That led to him telling me why he hadn’t applied for patents for Dan’s central processing unit—his reasons lined up with what Sadie had told me a few days before. Which was why it had been so important to him to fend off any potential spies.
After we talked about the ins and outs of his plans, the conversation moved to us trading stories from high school and college, which led to us talking about bad dates we’d gone on （I was pretty sure I won that particular contest） and finding out how much we both liked to read. He told me how he would sit with Irene and read her favorite stories to her while she was having chemo and it made me like him even more.
Hours passed, and they felt like minutes. And with each shared laugh, every thing we discovered we had in common, we moved closer to one another. We both kept adjusting our positions so that we edged nearer, until we were almost touching.
But Camden didn’t cross that line, and I didn’t want him to.
Well, I did, but I had promises to keep.
Like the one my alarm reminded me of as it beeped. “It’s time to grab Brandy and get back to pretending to camp,” I told him.
Our faces were so close together that we were taking in each other’s breaths.
“Can we stay here for one more minute?” he asked, and I nodded slowly. I didn’t want to leave, either.
Even though I knew we had to, I loved being in this bubble with him. I didn’t know how many minutes had actually passed as we lay there, looking into each other’s eyes, but it was time to get back to reality.
“We should go,” I whispered.
“Are you sure I can’t kiss you?” he asked and his words turned my insides to hot liquid.
“Yes.” I meant that as yes, kiss me, but I verbally fixed it to, “Yes, I’m sure we can’t kiss.”
It was better this way. Even if I couldn’t tell him why.
He nodded and got up first, breaking the spell, and I was glad that he did. It made it easier for me to stand up and walk away from the bed where we’d spent the entire night getting to know each other.
Which had only made everything worse. Because I’d been interested in him before, definitely attracted to him, but now I really liked him. He was fun and funny and challenged me and . . . crap. My mom was going to be so disappointed when she found out that I was not going to fall in love with him.
Because that could never happen. I couldn’t allow it.
We took the elevator up to Brandy’s room in silence. We didn’t need to talk. That connection was there, so strong that words weren’t necessary.
Mandy opened the door for us and Brandy was sitting on her patio, drinking coffee.
“We’re here to help get her back downstairs,” I said.
“She’s embarrassed over how she behaved last night,” Mandy told me. “And I won’t have any problem getting her to the yoga thing.”
“Okay,” I said. “But like always, give me a call if you need anything.”
We left and Camden took me by the hand. “Friends hold hands,” he told me.
I didn’t protest, even though I hadn’t held hands with one of my friends since I was five years old.
We got out to the west lawn, where people were starting to wake up and move around.
I was surprised at how beautiful the sunrise was—I didn’t usually get up this early. Although, technically, I’d never actually gone to sleep.
Funny thing was I didn’t even feel a little bit tired.
“Maybe greeting the sun’s not so bad,” I said.
I turned slightly to see Camden watching me and he said, “Yeah, I was thinking it’s pretty great.”
We walked over to the tent that we hadn’t gotten the chance to share and gathered up our things from the tote bags.
There was a finality to it, and I realized that I wouldn’t be seeing him again until the wedding. I probably wouldn’t even get to talk to him until the reception.
Which was for the best. I knew that, but it was like I couldn’t get that logical message to the rest of my body.
“What are your plans after this?” Camden asked, making small talk that felt a little awkward after everything we’d shared.
“We’ve got a spa day for the bridesmaids and the moms. You?”
“The boys and I were debating on whether we should go paintballing or play golf.”
I gasped. “No paintball!”
“Why not?”
Why were men so dense? “All it takes is one of you idiots missing and smacking Dan in the face and leaving him with a giant bruise that will be in all of his wedding pictures forever.”