“No,” she said, taking the bottom of the shirt to pull it back down, but Cam squawked and persisted. “No milkies in Uncle Owen’s bed.” Cam protested and squashed his mouth to her diaphragm. “Stop that.” She laughed again. “You won’t get anything from there and if you keep on rooting you’ll make me leak.”
“Ok, eww, keep the shirt,” Owen said and though her eyes were still closed, Ginger smiled and prodded her brother.
Her distraction gave Cam the opportunity to drag the shirt upward with the top of his head and the underside of her bare breast came into view. “Cam,” she said, more insistent in her tone. Then she cracked an eye and turned to him, squinting against the glare of the sun. “Shane, did you feed him?”
“No, I thought I’d starve him,” Shane said and then wanted to slap himself for being rude. “Yes, sorry, I don’t know why I—he had oatmeal and fruit.”
“She slept here all night,” Owen said, yawning. “You don’t have to be pissy that you didn’t get any, neither did she.”
Sitting up and yawning, Ginger pulled Cam into her lap as she pulled her shirt down. “Can we all watch our language around precious ears,” she said in a happy mommy voice as she glared at each of the men. “I’m going to introduce a swear jar.”
“Did you need something?” Owen asked him.
Shane’s reason for coming in was moot now, but that didn’t mean he wanted to leave. Watching mother and son reunite was mesmerizing. “Did Cam behave?” Ginger asked, holding Cam’s waist as he stood up. “Did he wake up?”
“Once,” Shane said. “He had a drink and went back down.”
She nodded. “Thank you… I could’ve done it, but I didn’t want to disturb either of you.”
“No, we had fun,” Shane said.
Caring for his son was fun. The lying in his wife’s sheets part was torturous. Thinking of her in another man’s bed made him want to set the building on fire. But when his anger got to critical mass, he went to the crib and watched Cam sleeping. It was amazing the effect such a small thing could have on him. Cam gave him a determined purpose. There was nothing he and his wife couldn’t come back from and Shane had resolved himself to doing his best by his son. Ginger was right, Cam was the most important thing now.
“Da! Da!” Cam called and reached toward him. “Da! Cam! Cam!”
He didn’t know if he was saying his own name or commanding his father to come over. But he pushed away from the window and wandered toward his boy. “Need something, sire?” Shane asked, noticing the smile flash on Ginger’s face at his joke as she ran her fingers through Cam’s hair, admiring him like he was the most precious thing in the world, which he was.
Cam reached higher and Shane took his hand. Cam gave him a tug. “Da… Da…” Cam ordered and pulled on him so Shane sat down facing the end of the bed. Cam clambered over his mother’s leg and into Shane’s lap. Shoving his father’s chest, bouncing back and forth to push harder and harder, it was clear that Cam wanted him to lie down, so he did, keeping his legs off the edge of the bed.
Shane was just thinking about how odd it was to be lying in bed with his wife and brother-in-law when Ginger yelped. Cam’s fingers were tangled in her hair. He gave a yank, pulling Ginger back fast, faster than he could react though there was nowhere to go, one of his arms was under his wife and the other was around Cam. The back of Ginger’s head smacked into his cheekbone with bruising force.
“Oh, baby!” she cried out and he didn’t know if she was talking to him or Cam, but his vision was speckling, so he just blinked.
Ginger twisted, trying to pull her hair out of Cam’s fingers. She managed to free herself and while their son laughed, she pounced higher to curl her fingers around his jaw. “Oh, Shane, I’m sorry,” she said.
“No,” Shane said. “No, it’s fine.”
“Oh, no it’s not,” she cried out and touched his cheek. “I’m so sorry, does it hurt? Is it broken?”
“No, no, baby, we’re good,” Shane said, still a little in shock. He kept his arm around Cam to ensure he kept his seat on his father’s chest. Curving the other up Ginger’s back, Shane rubbed the back of her head. “Are you ok?”
“I’m so sorry,” she said and he was beginning to register how mortified her expression was when she rose and pressed her lips to his cheekbone. His awareness morphed to something else and on instinct his body reacted. He was holding his wife and his son, he wouldn’t care if an anvil dropped on him right now.
Cam was still laughing and bouncing on his stomach. “Da! Da!”
“If that bruises you can sue for domestic abuse,” Owen said, not doing a great job of containing his amusement. “We’ll have plenty for a countersuit.” Shane didn’t know what that meant, but Ginger obviously did because she scowled at her brother and slapped his chest. “Oh, look, she’s on a rampage… Watch out, Cam! Take cover!”
Shane smiled at their ease, but when she turned back to him the pain of apology had returned to her eyes. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“Really, Bit, I’m fine,” he said, gathering her hair back from her temple. Shane’s hand cupped the back of her skull and he considered if he’d get away with trying to kiss her when she yelped again and grabbed her boob.
“Ow! Cam!” she said, seizing his pudgy hand. “No pinching.”
The kid was having all the fun this morning. Ginger sat up and kept fondling her breast while wearing a look of discomfort. “Gin kissed your boo-boo better, Shane,” Owen said, nudging his shoulder. “You want to kiss hers better?”
Shane’s brows rose as he turned his eyes to hers knowing that his gaze was full of mischief. She sneered, but it was good natured. “No, thank you,” she said. There was momentary groin contact when she climbed over him to get out of bed. “One night with his daddy and my baby’s turned violent.”
Shane might have objected to that statement, except Ginger stretched her hands to the ceiling. Her yawn closed her eyes and he got to admire the line of her legs, and her tiny panties below her lower abdomen. God bless Owen and his tight tee-shirts. As if that wasn’t enough to enrapture him, Ginger turned to the window and Shane got a view of her ass too.
Stretching his legs onto the bed, Shane put a hand behind his head while admiring her tush. Owen slapped his shoulder, but Shane swatted his brother-in-law’s hand away and exhaled. It started as the second worst day of his life, but this day was turning around fast.
“Da!” Cam said, rising to bounce on his stomach again making Shane ‘oof’. “Wooo!”
“Mommy will take Rocky out,” Ginger said, wandering to the window to look down at the yard. “It’s dry today, looks quite nice out… What have we got on today?”
“Therapy, therapy, and more therapy,” Owen said, getting out of bed leaving Shane alone with Cam who chose now to flip to roll onto the middle of the bed where his mother had been. “You want to do that mediation thing this morning, sis?”
“Maybe,” she said. “We should finish our conversation first.”
“Ok,” Owen said. “I’m going to shower before Murphy goes in… He takes ages.”
Owen left the bedroom and locked the bathroom door. She stayed at the window for a while and Shane was in no hurry to go anywhere. “Is there internet here?” she asked.
“Wi-Fi?” he asked. “Yeah, didn’t you use it at the lodge yesterday?”
“Yeah, but here I mean,” she said, turning around to lean on the ledge where he’d been before.
Glancing at Cam, Shane saw him trying to pick up Owen’s Kindle, so he pulled Cam back to the middle of the bed and took his phone from his pocket to hand it over to his son. Ginger straightened up, wearing a look of panic, Shane smiled, “It’s a phone and he likes it. Doesn’t matter if he breaks it.”
“He’ll slobber on it,” she said and rightly enough, Cam tried to put it in his mouth. She rushed over and leaned across him to take the phone from Cam’s mouth. “He has a tooth coming in… I put some carrot sticks in the freezer for him.�
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“He’d probably prefer apple or something sweet.”
She shrugged, showing Cam where the pictures on the phone were, not the risqué ones, but the regular ones, though she didn’t look at them, Cam liked babbling at the faces. “We’re out of apples.”
“When he’s done with the phone I can change that,” he said.
She pinned him with an unimpressed look. “With all your money?” That sounded like a kneejerk comment, much like his had been this morning and sure enough, she exhaled a minute later. “Sorry… we’d appreciate that.”
“No problem.”
Cam tossed the phone aside and clambered over him to climb down onto his mother, but he just used her as a stepping stone and when he was on the floor, he began to crawl to the door. “The Wi-Fi thing,” she said, standing up to watch Cam. “Is it hard to set up?”
He was curious and confused. “No… there’s a laptop in my room if you need—”
“Calvin said he’d have a new one delivered for me today,” she said and there was optimism in her eyes when she looked at him. Maybe she thought she was proving something because Calvin was allowing her contact with the outside world.
“Nice of him,” he muttered and she crooked a brow. He shouldn’t be such a dick, but it was difficult to see her thinking highly of the guy he knew was a snake. “I can set it up for you… if you’d like.”
“Calvin has… he has people who do that kind of thing, I don’t know if—”
“It’s not a problem,” he said, leaving the bed to stand up close to her. “You just tell me what you need and I’ll deliver.” Now she was confused. He smiled and brushed his finger down her jaw. “What you need it for and I’ll make sure all the programs you need are on it.”
She nodded. “Thank you. I’d appreciate that… Did you talk to Julianna?”
“Murphy did last night. She’s coming later tonight.”
“Wow, you’re important,” she said. “A big CEO drops everything to rush to you.” Was that jealousy in her voice or was she making fun of him? “I hope you don’t greet her with a black eye.” She dug her teeth into her lip as she reached up to touch his face, but when she touched him all he felt was joy, there was no pain. “I really am so sorry.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve exchanged bruises,” he said. Horror spread on her expression, so he touched the hickey on her neck. “Sex games gone awry, not domestic abuse.”
Her hand fell and a panicked look overcame her face. “Oh god,” she breathed.
“What?” He smiled and tried to take her hand, but she backed off.
“I… I have to go.” That was weird. She’d told him not to touch her before, but she’d never appeared so scared. Rushing away, she swept up Cam from the floor and dashed to the door. Just before she closed it, she turned to him. “We’re not supposed to be alone anymore… ever. Don’t…”
Was she going to tell him not to tell Calvin about this morning? That wouldn’t be hard because Shane had no intention of talking to the snake ever again if he didn’t have to. Except he wouldn’t lie about spending time with his wife.
After how he’d left her on the dance floor last night, her trust in him was probably wavering, maybe that was why she didn’t bother finishing her sentence.
She inhaled, sagged, and walked out without saying anything else.
Ginger’s session with Doctor Guinness was productive.
When she came downstairs from the doctor’s room, Cam was with Shane and his uncles in the living room and Calvin was on the phone at the bottom of the stairs. She ran down to him and took his hand.
“One sec,” Calvin said into the phone. “You need something?”
“You’re next with Doctor Guinness,” she said and he nodded before returning to the phone.
A knock at the front door took her away from Calvin and as she went towards the entrance, she waved at Cam who was sitting on his father, something he seemed to like to do a lot. Rocky was whining at Murphy and she guessed he was hiding dog treats somewhere on his person.
She opened the door to find one of the lodge employees on the other side. “Can you sign for a delivery?” the employee asked and she was examining the basket of apples when she took the clipboard and signed.
The employee grinned and handed over the basket then picked up a box for her. Her computer! She was admiring the laptop box while the delivery boy glanced at the clipboard. “Thank you, Mrs. Warren, enjoy!”
“What?” she asked, surprised at that use of her name.
“Mrs. Warren,” the employee said, looking at her like she was peculiar… but she was acting weird. “Right?” He turned the clipboard and she saw that she had actually signed Ginger Warren. She hadn’t even been paying attention, it had come from the pen automatically in some kind of weird show of muscle memory.
“Thank you,” she murmured and went inside. Turning, she kicked the door shut and wondered if she should read anything into her absentminded signing.
“You ready?” Calvin asked from the bottom of the stairs.
She snapped from her daze. “Oh, you want me to come with you?” she asked and he nodded, like that was obvious.
Taking the apples to the table, she put them down and Cam shrieked. He clambered off his father and she rotated the basket away. “You can have one if daddy cleans it and cuts it up for you,” she said to Cam then looked at Shane who was still lying on the floor. “That ok?”
“Yep,” he said.
Ginger turned the laptop box over to Shane who’d said he’d set it up for her, and he sat up to take it from her. “I won’t be long,” she said to him. “I know you’ve had Cam for ages.”
Because she couldn’t resist, she went over to kiss Cam’s head, but he was busy trying to climb over Rocky so he could get around the table to the front of the apple basket, so he squawked at her and shoved her away.
“Ah, love,” Owen said.
Ginger stuck her tongue out at her brother and ran over to take Calvin’s hand. “Sorry, honey, let’s go.”
She’d have a crazy day because she guessed that she’d have to be in Shane’s session too, at least part of it, and they had to have their mediation session. The new rules meant crazier times for her, but she was invigorated, this was how to make progress. It was just a shame she missed her baby so much.
15
Shane had offered to put Cam down for his nap. Although she was eager to get back to mommying her baby, she wasn’t going to argue when Cam was already in his father’s arms. She asked Shane to meet her and Owen in the dining room when he was done, giving her the chance to finish her conversation with Owen before they had to start their mediation.
Ten minutes after he left, Shane came into the dining room, hooked the monitor on his belt and held up his hands like guns to blow on his fingers. Ginger smiled as Owen laughed. “Done?” she asked.
“I’m getting good at this dad stuff,” Shane said, coming in and closing the door to round the table. He went past her and Owen to sit at the head of the table and put the monitor in prime view for them all.
“Yes, you are,” she said, wondering what Shane looked like at the head of boardroom tables. “We only have a few minutes because Doctor Guinness is waiting for you.”
It was a long day for the doctor too, but he was dedicated and hadn’t complained about the increase in workload. “My turn at bat?” Shane asked and she nodded.
“And don’t forget that Julianna will be in at five,” Owen said, pressing his hands to the table to lean past her as Shane looked at his watch. “You have to meet her at the airport.”
His attention shot up. “At the airport?” Shane asked, his hand falling to the table in a thump. “Why the fuck do I have to go to the airport? I’m not going to the airport.”
“Yes, you are,” Owen said. “She came all this way for you.”
“Did we send the jet?” Shane asked and Owen nodded. “Thank fuck for that, she’ll be in the private lounge then… Does she mind t
he pick-up?”
If Julianna was a rich, classy woman, she probably wouldn’t expect Shane to pick her up in a dirty truck. But Owen was prepared. “I rented you an Audi… And you are going to put a shirt on,” Owen said, and Shane huffed. “A proper one. I ironed one for you, it’s hanging in your bedroom.”
Shane smiled. “You do know my son is alone up there right now. If he gets out his crib…”
Owen tensed and almost leaped from the table until she put her hand over his wrist. “Cam won’t get out his crib… and even if he did, daddy won’t have left the bathroom door open, will he?” She glared at him.
Shane grinned while holding up his hands. “No, I didn’t. Cam is safe. I had to scare Owen… he’s making me wear grown up clothes and drive a clean car.”
Owen looked at his fingernails while muttering, “I pressed slacks for you too.”
Shane narrowed his eyes. “Are you trying to sneak me into a suit?” Now it was Owen’s turn to grin, but Shane shrugged. “Can’t… I didn’t bring cufflinks.”
Owen’s eyes flared in panic. Ginger looked from her brother to the smug Shane. “Calvin has cufflinks,” she offered.
The men switched expressions. “Uh, I am not wearing anything of his,” Shane said.
“They’re not infected with anything,” Owen said. “They’re cufflinks.”
Ginger guessed Shane was going to accept the offer because he grumbled, but didn’t say anything else about it. They were short of time, and had important things to address, yet, she had to ask, “Do you really have your own jet?”
Shane stretched in the chair and glanced to the window. “It’s a rental,” he said and scratched his chest as he yawned. “I could’ve laid down with Cam… I’m beat.”
“It’s not even two in the afternoon,” Owen said.
“He gets up early,” Shane said, and swept his arm in an arc on the table top to snag her hand. “I don’t know how you’ve done this full-time for ten months, almost eleven… alone.”
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