Where There's Hope_A Well Paired Novel

by Marianne Rice

  “Depends. What’s the prize at the end?” She rubbed herself against him, with only the thick layer of her jeans and his pants keeping them apart.

  “You’re the freaking pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.”

  “Really?” It wasn’t just words with Cameron. It was the way he said them, the way he looked at her like she was a jackpot. “So what do I get?” she teased, lowering her body until her hair fell, feathering him across his shoulders and chest.

  “I’m no prize.”

  “Oh, but you are. And I’m going to show you just how much you’re worth.”

  Hope slid down his legs, her hair trailing across his chest until she reached the button on his pants.

  “Hope.”

  “Sh. Let me do this for you. You can repay me later. Not too much later. As in ten, maybe fifteen minutes.” She slipped the button through the hole and lowered his zipper, then tugged his pants down his legs.

  “Sweetheart, I’m going first.” He flipped her onto her back and drugged her with his kisses, pressing his body into hers until they molded into one. “And I’m going to take a hell of a lot longer than ten or fifteen minutes.”

  He unclasped the front of her bra and made love to her breasts with his hands and mouth. She tipped her head back and closed her eyes, thanking God for making a man like Cameron. A man who knew how to treat a woman, not only in bed but in life.

  With expert precision—thank you romance novels!—Cameron had her jeans and panties off, flung somewhere in his dark apartment.

  For the next fifteen...twenty...thirty minutes, he loved and worshiped her body until she could barely move.

  And then he dug out a condom from his wallet, covered himself and entered her, sending her brain into a tizzy of fireworks and swirls and sweet, sweet ecstasy.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  HE’D NEVER BEEN ONE for cuddling after sex, but being cocooned in his sleeping bag with Hope’s scent painted all over him, and her body snuggled up next to his side felt like freaking bliss.

  Cameron brushed her hair from his face and rubbed his foot against hers. “You sure you’re okay?”

  Hope tilted her head, her hair tickling his nose, and looked up at him with probing eyes. “You didn’t just ask me that, did you?”

  “I had promised to take things slow.”

  “And to stop apologizing for ridiculous things.”

  “I didn’t apologize.” He kissed her forehead. “I asked if you were okay.” She quirked a sassy eyebrow at him, and he continued. “Because the space is a little tight in here.”

  Cameron rolled them over so she lay splayed across his chest, and toyed with the zipper of the sleeping bag that trailed up her spine.

  “Actually, this is much better. The zipper was poking my back. And now I have you poking my front.” She wiggled teasingly on top of him.

  “You’re crazy.” He chuckled, hugging her tighter.

  Touching Hope had fuzzied his brain cells. Kissing her had blurred his surroundings. And holy shit, making love to her put him in such a state of euphoria he had no idea where the hell or who the hell he was.

  If he wasn’t sure about being in love with her before, he was a million percent sure now.

  “Is this a bad time to ask you something?” Hope’s cheek rested on his chest, and she played with his nipple with her fingers and slid her foot up and down his calf.

  “Sweetheart, you can ask me anything.” Especially if she kept doing stuff like that.

  “Tell me about your parents.”

  Cameron closed his eyes and stopped the trail his hand had made, resting it on her hip.

  “Too much too soon? You don’t have to tell me about them if you don’t want to.”

  “It isn’t that I don’t want to,” he half-lied. He didn’t mind Hope knowing about his childhood, but he didn’t want to bring his dad or his mother into his time he had with Hope.

  “I shouldn’t have asked.”

  “It’s okay.” He stroked her side and moved his hand up to her hair, twisting it gently around his fingers. “I told you about the last time I’d seen my dad.”

  “In court?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He didn’t come see you when you were released?”

  “No.” Cameron snorted. “He won’t dirty his hands by being seen with the likes of me.”

  “He’s missing out. And shame on your mother for not standing up to him. I can’t imagine abandoning my child. I’m sorry that you’ve had to live with this pain.” She kissed his chest and placed her hand over his heart. “They should be proud of who you’ve become.”

  “I put them through a lot of shit when I was younger.” Cameron told her about his rebellious pre-teen years and his stints in juvie. At first, he thought he’d be ashamed at how low he’d stooped, of the gutter he chose to live in, but Hope never shifted from him, even when he told his darkest tales of drugs and alcohol. And women.

  His chest swelled with pride that a woman of such class, such courage, such purity could believe in him and forgive him for his past. The worry and fear that had burdened him for so long had been assuaged.

  “The more embarrassment I could cause my dad, the better. It wasn’t that I even liked doing half the stuff I did. It was all to get a rise out of him.”

  “How did your mother handle your behavior?”

  “Dear old mom? She looked the other way. Janice has always been a mouse. Thomas walks all over her. She wouldn’t dare ask the cook to make chicken cordon bleu without first asking her husband. God forbid she buy lavender instead of lilac hand lotion.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Seriously. I’ll never forget that one. I was ten. My mother had gone shopping with her sister, after asking for permission first, and came home with a new lotion. She asked my dad to smell it, and he went ballistic. Tossed the bottle across the room and scolded her like a little girl in front of Justin and me. Told her lavender smelled cheap, and he hadn’t married a cheap whore.”

  Hope gasped and lifted her head up. “He was abusive to your mom?”

  “Not was, is. I’m sure he hasn’t changed since I’ve been gone. If anything, I bet he’s worse since Justin’s death.”

  “Does he...did he ever physically abuse her?”

  Hope slid off his body and curled against his side, still keeping one arm draped across his chest. “Not that I was aware of. Mostly emotional and mental abuse. She wasn’t really a mother to us. More of a trophy to drape across Thomas’ arm. She didn’t speak unless he commanded her to, in public and at home. My mother had no hand in raising us at all.”

  “And she never contacted you in prison?”

  “Not that I’m aware of. Dear old dad wouldn’t have let her anyway. And I don’t think she’s courageous enough to go behind his back.”

  Hope touched his lips with gentle fingers, sliding them across his cheek and to his ear. She toyed with his lobe before cupping her hand around his neck and bringing his mouth to hers.

  “You’ve been alone for too long.” She kissed him slowly, passionately, and with a tenderness only someone who truly cared about him could offer.

  “I—” He wanted to tell her how much he loved her, but it was too soon. What if she didn’t feel the same way? He couldn’t bear to have an awkward wall of tension between them again. Not when everything was so damn perfect. “I want you again, Hope.”

  She tugged at his shoulders bringing him on top of her and worked her legs between the sleeping bag and his body. It was a tight fit. Everywhere.

  “Well, then. Take me, big fella.”

  Leave it to Hope to turn a serious moment into something fun.

  Which was why he couldn’t tell her he loved her just yet. She wasn’t ready for a serious relationship. She worked hard as a single parent, not having many opportunities to get out and have some fun. If that’s what she wanted, he’d give it to her.

  Over and over and over again.

  THEY’D CLEANED UP IN his minuscule bath
room before leaving, trying to camouflage the we made love—twice—look. Cameron turned down Hope’s road and slowed the truck as he neared her driveway.

  “I’m sor—” he stopped himself before apologizing. “This wasn’t what I had planned for our first real date. I wanted to bring you somewhere nice.”

  “I thought it was the perfect first date. If we went somewhere nice, I doubt I would’ve had as much fun as I did.”

  “Really?”

  “Would you have taken your clothes off at The Steak House?”

  “Probably not.”

  “Would we have made love on the floor of the restaurant?”

  “Definitely not.”

  “Well, then. Plan B was the better way to go.”

  Cameron laughed and shook his head. “You are full of surprises, Miss Windward.”

  “Mm. Yes, I am.”

  When he put the truck in Park he turned to Hope, and she stopped him before any words came out. “I’ll stay put and wait for you to get the door.”

  He liked that she knew what he was going to say before he said it.

  “Thank you.” He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before hopping out of the truck and making his way to her side.

  “Why are you always thanking me?” she asked when he opened the door and put his hands on her waist to help her down. “You’re the one who’s all chivalrous.”

  “Because you let me.”

  Hope kept her hands on his shoulders and rubbed his neck with her fingers. “It’s tough being treated like a princess, but if that’s your thing, I’m totally game.”

  “You sound like a teenager.” Speaking of, he wanted to get to know Delaney as well. She was his niece. His only blood relative who would talk to him. Hopefully.

  “I’ve been hanging out with pre-teens for too long. It’s nice to have a grown up to have dinner with. Other than Ty and my friends at book club, I don’t have much of a social life.”

  Ty. Cameron clenched his jaw. Tonight he’d managed to forget about the other man in Hope’s life. He wasn’t the possessive type, but knowing another man was close to Hope caused a ball of jealousy to aggravate his gut.

  They couldn’t be in a romantic relationship, not with the way Hope clung to Cameron and made love to him tonight. She wouldn’t kiss him and touch him with such passion if she had feelings for another man.

  He hoped.

  “Hey. You okay?” She traced his eyebrows with her fingers and clasped them behind his neck, similar to earlier tonight when he’d talked about his parents. “You have this look like I did something wrong. Really bad.”

  “No, beautiful.” He kissed her lips and pulled her into a tight hug. “It’s me. My head.”

  “A headache?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Cameron. We talked about honesty.”

  He leaned his forehead against hers and moaned, his hands trembling. Why, he wasn’t sure. Just another insecurity he needed to work through. “What’s going on between you and Ty?” There. He said it.

  “Ty?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Oh, Cam.” She cupped his cheeks in her palms and brought her lips to his. “Are you jealous?”

  “Should I be?”

  “Absolutely not. Ty’s like a big brother to me. We’re very close. He’s extremely protective.”

  “Yeah. I got that on day one.”

  “And he’s told me he likes you.”

  “Really?” He couldn’t help the tug at his lip.

  “He’s a tough one to get to know. Quiet. Private. I can see you two becoming good friends, though.”

  “He’s not going to want to punch me or anything if he finds out we slept together.”

  “Maybe. But I won’t let him,” she teased.

  Cameron saw movement behind the living room window from the corner of his eye, completely forgetting they were on display for her parents and daughter.

  “I should walk you to the door.”

  “Can I ask you something?” She took his hand and led him to the step.

  “Famous last words,” he mumbled good-heartedly.

  “Is it presumptuous of me to assume you don’t have plans for Thanksgiving next week?”

  “My social calendar is quite full. I’ll have to check.”

  “Well, if you can squeeze us in, I’d love to have you over for my first Thanksgiving in my new home.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.” They stood toe to toe under the porch light. “It’ll just be my parents, Delaney, and me. Ty and his parents will come over for dessert later in the day.”

  “You’re not going to tell him we were naked in my sleeping bag are you?”

  “Not at the table.”

  “That’s good.”

  They smiled at each other, swinging their clasped hands. “I should go inside. My parents are probably tired.”

  “I think they’re wide awake now after watching us for the past ten minutes.”

  “I feel like I’m in high school again.”

  “I’ll pass you a note in study hall tomorrow.”

  “I’d like that.” Hope kissed him sweetly and skipped her way through the front door.

  Cameron had a quick little skip in his step as well as he made his way back to his truck. He’d be eating his first real Thanksgiving in over twenty years.

  And he’d be with family.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  THE FOLLOWING MORNING, before going grocery shopping for the holiday meal, she made French toast and sat at the table with Delaney.

  “Can we talk for a minute?”

  “Sure.” Delaney swirled a bite of French toast in the pool of syrup on her plate.

  “That was nice of Cameron to give you a birthday present last night.”

  So. Stinking. Nice. Hope had nearly jumped into his arms and covered him with kisses. Her heart. Oh, how he took over her heart with that one sweet gesture.

  “It’s awesome. I can’t wait to show my friends at dance this afternoon.”

  They’d been doubling up on extra practice sessions for the girls who were asked to be in the Nutcracker. Delaney and McKenna had squealed so loud last month when their teacher pulled them aside that Hope could hear them from the parking lot.

  “And you know how I went out with him last night?”

  “Obviously.” Delaney cut into her third piece of toast and shoveled it into her mouth. She ate more than she weighed. Between dance and growing like a weed, she burned her calories before they could settle anywhere. Hope remembered those days. She rubbed her hand against her stomach and squeezed her pooch.

  She’d been so caught up in the magic of Cameron she forgot to be self-conscious around him. Motherhood had given her so much joy, and also a few lines around the eyes, stretch marks on her sides, and a permanent baby pooch that would never be flat again. When she was with him, she forgot about all her insecurities and got lost in his sweetness.

  “Would it be okay if I invited Cameron to have Thanksgiving with us?” She realized she should’ve asked Delaney before asking him. If there was an issue, Cameron would understand.

  “Sure.”

  This was too easy. Hope figured her daughter would have some issue with a stranger coming into their lives.

  “Cameron and I...we’re...”

  “Dating. Yeah. I know. It’s kinda obvious.”

  Hope scowled at her daughter. “Obvious how?”

  “You’re all like, Oh, Cameron, meet my parents,” Delaney raised her voice doing a terrible impression of Hope and dramatically tossed her hair over her shoulder.

  “I did not!”

  “Yeah. You so did.” Delaney grinned and sipped her orange juice.

  “You little turd. I have my first boyfriend since I was in high school, and you’re making fun of me. I’ll remember this when boys come knocking on the door for you.”

  “I’ll never be as gah gah as you are, Mom.”

  “I am not gah gah.” She stood and
cleared the dishes.

  “You’re all smiley all the time.”

  “Because we have our own house. Aren’t you happy to be here?”

  “And Danielle says he comes by the restaurant all the time.”

  So much for Marty being her loyal employee. She had no idea he told his granddaughter about Cameron.

  “He doesn’t come by all the time.”

  “Marty told her he feels better leaving at night knowing you have a strapping young fella there to protect you.”

  “What?” So Delaney had heard things about her and Cameron for a while and hadn’t mentioned it. “Does this bother you?” She turned away from the sink and asked her daughter with sincerity. “I had no idea people were talking about us. It’s all pretty new. This dating thing. It’s new for you as well. You need to be honest with me, honey. Let me know if it bothers you.”

  “If he was a dork or a jerk, it would bother me. But my friends all think he’s cute.”

  “Your friends are talking about us too?”

  “They all saw him at my party, Mom.”

  That’s right. She’d forgotten about that. Of course, sixth-grade girls were going to talk about a gorgeous man in their friend’s home.

  “And you’re okay with me dating him?”

  “Are you like, dating him or is he your boyfriend?” Delaney opened the cabinet and put the syrup away.

  “Is there a difference?” Hope knew there was but wanted to see what her daughter would say.

  “Kinda. Dating isn’t that serious. A boyfriend is. If you’re asking him over for Thanksgiving, that’s a boyfriend thing.”

  “How do you know so much about dating and boyfriends?” Hope leaned her hip against the counter and crossed her arms. Delaney had never expressed any interest in boys before. Her world revolved around dance and her girlfriends.

  “I know things, Mom.”

  “I don’t know things. So how can you?”

  “Whatevs. I’m going to finish my homework before practice.” Delaney spun in a graceful pirouette before leaving.

  “Well, that was easy,” she muttered to herself while finishing the dishes.

  HOPE TIED AN APRON around her waist and washed the turkey in the sink. She’d prepped the sweet potato pie last night and made a list of what needed to be done today, including the times of when to start each dish.