I wanna do the merry-go-round again,” Piper announced as she tugged on Audrey’s hand and bounced up and down.
Audrey stifled a groan because they’d ridden the thing three times already. Wasn’t it enough?
Apparently not, because Audrey found herself in front of the merry-go-round for the fourth time, watching Piper climb on the same horse.
So far, Cameron had been decidedly absent from this carnival fund-raiser for the football team.
He was probably off doing his thing with the players and their parents. Certainly he wouldn’t go off with some other woman.
Just because other guys had done that to Audrey before didn’t mean Cameron would. After all, he did say he’d find them and take Piper to play some games. But she and Piper had been here for almost two hours, and still no sign of him.
Seriously, you must stop obsessing.
He’d find them. Hadn’t they turned a corner three nights ago in his living room? When she’d given him a semi-green light? Whatever the hell that was. Audrey still hadn’t figured out yet what she’d agreed to. She’d assumed he’d come knocking on the guesthouse door after Piper had gone to bed and slowly peel her clothes off. Instead, she’d gotten a polite text.
Still think you’d make a good prison warden.
Okay, so not so polite. But it had still made her smile. And then she’d texted back, stop texting me already!
Piper squealed, and Audrey was jerked back to the present. She grinned at the girl and waved as the merry-go-round spun around again. Her heart lightened to see the youthful joy on Piper’s face, and it was yet another reminder that Audrey didn’t want to leave. She could easily relocate here and start another business. Then she wouldn’t have to go through the gut-wrenching pain of saying goodbye to a little girl who’d stolen her heart. Her dearest friend’s daughter who was the personification of light and practically defined the phrase “starting over.”
Maybe Audrey ought to take a page out of Piper’s book.
The merry-go-round ended, and Piper came running off the ride. Then she grabbed Audrey’s hand and started rattling on about games and winning some giant pink giraffe. Because the kid didn’t have enough stuffed animals.
“How about another ride?” Audrey suggested instead.
Piper jumped up and down. “I wanna go win a prize. Please, please, please, please—”
“All right,” Audrey interrupted. “What game do you want to play?”
“I want to go shoot the ducks,” Piper said as she pointed to the game.
Audrey glanced over and stifled a shudder. Ugh, guns. “You want to shoot those poor ducks?”
Piper grinned up at her. “They’re not real ducks. They’re just pretend for the game.”
“How about the ring toss?” Audrey didn’t have the guts to admit how awful her aim was.
Piper made a face. “That’s for babies. I wanna shoot ducks.” Piper pointed a long, skinny arm at the game in questions. “’Cause look, you can win that giant cowboy hat.”
Audrey slanted the girl a look. “I thought you wanted the pink giraffe?”
“No, I want the hat. ’Cause I can wear it to school, and everyone will think it’s cool.”
Audrey resigned herself to her fate and made their way to the game. “I don’t think you can wear a hat that big to school.”
Piper bounced on her feet as they stood in front of the booth. “I can on hat day.”
Oh. Hat day. Well, then, she’d get Piper the damn hat.
The kid behind the booth handed Audrey the fake rifle and gave instructions. Basically shoot the ducks with…whatever this gun shot out.
It wasn’t, like, real bullets, was it?
Audrey raised the gun as the ducks came to life and spun around in circles. She missed the first two shots and felt an actual trickle of sweat slide down her spine. After all, she only had three shots to win the stupid hat, and Piper was watching with growing concern.
“That’s just about the worst shooting I’ve ever seen.”
Audrey’s hand jerked at the sound of the deep voice behind her. Luckily her finger hadn’t been on the trigger, otherwise she would have wasted her last shot. Then she’d have been in deep water with an expectant six-year-old.
She turned and clapped eyes with Cameron, and tried not to react at how he looked in his dark gray sweater and blue jeans.
“You think you can do better?” she taunted.
Cameron wagged his fingers at her. “Give me that thing.”
She passed over the gun and stepped aside. The game was still going, the ducks still spinning in circles like little yellow maniacs.
Beside her, Piper was practically bursting with energy. “You have you to win that prize, Uncle Cameron,” Piper quipped.
“Yeah, watch how it’s done,” he told Piper, but his gaze was on Audrey.
She shivered at his low tone and how the fake gun looked cradled in his big hands—as though the thing belonged there, and he’d done it before. “Those ducks are demonic,” she warned him. “Look, they’re laughing at you.”
Cameron slid her a look as he set the gun in place. “Pretty sure that’s quacking.”
She leaned closer and whispered, “Laughing.”
Cameron chuckled and set his sights on his target. “Sore loser, much?” Then he squeezed the trigger and one of the ducks was knocked over, signaling a bell, indicating he’d won.
When Piper realized what her uncle had done, she jumped up and down and held her hands out for the giant hat. The attendant behind the booth plopped the thing on her head, and it immediately slid down and covered her face.
Cameron picked the hat up and settled it more firmly on Piper’s head. “Looks good on you, kid,” he told her.
Audrey snorted. “It’s ridiculous.”
Cameron grinned as Piper adjusted the hat. “I think you’re jealous that you don’t have one of your own. Want me to win you one?”
Audrey rolled her eyes. “I think you’ve shown off enough for one night.”
“Thanks for my hat, Uncle Cameron,” Piper exclaimed. “Can we go win the giraffe now?”
“I’m all out of cash, squirt. How about another ride?”
But Piper didn’t even hear Cameron’s offer. “I see my friend Anna from school.” Piper looked up at them and pointed off in the distance. “Can I go ride the bumper cars with her?”
“Sure,” Cameron told her, and the three of them made their way from the games back to the rides.
Once there, Piper handed over her hat, because the thing kept slipping over her eyes, and ran off to join her friend. The two girls squealed as they were led into the riding zone and got to pick their cars.
“Don’t you think she’s too small to sit in one of those by herself?” Audrey questioned. “Maybe I should ride with her.”
Cameron leaned toward her. “You’re fussing again,” he said in a low voice.
Audrey blew out a breath as she watched a giant grin light up Piper’s face. “You’re right.”
Cameron leaned his forearms on the railing. “First time at a fair?”
“No, she’s been before,” Audrey answered.
Cameron’s mouth quirked. “I meant you.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Funny.” Audrey sobered as she watched Piper. “The first fair she went to was with her grandfather.”
Cameron watched her for a moment. “My father?”
Audrey nodded, knowing she had be careful when broaching the subject of Cameron’s family life. All this time she’d spent with him, and she still didn’t know much about his relationship with his dad or Dianna. She wanted to know more, because she had a feeling that past was what made the man tick.
“Actually, Piper doesn’t remember,” Audrey added. “She was just a baby. Your dad had come to town to visit, and he took Dianna and Piper to some fall fair in Denver.” She risked a glance at him, but he was watching Piper. “It was one of the last times they were together.”
Cameron grunted. “The old man was never much into family time.” He looked at her briefly, but it was long enough to see the tumult in his gaze. “It was more than he ever did with me.”
“Dianna always thought he was trying to absolve his guilt,” Audrey said. “Trying to spend time with her to make up for what he did to you.”
“Good of him,” Cameron muttered.
Audrey ran her finger along the edge of the railing. “If it makes you feel better…” But her voice trailed off, because she and Cameron had seemed to find a temporary reprieve and she didn’t want to spoil it.
“What?” he asked as he looked at her.
Audrey pulled her gaze away from his long lashes. “Dianna and your dad were never that close. I don’t think he made much of an attempt with her. Or Piper.”
His brow furrowed. “Why would that make me feel better?” he asked, as though insulted.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I just meant…you weren’t the only one who was abandoned by him.”
Cameron was silent a moment, and Audrey thought she’d lost him. That she’d said too much and he was mentally slamming the door on her. Then he surprised her by responding. “My dad wasn’t really father material. He’d been having an affair with Dianna’s mom for a year before he walked out on us.”
“I’m sorry,” she said lamely. “Your poor mom.”
But Cameron just shrugged. “She handled it pretty well. I don’t think I ever saw her cry.”
“I bet that was more for you, trying to be strong and all that.”
“I wish she wouldn’t have.”
Audrey watched as Piper got off the bumper cars, then followed her friend back around to the line so they could ride again. “What do you mean?”
“Just would have been nice to see some emotion from her. Instead of forcing false happiness all the time.”
Audrey immediately thought of herself and how she’d continually smiled for Piper in the days and weeks following Dianna’s death. How she was always so worried about how Piper was adjusting. “She probably thought she was doing what was best for you. Maybe she saved her tears for when she was alone.”
Cameron shook his head. “I’m not so sure. My dad was an even worse husband than he was a dad. He and my mom had been growing apart, and I think the only thing she missed was the income he brought in. After he left, she had to find a second job so we wouldn’t lose our house.”
Audrey placed a hand on his arm. “She did that for you.”
A muscle in his jaw ticked. “Yeah,” he said after a moment. “She’s the strongest woman I know.”
“It’s obvious how close the two of you are,” Audrey agreed. “And she was really good with Piper.”
Cameron smiled for the first time since mentioning his dad. “I think she sees Piper as a pseudo-granddaughter. She’s pretty much lost hope of getting any grandkids out of me.”
Something inside Audrey twisted at his words. Don’t ask. It’s none of your business. But then her mouth disconnected from her brain. “You don’t want kids?”
His shoulders moved, and Audrey wondered if it had more to do with restlessness. “Sure, someday.”
“But it’s not a priority for you,” she added, because she was masochistic like that.
He turned his head and winked at her. “Got to have a wife first.”
She nudged his shoulder with hers. “Look at you being all traditional.”
His grin widened. “Surprised?”
She shook her head. “No, just…” Then she laughed. “Actually, yeah.”
His look sobered. “Just because I like to have a good time doesn’t mean I don’t want to settle down one day. I meant it when I said I haven’t met a woman worth settling down for.”
Audrey ignored the sharp pain in her stomach. “Think you ever will?”
His gaze dropped to her mouth. “Maybe.”
She licked her lips and did a mental happy dance when his blue eyes darkened. “What if you’ve already met her and you haven’t realized it?”
Stop baiting him. Stop pushing his buttons.
Cameron angled his body toward her and rested one elbow on the railing. “What’re you saying, Audrey?”
Yes, Audrey. What are you saying?
“I just mean…” She cleared her throat. “That what if in the middle of all your…” She broke off, searching for the right term. “Good timing, the woman for you was already there? Only you didn’t notice her, and she moved on to someone else?”
Cameron seemed to think this over for a moment, although Audrey wasn’t so sure, because he moved closer and fixed his attention on her lips again. They actually tingled. “I don’t think so,” he finally said.
“But how do you know?” Did she have to sound so breathy?
The corners of his mouth turned up, and he trailed one finger along the edge of her jaw. “I just do.”
“Always so sure of yourself,” she whispered.
“On this? Yeah.”
She tilted her head at him. “That cockiness works on a lot of women, doesn’t it?”
His voice dropped an octave. “Obviously.”
“How is that supposed to be obvious to me?” Really? You need him to show you?
“Oh, Audrey,” he chastised. “Your naïveté would be sweet if you weren’t such a big faker.”
Cameron shifted, and then his lips were just there, touching hers, and Audrey didn’t have time to wonder how that had happened so fast. One second she’d been trying to talk herself out of kissing him, and the next she was clutching his shoulders and sliding her tongue along his.
She shouldn’t have been surprised at how good it was. After all, they’d kissed a few times already, and each time it knocked the breath from her lungs. So Audrey was surprised at how, well…surprised she was. Cameron really was a skilled kisser. Each time he made it feel like it was the first time, and every time he knocked her off her feet.
He changed the angle of the kiss without breaking contact, using his hand to cradle the back of her head and guide her. Audrey went with the flow and allowed him to maintain the control, even though she wanted to climb his body. Cameron must have sensed her desperation because he grinned against her mouth and kissed her harder, as though he suspected she wanted to pull back. Maybe he’d taken her gasp of breath as hesitation, but the feeling coursing through her system was anything but.
Audrey couldn’t help feeling a sense of rightness. Like they belonged. Like she’d been born to kiss this man, feel his fingers biting into her hips. To place her hand over his heart and wonder if she was the one who made it beat faster.
Yes.
The word whispered in the back of her mind, sounding strangely like Cameron’s, as though offering confirmation to her own musings. Audrey spared about a second trying to push the thought away, then gave up. Surrendering to the knowledge that whatever was between them was real and not going away anytime soon was easier than her continued denial, than her fruitless efforts to push the man away with childish games.
So she pressed closer, needing to feel more of him, needing to know how she affected him. The evidence was there, nudging her belly and causing another wave of shivers to snake down her spine.
Then something flashed out of the corner of her eye, followed by a yelp.
Cameron slowly lifted his head. “Don’t hold me responsible for what I may do to these women.”
Audrey blinked. “What?”
But Cameron had already shifted his attention to whatever had interrupted them. Audrey followed his line of sight and bit back a grin at the four women gawking at the two of them. Their signature beehives left no doubt as to who they were and what they were doing with their camera phones. Someone seriously ought to start reporting these ladies.
“I got a good one, girlies!” Lois shouted as she waved her phone in the air. “This one’s going on the Instagram.”
“How many times do we have to say it, Lois?” Lois’s friend piped up. “There’s no the. It’s only Instagram. Not the Instagram.”
“I still think I got the better shot,” another one chimed in. “I have here a prime picture of Cameron palming the woman’s ass.”
Audrey couldn’t help the heat that flamed her cheeks. She wasn’t sure if it was from hearing the word ass leaving a seventy-something-year-old’s mouth or the fact that they’d so easily noticed Cameron’s firm grip on her derriere.
Cameron pinched the bridge of his nose. “Lois, if you post any pictures you just took to any social media site, I’ll sic Brandon’s dog on you.” Then he jabbed a finger at her friend. “Same goes for you, Beverly.”
“Already uploaded mine,” Beverly announced. Then she beamed at the rest of them. “Told you my phone was faster. The three of you need to get the new iPhone already.”
Virginia rolled her eyes and leaned heavily on her cane.
Cameron blew out a heavy breath and shook his head. “Son of a mother’s whore.”
“You watch your tongue, young man. We may be progressive, modern women, but we’re still ladies.”
Cameron narrowed his eyes at them. “Somehow I doubt that, Patty.”
Beverly gripped Lois’s skinny arm. “Let’s go get funnel cakes before they run out. I want hot fudge and powdered sugar on mine.”
The four women walked away, with Cameron’s gaze never leaving them. “I know where you live,” he called after them. Then he placed his attention on Audrey, and his gaze further darkened. “What’re you laughing at?”
“Nothing,” she immediately said. “But I think maybe you secretly love them.”
“Love them?” he questioned. “They’re a public menace. They need to be committed.”
“They also make you smile,” she pointed out.
Cameron turned toward her and gripped her elbow. “That’s not a smile. It’s a grimace of pain.”
Audrey held back another grin as she allowed him to lead her to…“Where are we going?”
“The bumper cars,” he answered. “I need to bash my frustration out.”
The ride that Piper was on had just ended, and the girl came running around to the line again.
“I wanna ride with Uncle Cameron,” she announced.
Cameron glanced down at the girl as he passed over ride tickets to the attendant. “Just be sure to hold on tight.” Then he winked at Audrey and she had a feeling that maybe he was talking about both of them.