The next morning Cameron woke up with a stiff neck and a bitch of a headache, not to mention the serious case of blue balls, straining against the fabric of his boxer briefs. He blamed the woman across the way for that, and the habit she’d developed of licking her lips whenever he was around.
He’d thought about knocking on her door last night to finally scratch the itch they’d both been feeling. But it had been midnight when he’d returned home, bordering on homicidal after the Bobcats had lost. He’d come to learn that Audrey sometimes stayed up late, but his hand had hesitated on the sliding glass door at the sight of the pitch-dark guesthouse. Instead he’d gone to bed with sweat beading his temples and a raging hard-on. Normally he’d call Tessa, who’d been texting and calling nonstop about when they were going to “get together.” Cameron knew her idea of getting together was what he needed to ease the tension humming through his system. But for some reason the idea of getting sweaty with a woman who enjoyed casual sex as much as he did didn’t really light his fire anymore.
The thought should have sent him into a panic. But, Cameron realized as he swung his legs out of bed, he felt…oddly calm, as though a final piece of a puzzle was clicking into place. Strange that he hadn’t even realized there was a piece missing.
Or maybe he had known but hadn’t cared. He hadn’t cared there’d been a hollowness inside him that he’d been content to leave unfilled. He still wasn’t sure if Audrey had been the one to fill it or if it was Piper.
Cameron scratched his bare belly as he padded toward the kitchen to start coffee.
“What the fu—” Cameron jumped back at the sight of Piper in his living room, holding some horridly hairless creature that looked like a cross between a giant gerbil and a mutant rat.
Piper’s eyes widened as she cradled the squirming creature to her chest. “That’s a bad word. You should say ‘shoot’ instead. Sometimes Audrey says cheese ’n’ rice.”
Of course she did. Cameron cleared his throat and stayed back, for fear that the um…animal might morph into something else. Or spew hot venom everywhere.
“What is that thing?” he asked the girl.
The mutant in Piper’s arms squirmed enough until the kid finally let it go. The thing turned over and started licking its crotch. Wonderful.
“It’s a cat,” Piper answered as a matter of fact, as though it should have been so obvious with its strangely pink skin and way too big, black eyes.
Cameron cleared his throat again. “That’s definitely not a cat.”
Piper reached out and ran her hand over the animal’s back, because Cameron refused to call the thing a cat, and giggled when it nibbled on her fingers. “Yes, it is. Isn’t she cute?”
Cute? It looked like it had been turned inside out.
“Where’d you find it?” Cameron asked.
“In your backyard. She was wandering around by herself.” Piper crooned at the thing, telling her what a pretty girl she was. Maybe Piper had swallowed a hallucinogenic. “I think she lost her mommy. I think she’s sad.”
Cameron was pretty sure the cat wasn’t sad. “Why is she bald? Did someone set her on fire?”
Piper’s eyes widened as she let out a gasp.
Good going, asshole. You need to learn how to talk to kids.
Cameron took a tentative step into the living room, careful to make sure the thing wasn’t going to hiss or…foam at the mouth, or something. “I just mean, why doesn’t she have any fur?”
Piper just lifted her little shoulders and ran her hand down the cat’s back again. “I don’t know. Maybe someone cut it all off.”
With what, a lawn mower? Or maybe a blowtorch?
“I’m going to keep her and name her Jellybean Junior,” Piper announced.
Was the kid for real?
Cameron didn’t know what to sputter out first. That no way in hell were they keeping that sorry excuse for a feline, or could they please come up with a more original name?
But before he could utter either thought, Piper spoke up again. She scooped the real Jellybean off the living room floor and bounced on her knees. “I’m hungry. Can we make some more pancakes? And can I have chocolate chips in them this time?”
“Uh…” Cam kept one eye on the cat, who’d pounced over to the end table and was batting her scrawny paws at the lamp cord dangling over the edge. He used his boot to scoot the cat away, because the last thing he needed was for the lamp to come crashing down on Jellybean Jr. Except…No. He wasn’t that heartless. “Why don’t we go see what we can find in the kitchen?”
It was strange how he’d started thinking “we” when talking about him and Piper. When had he stopped being an “I”?
Piper ran into the kitchen, dragging her stuffed cat with her. The real cat followed, her sharp claws skidding across the tile. Cameron briefly wondered if he should, like, feed the thing. Maybe give it some water? Cats drank water, didn’t they?
Shit, he didn’t know. There was no way they could keep it. He was barely fumbling his way around Piper, without adding a deranged cat to the mix. A cat who was currently attacking Cameron’s shoes. Without thinking, he scooped the shoes up and plopped them on a barstool.
While Piper helped herself to the pantry, because she had already learned where he kept his food, Cameron snagged his cell off the kitchen counter and snapped a photo of the cat. He texted it to Brandon, with the caption:
Found a buddy for you.
Cameron placed the phone down and scrounged up some breakfast for himself and Piper. His gaze flickered to the guesthouse, briefly wondering if he should check on Audrey. Would she still be sleeping? Showering? The image of her standing beneath the hot spray, water cascading down her damp skin…damn. Cameron needed to pull himself together, lest he embarrass himself in front of his niece.
He and Piper had just started cracking eggs in a bowl when his cell vibrated. Cameron checked it, already knowing what Brandon’s response would be.
If you try to leave me with that thing, you’ll have to enroll in witness protection. What the hell is it? It looks like a shell-less turtle.
Cameron thumbed his reply. It’s a cat. Just show the picture to Stella.
His phone buzzed.
No way. She’ll bully me into taking it. Sorry, bro, but you’re stuck.
Cameron set the phone back down and accepted his reality. He was officially a single guy with a niece he was still unsure about and an alien creature who’d already developed an obsession with his shoes.
Oh, and let’s not forget the woman you want to bang and then take out to dinner.
Cameron had never wanted to take a woman out to dinner before, unless he was trying to get into her pants. But with Audrey it was more than that. More than romancing her with an endgame in mind. He wanted to take her somewhere nice so she could put on something other than skinny jeans. Not that her ass didn’t look damn fine in denim, but he wanted to see her in a skirt. Or a dress. Either was optimal for sliding his hands up the back of her thighs…
“Can you use chocolate chips to make a smiley face on my pancakes?” Piper asked, interrupting his R-rated thoughts. “My mom used to do that.”
Cameron slanted a look at Piper at the mention of her mom. Piper had only mentioned her mom one other time. The conversation he had with Audrey about this very thing came to Cameron’s mind. But he also wondered if he should be doing more. More…well, he wasn’t sure exactly what. Maybe talking to Piper more about it? Asking how she felt, if she was all right?
“Did your mom used to make you breakfast?” Cameron asked, keeping his tone light.
Piper swung her legs back and forth on the counter. “Sometimes. Mostly she just made me cereal or toast.”
Cameron flipped a pancake in the pan. “You said your mom used to make you breakfast every Sunday.”
Piper scratched her nose. “Yeah, but just on Sundays. But mostly she was always sick.”
His heart gave a painful squeeze at Piper’s casual tone. Realistically, he knew Piper was anything but casual about her mother’s death, but the way she said it, with such calm acceptance…Cameron was more torn up about it than he thought he’d be.
“Your mom was real sick, huh?”
Piper nodded and kept her attention on the pancakes cooking in the pan.
Cameron wanted to ask more, but the words stuck in his throat. He didn’t want to send Piper into a fit of tears, because female tears…damn. He didn’t have the faintest clue about that one.
However, she was his niece. Shouldn’t he be more comfortable talking to her? He would need to know these things if the two of them had a chance in hell surviving on a long-term basis.
“You know…” Cameron cleared his throat and ordered himself to find his balls. “If you ever want to, you know, talk to someone about your mom, you can come to me.”
Piper blinked up at him as though she didn’t understand.
Cameron tried for a different angle. “Do you think about her a lot?”
Piper’s legs stopped their swinging. “Yeah,” she said after a moment.
Cameron scooped three done pancakes off the pan and set them on a plate. “What do you miss most about her?”
“The way she used to read me stories with all the voices,” Piper answered. “And her hugs.”
Cameron swallowed past the lump in his throat, feeling more emotional than he thought possible. “She gave good hugs, huh?”
Piper nodded and scratched her bare knee.
“What was your favorite story she used to read to you?”
Piper thought for a moment, then answered, “Pinkalicious.”
Cameron nodded because he didn’t know what the hell that was. “I could read that to you sometime, if you’d like,” he found himself saying. “I don’t know if my voices would be as good as your mom’s, though.”
Piper inhaled deeply. “Audrey reads it to me. She does good voices.” Her legs resumed their swinging. “She gives good hugs too.”
Yeah, he bet Audrey gave good hugs.
Dude, you’re talking to a six-year-old. Chill on the sexual innuendos.
“Sounds like you like hugs a lot.”
Piper plucked a chocolate chip out of the bag. “Just from my mom and Audrey.”
So she had some touchy-feely issues. Cameron could understand that.
He cleared his throat and decided a change in subject was needed. The mood was plummeting downhill fast, and that hadn’t been his intention. He’d simply wanted to gauge Piper’s emotional stability, and he realized she had some deeply buried sorrow for her mom.
“You ready for some pancakes?” he offered.
The kid perked up, nodding so fast that her uncombed hair fell in her face.
“How about you do the smiley face?”
Piper gladly scooped up a handful of chocolate chips and started rearranging them on the pancakes. Luckily they were cool enough that the chips didn’t melt.
“If you’re my mom’s brother, how come you never came to visit us?” Piper asked. “This boy who I used to live next to had an uncle that came to visit them a lot. He even took them skiing once. But Mom would never let me go skiing because she said I could break my arm.”
Cameron blinked his thoughts in order, not expecting that to come out of the kid’s mouth. There were so many subjects that he wasn’t sure what to address first.
“Well,” he started. “I’m a lot older than your mom was, and we lived in different towns, with different parents.”
Piper tilted her head. “How can you be her brother if you have different parents?”
Such a logical question that required a complicated answer.
“Your mom and I had the same dad,” he answered as he swallowed back the bitterness of even speaking of his old man. “But we had different mothers. And your mom was born a long time after I was.”
Another blink. “So you lived far away from her?”
Cameron nodded and shut off the burner. “Yep.”
Piper finished placing the chocolate chips, resulting in large eyes and a crooked smile. “But if you had the same dad, how come you guys never saw each other? Didn’t you love each other?”
Ah, God. Why did the kid always have to ask such loaded questions? In her little sheltered mind, the situation should have been that simple. And Cameron wished it were. He wished his prick of an old man had stuck around. He wished he’d had an opportunity to get to know his younger half sister. He wished he’d made more of an effort to meet Piper before Dianna had died.
He braced his palms on the counter and looked at his niece. “Piper,” he said to her. “If I’d had the chance to get to know your mom better, I’m sure I would have loved her. But we were in a difficult position that neither of us could control. Do you understand?”
Piper pursed her lips, as though in thought. “Yeah.”
Her answer was simple, but Cameron knew she didn’t really understand. How could she? He wouldn’t expect anyone to fully understand the difficult position his father had put both him and Dianna in. Unfortunately, at the time, he’d been a pissed-off, selfish kid who’d had no interest in getting to know his father’s love child. But he couldn’t tell Piper that.
She dug into her breakfast, chewing slowly and getting chocolate all over her mouth. Cameron had just cut into his own breakfast when his sliding glass door was thrown open.
“Piper?” Audrey called as she burst into his living room with all the urgency he’d come to know her for.
“Uh-oh.” Cam set his plate down and gave Piper a pointed look. “You didn’t tell Audrey you were coming over here?”
Piper’s gaze sobered. “I forgot.”
“She’s in here,” Cameron called to Audrey.
Audrey skidded to a stop in the kitchen, then approached Piper. “Honey, we talked about this,” she told the girl. “You have to tell me when you leave the guesthouse.”
Piper gazed down at her knees. “I forgot,” she said again.
Audrey huffed out a breath in relief and pinned her eyes on Cameron.
Her cheeks were flushed, somehow managing to match the chaotic ponytail that looked like it had been slept in. Her light blue flannel pants were too big and were an odd pairing with the gray, sleeveless, muscle-type shirt she had on. The outfit was the most unsexy thing Cameron had ever laid eyes on, and had more wrinkles than a carelessly folded linen shirt.
Despite the state of Audrey’s disarray, and the just-been-thoroughly-fucked hair, Cameron couldn’t help the grin that crept along his mouth. He wondered if she even realized what she looked like in front of him and was willing to bet if she had a mirror, she’d run and hide. Oddly, Cameron didn’t want her to run and hide. He sort of liked this relaxed side of her and the simplicity of her Saturday morning attire.
It made her look like she belonged, as though she’d just rolled out of his bed and come to join them for breakfast.
“What?” Audrey questioned when she caught him staring.
The break in the silence brought Cameron back to reality. She hadn’t emerged from his bed. She wasn’t here for breakfast, and she didn’t belong.
She belongs more than anyone else you’ve been with.
Cameron knew that simply telling himself that Audrey didn’t belong didn’t necessarily make him believe it. Because she was…comfortable here.
And he was comfortable with her being here.
“Nothing,” he said with a shake of his head.
She narrowed her eyes as though she didn’t believe him. Hell, he wouldn’t believe him either.
“Gave you a scare, did she?” he pressed. Because that was better, safer, than pressing his lips to her bare ones. As though he needed a reminder of how soft they were.
Audrey shook her head, and Cameron remembered how emotional she’d been the last time. Cameron decided to take pity on her.
“Holy God, what is that?” Audrey said with a gasp.
Cameron followed her gaze, already knowing what he’d find.
Yeah, there was Jellybean Jr., aka Satan’s Spawn, trotting into the kitchen with one of his socks dangling from its mouth. And wouldn’t you know the thing would have picked one that had been discolored from the wash. He glanced at Audrey, but she was too busy processing the hairless monstrosity.
“It’s a cat,” he answered, while trying to swipe the sock out of the cat’s mouth. But he, she, or it was too fast and spun around. “Dammit,” he muttered.
“Says who?” Audrey asked.
“That’s Jellybean Junior,” Piper spoke up.
Audrey offered him a grin. “Aw, you can call him J.J.”
“We’re not calling him anything. And how do you know it’s a him?”
Audrey eyed the cat again, who’d already torn a hole in his sock. “Well, it’s certainly not female.”
“I don’t think it’s an actual animal. It looks like a science experiment gone wrong.”
“You guys are hurting J.J.’s feelings,” Piper complained.
“Where’d she come from?” Audrey asked, ignoring Piper’s words.
“Outer space,” Cameron muttered.
Audrey gazed at him for a moment. “Not an animal person, are we?”
Cameron placed a hand on his bare chest. “I’m absolutely an animal person.” He jabbed a finger at J.J. “That’s not an animal.”
Audrey watched as the cat went to town on Cameron’s sock before turning her half smile on him, and damn if it wasn’t like a punch in the chest. “What?” he demanded.
“You have pink socks?”
He resisted an eye roll. “No, smartass. That was a white one that got mixed up with a pile of red clothes.”
She tilted her head at him. “You actually separate your clothes by color?”
Why the hell should that surprise her? “Shocked to learn I can do my own laundry? I can even brush my teeth too.”
Audrey shrugged. “I kind of figured you’d just spray some Febreze on them. Or maybe beat them over a rock.”
“What the hell’s Febreze?” he questioned.
She just smiled as though he’d proved her point for her.
Then her mischievous gaze dropped to his chest, as though she just realized he didn’t have a shirt on. Cameron had yet to bother with getting dressed, and now he was patting himself on the back for his lack of forethought. In the recent weeks, he’d come to love nothing more than ruffling Ms. Bennett’s sexy feathers
His attention shifted back to her, and he added a quirk to his mouth for good measure. As though to say, Yeah, you’re not the only one who can play.
Audrey cleared her throat, effectively ending the moment. She was good at that: dragging them back to reality. Yeah, Cameron needed a good dose of that. But sometimes he wished she’d let herself go.
Hadn’t he told her all she needed to do was say yes?
He thought he’d left the ball in her court, but so far all she’d done was dribble the thing with no intention of returning it. Perhaps he should change that.
“I’m going to go play with J.J.,” Piper announced. She hopped off the counter and chased after the cat to where it had dragged Cam’s poor pink sock.
“So are you going to keep her?” Audrey asked.
At first Cameron thought she was talking about Piper. Funny how his thoughts automatically went to the little girl.
“I don’t know a damn thing about cats,” he said.
“But that doesn’t really answer the question,” she countered.
Yeah, he knew that. He also knew he’d end up keeping the heathen for the simple fact that he/she made Piper smile.
“Listen,” he started, trying to find his words without sounding like an ass. “I need to apologize for last night.” And then he added for old times’ sake, “And I’m not talking about getting your panties in a twist. Because I won’t say sorry for that.”
The red flaring in her cheeks gave Cameron a healthy amount of male satisfaction. “Don’t for one minute think you have any influence on my panties.”
They both knew she was full of shit. She was dying to fling said panties at him like he was a rock star.
“I think I do,” he argued.
“How are you always so sure of yourself?” she questioned.
He shrugged and feigned more confidence than he felt, especially around this woman. “Just am.”
She gazed back at him as her teeth sank into her full lower lip, making Cameron want to lean forward and capture it between his own teeth. Then she’d realize he had every reason to be full of himself. He already knew what she was taking more time to realize: that they’d be really good together. They’d burn up the sheets for hours, just the kind of physical release he loved best. And she’d love it too.
“You were saying…?” she prompted.
Yes, what had he been saying? Ah yes, he wanted to screw her into the early-morning hours.
Except no! That wasn’t what he’d been saying. It had something to do with her taking him seriously. Go figure with how far off track the conversation had gotten.
“Uh, yeah,” he said slowly. “I just wanted to say sorry for how I brushed you off last night.”
Audrey’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“About Piper’s schedule,” he clarified.
She nodded, but still looked like she didn’t understand. Or maybe she did, but simply didn’t believe him.
“I don’t want you to think that I’m not serious about her,” he said. He really had committed himself to learning more about Piper and giving her a permanent home with him.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “So what’s your plan after I leave?” she pressed as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“My plan?” he repeated. Was he supposed to come up with something to present to her?
“Yes,” she answered simply. “What do you plan to do with her in the afternoons while you’re still at practice? She gets off the bus at three thirty and you don’t get home until six thirty.”
“I can probably make an arrangement with a neighbor,” he answered. To be honest, he hadn’t thought who to leave Piper with while he was still at work. It would be a dilemma, because he couldn’t come home, pick her up, and bring her back to the field.
“And you know these neighbors well?” she pressed.
“Well enough.”
She nodded, but he could tell her brain was still turning a thousand miles an hour. “Well enough to leave a six-year-old with for three hours?”
He shifted his feet, trying to stuff back his annoyance. “They’re not convicted felons, if that’s what you’re asking.”
She took a step toward him, probably trying to intimidate him. The only thing she was accomplishing was turning him on. “I’m asking if they’re good enough for Piper.”
He matched her closeness, crowding her with his own dominance. She didn’t back down, and he had to give her credit for that. The woman knew how to hold her own.
“They are in my book,” he told her. Then he tilted his head. “But they’re not for you, are they?”
She jerked back as though he’d smacked her. “Not for me?”
“Yeah. I’m beginning to think no one will be good enough for Piper.” Including me.
“That’s not true,” she immediately answered.
“I’m kind of thinking it is,” he pushed. “You haven’t cut me any slack yet.”
Her chin lifted. “I’m just trying to make sure we’re on the same page.”
He stepped closer, crowding himself with her lemony scent. “Audrey, we’ve never been on the same page.”
“That’s not true either,” she whispered.
He traced the tip of his index finger along the neckline of her shirt, grinning at the sight of her thumping pulse. “Isn’t it?”
She sucked in a breath, and Cameron had to fight the urge to kiss the hell out of her, just to show her the only page they occupied together was the combustible attraction between them. But then she’d hate him, if she didn’t already. And for some reason, Cameron needed to keep her on his side.
“Cameron, what’re you doing?”
Hell if he knew. Torturing himself?
“I just want what’s best for Piper,” she told him.
Cameron dropped his hand, even though it still tingled from her soft skin. “And I don’t?”
“I don’t know,” she countered. “Do you?”
“Of course I do. Just because I’m not trying to control the situation doesn’t mean I don’t want what’s best for her. She’s my niece, for crying out loud.”
Audrey took a step back, and Cameron realized his error. He had called her out on one of her deepest insecurities. Not just called her out on it, but thrown it back in her face.
Yeah, good way to get the two of you on the same side.
He reached for her, but she pulled away. “Audrey, I didn’t mean—”
“No, I get it. I try to control her too much.”
The light in her eyes dimmed, and Cameron wanted to kick his own ass for putting a damper on another conversation.
“That’s not what I meant,” he tried to clarify.
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I think you did,” she whispered.
Okay, he did. But he’d only been using it as a defense mechanism for the way she made him feel. An asshole move, sure. But he didn’t know what else to do around her.
“Audrey—”
“Okay, I admit I have control issues. But you…” She took a step forward and jabbed him in the chest with her finger. “You have commitment issues. And you know what? I think you’re just as controlling as I am.”
Say what? “How do you figure that?”
Audrey spread her arms out to encompass their surroundings. “Look around you, Cameron. Who do you see?”
His brow twitched. “Is that a trick question?”
“I don’t see anyone,” she answered for him.
He shook his head. “Not true. You and Piper are here.”
She crowded him again, getting all up in his face. “I’m not talking about me and her. We barged into your life with no warning. I’m talking about other people. A wife, kids, girlfriend. Friends. Family who comes to visit.”
Cameron shifted, knowing where she was going and wanting to tell her to shut the hell up. But he didn’t, because he knew she was right.
“There’s no one.” She drilled her point home by poking his chest again. “Because you keep people away. That makes you just as controlling as me.”
Cameron wrapped his palm around her hand and tugged it away. “I keep people away because it’s safer that way. Because then they can’t come in and fuck everything up.”
The second the words were out of his mouth, Cameron wanted to yank them back. Of course he didn’t mean them, at least not the way Audrey would take them. But when she exhaled a slow breath and moved away from him, Cameron knew she was shutting him out.
“Point made,” she uttered. Then she strolled out of the kitchen, leaving Cam to wonder how he’d gone from apologizing, again, to making an ass of himself. Again.