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“Fiona, we’re friends first. I’m there for my friends. Always will be. There might be something to this man that leads to something more than friendship for you. Or maybe you’ll just have a fun romp in the sack. You have to admit something intrigued you enough to accept a dinner date with him. Now, you’ve already made him sweat it out long enough so let’s get in there and meet him. I’m going to follow your lead.”
She smiled up at him and nodded. They approached the hostess and Fiona gave her name. The woman nodded and looked to Kyle before leading them across a beautiful dining room to a table overlooking a lovely waterfall.
As they approached Kyle saw a fit and tall dark haired man stand and smile in delighted relief when he saw Fiona. He caught Fiona’s answering smile and then he was on the receiving end of an assessing look from intense blue eyes. The man’s smile didn’t waver though there was some curious confusion mixed in there.
“Cameron Dawson, please let me introduce my good friend Kyle MacDenny,” Fiona said fondly.NôvelDrama.Org is the owner.
The man reached across the table and gave him a firm handshake. “Please call me Cam. This is the Canadian?” he said with a smile.
It was Kyle’s turn to be confused. He looked to Fiona whose face was beginning to glow pink. He looked back to the man.
“It just popped out of her mouth when she first informed me she wasn’t travelling alone,” the man offered with a cheeky grin.
Kyle matched the grin. “Ah. Yes, I’m Canadian. Just visiting your fair land.”
“Good!” Cam said with a big smile and though his response might be interpreted in a number of ways Kyle picked up his intent very clearly. Cam was feeling better about his chances of wooing Fiona. Kyle just gave him a smile and took the seat next to Fiona after she sat across from the Texan.
She took a moment to enjoy the scenery then turned to Cam. “This is lovely!”
“Yes, it is,” he responded holding her eyes.
Her cheeks flushed once more as she knew he was talking about her. Flustered she tried to change the subject to safer topics. “So, you’ve told me your name but I know nothing else about you!”
“Yet here you are dining with me!” he said with a wide grin. “I consider myself a lucky man for that alone!” When she gave him a happy but flustered look he raised his hands in surrender. “Ok, here goes. Me in a nutshell. I’m thirty-four, 6′, 185 pounds. I’m single, not that I haven’t tried, and I enjoy horseback riding and camping under the stars. I work for my parent’s company, Dawson Industries out of Austin, Texas. I do this and that, most recently travelling to Las Vegas to look into an investment opportunity that fell flat. Then I was bumped into by a beauty who graciously accepted my dinner invitation and saved the trip from being a write off.”
Fiona smiled at the man and nodded to him. “I suppose I owe you the same. I’m 30, 5′ 6″, never mind my weight. I’m recently divorced, and I enjoy yoga and cycling. I work for my parent’s managing their boutique hotel chain. I’m in town to have some fun with my girl friends this weekend. They’ll be joining us tomorrow.”
Cam looked at Kyle. “Girl friends and Canadian friend?”
Kyle nodded. “Yup. Six women and me. I’m the token male in the party,” Kyle said with a false sad expression.
“A six to one ratio? You poor man! It’s inhuman!” Cam exclaimed in fake outrage causing Fiona to giggle. “I’ll tell you what. If you’ll have me, I’ll join your party to increase the male representation.”
Kyle looked to Fiona and saw the delight in her eyes. That settled it for him. “I, for one, would be eternally grateful. Thank you, kind sir.”
Cam was enjoying this game and especially enjoyed the smiles he was bringing to Fiona’s lips. Kyle almost seemed like a wingman in this circumstance and at first, he was sure the man was going to be competition for Fiona’s attention. That made him curious about the man.
“Isn’t it your turn to give us your story?” he asked the younger man. Fiona looked to Kyle with a cheeky grin.
Kyle felt himself put on the spot so he nodded with a little smile and cleared his throat. “Ok, here goes. “I’m 25, 5′ 10″, 175 pounds. I’m single but I was engaged not too long ago. It didn’t work out.” Fiona snorted explosively then covered her mouth with her napkin as an embarrassed blush filled her cheeks.
“Oh, we’re getting back to that reaction,” Cam said with a smile at Fiona then faced Kyle once more. “Please continue.”
“Ok, uh, I enjoy cycling, traveling, camping, and riding my motorcycle. I used to work for an investment house in Vancouver, BC.”
“Used to?” Cam asked.
Kyle nodded. “I quit the job a few weeks ago. I just wasn’t getting any personal satisfaction from it. I mean, I did well enough. I earned good money and I still do it for myself to maintain a stream of income. But right now, I’m just trying to figure out what makes me happy.”
Cam was looking at Kyle thoughtfully. “I had my days of wild oat sewing when I turned eighteen. I told my parents I was going out into the world to find myself. Jumped in my pickup with no plan other than to see the country and truly experience life. Drove through most of the states and did odd jobs to make enough money to eat and keep the tank filled. Ended up going home around three years later. Went back to school and got a degree in Business Administration. Took a job at my parent’s company and worked my way up.” He sighed. “I was hoping this investment deal would let me move into that side of the company. Now I suspect my Daddy set me up. He probably knew there wasn’t anything there when he suggested I look into them.”
“A lesson learned, not the end of the road.” Kyle suggested.
Cam looked at the younger man in surprise then nodded as he thought about the message. “I like that. Where’s it from?”