Uncovering Camila (Wildflowers Book 3)

by Vivian Winslow

  “You want to go out later? A friend is throwing an after-party down on Division.”

  Camila shakes her head as she stems three large green olives. “Can’t. Tomorrow is my only day off, and I don’t want to spend it recovering.” She waves at Gemma who comes by to pick up the waiting cocktails.

  “How was your final project?” Camila asks.

  “It’s done,” Gemma replies. “I have no idea what my prof thinks, but at least I don’t have to think about it anymore.” She looks over at Jared. It’s no secret that she has a crush on him, even though she knows he’d only be into her if she were a he. But everyone who works at L, except maybe Camila and Todd, has a crush on Jared. It’s difficult not to with his slender body and chiseled face that seems to get him laid on a regular basis. It also helps that he has the bluest eyes Camila’s ever seen.

  “Did I hear you mention a party later?”

  “Yeah, you wanna come?” Jared smiles. “Plenty of hot straight men for you.”

  “Then I’m in.”

  As soon as Gemma walks away, Camila warns, “Be easy on her.”

  Jared winks. “Of course. Scott, one of my latest, is bringing his brother who’s as hot and straight as a flat iron. Speaking of which, whatever you’re doing with your hair, I like it.”

  Camila’s touches the straightened ends of her hair. Something about her date with Marshall made her more self-aware when she was getting ready for work. If she had to analyze it, feeling attracted to him made her feel more attractive. Even if he turned her down, it was still fun to feel something, anything other than the numbness she’d been feeling since Eliseo left. Throughout the day, whenever she’d imagine Marshall’s smile or the way he’d run his fingers across his lips when he was thinking, she could feel that attraction grow. Something rooted inside of her that made her experience her beauty again.

  Camila realized that Eliseo’s leaving didn’t take anything away from her. Rather, she simply lost that lens through which he saw her. It was that lens that made her feel powerful and beautiful and all the other qualities he found attractive in her. But the fact that she feels it again makes her understand it wasn’t lost when he disappeared from her life. It had merely become buried by her pain.

  The crowd at the bar doesn’t thin until three. By then, Jared is already texting Scott and making plans for his escape. Camila is counting the minutes until she can fall into her bed where she intends to sleep until noon.

  “Table 4 wants a Metropolitan,” Gemma announces to them. “What is that anyway? I’ve never heard of it.”

  Jared doesn’t look up from his phone. “Some turn-of-the-century cocktail. It’s like a Manhattan but with brandy instead of whisky.”

  “I’ve got this,” Camila offers, already reaching for the sweet vermouth. The smell makes her crave her own. After work, she promises herself.

  “By the way, Camila, it’s the same guy from last night. You know, Mr. Tall, Dark and Sexy.” She raises her eyebrows at Camila, who can’t hide her surprise.

  Jared waves a hand in front of Camila. “You better close that mouth or someone is going to trip over that tongue of yours woman.”

  So maybe this morning was a fluke.

  Gemma hands Camila a piece of paper after serving Marshall his drink. “This is for you.”

  She looks toward Table 6 and spots Marshall drinking his Metropolitan, his lips curling around the rim. The idea of his lips curled around hers ignites something inside of her.

  “Did you guys talk last night or something?” The young woman probes.

  Camila shrugs casually and turns away to read the note. It says, “This entitles you to breakfast with one, Marshall James, at the establishment of your choosing. Offer expires 5 a.m. today.”

  “Oh my god, are you blushing, Camila?” Jared elbows her.

  “Shhh, keep it down,” she warns. “And no, I don’t blush.” Although it wouldn’t surprise her if she were. Camila’s such a sexual being that having come so close to being with Marshall has unlocked her desire. And rather than trickling out, it’s all pouring out at once and subsuming her want with need.

  Gemma giggles. “Here I thought you were celibate or something.”

  Camila shoots her a look. “Not celibate, just selective,” she quips, using Shoshana’s words.

  Jared peers beyond a pillar and spies Marshall’s profile. “If you don’t go for him, I will. I’ve never met a straight guy who doesn’t mind getting his dick sucked.” He winks. “Look at Mr. Gucci with that body, those cheekbones. I swear, I didn’t think you could find anyone hotter than that Chef, but this piece of heavenly dark chocolate has him beat.”

  The thundering in Camila’s chest returns when she hears Jared describe Marshall’s most obvious attributes. But it’s more than that that makes him attractive to her. His wit, intelligence and sensibilities are all qualities of his that don’t appear on the surface.

  “Tell him that his drinks are on me tonight,” she says to Gemma.

  Gemma grins. “You got it.”

  “Ah, that explains the hair,” Jared says to Camila. “Someone’s feeling pretty.”

  Camila smiles in spite of herself. “Maybe I am.”

  Jared pours two shots of vodka and offers one to Camila who refuses. She’d rather not be drunk for her breakfast date. He downs both and says, “Here’s to getting lucky.”

  Chapter 9

  Marshall stares up at the menu board written in Chinese. “How am I supposed to know what to order? I don’t read Cantonese.”

  “But you read Mandarin?” Camila quips.

  His silence tells her he does.

  She gives him a sideways glance. “Of course you do,” she says sarcastically. “Just get what I’m getting. Trust me, you’ll like it.”

  “Alright then.” He regards the narrow row of empty tables along the wall. “This place seems really popular.”

  “It will be packed within a few hours. But this is the best time to come because their buns are really fresh.”

  “I believe you,” he replies.

  Marshall looks dubiously at the bowl of macaroni soup in front of him a few minutes later, wishing he hadn’t agreed to let Camila order for him.

  “You said that you were going to trust me.”

  “Yeah, but there’s deli meat and egg swimming in my soup. I didn’t even eat like this in college.” He pushes the ham around in the bowl.

  “It tastes better than it looks,” Camila assures him.

  “Will you judge me if I don’t like it?” He holds a spoonful to his mouth.

  Camila holds up a hand. “I swear never to judge you for your pedestrian taste in food.”

  Marshall gives her a look then smiles. “Will you give me your phone number if I do like it?”

  Camila sets down her spoon before her first bite. “I don’t see what one has to do with the other.”

  He shrugs. “It doesn’t.”

  “I’m not in the habit of giving out my number,” Camila replies candidly.

  Not bothering to respond, Marshall swallows a spoonful and then another. “This stuff isn’t bad.”

  Camila smiles and starts to eat, leaving the question hanging between them. She knows what it will mean if she does, and god knows she can’t afford to get in deeper. Besides, he’s the one who turned her down.

  It’s not until the bowls are empty and the condensed milk buns have disappeared that he lays out his argument.

  “You know, if you give me your number, we’d be able to see each other over other meals like lunch or dinner, or perhaps have coffee at a civilized hour,” he says.

  “What’s wrong with breakfast?” Camila asks, wondering how many dates she’s expected to go on before they sleep together.

  “Nothing. You seem to know all the best places, but I thought it would be nice to expand our culinary horizons a bit over other meals.”

  Camila rests her elbows on the sticky table and leans forward. “If you have my number, then I will have yours and
then you might expect me to reply to your texts. And what if I’m too busy? Will that make you feel insecure?”

  “Probably, but that’s my issue, not yours. If I want to text you, then I will and then I’ll check it every few minutes, or maybe get a special C.C. ringtone.”

  “Oh yeah, what it would it be?” She laughs.

  Marshall mirrors her and props his arms on the table, then moves his fingers over his lips. “Well, to be honest, there’s one song that pops into my head when I think of you.”

  “Really? Which one?”

  “I can’t say. It’s too embarrassing.”

  She kicks him under the table. “Now you have to tell me.”

  “No, seriously. Maybe one day, but not now.”

  “Or what? You’ll leave me hanging like yesterday?” She says. “You want to explain why you’d turn me down for sex but show up the following morning wanting to take me for breakfast?”

  Marshall lifts his shoulders a bit. “I don’t know. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not usually someone who’ll turn down someone as attractive as you,” he says motioning to her. “But I felt weird ending our date that way, you know, because it was cool, all the walking and talking we were doing. It made me think I’d want to do more of that with you and maybe you wouldn’t want that with me if we slept together.”

  “So you held out because you wanted to see me again?” Camila quickly dispels the thrumming in her chest with a deep breath. This is a complication she didn’t foresee or want.

  “Look, usually if I’m going to be with someone, I think I should call her or whatever later, but then I realized I don’t have your number or even know what C.C. stands for.”

  “And my cousin accuses me of being the one in my head. Why can’t sex just be sex? Why does it have to mean something?”

  Marshall shrugs. “I don’t think it has to. I just know what I want if I sleep with someone, and I think if I like the person I’m sleeping with, maybe I’ll want to do it again, you know.” He leans forward so his face is inches from Camila’s. “Or maybe I’ll blow her mind so she’ll beg for more. That presupposes a bit of information sharing, don’t you think?”

  “That’s expecting a lot.”

  “Not everyone shares your view. Some people actually want a relationship.”

  “I’m not one of them,” Camila replies honestly. “Even if it’s mind-blowing.”

  Marshall sits back. “You say that now.”

  The way he says that triggers Camila’s competitive nature. “Try me,” she says.

  Marshall regards her momentarily. His serious expression tells her he’s considering her proposal.

  She reaches across the table and traces the male and female symbols on the back of his hand. “Sometimes the company of strangers is nicer than the company of friends. Why complicate things?” Camila can feel the lust start to fill her again.

  Marshall swallows, Camila’s touch clearly affecting him. Finally he says, “There’s certainly comfort in not being alone.”

  There’s that word again—alone. If he hadn’t shown up at L early this morning, that’s precisely what she’d be. Alone. Not that Camila would’ve minded. The idea of sleeping in alone had appealed to her, until Marshall appeared. Now it’s lost that appeal. She wants him more now than yesterday.

  “Why do you say that you’re so bad at relationships?” Marshall asks.

  “Relationships lead to rules and expectations, and I’m not good with those.”

  “It’s not like there’s a rule book,” he tells her.

  “Do you think there should be?”

  Marshall shakes his head. “Not at all. I think relationships should evolve organically.”

  Camila studies his expression. The seriousness behind his intense eyes shows her there’s so much going on in his mind. A part of her can’t help but wonder what he’s not sharing, what he wants to say but is holding back. But she’s not inclined to treat him like a mystery worth uncovering. As far as she’s concerned, people show you who they are by their actions.

  He touches the back of her hand that’s resting on the table. “Would this be considered an invasion of your space?”

  It’s such a simple question, one that’s supposed to elicit a simple answer, but Camila doesn’t want to speak. She’s focused on the heat that’s beginning to burn on the inside.

  She shakes her head. “It feels nice.” When Camila looks up, she catches Marshall watching her.

  “I would really like to kiss you right now,” he says in a low voice.

  She’s caught in his hypnotic stare. Up close, his eyes are almost a black onyx. They make him seem impenetrable.

  “So would I.”

  Marshall lifts his hand from hers and cups the left side of her face, gently caressing her cheek with his thumb. Camila feels he’s making this more intimate than it needs to be, but it stirs Camila’s desire more. Maybe it’s the fact that despite how honest she’s been, he’s still sitting there, in the middle of a Cantonese restaurant in the heart of Chinatown, ready to kiss her, and he doesn’t know her name.

  All of her thoughts completely melt away when their lips meet. The awkwardness of the day before finds its place on some other shelf in her memory, replaced by this sensual kiss. Camila leans forward even more, lifting herself slightly off the chair. The kiss becomes all-consuming, unleashing the fire inside Camila that had been ignited within her the previous day and filled her with a longing she can’t imagine quenching any other way but with him in her bed. Not even Eliseo had shared her bed, but that’s how badly Camila wants Marshall. She’ll take him wherever she can have him.

  The fleeting thought of Eliseo doesn’t get to her now. Marshall’s lips have pulled her into the present with their gentle caresses and passionate strokes of his tongue. He takes her face between both of his hands and pulls her to him so they’re standing alongside the table, his body pressing against hers. Camila wraps her arms around his waist, pulling him even tighter to her.

  When they come up for air, she says, “Would you like to come home with me?”

  Chapter 10

  The three blocks to Camila’s apartment feel like the longest three blocks she’s ever walked. Every step makes her heart thump harder. Every breath feels shallower than the previous. As much as she’s screaming for Marshall to touch her along the way, she knows if he did, they wouldn’t make it to the corner.

  He follows her up three flights of stairs. When they reach the door to her studio he asks, “Are you sure?”

  Camila runs a finger up his neck to the bottom of his chin. With that same finger, she draws him to her, and they start again, this time not holding back. Whatever Marshall had kept reserved at the restaurant is set free by this kiss. Before Camila can get her key in the lock, he’s on her, his lips journeying from her mouth, down her neck and over to her ear. She lets out a small cry when he bites down and sucks on her fleshy lobe. He presses her against the door and lifts her legs around his waist. “I want to hear you say it,” Marshall growls into her ear.

  She bites down on her lip as he presses his cock against her throbbing pussy. Camila had no idea how much she’d missed sex. After Eliseo left, she’d shut down that part of herself that craved connection, that wanted to feel passionate about something. Even though it hasn’t been that long, it had been long enough for Camila to forget—until this very second, when her skin is on fire and her pussy is raging with a need that she’s more than sure that Marshall can fill. She trails kisses along his jaw line until she reaches his ear and murmurs, “I want you inside my apartment, inside of me.”

  Marshall sets her down. As soon as she turns around, he pulls her hips to him and presses his hands against her stomach. Camila draws her arms up around his neck. She tilts her head to the side, opening herself to him more. His hand slowly travels down from her waist and cups her sex, stroking her clit. Camila shudders. She’s close. So close. She groans.

  “I think we need to go inside,” he whispers.

 
; Camila can hardly open her eyes. Together they slide in the key and open the door, stumbling into her studio as they remain wrapped around each other. Marshall kicks the door closed and releases Camila from his hold as he quickly removes her silk top.

  Marshall doesn’t take his eyes off Camila. They could be in the middle of a hot desert or a freezing tundra, and he wouldn’t care. He couldn’t stop thinking about her since he left her stoop yesterday morning, hating himself for turning her down. He thought it was the respectful thing to do because it was one of the best dates he’d had in years, and he knew he wanted another one with her. It felt natural to be with Camila, even when she was being recalcitrant and challenging. Maybe he should’ve realized that it wasn’t a question of respect. She didn’t need that from him. She wanted sex as much as he did, but he allowed reason take over.

  Which is why he showed up at L at three in the morning. He couldn’t sleep anyway. All the woulda’s, coulda’s, shoulda’s were keeping him awake. Marshall knew he had to try one more time, or he’d regret it. He understands that in a city like New York, with millions of people coming and going each day, Camila would forget about him in a matter of weeks if he didn’t see her again. Yet, after the soup and the buns and Camila’s statement declaring that she doesn’t date, he was forced to examine if being with her was worth giving up what he wanted from her.

  That kiss answered it for him. It made Marshall feel so many more things than he thought he would when he saw her at L. It’s not love. It’s too soon for that. If he had to define it, it would be strong affection. It spilled over into that kiss at the Cantonese place, one that was supposed to be light and playful but quickly turned fervent and passionate. He knew then that he couldn’t turn Camila down again. He’d be a fool to let her go a second time.

  Chapter 11