“What are you up to?” Elijah asked.
Cameron leaned her head against the car window. “Heading home. Why?”
“I’ve got two problems I can’t figure out. Think you could take a look?”
Cameron rolled her eyes. ‘More math problems? Is the life of a genius really just about solving equations 24/7?‘ she thought. “Elijah, give me a break,” she sighed.
Elijah froze. ‘Give him a break? What did that mean?‘ he thought.
“You don’t want to help me with the problems?” Elijah asked cautiously.
“Nope.”
Elijah went quiet. He lowered his eyes, feeling deflated. His finger pressed against the wooden desk as he asked in a strained voice, “Cameron, do you hate me or something?”
“No, Elijah,” Cameron sighed, “I don’t hate you. I just really don’t want to solve math problems right now.”
To be fair, Elijah had saved her before. Well, not that she was actually going to jump off that building. And despite his cold exterior, the guy had a warm heart. She definitely didn’t hate him.
“I’m sorry,” Elijah said. “I didn’t realize I was bothering you.”
After dealing with Xander’s bullshit all day, hearing Elijah be so understanding was honestly refreshing.
Before Cameron could respond, Elijah added, “To make it up to you, can I take you out for dinner tonight?”
Cameron thought about it for a moment. “Okay, fine.” She’d already told Bradley she had plans tonight anyway. It would be super awkward if he caught her hanging around the house after that lie.
The taxi pulled up at the entrance to Noble Vista. “You pick the place,” Cameron told him. “Just text me the details later. I need to go crash for a bit.”
“What do you feel like eating?” Elijah asked.
Cameron shrugged. “Whatever. I’m not picky.”
“Cool. I’ll text you later,” Elijah said.
When Cameron got home, she flopped onto the couch, her body instantly going limp with exhaustion. Making money from Xander was no joke.
Feeling drained, Cameron fell asleep right there on the sofa.
The second Cameron walked through her front door, Bradley got the notification. He’d linked her house’s lock system to his phone and hadn’t gotten around to disconnecting it yet.
Sitting at his desk at the law firm, Bradley stared at the notification for a moment. In the end, he decided not to bother her. Just before clocking out, Bradley’s phone lit up with Eddie’s name.
“Brad, you free for dinner tonight? Thought you might want to meet my future wife,” Eddie said, his voice practically smirking through the phone.
Bradley walked to the window, shaking his head. “Eddie, if you’re asking me to dinner, I’m there. But if you’re bringing a random girlfriend, I’ll pass.”
“Random Girlfriend” was the perfect description. Eddie went through girlfriends faster than most people changed their socks. Half the time, he probably couldn’t even remember their names after they broke up.
Eddie laughed. “Fine, just me then.”
*****
Cameron woke up to Elijah’s voice call blaring through her phone. She blinked awake, noticing how the sunset bathed the garden outside her floor–to–ceiling windows in this gorgeous red glow.
Cameron sat up, rubbing her temples as she answered. Elijah’s calm voice came through immediately. “Cameron, didn’t you see my messages?”
“Huh?” Cameron was still half–asleep. “Message
Successfully unlocked!
“No problem,” Elijah said. “Just get ready and come down.”
“Come down?” Cameron frowned. “Wait, are you outside my place?”
“Yeah, I’m outside Wallace Villa.”
