Savor You (Fusion #5)(19)

“Don’t try to look innocent,” I reply and can’t help but giggle.

He leans toward me and cups his hand around his mouth, trying to be all inconspicuous, but he’s conspicuous.

“I think she’d enjoy it.”

“Stop.” I cover my mouth with my hand and try to hold the bubbles of laughter in.

“You’d enjoy it, too,” he says and that’s it. I can’t hold it in anymore. I laugh so hard that tears are streaming down my face. I dab at the corners of my eyes with my napkin and try to pull myself together.

“You’re not great for my ego.” He’s smiling at me as if I’m the most adorable thing he’s ever seen.

“There’s nothing wrong with your ego.”

“There is now that you’ve had a go at it,” he says, but he’s laughing with me. This is what I missed the most about him. We could talk and laugh for hours.

My phone buzzes with a text, making me frown.

“It’s Addie,” I say. You know I don’t want to interrupt you, but we want to make sure you’re having fun. Do you need me to “create” an issue so you can escape?

I laugh and reply with, No, I’m fine. Thank you.

“Everything okay?” Camden asks.

“Oh yeah.” I nod and toss the phone in my bag after all. “Just the girls being girls.”

“Offered you a way out of this date?”

I snort and eat the last bite of my meal. “Of course. Okay, back to the conversation at hand. Are you a workaholic?”

“I have moments when I am,” he says, wiping his mouth as he considers my question. “When we’re in the middle of filming, or when I’m researching cookbooks, I immerse myself in it. So I know what that feels like. But I admit that some of it is also the control of it. I want it all to be perfect.”

I nod thoughtfully. He gets it.

“Do you want dessert?”

I stare at him, confused. “Do people come to this restaurant and not order dessert?”

“Point taken.”

We browse the cheesecake menu, and then place an order to go.

“I can’t eat it right now,” I say and sigh. “I ate all the chicken.”

“Let’s take this back to your place.” He pays the waitress and leads me out of the restaurant to his car.

“I’m not getting naked with you tonight,” I inform him as I buckle my seat belt. The drive from my house to this restaurant is a long one. I bought a house in an older part of town because I love the neighborhood and the views that come with it. But it’s not really close to anything.

“I don’t recall asking you to take any of your clothes off.”

“I’m just letting you know in advance,” I reply and relax into the leather seat of his rental car. “It could get awkward if we’re at my place, eating cheesecake, and the next thing I know you’re trying to get in my pants and I have to say no. So, I’m saying no now.”

“Noted,” he says with a nod. “No getting your pants off today. What about your shirt?”

I bark out a laugh and shake my head. “Nope.”

“Well, damn, and I bought dinner and everything.”

“I know, it’s disappointing.” I pat his leg. “There, there.”

The drive to my house is quiet, but not uncomfortably so. Lifehouse is playing on the satellite radio, and we roll the windows down to enjoy the warm evening air.

When he pulls into my driveway, I’m almost sad that the drive is over.

“Your house is great,” he says, looking at the front of the house. It’s an older craftsman-style home, built in the twenties. I replaced the black shutters last year with new ones, and painted it grey with white trim. I have hanging flower baskets on the porch, spilling red, purple, and pink all over the place.

“Thanks. Come eat your cheesecake, and I’ll give you a tour.”

Once inside, I disarm the alarm, and toss my bag and keys on the table by the front door.

“It’s clean.” He grins at me. “You were always a clean freak.”

“I’m not a clean freak, Camden. I’m barely here. I don’t have time to mess it up.” I shrug and show him the living room and dining room, along with a half bath on our way back to the kitchen. He sets the dessert bag on the table and pulls out the black dessert boxes, puts them in my fridge, and turns to me.

“Tour first,” he says. His arms look amazing tonight. He’s wearing a Henley, and the sleeves are pulled up to his mid-forearms. His biceps and forearm muscles are crazy. Not too bulky, but toned, and I want to touch them.

I want to touch him. So damn bad. That’s why I had to draw the line in the sand right away. No naked shenanigans tonight because this is a first date, and I’m not that kind of girl.

But oh how I wish I was that kind of girl.

“Mia?”

“Yeah?”

“Tour?”

“Right!” I clear my throat and lead him back through the kitchen toward the stairs. “You’ve pretty much seen most of the first floor. This isn’t a huge house, mostly because I don’t need a ton of space, and property in this neighborhood is expensive.”

“It’s a great neighborhood, though.”