Keeping the Pieces

by Brenda Lowder

  “Yes, well, you and your ex-girlfriend stormed in on Derek and me when we were in the middle of a private moment.”

  “Ex-girlfriend.” Cam’s voice wavered, the new ex part being apparently more than he could handle.

  Emma tightened her hold on him and patted his back. He shuddered under her hand, struggling to pull in breaths. This wasn’t exactly how Emma had pictured her first time being naked in Cam’s arms would be. But she told herself something about beggars and choosers and held him close. She was naked and in Cam’s arms. Geographically, it was right where she’d always wanted to be.

  Chapter Thirty

  Derek clutched the bed sheet around his waist and supported Honey across the hall to the bedroom she’d been sharing with Cam as recently as five minutes ago. Sluggish and stupid with the almost-sex with Emma, his brain struggled to function again. Well hot damn. That crazy plan of Emma’s had really worked. In record time too. His goal for the weekend had been to kiss Honey, and here Honey and Cam had already broken up. He shook his head in disbelief. He would’ve laughed in shock but for the hot stone of misgiving in his gut that had his mind replaying the scene with Emma. Honey sniffed beside him, and he forced himself to let thoughts of Emma go.

  Derek closed the door behind them. He looked askance at the rumpled bed, not wanting to lie down where that oaf had been. Honey must have sensed his hesitation because she said, “Cam and I didn’t have sex here.”

  He raised an eyebrow at her.

  “We were too busy listening to y’all.” She cleared her throat. “We didn’t think it was real.” She looked toward the window, but the wooden blinds were closed against the night.

  She turned back to him, the look on her face raw and vulnerable. “Was it?”

  “Was it, what?”

  “Was it real with Emma?”

  Both the plan and his jumbled, newly born emotions for the girl across the hall had him answering quickly. “Yes. It was real.” He sat on the edge of the bed and gathered the trailing sheet around him.

  Honey sat beside him and held his hand. “But you left her. To be here with me.”

  He squeezed her hand and looked into her eyes that gazed at him so expectantly. “I did.”

  She snuggled close. “Because you never loved her. You always, always loved me.”

  He knew better than to answer that. Instead he inclined his head and leaned toward Honey, hesitant, searching. What did either of them really feel? Was it too soon?

  Apparently not, since she leaned in and meshed her lips to his. He put his arms around her and pulled her close, loving the smell of the expensive floral perfume she always wore. He explored her mouth with his tongue, and she gave a soft little whimper of a moan. An image of Emma jumping up and down on the bed with him, playing their silly animal-noises-pretend-sex game rose unbidden in his mind. Emma smiling, laughing, moaning. Emma warm in his arms.

  He pushed the thought away and pulled Honey down onto the bed on top of him. She smiled, the shine of triumph in her eyes. He hesitated. Was Honey doing this because she really wanted to be with him or just because she wanted to steal him from Emma? Or ditch Cam?

  He took a deep breath. It didn’t matter. She was the woman he wanted, he told himself.

  ∞∞∞

  Emma knew she should be happy. She’d won Cam. Her heart’s desire. But it was a little hard to think of him like that with him snoring in her ear.

  Despite being completely naked and tangled in his arms, Emma had not been able to keep Cam from falling asleep after the giant bawling session. He’d cried his tears till he was dry then passed out on her side of the bed.

  Annoyed, she scooted to Derek’s—um, formerly Derek’s—side and pulled the duvet from the floor. She snuggled into it and imagined what Derek and Honey were doing right now. The creeping claws of jealousy tore at her again.

  She’d bet anything they weren’t sleeping.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Time to get up,” a melodious voice insisted, pulling Emma out of sleep. And she’d been having such a nice dream. She and Derek had been shopping for cars together and their version of test-driving one was to make out in the back seat. They’d just been going horizontal when Emma was yanked from the Tesla and into reality.

  She flung an arm over her face. “Go away!” she told the voice.

  She felt a hovering presence at her side and it occurred to her to wonder who was standing over her in the weak light of dawn, especially since she could feel the heat of Cam’s body pressed against her back. She opened one eye to find Honey’s smiling face three inches from her own. She jumped.

  “What’s going on?” She scrambled backward until she was leaning against the headboard, trying to catch her breath and her galloping heartbeat.

  “You two have got to get up and get dressed if we’re gonna make it.”

  Emma rubbed her eyes and looked down to see Cam in his underwear. He must have ditched his outer clothes sometime during the night. Good. At least this way it would look like they’d been up to something before falling asleep.

  Emma was still naked, but maybe she shouldn’t care. Frontal nudity was becoming a common occurrence this weekend.

  “Make it for what?” Emma prodded Cam. She shouldn’t have to face Honey’s daybreak optimism alone.

  Derek sauntered into the room and stopped short. His eyes were wide focused on Emma’s chest. A look Emma couldn’t decipher crossed his handsome face. She dove under the duvet.

  Honey laughed. “It’s not like he hasn’t seen you naked already.”

  Emma stayed under the blanket. It was not lost on her that everyone on this trip had seen her naked, and no one had had sex with her. Maybe she should be the one to start bursting into people’s rooms. Maybe then she’d be the one getting some action, and Honey would be the one scrambling for cover.

  Honey leaned even closer, and Emma clutched the duvet, afraid Honey might pull it off of her. “Come on, you two. You’re going to make us late for the rafting trip.”

  Emma tugged the bedspread down from her head and tucked it under her chin. “You’re kidding.”

  Honey looked at her blankly. “About what?”

  “It’s just that with last night’s…events—” Emma rolled her eyes at the euphemism for what had to be a cataclysmic emotional turnover for all four of them. “I thought we’d be going home and going our separate ways.”

  Honey nodded and sat on the bed. Emma scooted away, not wanting any contact with the beautiful and terrifying interloper invading her personal space. Her foot kicked Cam’s side in the process, but he still didn’t wake up.

  “We came here to go rafting.” Honey’s expression was earnest.

  “But—” Emma paused and cleared her throat. She stared at Honey. Surely the switching of partners had affected her last night. Honey had been fragile and broken when she’d left with Derek. Either she was really, really into rafting or maybe she had some plan of her own—perhaps involving knocking Emma overboard.

  “I don’t really want to go.” Emma tried to make her voice firm.

  Honey stared at her. “If you’re worried about last night,” she paused to look over her shoulder at Derek. “I think everything has turned out just as it should.” She glanced at Cam’s still-sleeping form. “Cam and I were never going to go through with the wedding. I was marrying him for the wrong reasons.” She stood up and clasped her hands. “But we are going to go through with the rafting trip because that’s the whole reason we’re all here, right?” Without waiting for agreement, Honey turned to Derek. “Help me wake up Cam?” She blew him a kiss and left the room.

  Derek’s brow furrowed. Obviously, he didn’t relish the task of approaching a sleeping Cam. But he went over to Cam’s side of the bed and shook him by the shoulders.

  “What?” Cam muttered groggily. He opened his eyes. Then he struck out with a powerful right hook and punched Derek in the face.

  Emma yelped. Derek reeled backward and landed on his butt. H
is nose spurted blood, and he covered it with his hands, the blood dripping between them.

  Emma scrambled out of bed and rushed to his side. “Here.” She moved his hands. “Put pressure here. Tilt your head this way.” She tried to move his head, but he kept looking down.

  “You’re naked, Emma. It’s hard to look anywhere else.”

  She didn’t think her nudity was the most important issue right now. Derek’s nose was spouting blood. Although he must not be too hurt if he could fixate on her body at a time like this. Her pulse raced. Was it wrong that she was flattered? He had Honey, but Emma was still able to distract him.

  She left Derek to get a hand towel from the bathroom and returned to kneel beside him again. Carefully she applied the towel and repositioned his hands to keep applying pressure.

  “You don’t have to help him, Emma,” Cam growled from the bed.

  Emma had forgotten about Cam in her concern for Derek’s face. She rounded on him. “What did you think you were doing?”

  “That asshole stole my fiancée.”

  Emma’s breath caught. He may have spent last night in her bed, but that was by default. It was still Honey he was chasing.

  “Well, you stole mine,” Derek returned, managing to sound aggrieved.

  Emma smiled to herself. Derek was still helping her.

  Cam seemed to think about it for a second. “Emma, get away from him. And would you put some clothes on? Please?”

  Choosing to take Cam’s request as proof he cared, Emma got up.

  “And you!” He glared at Derek, throwing back the covers and getting up. “Get the hell out of here. And tell your new bitch girlfriend that Emma and I aren’t going rafting. We’re going home.”

  Emma’s head snapped back. She liked Cam’s aggressive turnaround. She should leave while her side was winning.

  “I’m just going to jump in the shower.” Emma grabbed some clothes and toiletries from her suitcase and crossed back over to the bathroom, almost colliding with Derek in his exit toward the door.

  He caught her arm with the hand not pressing the towel to his face. “Be careful,” he said softly, close to her ear. She looked up at him. His cobalt eyes were intense but kind. For a second, she thought he might ask her to stay. “And good luck.” He squeezed her arm once with the hand not holding his nose and released her, then turned around and strode from the room.

  Emma had been in the spacious Italian-tiled shower for fewer than two minutes when a naked Cam got in with her. For a second she debated whether she should squeal or act shocked or kick him out, but in the end she decided she should only be trying to move them forward and, considering the unusual circumstances under which they’d almost-not-quite gotten together, she should just go with it. She wanted a future with him.

  Her heart tugged a bit when she saw the sheepish look on his face. He barely lifted his eyes to hers when he asked, “Is it okay if I join you?” as he paused before closing the hazy shower door with himself inside.

  “Sure.” Emma smiled and tried not to look downward…too much. Tried not to remember Derek naked last night. Tried not to compare. “Come on in.”

  Cam blew out a breath and smiled. Emma picked up the body wash and began soaping herself up.

  “Although I think we should hurry. Honey will probably bust into the bathroom in ten seconds and drag us out by our hair. She seems really set on rafting.”

  “I locked the bedroom door.”

  Emma raised an eyebrow at him. “You think that’ll stop her?”

  “I also moved a chair in front of it.”

  She smiled. “Good thinking.”

  She rinsed off the soap and then squirted more body wash into her hand. “Turn around and I’ll soap your back.”

  “Um, thanks.” Cam stepped gingerly on the slippery tile and presented his back to her. She soaped his skin, stretching to reach his shoulders.

  “Emma.” His voice was low and muffled through the noise of the spraying water. “I’m sorry about last night.” He turned his head so he was peering at her over his shoulder. “And a lot of things.”

  She stopped rubbing his back. He turned around.

  “Like what?”

  He exhaled heavily then brought his hand up to play with a strand of her wet hair. “That kiss. The night before my party.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “I didn’t know how to handle the feelings I had for you. It was easier to go along with Honey’s and my parents’ plans for the wedding. But it’s you, Emma. You’re the one I want.” He closed his eyes and leaned down. He put his lips to hers.

  Emma stretched on her toes and kissed him back despite a slight nagging at the edge of her mind. She couldn’t shake the feeling that he was only saying this because Honey had dumped him and she, Emma, was a convenient port in the storm for the aftermath of his emotional hurricane.

  She pushed the thought away and concentrated on the kiss. She was getting what she’d wanted, after all. She wanted to break Honey and Cam up and she had. She wanted Cam for herself, and she got him. She wanted a future with Cam and here he was, naked in her shower, initiating one.

  She focused on his lips, warm and tender, pressed against hers. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her to him, his wet forearms suctioning her dripping back. Weird, but not unwelcome. He slid his tongue into her mouth, and she caressed it with her own. She waited for the burning heat of desire to light her up like it had last night with Derek, but the combination of the shower and the morning was leaving her cold.

  After a moment she broke away. “How soon do you think we can get on the road?”

  “Probably not until after their river trip. We only have the one car.”

  “You think Honey will really still go?”

  Cam rinsed the soap from his back. “She’ll be even more determined to go since she knows we don’t want to. She’ll punish us by making us wait while she takes Derek.”

  Emma shook her head. “That’s crazy. And passive-aggressive.”

  Cam nodded.

  “I’ll talk to her.”

  “O—kay.”

  He sounded skeptical, but Emma ignored his tone. They got out of the shower, and she toweled off. Cam shook himself, scattering water droplets everywhere like a Saint Bernard. Emma handed him a towel.

  “Thanks.”

  Emma hurried from the bathroom and dressed as quickly as possible. Not because she was anxious to talk to Honey. But because she was tired of being naked, and more than a little weirded out.

  Her plan had worked.

  Now what?

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Life was weird.

  Derek’s head was reeling. How had he ended up in bed with Honey last night? Not that he was complaining. One minute he and Emma were playing their version of chicken, jumping on the bed and practically daring each other to back down from having sex, Emma so warm and pliant beneath him, her smile, her scent, her touch…and then Honey was there, leaving Cam, and dragging Derek off to pleasure him.

  Again, not that he was complaining.

  But then this morning. Honey still wanted to go on the rafting trip together. Did she regret the breakup? Did she feel guilty about last night? Or was she trying to rub Emma’s and Cam’s faces in it?

  And then there was all that confusing Emma nudity this morning. Wow. Parts of him stirred just remembering. No more thinking about that.

  But it all added up to Cole being right about this weekend being some kind of deranged orgy sex romp.

  Yeah. Life was getting weird.

  “What’s taking them so long?” Honey ducked back into the room after checking the hallway again to see if Cam and Emma had emerged.

  Derek shrugged. “They don’t want to go.” He took his phone from the charger and put it on the dresser. Maybe he’d get a Ziploc from the kitchen to put it in before taking it out on the river.

  Honey turned around. “They have to go. The river trip was the whole reason we came up here.”

  Derek scratched
his chin. “A lot’s happened since we decided to make this trip together.” He crossed to where Honey was standing and put his arms around her. After a second’s hesitation, she relaxed into him, snaking her hands up around his neck. He inclined his head and kissed her.

  A firm knock interrupted them. Derek stepped away from Honey and opened the door to find a fully dressed Emma standing there. He tried not to be disappointed she’d found her clothes.

  “Hey.” She clasped and unclasped her hands, the tender look in her large eyes stirring feelings in his gut he wouldn’t think about. “How’s your nose?”

  “Better, thanks.” It had finally stopped bleeding. He was lucky it wasn’t broken.

  “That’s good.” Emma hesitated awkwardly. He understood. He didn’t know if he should pretend to be pissed at her now that they were fake broken up or if their plotting had run its course and they could be real now. And just what was real for them?

  She took a deep breath. “Can you tell Honey that Cam and I aren’t going rafting?”

  Before he could answer, Honey joined him in the doorway. “You have to go.”

  Emma lifted her chin. “No, we don’t. And we’re not going to.”

  “Rafting was the whole reason for coming this weekend.”

  Emma laughed, producing a short, bitter sound. “I’d say that at least half the reason was so you could steal the man I was going to marry.” Her eyes met his past Honey and damned if he didn’t feel the truth of it down deep. But they’d never been a couple, so this couldn’t be real. He’d always said Emma was a fine actress.

  Honey folded her arms and stared at Emma who stared back. After a minute, Honey gave in. “Fine. You and Cam can wait here while Derek and I go.” She closed the door on Emma.

  Derek raised his eyebrows.

  “You ready?” Honey lifted her head and gave him a look that dared him to say something.

  “Lead the way.”

  ∞∞∞

  Emma rolled her eyes at the closed door in her face. At least Honey had excused them from rafting participation without asking for a doctor’s note. But Emma hadn’t expected that little jolt in her stomach when Derek opened the door.