He shrugs.
‘Are you leaving a trail of broken hearts behind in San Francisco?’ I joke.
I’m getting very personal, very quickly and making a lot of assumptions, but mining for personal information as to his single status is becoming something of a drug to me after two glasses of wine and nine days of barely eating.
‘The shoot only takes around ten weeks in total. Eight of those just to set up. I thought you’d know that. As a super fan.’
‘Super fan?’
‘Yep. The show’s number one super fan is what you told me in your interview,’ he says smiling. ‘Although, that’s what they all say.’
Trust Lois. She is obsessed with the show. She would know all there is to know. ‘Oh, yeah. I’m a total super fan. So, back to this trail of broken hearts…’
Cam laughs and gingerly picks up his wine to slurp carefully at it. ‘I don’t usually drink.’
‘Me neither,’ I say, knocking the rest back and topping myself up.
This causes Cam to half choke on his drink. ‘I like you. You’re different to the usual contestants. You seem very laid back about it all.’
‘That’s because…’ I search for a plausible reason as I stare into his gorgeous eyes. ‘That’s because I’m really looking forward to the personal challenge rather than becoming world famous.’
He looks unconvinced.
‘And I’m hoping to find my soulmate while I’m here.’
A vision pops into my mind of me in white, floaty chiffon. Him in rolled up white trousers and a loose linen shirt open to the stomach. The pair of us standing hand in hand on white powdered sand while locals shower us in bright pink flower petals. Now, because I’ve come this far, it’s like I’m obsessed but thankfully, the film reel running in my mind is not playing out on my face.
Cam pretends to look serious. ‘Oh yeah, for sure. For sure. Out of the 4 billion men on the planet, he’ll definitely be one of the five we managed to pick out.’
He’s funny.
‘And the trail of broken hearts?’
Christ, I’m like a rottweiler but I can’t seem to let it go.
Cam puts down his fork to look at me. ‘There are no broken hearts. Only this one.’ He points to himself.
It’s my turn to act surprised. ‘Somebody broke your heart?’ I can’t believe it. Who would do such a thing? ‘Who was it? Taylor Swift?’
Cam chuckles. ‘It was a long time ago.’ Then I see something like pain flicker in his eyes as he reaches for another sip of his wine.
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get personal.’
I did. I would like to know everything, the deepest ins and outs and ups and downs of your entire love life, please.
‘I’m a professional nosy parker. Please forgive me.’
This makes him grin. ‘So that’s all you need to know about me. What about you? Any broken hearts to report?’
I shake my head and give him a sad look. ‘There was someone but he… ended it. I just wasn’t… anyway, I’m over it now. Imagine, twenty-six and looking forward to life as a dusty old maid. Which is fine.’
His jaw falls open slightly.
‘Because I’m married to my job,’ I explain. ‘Not because there’s something wrong with me... you know.’
It very much feels as though I’m accidentally planting seeds that there is definitely something wrong with me.
‘I really like my own company,’ I say quickly. ‘So, I don’t go out much. University came and went, and before I knew it several years went by, and I’d forgotten how to flirt. All the men my age settled down with girls that were quicker off the mark than me and so now, there’s hardly any decent men left in the town I live in. Just one rather arrogant male.’
