by Erin Kern
Cameron chanced another look at Piper, who’d crawled into the booth after Audrey, dragging Jellybean with her. “The two of you hungry?”
“No—”
“I’m hungry,” Piper cut in as she bounced in her seat. She pinned an excited look at Audrey. “Can I have pizza with garlic bread? And I want a Shirley Temple with extra cherries.”
Audrey glanced at Cameron to find his mouth curled in a half smile. Did he think the whole thing was funny? “Uh…”
“They don’t have pizza here, squirt,” he quipped. “But I’m sure they can whip up a Shirley Temple.”
Piper bounced in her seat some more. “Well, what do they have?”
Cameron set his drink down and reached for a plastic menu at the end of the booth. “Let’s see…” His dark blue gaze moved over the menu. “They’ve got grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, and a cheeseburger.”
Piper made a face. “Ew, I hate cheeseburgers.”
His mouth quirked again. “What about a grilled cheese? They use the really good bread.”
Piper shook her head. “I don’t really like cheese.”
Cameron shot Audrey a quizzical look, but she just shook her head. “Don’t ask,” she said.
“Chicken nuggets it is, then,” Cam said as he tucked the menu away.
“I want jelly beans with my nuggets,” Piper announced.
Audrey patted Piper on the head. “Restaurants don’t serve jelly beans, sweetie.”
Cameron looked at Piper, then back at Audrey. “What’s with the jelly beans?”
“They’re her favorite thing,” Audrey explained.
Cam stretched his arm along the back of the booth, revealing a thickly muscled bicep. “I thought the cat was her favorite thing.”
Audrey smiled. “And the cat’s name is Jellybean.”
Piper held the cat up. “Yeah, and Jellybean loves jelly beans too. That’s why I need some with my dinner. She’s hungry.”
“Why don’t we stop at the store after we leave, and I’ll get a bag of jelly beans,” Audrey suggested.
Piper considered that for a moment, scrunching her face up in thought before nodding. Audrey couldn’t help but smile because the kid was so damn cute and full of expression.
A dark-haired waitress approached their table. Cameron ordered Piper’s nuggets, then glanced at Audrey in question. She shook her head, mostly because her stomach was tied in too many knots to eat, partly because the big man seated across from her kept stretching his long legs against hers, and partly because she knew she had a battle ahead of her. He thought he couldn’t take Piper in, because for whatever reason he’d convinced himself he was no good for kids. Maybe Cameron was one of those people who didn’t give themselves enough credit. Maybe he thought he wasn’t good enough for Piper.
Either way, she needed to change his mind.
“Here,” he said abruptly, bringing one hip off the bench seat to retrieve something out of his pocket. He tossed a small folded piece of paper on the table. “For your trouble coming down here.”
A punch of nausea settled in her stomach as she stared at the folded check. He couldn’t be seriously thinking he could just pay her to go away. Did Piper mean that little to him? What about his sister? Was their relationship so meaningless that he couldn’t give his own niece a chance?
With reluctance, Audrey grabbed the check and opened it. He’d left the pay to the order of blank, and filled in the amount for one thousand dollars. Never mind the fact that Audrey could use the money to dump back into her home staging business, the very idea was so beyond insulting that she couldn’t even think of a decent response. All she could do was set the check down and glance around the crowded diner.
“What’re you doing?” Cameron wanted to know.
“Looking for the hidden camera to see if I’m being punked,” she answered.
She heard his heavy sigh before settling a glare on him. “Audrey, I’m serious.”
“And I’m not?” she tossed back. “You think this isn’t serious?” she questioned with a gesture toward Piper, who’d pulled out one of her books to read.
Cameron held up a hand in defense. “I didn’t say that.”
She crossed her arms over her chest just so she wouldn’t reach across the booth and strangle his sexy ass. “Why don’t you tell me what you are saying?”
Audrey felt a moment of mild satisfaction when Cameron opened his mouth to respond, only to shut it again. Had she rendered him speechless? She should only be so lucky.
“I’m saying what I’ve told you from the beginning. I. Can’t. Take. Her.” He probably thought spacing out his words all dramatic and stuff would really drive his point home. Like she was supposed to collect Piper and head out of town. Fat chance.
“And I’m. Not. Leaving.” Yeah, he wasn’t the only one who could do the theatrical word spacing thing. She could match him. “You think I’ve been annoying so far?” She resisted yanking him by the collar when he snorted. Man, she had some major self-control tonight. “You haven’t seen annoying yet. I’ll continue to show up at practices. I’ll be at your house, all your dates—” Because she was sure he had tons of those. “Everywhere you turn, we’ll be there.”
“You will, huh?” He made a show of taking a long, drawn-out sip of his soda before replacing it on the scarred Formica table. “You don’t know where I live.”
That’s all he had to say? “I’m sure I can find it.” When he didn’t respond, because he was just smirking at her like the whole thing was a big joke, Audrey leaned forward. “You have no idea how much she’s been through,” Audrey whispered, fighting to keep the tears back that had morphed from anger. “You seriously can’t be that heartless.”
Cameron gazed at her, his dark blue eyes, once hard and unforgiving, now searching and full of…sympathy? Was that what she was seeing? Audrey couldn’t be sure because he was a difficult man to read. Unless he was undressing her with his eyes—then she knew good and well what was on his mind.
Piper’s food was delivered, saving Cameron from having to respond right away. And dammit, she didn’t want to give him a chance to calculate his answer. She wanted some impulse and passion.
“Where’re you staying?” he finally asked.
Audrey blinked. “The Sunset Inn.”
Cameron made a face. “You can’t stay there; the place is a fleabag.”
She wasn’t going to argue with him on that. “It’s what I can afford.” Actually, she could afford way better, but she tended to be frugal about anything not having to do with fashion. Or her business.
Cameron switched his attention to Piper, who’d emptied half the bottle of ketchup on her plate before digging into the nuggets. “I have a guesthouse,” he blurted out.
Say what?
Cameron gazed at her while turning his drink in slow circles. “You can stay there until we figure something out.”
“What’s there to figure out besides which of your bedrooms she’ll be taking?” Yeah, good argument.
Cameron lifted a brow at her. “You want to work something out, you can stay with me.”
She didn’t want to stay with him, because being in that close proximity to him wasn’t something she was prepared for. At least in the motel room she had a place to retreat and gather her thoughts. Regroup after having all her senses shaken up by the man leaning so casually across from her. Yes, Cameron was definitely dangerous. He’d touched on a weak spot that had been tucked away for years. Audrey wasn’t sure what to do, because it had taken months of self-evaluation to refocus her priorities on something else. She needed to steel herself against him and his compelling stare.
“I’ve already unloaded all our stuff into the room,” she pointed out.
“So come by tomorrow,” he said with a shrug, as though it didn’t matter one way or the other to him.
Audrey glanced at Piper as the child inhaled one nugget after the other. She made a play of feeding a nugget to Jellybean, then put the same nugget into her
own mouth. Yeah, the motel was going to take a sizable chunk out of her savings, but it helped her maintain independence. A lot of people wondered why she didn’t go to her father for money. Richard Bennett ran two successful dental practices, so Audrey had never wanted for anything growing up. They’d lived in a large home and taken expensive vacations every year. But Audrey preferred to make it on her own.
On the other hand, staying in Cameron’s guesthouse would give Audrey the opportunity to see what kind of man he was, and Piper would have an easier time developing a relationship with him before Audrey had to return to Boulder. And that was more important than Audrey’s need for independence or fending off her reaction to Cameron.
Before she could answer, he snagged a napkin out of the holder and jotted something down with a pen he’d made appear out of nowhere. “Here’s my address,” he commented as he slid the napkin across the table to her. “You can come by anytime tomorrow. I have practice first thing in the morning, then again after school. I’m usually home by five-thirty or six.”
Audrey took the napkin, unable to squash back the surprise at how neat his handwriting was.
He’s offering you a place to stay and all you can think about is his handwriting?
“I’ll leave it unlocked for you,” Cameron added.
“Okay,” she answered with a nod. “Thank you. But just so you know, I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”
His mouth curled in a smile meant for dark corners and salacious whispers. “We’ll see about that, Audrey.”
Four
Cameron had expected Audrey to turn down his offer flat. She’d probably enjoy giving him the big, fat no too. Nothing about their encounters so far had indicated she was anything other than bossy and way too opinionated. So when he’d stood in his kitchen window at lunchtime the next day and seen Audrey and Piper open the front door of the guesthouse, Cameron had been amused. Surprised, definitely. But amused because he had a feeling that taking his offer went against everything she stood for. He couldn’t help but feel triumphant at the knowledge that he’d stuck it to her something good.
He watched as Audrey and Piper disappeared inside the house for a moment before walking back outside, Piper dragging that dirty-ass stuffed cat with her. Then Audrey left Piper on the front porch while she returned to the car, turned it around so the trailer backed up to the house. He should probably offer to help her because it looked like she had a lot of stuff. Instead he just stood there and observed the way she moved. She flowed in an economical way that wasn’t typical of a woman. Especially a woman who looked like her. She didn’t stop to adjust her clothing or mess with her hair. She didn’t check her reflection in the rearview mirror or double-check that everything was in the right place. It defied everything he knew about women, which wasn’t surprising because he’d already spent enough time with her to know that Audrey wasn’t like most women.
Audrey rounded to the back of the trailer and opened the door just as Piper jumped down from the porch and began running around the backyard. She pumped her little legs, Jellybean flying behind her, from one side of the yard to the other. Every so often she’d toss a wary glance at his house, as though she was still undecided about being there. Or about him personally.
Yeah, she wasn’t the only one who was wary.
His thoughts were interrupted when his cell rang. He answered just as he saw his mom’s name on the caller ID.
“Hey, Mom.” Piper ran across the yard again, then stopped by some bushes to watch a butterfly.
“Okay, what’s wrong?” she asked instead of returning his hello.
And how could she tell he was distracted? “What makes you think something’s wrong?”
“Your voice has that tone. Like something’s on your mind.” Pamela Shaw was way too observant for his liking. “Tell Mother about it,” she insisted when he didn’t answer.
Cameron switched his attention to Audrey, who was carrying a box up the porch steps. With a deep breath, he recounted the last twenty-four hours, from the time Audrey had shown up at the school until meeting her at the diner last night.
“Well, then,” she stated after he finished. “I bet you didn’t see that one coming.”
“Not funny, Mom. I don’t know what to do with this kid.”
“She probably doesn’t know what to do with you, either,” she pointed out.
Cameron closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the sliding glass door. “You’re not helping.”
“But I’m being serious. This little girl just lost her mother and is probably just as scared and uncertain as you are.”
Logically, he knew that. The way Piper kept shooting unsure glances at him touched a place deep inside his chest that hadn’t been touched in a long time. A part of him wanted to help the kid, to place a hand on her skinny shoulder and assure her life wouldn’t always be so shitty. Problem was, he wasn’t sure she’d believe him, because he hardly believed it himself.
“You remember what it’s like to lose a parent,” Pamela pointed out.
Cameron opened his eyes and saw Audrey accept a yellow flower Piper and picked off a bush. Cam’s gaze fell to Audrey’s seriously slamming ass as she went back to the trailer. “Having a parent die from cancer isn’t the same as one leaving,” he reminded his mom.
“I realize that,” his mom agreed, because she didn’t need reminding of what they’d gone through when his douche of a father had walked out on them. “But my point is, you were a vulnerable kid once. You know what it’s like to have your family fall apart.”
Okay, he’d give her that.
“And,” his mom went on, “after your dad left, you still had me. She has no one, honey. She didn’t ask to be put in this situation, so it isn’t fair for you to take your anger for your dad out on her.”
Cameron turned from the door. “That’s not what I’m doing.” Was he, though? Cameron liked to think he wasn’t that much of a shithead, even though sometimes he could be. His resentment for his old man walking out had become so ingrained that he no longer knew how to separate it from everything else.
“Maybe not deliberately. But I know you. When you see her, you’re reminded of everything you felt when your dad left us. I don’t even think she has much of a relationship with your dad, does she?”
“I think Dianna was all she had,” Cameron admitted; even saying the words pinched his chest, because his mother was right. Cameron had been that kid once. After his father had ditched them, Pamela had been all he had. She’d been the rock, making sure Cameron had everything he needed, loving him enough for two parents. There was no way he’d have made it through those first few years without her. His world would have ended if he’d ever lost her.
Cameron turned back to the backyard and watched as Piper plopped down on the grass and talked to her stuffed cat. The thing was a mess, discolored and tearing at the seams.
She’s my best friend.
The girl’s small and quiet voice floated around in his head, solidifying what he hadn’t seen before. She really was alone, except for Jellybean. And Audrey. She had Audrey too, who was willing to slay dragons for the kid. As annoying as she’d been yesterday, Cameron respected her for the way she’d taken Piper in and protected her.
“Cameron?” his mom said when he’d been silent.
“I don’t know what to do with her,” he admitted.
Pamela laughed softly in his ear. “You think I knew what to do when you came along?”
Cameron smiled, despite himself. “Yeah, but you planned me.”
His mom made a sound of agreement. “True. But Piper didn’t plan this either. I think you’re both probably going to have to feel your way around each other.”
“Yeah,” he agreed absently as Audrey reappeared through the front door of the guesthouse and went to the trailer.
“Listen, I’ve got to run. I’ll see you for Sunday dinner next month.”
They disconnected the call and, without really thinking, Cameron slid open the
back door. Piper jerked her head up when she heard him and clutched Jellybean tighter. Shit, she wasn’t afraid of him, was she? Had he been that much of an ogre? He didn’t think so. In fact, he’d been more preoccupied with Audrey and ruffling her feathers than anything else. But maybe that was the problem. Maybe he hadn’t been attentive enough.
Maybe he should, like, try a smile. Or something.
Piper watched him with those deep green eyes; then her face softened a fraction when he grinned at her.
“Catch any good butterflies?” he asked. Audrey had walked back inside the guesthouse.
Piper set Jellybean down on the grass. “No, they’re too fast for me. I was trying to catch one for Jellybean because she loves butterflies. Now she’s sad because she doesn’t have one.”
Cameron thought Piper was the one who was sad, but he kept that to himself. He glanced around and spotted a yellow ladybug on a bush near his feet. He squatted, collected the insect, then walked over to Piper. Her gaze tracked his movements when he lowered himself to her level.
“How about a ladybug? You think she’d take that instead of a butterfly?”
Piper observed the ladybug crawling over Cam’s hand. “Jellybean doesn’t like ladybugs.”
“What about you?”
Piper chewed her lip. “Ladybugs scare me,” she admitted.
“Naw, ladybugs are harmless,” he told her. “Hold out your finger.” Piper hesitated and Cameron lowered himself to a sitting position next to her. “I promise it won’t hurt you. See?” He held out his own hand to show there was nothing to be afraid of.
Piper finally stuck out her index finger, which was pale and skinny. Her worried expression turned into a giggle when the bug crawled from Cameron’s finger to Piper’s. She turned her palm over to track the insect’s movements, and her grin widened.
“It’s tickling me,” she marveled. She let out a squeal when the ladybug started crawling up her arm. But the fun was over when it unfolded its wings and flew away.
For a second, Cameron thought Piper was going to burst into tears, because that’s what kids did, right? He braced himself for the barrage and let out a sigh of relief when she just blinked at him. “Can you tie my shoe?”