn to move on quickly. I never dwell on the past.’
Within minutes, we have pulled up outside the villa. I am safely hidden on the back seat of the jeep with a bag on top of me. I whisper to Lois, ‘On a scale of one to ten how nervous are you?’
‘About fifty-three.’ She giggles. ‘But I can’t wait! See you soon. Give my love to Ty!’ She slams the car door shut. A few seconds later, I hear Amber and Mimi yelling my name and, as I hear Lois yelling back to them, it all seems so surreal. The voices fade and Cam drives away.
After a short while, the jeep pulls over to a stop. ‘The coast is clear. You can come out now. The hotel is in the opposite direction of the production village so we should be good.’
I climb into the front seat. Cam looks at me with those kind eyes of his. ‘Thank you. Thank you for trying to protect me, Libby. I really appreciate it. But honestly, you don’t have to. Porscha can do what she likes. I’m not threatened by her. I have a solid reputation as one of the good guys in this biz. Whereas she doesn’t.’
‘Oh. Right.’
‘The only thing that does bother me is that she could hurt your career… and you.’
‘Oh. Right.’ My face is on fire. My cheeks are burning again. He could fry an egg on them.
‘Listen,’ he says, looking down at his hands on the steering wheel. ‘I know I said that I wasn’t ready for anything. But… I’ve fallen for you.’
‘Oh.’ And there goes that invisible force pulling me towards him.
Where are my words? Where? Where?
‘I’ve never met anyone who makes me feel so… I just want to spend every minute of every single day with you.’ He dares to look at me. ‘I’m so excited when I’m around you.’ He twists in his seat and gently cups my face. He looks lovingly into my eyes. ‘I just feel like anything’s possible. I don’t care that we have an ocean between us.’
I can feel myself welling up. Tears are about to spill. I am so full of joy that I am going to burst.
‘But I’d need to take things real slow.’ He looks shyly at me.
He’s so cute. Incredibly cool and handsome but also so, so cute. How is that even possible?
‘Slowly,’ I say.
‘Sorry?’
Oh, look. I’ve found my words. ‘It should be “take things slowly”. It’s an adverb.’
He raises his hand to smother a laugh.
‘Sorry,’ I say. ‘I don’t know why I do that. It’s like a compulsive disorder.’
Why am I actively putting him off me? It’s the gluten all over again.
‘Oh, man. Am I going to regret this?’ Cam asks, his head flopping onto the steering wheel. I can see he is dying to laugh.
‘Yes,’ I confirm. ‘Yes, you probably will. In fact, I’m certain of it.’
Cam revs up the jeep and we head off to meet Tyrone at the hotel. ‘I like you, Libby. I like you a lot. You make me laugh so much. I haven’t been happy for so long. It kinda feels like… like you were sent to me.’