Piper polished off her third pancake, shoving a huge bite in her mouth and getting more powdered sugar on her shirt than down her throat. Audrey nudged a napkin across the table, knowing the kid would just swipe the mess away with her hand. Her Sofia the First T-shirt was beyond help, but the mess of butter and white powder on her cheeks was salvageable. Audrey grinned when Piper used the napkin but missed half her face.
“Here.” Audrey gave her a hand, ignoring the kid’s protests. Heaven forbid she should be too clean.
Plus, and Audrey didn’t have the faintest idea why she felt this way, she wanted to make a good impression for Cameron. When he’d invited them to the football team’s pancake breakfast, she’d taken it as a token of peace. Like an olive branch or something. So she’d helped Piper dress, even though she normally exerted independence by throwing on whatever mismatching thing, and slicked her hair back into a pair of twin braids. When they’d left, Piper had looked like she belonged on the cover of Parenting magazine. Now, with one braid coming loose, her shirt in ruins, and a grape juice mustache, she looked like…well, she looked like a kid. And the happiest Audrey had seen her in a long time.
“Can I have some more?” Piper questioned as she wrapped an arm around Jellybean.
Audrey leaned forward and brushed more sugar off the kid’s shirt. “Are you going to eat them or feed them to Jellybean?”
Piper shook her head. “Jellybean’s not hungry.”
Of course she wasn’t.
Audrey stood and took Piper’s hand in hers. “Can we go say hi to Cameron after this?” Piper was bouncing up and down, flopping Jellybean all over the place.
The gym was so crowded with players, parents, and fans that she and Piper had only caught fleeting glimpses of Cameron. The first time she’d spotted him, he’d been surrounded by people congratulating him and the other coaches on the team’s win the night before. He hadn’t spotted them, as least she thought he hadn’t, but just the mere sight of him had sent her stomach quivering. The place was noisy, but it hadn’t been noisy enough to drown out his deep laughter, which had danced down her spine like the feathery touch of fingertips.
Piper tugged on Audrey’s hand. “Audrey?”
The kid was impatiently waiting for an answer to her question. “Uh…” When she looked back at Cameron, he’d already diverted his attention elsewhere. “He’s busy right now. Maybe when you finish eating, we can find him.”
Piper pouted for about two seconds before they reached the long table where players were cooking up pancakes. Then she was bouncing on the balls of her feet again.
Audrey ordered another plate of pancakes, when someone bumped her left shoulder. She turned to excuse herself, but she bit her tongue when she got an eyeful of a gigantic, teased beehive.
Did people seriously still style their hair like that?
Apparently this woman, who looked like she hovered around the five-foot mark, thought the thing had never gone out of style.
“Excuse me,” Audrey finally said.
The old woman blinked her rheumy gray eyes. “Do I know you?” she asked.
Audrey’s brow furrowed. “Nope.” She turned to tug Piper back toward their table, when the old woman grabbed her arm.
“Yes, you’re that woman. The one with the kid.” Her sharp gaze dropped to Piper, who was hiding behind Audrey’s leg. Then the lady leaned forward, overwhelming Audrey with a cloud of Aqua Net. “Cameron Shaw’s baby mama,” said announced in a loud whisper.
Come again?
A wave of heat ambushed Audrey, which she hoped to hell didn’t show on her face, even though she didn’t have a single thing to be embarrassed about. She’d been in town less than a week and people thought Piper was Cameron’s love child? And Audrey was…what? Just one of many? Was she supposed to be some poor jilted ex-lover who couldn’t get over Cameron? Was that what his dating life was like? People saw her and Piper and assumed she was another one of his notches?
“Tell me something,” the woman went on.
Yeah, I’d rather pour a jug of syrup over my head.
She leaned closer, giving Audrey an up-close-and-personal glimpse of sun spots and deep grooves around her eyes. “How’d you get him to stick?”
Oh, dear God.
“Lois, will you leave her alone?”
Audrey melted with relief when Annabelle Carpenter rescued her from the nosy woman and her horrifying questions.
“Well, honey, we just want to know,” Lois said to Audrey. “You’re a looker, and the women of this town have been trying to pin that man down for years.”
Annabelle rolled her eyes. “It’s nobody’s business, Lois. But if you must know, Piper isn’t Cameron’s daughter; she’s his niece.” Annabelle slid an arm around Audrey’s shoulders. “Now, will you let them finish their breakfast in peace?”
Lois pinched her thin lips and leaned heavily on her cane. After a moment of thought, she shrugged her shoulders. “That’s all right. I’ll just get another shot of him mowing the grass.” Then she chuckled to herself. “The man can never keep his shirt on.”
Audrey opened her mouth to say something. Anything other than What the hell? But Annabelle was scooting them away, back toward the tables and far from the curious old woman whose beehive was almost as tall as Piper.
Annabelle sat beside them. “Go ahead and ask. I’m sure you have tons of questions.”
Yeah, but most were about Cameron, and Audrey didn’t want the other woman to think Audrey had taken an interest in him. “What’s with the hairdo?” she asked instead, because it seemed like the safest question.
Annabelle giggled and watched as Piper cut into her pancakes. “She’s part of the Beehive Mafia. She and her three friends do their hair the same way and go around causing trouble. It’s all harmless,” Annabelle expanded when Audrey looked confused. “They’re mostly just busybodies.”
“What did she mean by getting a shot of Cameron mowing his grass?”
Annabelle’s laughter grew. “The Beehives take up their spare time by taking pictures of the young, good-looking men in town and posting them on their Tumblr page. Most of their obsession has bounced back and forth between Stella’s husband, Brandon, and Cameron. But when Brandon and Stella got married, Cam got the full force of their efforts. Most of their shots are of men without their shirts on.”
Audrey resisted asking for the name of the Tumblr account. The last thing she needed was an image of Cameron in the buff. Her imagination was enough for her to handle, thank you very much. “Is that legal?” she asked.
Annabelle lifted her shoulders. “Like they care. The four of them are overgrown teenagers, if you ask me.” She shifted her focus to Piper, who’d already dusted half her powdered sugar on her shirt. “Are you enjoying your pancakes, Piper?”
Piper nodded because she was too busy shoving food in her mouth.
“Where’s your syrup?” Annabelle questioned.
Piper shook her head and brushed her hair out of her face. “Jellybean doesn’t like syrup. She only likes powdered sugar.”
Audrey rolled her eyes. “Her diet is based solely on what the stuffed cat likes.”
“Is that what it is?” Annabelle wondered. “I thought maybe it was a raccoon. I guess I need to learn this stuff.”
Audrey thought back to her conversation with Stella about morning sickness. “Are you expecting?” she asked the woman.
Annabelle folded her arms on the table and nodded. “I’m due in May.”
Audrey offered a grin because, even though she’d just met Annabelle, it seemed like the woman would make a good mother. “Congratulations.”
Annabelle smiled her thanks, and Audrey tamped down the hint of jealousy. Why should she be jealous? Annabelle was a lovely woman who’d befriended her. And it wasn’t like Audrey was dying to have kids right now, anyway. Hell, she didn’t even have a man. And maybe that was the problem. Annabelle seemed to have it all together. A hot husband, a baby on the way, a network of friends. What did Audrey have? A thriving business, that was true…but what else?
No man, at least not one who could stick for more than three months. An estranged brother she never talked to, a workaholic father who was emotionally distant, and a mother who’d disappeared without a trace and left her family permanently fractured.
There’d been Dianna, whom Audrey had loved like a sister, but…
Now she was gone too.
So yeah, she was a little jealous. Annabelle was blessed in a way she probably didn’t realize with a life like the one Audrey had had when she was young; now she was just by herself.
Audrey blinked when she realized Annabelle had been talking.
“…So now I just have to figure out how to put together a nursery,” Annabelle finished.
“Do you have a theme or focal point?” Audrey blurted out before she could stop herself. Don’t get emotionally involved with these people.
Annabelle scrutinized her for a moment. “Are you an interior designer?”
A sliver of discomfort bloomed inside her chest, because Audrey knew where the line of questioning would go. She should have kept her mouth shut, but the altruism in her didn’t know when to stop. “Not exactly,” she answered. “I went to school for interior design, but now I do home staging.”
Annabelle tilted her head. “Home staging? Is that like when you’re trying to sell a house?”
Audrey nodded. “Right. We contract out to Realtors who bring us in before a home goes on the market. We generally bring in our own decorative items to make it look like a model home. They usually sell better if they looked unlived in.”
“But…you can pull together a room and make it look good, right?”
“Yes, but—”
“I would really love if you could give me a hand,” Annabelle said with urgency. “I’ll pay you whatever your going rate is.”
Audrey shook her head. “I couldn’t. I don’t know how long I’ll be here, and you still have a while before you have to worry about your nursery. Don’t you want to know what you’re having before you decorate?” Geez, she was grasping at straws and sounded completely desperate doing it.
“Oh, we’re not going to find out the sex beforehand,” Annabelle answered with a shake of her head. “And see, I’m a planner and have some mild control issues. I need to get this done before anything else.”
Audrey opened her mouth and closed it again.
“And you don’t even have to do anything. Maybe you could just come by and give me pointers.” The desperation in the woman’s eyes pleaded with Audrey to help. “Just point me in the right direction.”
“Maybe…” Audrey’s words died off because she honestly didn’t know what to say. “Maybe I could come by and take a look at the space. Do you have a room picked out?”
A sigh of relief caused Annabelle’s shoulders to sag visibly. “It’s our office right now, but I’m making Blake move all the furniture into the other bedroom.” She placed a soft hand on top of Audrey’s. “You have no idea what a help this is. The paint color alone was overwhelming me.”
Most people really don’t know anything about putting a room together that flows, one that isn’t overwhelming or disjointed with too many themes or colors going on. That’s why she and Stevie did such a good business. They came in and cleaned things up, made the homes look professional and uncluttered.
“How’re things going with Cameron?” Annabelle asked, throwing Audrey’s thoughts in a jumble. Decorating rooms was a much safer, and less stressful, train of thought.
“Good,” she lied. Okay, maybe it wasn’t a total lie. The situation they were in was odd, to say the least, but they got along okay. And by “got along,” she meant they kept their conversations to a two-sentence maximum, ensuring no arguing, ego matching, or sexual tension that felt like a barbed wire around her throat.
Annabelle narrowed her eyes, as though she didn’t believe Audrey.
Hell, Audrey wouldn’t believe her either.
“I don’t know,” Audrey admitted. “He’s great with Piper,” she said with a glance at the girl, who was scraping the last of the powdered sugar off her plate.
“But not with you?” Annabelle pondered.
How was she supposed to describe her relationship with Cameron when she didn’t know what it was?
“No, he’s…he’s fine, I guess.” Audrey tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I don’t know,” she said again. “He’s a hard man to read.”
Annabelle nodded her understanding. “Cameron’s one of a kind, that’s for sure. But don’t let him push you away. He’s a good guy.”
Of course, she sensed that about him. He couldn’t be so kind and gentle with Piper if he didn’t have a streak of chivalry somewhere underneath that death stare of his. But how was she supposed to bring it out in him? If Piper was going to live with him, he needed to open up. Soften the edges a bit.
“He wants me to take Piper back to Boulder with me,” she admitted.
Annabelle watched Piper for a moment, as though pondering their situation. “He won’t do that. He may be gruff and rude sometimes, but he’s loyal. And that’s his blood. He’ll do what needs to be done.”
“But see, that’s the thing,” Audrey added. “I don’t want him to take Piper out of obligation, and then end up resenting her. He needs to develop a relationship with her.”
“He will. Just give him some time.” Annabelle shifted in her seat. “Cameron’s been burned in the past. He holds himself back out of self-preservation.”
Yeah, she’d kind of figured that.
“So how do I get through to him?”
Annabelle twisted a glance over her shoulder to where Cam was joking around with some players. “Something tells me you already have. You just have to get him to admit it.”
Cameron had wanted his Sunday morning to himself. A cup of coffee, the sunrise, and the Sunday paper. Then maybe he’d kick back in his chair and catch something on ESPN. Blake Carpenter, the bogarting bastard, had swooped in and sent Cameron’s serene morning into oblivion. He’d waltzed in with game film and a lopsided smirk that had Cam’s back teeth grinding together. The only reason he’d forgiven his friend was the giant pink box of donuts. Blake had even brought Cam’s favorite: coconut.
So he’d abandoned his ESPN for game film, which had spanned the last three hours.
The only thing that had kept Cameron from losing his mind was the fact that Audrey and Piper had made themselves scarce today. He’d seen Audrey leave this morning, then return about two hours later. Then, he’d gotten a glimpse of Piper running around in the backyard, trailing that damn stuffed cat after her. But the weird thing was that, other than the fact that Piper’s shenanigans had made him smile, he missed them. But how could that be? They’d been here less than a week, and he didn’t even like them.
Okay, he liked Piper. It would be impossible not to like that kid. But Audrey? She was a whole other story. She bothered him. Like hot and bothered him. Like sweaty palms, tongue-tied bothered. She probably thought he was avoiding her, and she’d be right. Because every time she looked up at him with those golden eyes, he saw something other than the bristly, bossy woman. He saw vulnerability. He saw fear. But mostly he saw concern for Piper. Worry for her.
Audrey didn’t trust him. He’d figured that out pretty quickly. To be honest, he hadn’t really gone out of his way to prove she could trust him with his own niece. Because he hadn’t cared. He’d taken one look at Piper and wanted to turn the other way. But his mother’s words kept chipping away at his resolve. And then he’d looked at Audrey and seen the way she looked at Piper, and he’d realized how personal it was for her. Audrey loved Piper, probably like her own daughter. Cameron had yet to understand that sort of love, because he’d always lived for himself.
“Yo,” Blake snapped.
Cameron blinked from his kicked-back position on the couch.
“Am I doing this alone?” Blake wanted to know.
“Sorry,” Cam muttered.
“You distracted or what?” Blake asked as he paused the game film.
Distracted? Like Blake wouldn’t believe.
Blake nodded toward the backyard, where Audrey and Piper were lazing around on the hammock. “How’s it going with them?”
Cameron blew out a breath and stacked his hands behind his head. “Shit, I don’t know. They’ve been keeping to themselves, mostly. But the whole thing was sprung on me with no warning.”
Blake gazed outside. “She’s a cute kid,” he observed.
Cameron shook his head. “I don’t know what the hell to do with her. She looks up at me with these big green eyes like I’m supposed to make it all better, and it kills me. The kid’s been through a lot, and the last thing I want to do is let her down. She’s already lost too much.”
“Strange that Dianna never told you,” Blake commented.
Cameron just shrugged. “Dianna and I were never that close. She knew the issues I had with our dad, and it affected our relationship.”
“But you’re going to do it, right?” Blake wanted to know. When Cameron just looked at him, Blake continued. “Let her stay?”
“I have to.” It was the first time he’d said the words out loud. Funny enough, a bolt of lightning hadn’t incinerated him. “If I turn her away, then I’m just another person who’s abandoned her. I can’t do that to her.”
“Yeah, we all kind of knew you wouldn’t,” Blake surmised. “You’re not that much of a dick.”
Cameron’s brow arched. “Gee, thanks.”
Blake’s attention returned outside. “What about the other one?”
Cameron feigned ignorance. After all, it was better than saying, “All I want to do is screw her brains out,” which was normally what he would do. Cameron rarely met a woman he’d been able to say no to. So he had a healthy sex life—so what?
The thing was, just being around Audrey made him feel like it was wrong, like he was a dirty bastard who wasn’t worthy of her. She was far too good for him, with her open smile, bright eyes, and the unconditional love she had for a child that wasn’t even hers. Hell, she probably volunteered at soup kitchens and belonged to a knitting club. Her Saturday nights were most likely spent reading something like Little Women while she sipped on a hot cup of tea, maybe soaking in a bubble bath. With candles. All naked and slippery and…
Shit!
Even his fantasies were unworthy of her.
He lifted a shoulder. “Fine,” he answered.
Blake narrowed his gaze, and Cam knew his friend saw through his bullshit. “Think you can keep it in your pants around her?”
Cameron’s gaze narrowed even more. “You’re a shithead, you know that? Besides, she’s not my type.”
Blake let out a bark of laughter. “Yeah, she’s nice and wholesome. Definitely not for you. How’s it going to work with Piper if you end up not staying in Blanco Valley?” Blake questioned.
Shit, he hadn’t even thought about that.
“I guess I’d take her with me,” Cameron answered.
Blake nodded. “And Audrey’s okay with that?”
Audrey didn’t even know about Cameron’s offer to coach in Denver. “It’s not her decision.”
Blake gazed back at him. “Don’t you think that’s something she’d like to know?”
Possibly, but that was the least of Cameron’s worries right now. “I don’t even know if I’m going to go yet. They gave me until the end of the season to decide.”
“Do yourself a favor and give her a heads-up now,” Blake suggested. “Don’t let that shit blindside you.”
Just then, the sliding glass door opened and Audrey let herself through, followed by Piper, who was clinging to Audrey’s legs. The kid’s inquisitive gaze was locked on Blake as though she didn’t know what to make of him. Cameron had already learned that his niece was painfully shy around people she didn’t know. And Blake was a giant of a man with extra wide shoulders and a penetrating stare. Of course, Cameron was just as big, but for some reason Piper had an easy time around him.
A set of grocery bags dangled from Audrey’s fingers. “We were hungry for an early dinner.”
Cameron shoved down the powerful kick of warmth that flooded his system. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, and several fine strands had slipped free and brushed her face when she moved. The slight caressing of hair only emphasized her glowing, makeup-free face and made Cameron want to skim the pad of this thumb along her jawline. He bet her skin was soft. Touchable. He’d never thought of a woman having touchable skin because he was usually too busy worrying about unsnapping her bra.
She took a step forward, and Cameron used a nanosecond to assess her skinny jeans and long-sleeved T-shirt. She looked like she had a perfectly pinched waist that he could get both hands around. A seamless indentation for his palms.
Blake cleared his throat, and Cameron glanced at him in time to catch his friend’s eye roll.
“You want to go somewhere?” he asked Audrey.
“No, I was going to cook,” she told him.
“Here?” Because, for some reason, having her and Piper in his house was so…personal. Sort of like sealing the deal. Even though he suspected it was already sealed.
Audrey gestured toward the guesthouse. “Unless you’d rather do it over there.”
Hell, he’d do it anywhere with her.
“Here’s fine,” he said. Then he shifted his attention at Piper, who was still eyeing Blake. “Did you get some good nap time in on the hammock?” Why couldn’t he ever think of anything to say to the kid?
She gave a slight nod, without taking her eyes off Blake.
Cameron looked at Blake, then back at Piper.
Thankfully, Audrey jumped in and saved him. “Piper, do you remember Mr. Carpenter? He coaches the football team with your uncle Cameron.”
Uncle Cameron. The words still created a shiver of uncertainty through his system. He’d never been anyone’s uncle or anything else to anyone.
Piper nodded again, and Blake lowered himself to the kid’s level.
“You can call me Blake,” he told Piper. “What’s your friend’s name?” he asked as he fingered one of Jellybean’s ratty, discolored ears.
Piper hugged the stuffed cat closer. “Jellybean,” she muttered in a soft voice.
“She keeps you safe, huh?” Blake guessed.
Piper hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Blake ruffled the kid’s hair, which was already a mess of tangled blond waves, then stood as his phone vibrated. He withdrew the device and thumbed the screen. “I’ve gotta run. Annabelle wants pizza.” He leaned toward Audrey. “Be careful with this one,” he warned with a pointed look at Cameron. “He’s OCD about cooking.” Blake’s mouth turned up in a wicked grin.
“Piss off,” Cameron told his friend.
Audrey placed her hands over Piper’s ears. “Child present.”
Cameron cleared his throat, not used to having to censor himself. Was piss a bad word to say around a six-year-old? “Sorry.”
Blake collected the game tape and with a quick “See ya in the morning,” he was gone, leaving Cameron alone with two females who’d upended his life and were currently looking at him with mixed expressions.
Cameron gazed down at his niece, wishing he knew what made her tick. He wished like hell he understood her more. What went on in her head? Was she still grieving for her mother? Obviously she was; after all, Dianna had only been gone for about two months. But from what he could tell, Piper had adapted well. Cameron understood loss. He knew how it felt to have everything come crashing down. But this was different. His father had chosen to leave, because he’d been a weak, selfish bastard. Dianna had been taken from Piper, leaving her little girl with no one, except one fiercely protective temporary guardian and a clueless uncle.
He gestured toward the bag Audrey was holding. “What do you have in there?”
Audrey watched him for a moment, as though she didn’t fully trust him. Then she lifted the bag and opened it. “Bacon, eggs, and a pancake mix.”
“A mix?” he questioned. Who the hell made one of the greatest breakfast staples from a damn mix?
Audrey blinked, as though she didn’t understand the question. “Yeah. What’s wrong with using a mix?”
Cameron snorted and led her toward the kitchen. “It’s artificial, that’s what’s wrong with it. If you’re making pancakes in my kitchen, we’re doing it from scratch.”
Audrey set the grocery bag on the counter. “I have a feeling you’re more than OCD about food,” she speculated.
“I like my food made a certain way.” He jerked his chin toward the bag of food. “None of that artificial stuff.” When his father had cut out, his mom had taken two jobs to provide for both of them. She’d worked nights, leaving Cameron on his own and fending for his own dinners. Not that he’d ever resented his mother for how often she’d been gone. Pamela Shaw had busted her ass to provide for her only son, and Cameron loved the hell out of her for that. Because he’d been on his own so many evenings, he’d learned the art of food, how to play around with recipes and to make do with what was in the pantry.
Cameron turned to Piper. “You and Jellybean want to have a seat at the bar? It’s the best seat in the kitchen.”
Piper nodded, then climbed onto one of the wooden stools. She arranged Jellybean on the stool next to her so the cat could watch too. Cameron turned back to the food in time to see the slight tilt of Audrey’s mouth, as though he had her approval.
Which was all fine and stuff, except he didn’t need her approval.
Okay, but you totally do.
Whatever. Let Audrey think what she wanted to think.
Cameron rustled around in the pantry and fridge for the necessary pancake ingredients. He’d just set the flour on the counter when he stopped Audrey in the process of placing the bacon in a pan.
“Whoa, what’re you doing?”
She blinked at him with a strip of limp bacon hanging from on hand. “Making the bacon?”
Cameron resisted an eye roll. Typical amateur cook. “Bacon doesn’t go in the fraying pan. It goes in the oven.”
“The oven,” she repeated.
Cameron turned the oven to 400 degrees, then took a baking sheet out of the bottom drawer. “It cooks more evenly and doesn’t make a huge mess,” he told her as he took the strips of bacon out of the frying pan.
“But it tastes better when it cooks in its own grease.”
Cam lined the baking sheet with parchment paper. “It’ll still cook in the grease, only it won’t splatter everywhere.”
“Who cooks bacon on parchment paper?” she questioned.
Cameron slanted her a look. “People who know what they’re doing.”
Audrey narrowed her eyes and folded her arms, which only enhanced the plumpness of her breasts. The first day they met, he’d gotten a nice view of the goods underneath, cupped nicely in a pink bra. Yeah, she had a nice rack. But when she crossed her arms like that?
Daaaaaamn.
Cameron almost dropped a slice of bacon.
Audrey waved her index finger at him. “I’m not sure about his whole setup.”
“Then feel free to take a step back and let me do the cooking.”
She shook her head, sending her ponytail sliding over one shoulder. “Nuh-uh. I came over here to cook the dinner, not to let you take over.” She yanked a piece of bacon out of his hand. “Give me that.”
“Not too close together,” he instructed, then backed off when she shot him a withering look over her shoulder.
It was safe to say they were both OCD about how they liked things done. Great makings of a relationship.
Relationship? Had he lost his mind? There was no such thing in the future for them. She was here for Piper; then she’d be gone.
“By the way, I’ve decided to stay until the end of the football season,” she announced, as though reading his mind. “Which has sent my business partner into fits, but it’s best for Piper.”
He lifted a brow at her as he started tossing pancake ingredients together. “Because you’re not sure you trust me yet?”
Audrey finished with the bacon and set the pan aside while the oven continued to preheat. “I don’t know, can I?”
“She’s my niece,” he pointed out.
“I’m aware of that, but…”
Cameron tossed baking powder into the bowl. “But I didn’t make the greatest first impression.” Yeah, he was man enough to admit that.
She offered a tight smile. “You were insistent on me taking Piper back to Boulder with me, so…not really.”
Okay, he’d give her that.
“Cut me some slack,” he told her. “I wasn’t exactly prepared for…all this.”
Audrey lifted a brow.
Yeah, I mean you too, sweetheart.
The oven dinged, so Audrey slid the pan in and set the timer. “Well, all things considered, I’d say you’re not doing too bad.”
He smiled despite himself. “Gee, don’t be too nice.”
“Cut me some slack, okay? I’m just trying to protect Piper.”
Cameron whisked the ingredients together, then set the bowl aside. “Okay, I’ll give you that.”
“How magnanimous of you.”
Cameron leaned a hip on the counter, deliberately crowding Audrey. She smelled damn good. Like cinnamon and peaches. Last time he was around her she smelled like lemons, but both scents were intoxicating and reminded him of summer. Hot afternoons. Hotter sex.
And he really needed to stop thinking about sex around her.
“Why are you always so suspicious?” he asked her.
Audrey’s shoulders went stiff when Cameron entered her personal space, close enough that he could see a faint scar that bisected her chin. But she didn’t back up. Not that he expected her to. No, Audrey wasn’t the sort of woman to back down from anyone. She’d stand her ground, chin lifted and spine straight, a trait that he admired.
Hell, it turned him on.
“Not suspicious, just…cautious,” she answered.
He took a step closer so that his hip rested near hers against the counter. She sucked in a deep breath, which nudged the tips of her breasts against his chest. Cameron knew the second she noticed the contact because her eyes went wide, and her pupils filled her golden irises.
Damn. If such a brief glance could make his pulse elevate like that, what would happen if they really touched?
He cupped her chin and stroked his thumb across her scar. “And why are you so cautious about everything, Audrey?”
He liked the way her name sounded on his lips. Natural and sweet. Kind of like her.
“I’ve learned from experience that things rarely ever work out the way you plan.”
“You sound more jaded than cautious,” he pointed out.
Her tongue swiped across her lower lip. “If that’s what you’d call it.”
“I’m asking what you’d call it.”
“I already told you,” she murmured.
He wasn’t so sure about that. In fact, Cameron would bet all the money in his bank there was a lot she hadn’t told him. A lot she no doubt wouldn’t want to tell him. And it seemed as though they both had trust issues. Cameron didn’t trust people to do what was right, and Audrey…well, he had a feeling that Audrey didn’t trust anyone.
Where did that leave them?
More important, where could they go from here?
Audrey’s gaze dropped to Cam’s mouth as he shifted his thumb to graze along her lower lip. She was soft and full and everything a woman should be, and how was he supposed to keep his distance from her?
It would be a completely shitty thing to sleep with her. She was here for Piper; then she’d return to her life in Boulder. And all Cameron could offer a woman was a good time between the sheets. It was all he wanted to offer a woman, and Audrey didn’t strike him as the type who was into recreational sex. Plus, it would make the situation too awkward, and he needed to start thinking about Piper.
Audrey shifted closer, as though she wanted to test the waters. Maybe place her mouth against his? Yeah, he wasn’t opposed to trying things out either.
But a faint buzzing interrupted the moment, sort of like having a bucket of ice water dumped over his head.
Audrey jerked back as though she’d been burned and glanced at her phone. “I need to answer this,” she muttered; then she hightailed it out of the kitchen as though her ass were on fire.
Cameron glanced at Piper as she girl’s gaze followed Audrey out the back door, before placing her wide green eyes back on him.
“How do you like your eggs, Piper?” Cameron asked, because it was better than apologizing for damn near molesting Audrey in the middle of his kitchen.