He took a long draw from his coffee mug and sighed as the rich liquid warmed him. “Yeah, I’m better.” A little. “I just had a moment.”
“Good,” Nico drawled, his eyes flashing with menace as he jerked his head toward Tieran. “Now, explain that.”
Chapter Six
“Cameron, please just relax.”
“I am relaxed.” For the fourteenth time since they’d been seated—Asher had counted—Cameron smoothed his fingertips over the collar of his navy button-down, then checked the top button. “It’s just really warm in here.” His hand trembled when he reached for his water glass. “Are you warm?”
“No, I’m not warm.” It was pleasant inside the restaurant, cozy, but nowhere near heated enough to cause the sheen of perspiration across Cameron’s brow. “Breathe, sweetheart. Everything will be fine.” He chuckled when Cameron stared back at him with an expression of pure incredulity. “It will be. Trust me.”
The plan was rather ingenious in its simplicity. He and Cameron would enjoy a nice, romantic dinner at their favorite Italian restaurant. At some point during the evening, Talon would call in an anonymous tip, ensuring a gaggle of reporters, bloggers, and the like would be waiting for them when they exited the building.
Questions would, of course, be shouted at him, and Asher would answer the ones he and Talon had agreed upon while ignoring the rest. After a couple of minutes ofthis, Ryder would then sweep them into the back of a waiting SUV.
End scene. Exit stage left.
If everything went according to plan, the encounter would serve the same purpose as a press conference while, at the same time, appearing natural and unscripted. It was devious and underhanded and absolutely brilliant.
Though he’d been skeptical in the beginning, especially when Talon had suggested theynotrelease a statement, Asher was beginning to see why everyone said the guy was the best. His methods might not be typical or conventional, and he certainly didn’t follow the standard playbook for these types of situations. No one, however, could argue with his results.
The only problem was Cameron.
He’d pushed his mushroom ravioli around on his plate for the better part of twenty minutes, but he hadn’t taken a single bite. He was pale and shaky, his complexion taking on a sickly gray pallor that made the shadows under his eyes stand out in sharp contrast. Every few minutes, he’d glance toward the front of the restaurant as if he expected reporters to come stampeding toward them at any moment.
In short, he was a goddamn mess, and Asher, despite his continued reassurances to the contrary, was starting to worry.
“Hey,” he said, reaching across the table for Cameron’s hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. “If you don’t want to do this, we won’t.” Talon would probably kill him, but he’d abandon the entire plan if Cameron said the word. “I can call Ryder right now and have him meet us out back.”
“No.” His fingers went to his collar again, but he sat up straighter and nodded determinedly. “I can do this.”
“I know you can.”
“You’re not nervous at all?”
Asher shrugged. “Not really. In case you’ve forgotten, I rather enjoy being the center of attention.”
A slow but genuine smile lit Cameron’s face, and a bit of color returned to his cheeks. “I seem to recall something like that.”
“Good.” He gave Cameron’s hand another squeeze before releasing him to flag down their server for the check. “Then, let’s do this.”
While he waited for the young man to return with his credit card, he shot off a quick text to Ryder, letting him know they’d be leaving the restaurant shortly. Ryder’s response came just as the server finished bidding them a good evening.
“Ready to go?” Standing in front of the table, he held his hand out to the side, waiting for Cameron to take it. “Hold on to me and keep your head down,” he reminded him. “Just smile and be your gorgeous self. That’s all you have to do.”
Cameron blushed right to the tips of his ears, but he wore a pleased grin as he leaned into Asher’s side and mumbled, “I remember.”
“It’s going to feel like forever, but it’ll be two minutes tops.”
Cameron just nodded.
“All right. Let’s go.”
A sign by the front door claimed the maximum occupancy forSotto le Stellewas three hundred guests, and it appeared that every one of those seats had been filled. A family in the corner looked to be celebrating a birthday. A group of men dressed in business suits gathered at a table by the windows. Three women sat in one of the high-backed booths, two bottles of wine on the table in front of them, and they all gave off a serious “Karen” vibe. He wouldn’t have been surprised if one of them had already asked to speak to a manager.
Asher didn’t think it was his imagination that conversations had quieted, or that all eyes in the restaurant turned to track their steps as he and Cameron moved toward the exit. Sure enough, when he looked, he realized a few of them had taken out their cell phones and were either snapping pictures or recording videos.
So far, Cameron hadn’t noticed the attention they were receiving. Unfortunately, that was probably because he was doing his best to not panic or vomit. Judging by his wild eyes and white lips, it really could go either way.
