after this night (camren)

18. Camila

I ended the call but didn't head back inside. Instead, I watched from a distance, threading a hand through my hair as I began to hatch a plan.

......

A few glasses of champagne later, I was feeling like the drink myself - bubbly and effervescent. Though that might simply be due to the gorgeous woman with her arm draped possessively around me. She'd been by my side since she returned from making her phone call, and I loved that she found ways to touch me all night, whether she brushed my fingertips accidentally when she took my glass to refill, or when she absently traced a soft line along my hip bone as the cake was being served.

Having her here with me almost made me forget about the troubles that awaited me. She had that effect, as if she were a magic elixir that erased all the bad. Or maybe that was the magic of falling, the way it was the ideal blend of intoxication, and could blot out all but the tingling in my shoulders, the flip in my belly, the thump of my heart when she looked at me. Her gaze was filled with intensity and passion, with desire and tenderness. That was how her eyes roamed me as she held open the door too a taxi after we'd said goodbye to the few remaining guests, the brides having been sent on their way already. 

The second the door closed, I leaned into her and sighed happily as I grazed my fingers along her collar, "You're coming home with me" I said. 

"That I am, gorgeous. That I am" she said, and removed my hand from her shirt. I shot her a curious look as she knotted her fingers through mine. The cab sped out of the parking lot and down the twisty, hilly roads. She grasped my hand harder as if she were about to make a point, "I have a plan"

"Already?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

She brushed a finger against my taunting eyebrow, sending it back into place, "Yes, already. What do you think clients pay me the big bucks for? To sit on my ass and not think quickly"

I laughed, "Fine. You got me there. But let me make one thing clear, Miss. Big Bucks, you are not paying it off for me"

She held up her hands as if in surrender.

"You were going to try to, weren't you?"

"Actually no" she said firmly.

"Because there's no way I'm taking it. I haven't asked anyone for money. I meant what I said - if I were going to ask for help, Dinah would be the first person I'd turn to, and I haven't breathed a word to her, so don't even think about it"

"You considering letting me get a word in edgewise?" she asked as the cab slowed to a stop light.

"Maybe. But if you even think about offering, I will do this" I said, putting my hands over my ears and singing, "La la la, I am not listening"

She pulled my hands off, "You think I don't know you? You think I don't listen? That I can't figure out already from knowing you the way I do that you'd never ever take money from me or another person?"

I narrowed my eyes at her playfully. The fizzy effect of the champagne was still rolling through my bloodstream.

"I know you, woman" she continued, "You are independent and stubborn and fiery. Give me some goddamn credit. I would not make you an offer I know you'd walk away from"

"Ooh, you're going to make me an offer" I said, tap-dancing my fingertips along her arm, "I. Can't. Wait"

She rolled her eyes, "You are red-hot trouble"

"Tell me about it" I fired back, "And now you know exactly how much trouble you have gotten yourself into" I said and laughed, the kind that vibrated through my whole body and made me clutch my belly. It felt so damn good, because I hadn't laughed about my situation in ages. Never, come to think about it. Now I could, because I was no longer in it alone.