Lead The Way
CAMERON
Since the office incident, I'd been floating on air, it had also been comical watching her grow sheepish when I made it clear Molly would be more likely to want her than me. And I'd grown more attached to her, in the most natural way possible. Doing things for Anita seemed instinctual, and one particular task had me feeling more than a little anxious.
It didn't take long for others to notice the change in me, the newfound relaxation, the increased happiness. As I discreetly glanced in her direction, a lopsided grin crept onto my face at the way her eyes darted around the room.
Leaning in, I whispered in her ear, "Relax," tightening my grip on her waist.
"Easy for you to say, these are your peers. I can't believe I let you talk me into coming to this party," she grimaced, wearing a light frown.
After the office visit, I convinced her to be my date at Elliot's company celebration. It took some persuasion, but she relented when I promised we'd make an early exit.
Navigating through the bustling room, I always felt uneasy at these formal events. Elliot's home had been transformed into an elegant space, with waiters circulating with drinks and trays of appetizers. Seeing my parents relieved me slightly, but my smile faltered when I noticed my mother's frown and my father's discomfort. Nevertheless, I put on a fake smile as my mother's expression brightened upon spotting Anita and me.
"Anita, you look lovely. Edward, this is Cameron's girlfriend," she chirped, gesturing between us.
"Way to be forward, Mom," I groaned, while Anita giggled beside me and shook my father's hand.
"I'm excited to finally have another woman around to balance out the testosterone I'm constantly subjected to," my mother added.
"MOM!"
"What? I love my boys, but you can be quite insufferable sometimes," she shrugged, reaching out to grasp Anita's hand lightly. Anita shot me a panicked look, but I held on firmly, prompting my mother to chuckle. "I won't steal her away," she reassured.
"I'll be back," Anita said, wearing a small smile as she looked into my eyes, her shoulders slumping in defeat. I shot her an apologetic smile, realizing I'd inadvertently put her in an awkward position.
Watching them move away, I felt nervous. "Calm down, she'll be back," my father chuckled lightly, poking my side.
"I know how Mom can be. I don't want her to get scared off."
"Understandable," he shrugged. Turning to face him fully, a serious expression crossed my face as I recalled something I'd just noticed.
"Is something going on between you and Mom?"
His brows shot up in surprise, and he cleared his throat, shaking his head. "No."
"I'm not five years old. I can tell when both of you are mad at each other," I stated, scrutinizing his every expression.
Waving his hand dismissively, he replied, "It's just a marital squabble, nothing for you to worry about."
Before I could press further, my mother's voice interrupted. "You can breathe a sigh of relief; I didn't plan on taking her for long," she chuckled, causing a forced smile to appear on my face as Anita returned to my side.
I wanted to continue questioning him, but with an audience present, I knew it wasn't the right time. Instead, I focused on the woman beside me. "You okay?" I asked, rubbing soothing circles into her waist. She smiled lightly and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks for asking," she replied, leaning in for a brief side hug.
"Finally, you're here. I was starting to think you'd decided not to show up," Elliot said, approaching us with a big smile. But what caught my attention for a moment was how Anita's body tensed.
"Edward, Emma," he acknowledged before turning his attention to us both, his lips stretching widely, his eyes lingering on Anita in a way that made me step forward, partially blocking her from his inspection.
"Eliot, it's good to see you, thanks for inviting us."
"Of course, I'm glad you came," he replied briefly glancing in her direction.
Annoyed by the action I excused us from the group and navigated us to a table where she took a seat releasing a deep sigh. Occupying the seat beside her, I reached out to gently grasp her hand to soothe the burning ache of annoyance.
"Thanks for being so willing to come, I know tonight has already been a lot," I mumbled, although she smiled, it didn't reach her eyes. And I grew concerned at the way she seemed stiff especially with the way she kept nibbling her bottom lip. Her behaviour had me feeling a bit uneasy and rather remorseful at the social situation I'd selfiahly put her in. "We can head out right now if you want, I can see how uncomfortable you are, I knew allowing you to head off with my mom was a bad id –"
My words were cut off by her placing a finger on my lips to silence me, "Honestly I'm fine. Your mother was an absolute sweetheart," she assured peering deeply into my eyes.
A flutter merged in my stomach at the eye contact we shared, unable to bear it I looked away suddenly feeling shy.
She snickered and proceeded to lightly play with my beard. The action blurred the rest of the room to the feel of her fingers lightly tugging on my facial hair. The action meant to be playful had me moving into her space to revel in how intimate it felt, "You look really beautiful tonight, not saying you don't always look beautiful anytime I see you," I rambled.
Her smile widened at seeing the effect behind her touch. And the more time I spent with her, the more I grew convinced she relished in intentionally making me weak.
"You look quite dashing in that suit, Mr. Miller," she murmured, and I would be lying if I said hearing her call me that didn't make me want to bend her over this table.
I swallowed down thickly and shifted in my seat to look around the room to cope with the myriad of emotions swirling in my system. "Let's go."
She bit her lip and scanned the room to find that my parents were still deep in conversation with Eliot before glancing my way, "Already?"
"We made our presence known, we can sneak off," I proposed watching a sly grin emerge on her lips.
She leaned in peering deeply into my eyes and whispered, "Lead the way."