Changing the Rules

by Erin Kern

  Charming.

  Audrey snorted as she exited the car.

  “Asshat,” she muttered to herself, only because throwing a derogatory comment about Cameron every once in a while helped to keep her in balance, centered her chi. Or something.

  And just that morning, he’d made Piper breakfast. Not Audrey. Piper had run over to the main house so she could have breakfast with Cameron before the bus had picked her up for school. Pinkie Pie had pounced along too, and Audrey had gotten a glimpse in the kitchen window of Cameron holding the cat.

  Not only hugging it but snuggling it like the cat was a damn golden retriever—only way uglier and with talons the size of a bald eagle’s.

  The man was such a fraud. So much for hating that damn cat.

  Audrey had finished her first mug of coffee, and while pouring herself another one, she furiously shoved back the feeling that she’d been missing out on something, a moment that should have included her. Having breakfast together like a family. Only they weren’t a family. Cameron and Piper were. But Audrey was…

  What was she?

  Horny. Horny is what you are.

  Yes. Yes, that was true, but not the word she’d been looking for.

  Audrey unloaded her stuff for Annabelle and brought everything into the guesthouse.

  What she needed was some more caffeine. But not coffee because, damn, it’s not like she was an addict.

  Much.

  Only there wasn’t any soda left, Audrey realized after opening the fridge door. And she didn’t have time to run back out before Piper got off the bus.

  She shut the fridge door and looked over toward Cameron’s house.

  Yeah, he totally wouldn’t mind.

  And even if he did mind, she was taking one anyway. Served him right for making her discombobulated all the time.

  As she opened the door, a jingling from behind her caught her attention. Last week, Audrey had purchased a collar for Pinkie Pie with a bell on it; that way she would know where the creature was wreaking havoc. The cat came running out of Audrey’s room, with one of her bras dangling from her mouth.

  “What the hell?” she demanded.

  Pinkie Pie tripped over the straps, which were flapping all over the place, but somehow managed to stay on four feet.

  She yanked her pink-and-black Victoria’s Secret bra from the cat’s mouth. “This was in a drawer,” she said to the animal. “How did you even get this?”

  But Pinkie Pie didn’t get it because, well, she was a cat. She only jumped up and down, batting her paws at the dangling straps.

  Audrey held the bra out of reach. “No. Bad cat,” she chastised. “Bad Pinkie Pie. Go play with the cat toys I bought you.”

  But Pinkie Pie didn’t even glance in the direction of the basket of cat toys. She only gazed up at Audrey with her big green eyes as though to say, “But those don’t have straps and underwire.”

  “This bra cost more than you’re worth,” she said to the cat. “Go…catch a mouse or something.”

  Audrey held on to the bra, not trusting Piper’s pet for one second, and made a quick trip to Cameron’s house for soda. She snagged the last Dr Pepper, then scribbled a quick apology on a Post-it for taking his last soda and slapped the thing on the fridge. A small smile turned up the corners of her mouth at the thought of continuing their Post-it conversations. She certainly hadn’t meant it to become their thing, but Audrey found herself looking forward to seeing the little yellow squares with Cameron’s signature C on the bottom.

  Just last week she’d found one on the windshield of her car saying he’d replaced her wiper fluid. It wasn’t a big deal. It was wiper fluid, for crying out loud. But Audrey had been unable to stop the little pang in her chest at his thoughtfulness. The man was a constant paradox of irritating and sweet. Audrey had exhausted herself trying to figure him out, and she realized that maybe she never would. She’d already accepted the fact that Cameron didn’t want to be figured out.

  As Audrey reentered the guesthouse, she recalled a conversation she’d had with Piper, that she’d stay until the girl was comfortable with her uncle.

  Was that time already here? Even though she’d given Cameron until the end of the football season? That was only four weeks away, much sooner than she was ready for. Over that last week or so, Audrey had stopped thinking about her departure. Her thoughts had slowly turned to other things, like finishing Annabelle and Blake’s nursery, attending the class Thanksgiving party at Piper’s school, getting Pinkie Pie her shots.

  Maybe she needed to call Stevie. Touching base with her business partner should help Audrey realign her priorities to returning home. Her business had always been her baby, and perhaps she needed to focus on that, instead of Thanksgiving parties and cats.

  And the man and little girl she didn’t want to leave.

  Audrey shook her head as she dialed Stevie’s cell.

  Her business partner answered on the second ring with her typical short and professional greeting.

  “Hey, stranger,” Stevie said after Audrey said hello. “Shagging the hot uncle yet?”

  She lounged back on the couch and propped her feet on the coffee table even as a ribbon of heat curled through her belly. “You’ve been watching Austin Powers again, haven’t you?”

  “Those movies never get old,” Stevie said with a smile in her voice. “And no answering questions with questions. Tell Auntie Stevie all about it. Did he rock your world? Curl your toes? Does he have any good tricks you can tell me about?”

  “Okay, first of all, chill,” Audrey interrupted. She’d been having a hard enough time tuning out those kinds of visions without such vivid descriptions. “Second of all, no.”

  “No, what?” Stevie demanded. “No, you’re not shagging him? Or no, he didn’t rock your world? Because I have a hard time believing the last one.”

  “You must stop using the word shagging,” Audrey ordered. “And how would you even know?”

  “Know what?” Stevie repeated. “That he would rock your world? Something tells me he’s that type.”

  Audrey scowled into the phone. How had their conversation steered to this? “But you’ve never even met the guy.”

  “He has a sexy name. It’s strong and alpha.”

  Audrey couldn’t help but laugh. “He has an alpha name? That’s your reasoning? What if his name was Sheldon?”

  “Then we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation.” Stevie replied easily. “Could you imagine yelling ‘Oh, Sheldon!’ in bed? I’m sorry but, ew.”

  Her friend had a point. Not only did Cameron’s name fit him perfectly, but Audrey had no issues imagining yelling Cameron’s name. Or moaning it…whichever.

  A shiver wracked her body. “No, I’m not shagging him.”

  “Hmmm,” Stevie responded. “Maybe you should. You sound…rigid.”

  “I’m not rigid.”

  “You sound like it.”

  Okay, so maybe she’d been a bit…tense lately. Not sleeping. Because every time she closed her eyes, she saw Cameron. Felt him. Heard his deep voice in her ear, telling her how good she smelled, how she fit perfectly against him.

  But rigid?

  “Just have relations with the guy already,” Stevie announced.

  Audrey smiled. “Relations?”

  “Well, shagging’s been banned.”

  Audrey picked at the hem of her shirt. “It would be inappropriate.” And who was she trying to convince?

  “Why?”

  “Because he’s Piper’s uncle.”

  Stevie snorted. “Yeah, but he’s not your uncle. Just bone the guy already.” Stevie paused.

  “I was just calling to see how things are,” Audrey said, deliberately changing the subject. “Are you totally drowning yet?”

  “Hmm, subject change. Okay I get it.” Stevie chuckled. “Things have been crazy, but luckily my sister’s been here helping. Picking up the slack so I can focus on the jobs.”

  Audrey frowned into the phone
. “I thought Suzanne worked as a pharmacy technician.”

  “She did, but they recently laid her off,” Stevie explained. “I brought her in to help manage clients and book appointments and things like that.”

  “Oh,” Audrey commented, not sure how she felt about outside help being brought in without Audrey being consulted. Even if it was Stevie’s twin sister. “Does Suzanne have experience with interior design?”

  Stevie rattled some papers on the other end of the phone. “No, but she’s not doing any of the creative stuff. I was just so overwhelmed with doing it all while you’re gone, and Suzanne was available. She’s just acting as my assistant basically.”

  “Sounds like she came at the right time,” Audrey answered, forcing back the strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. Stevie is not replacing you. She’s just getting some help until you come back. “I was thinking about making a quick trip back for a few days,” she blurted out. “Just to play catch-up and help you out until things are settled here.”

  “Sure,” Stevie answered easily. “If you feel you need to. But there’s no rush. You can take your time down there until you’re ready to return for good.”

  For good. That sounded so…final.

  “I just figured you could use some extra days of my help,” Audrey went on, as though she felt Stevie needed the extra convincing.

  “Well, if you have some things you need to work on, then yeah. But Suzanne’s been enough help for me here,” Stevie explained.

  A few minutes later, they hung up. Audrey stayed on the couch, watching Pinkie Pie run back and forth across the living room with one of Audrey’s already torn-up socks hanging from her mouth.

  Did Stevie really not need her? Audrey figured her business partner would be all but begging Audrey to return. A small part of her had thrived on being needed, on knowing she had a role waiting for her at home. Okay, she still had a role, and Stevie still needed her. She couldn’t run that entire business on her own. It took two of them for things to run smoothly.

  Didn’t it?

  But it sounded like things were running smoothly without her.

  It stung. Just a little.

  So maybe she didn’t need to take a trip home after all. Maybe she would anyway, just to prove their business needed Audrey there, to show Stevie that her sister Suzanne wasn’t a suitable replacement.

  Now you’re just being childish and overreacting.

  Piper eventually got off the bus, and Audrey spent the next two hours going through her school folder, helping her study spelling words, and listening to Piper complain how reading logs were sooooo boring. Audrey eventually got the kid to read for twenty minutes with the promise of taking Pinkie Pie out for a walk, meaning they’d let the cat traipse across the backyard.

  “Piper, you like being here with your uncle Cameron, right?” Audrey asked as Piper was dragging a string of yarn for Pinkie Pie to chase.

  “Yeah,” she answered without looking up.

  Audrey was looking for a little more than a one-word answer, but she didn’t push. “Do you think you’d be okay with him for a few days by yourself?”

  “By myself?” the kid asked as she looked up. “You mean without you here?”

  Audrey’s heart constricted at the look of confusion on Piper’s face. “Yes, but Uncle Cameron will be here with you. And Pinkie Pie.”

  The cat in question batted her paws at the string. One of her claws got caught, prompting a giggle from Piper. “Sure. But you’re coming back, right? Cause you live here now?”

  Oh, God. Not this. Audrey knew Piper wouldn’t understand, and she had had a feeling that her extended stay in Blanco Valley would confuse the girl and make her think Audrey was staying for good.

  “Yes, I’m coming back,” she answered, avoiding the part about living here.

  Piper grinned and returned her attention to Pinkie Pie. “I hope Uncle Cameron will make me some more chocolate chip pancakes. He makes the best pancakes.”

  Audrey had to agree that Cameron was a good cook. She was surprised at how much she enjoyed cooking together—despite all the bickering. Piper would take her spot on the counter and help, and Audrey and Cameron would commence fighting over how to shred chicken or when exactly to salt the water before adding pasta. The whole thing infuriated her, yet she always found herself seated at dinner with a smile on her face.

  It was so…normal. At the same time, she was out of her comfort zone.

  Piper squealed, and Audrey glanced up, ready to attack Pinkie Pie for scratching Piper. Only it wasn’t the cat who had captured Piper’s attention. It was her uncle. A six-foot-whatever beast of a man looming at the top of the porch and bracing himself against Piper’s enthusiastic hug.

  “Can you make me popcorn?” Piper asked him.

  Audrey stood from the grass. “Piper, give him a minute to settle after working all day.”

  But Cameron’s gaze was fixed on his niece, who’d wrapped herself around Cameron’s long legs. “Sure, squirt. You want kettle corn or movie theater butter?”

  And wait a second…Piper hadn’t once asked Audrey for a snack. Had she been waiting for Cameron to get home?

  “I can get her something,” she spoke up. “You don’t have to bother.”

  Cameron finally lifted his deep blue gaze to Audrey, pinning her with an intense look that made her think of something other than popcorn. “It’s no bother,” he told her. “I bought it just for her.”

  Piper jumped up and down as though she’d won a victory.

  Cameron grinned, and Audrey’s heart shifted some more. He really was good with her, and Piper loved him.

  “Can I have both?” Piper asked, jumping up and down.

  “Why don’t you come inside and pick a flavor?”

  Piper abandoned Cameron’s legs and ran into the house without awaiting further instruction. Audrey thought she saw Cameron smile and shake his head, but the gesture was so minimal that she wasn’t sure.

  He followed the kid and held the sliding glass door open. “You coming?” he asked Audrey.

  She paused before answering because the warnings were back. The ones that always flashed right before he kissed her. Naturally, she ignored them again and walked into Cameron’s house. The sneaky bastard remained by the door so she’d be forced to brush past him. For a second, she thought about waiting for him to move, letting him know she was on to him and she wasn’t about to partake in his little game.

  But…the hell with it. The games were kind of fun, the most fun she’d had in years, even if they did leave her panting.

  “You’re spoiling her, you know,” Audrey told him as she followed him to the kitchen. Piper was already there, climbing the pantry shelves to get to her snack. “Giving her popcorn before dinner.”

  “Don’t say anything,” Cameron said with a wink. “Or she’ll be on to me.”

  Audrey glanced at Piper, who’d climbed onto the counter and retrieved a bowl. “I think she’s already on to you.”

  Cameron paused in the act of opening the popcorn bag. “Is this the part where you warn me about spoiling her diet? Or not giving her snacks past five o’clock?”

  Audrey opened her mouth to agree. Yes, she’d been keeping Piper on a much stricter eating schedule; otherwise the kid would be snacking twenty-four seven. She wanted to open her mouth about the importance of giving Piper boundaries and rules, which Cameron always seemed much less concerned with. And yeah, it rankled with Audrey’s controlling side. But…as Audrey glanced at Piper and saw her ear-to-ear grin, she held back.

  This was a special thing with her and her uncle, and Audrey didn’t want to mess with it.

  “No,” she answered. “Have a bowl of popcorn with her, if you want.”

  Cameron opened his mouth, then narrowed his eyes at her. “Really?” he asked. “That’s all you’re going to say?”

  “Yep.”

  “You’re not going to suggest I give her apple slices in the shape of a smiley face? Or maybe some gluten-free
raisins?”

  “Pretty sure raisins don’t have gluten,” she answered.

  Cameron glanced at the clock. “And you’re not going to tell me this is spoiling her dinner? That I’m doing it all wrong?”

  “I—” She didn’t do that, did she?

  Cameron tapped her chin with this index finger. “Yeah, you do that sometimes,” he told her as he ripped open the plastic and unfolded the popcorn bag. “But I understand, so it’s cool.” He placed the bag in the microwave and set the timer. Piper was standing at the kitchen counter with her hands wrapped around the metal bowl. Cameron absently ran his hand over Piper’s curls. Audrey briefly wondered if he realized he’d done it.

  He shrugged as he turned to face her. “You can’t help but tell people what to do. I’m kind of thinking maybe you should have been a teacher. Or a prison warden,” he added with a grin.

  Audrey opened her mouth to argue, as always seemed to be her first instinct with this man, when she realized what he was doing. “I thought maybe you were going to say it’s because I care about Piper.”

  “Well, yeah,” he agreed. “But that wouldn’t have made your cheeks go all red.”

  Audrey resisted the urge to place her palms over her face, just to ward away the heat that always crept up when Cameron teased her. “My cheeks aren’t red.”

  “Pretty red.”

  They stared at each other for a moment as the seconds ticked away on the microwave. She knew was he was doing: trying to get a rise out of her. Ruffle her feathers. Turn her on. And just because it was stupid easy for him to make her pant didn’t mean she had to give him the satisfaction of letting him know how he affected her.

  He probably already knows.

  Yeah, he was that confident. And that correct.

  Audrey crossed her arms over her chest. “Okay, but you do know this is going to spoil her dinner, right?”

  Cameron shrugged again. “So? The kid’s not going to waste away because she eats popcorn for dinner instead of a balanced meal of chicken nuggets and jelly beans.”

  “I only gave her jelly beans with her dinner that one time,” Audrey pointed out.

  “Hey, I’m not judging,” he told her as the microwave dinged. “I get why you do it.”