One of his dark brows lifted when she didn’t answer. “Audrey?”
She blinked herself out of her trance. “Sorry. And no, it was no trouble.”
Cameron chanced another look at Piper, who’d crawled into the booth after Audrey, dragging Jellybean with her. “The two of you hungry?”
“No—”
“I’m hungry,” Piper cut in as she bounced in her seat. She pinned an excited look at Audrey. “Can I have pizza with garlic bread? And I want a Shirley Temple with extra cherries.”
Audrey glanced at Cameron to find his mouth curled in a half smile. Did he think the whole thing was funny? “Uh…”
“They don’t have pizza here, squirt,” he quipped. “But I’m sure they can whip up a Shirley Temple.”
Piper bounced in her seat some more. “Well, what do they have?”
Cameron set his drink down and reached for a plastic menu at the end of the booth. “Let’s see…” His dark blue gaze moved over the menu. “They’ve got grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, and a cheeseburger.”
Piper made a face. “Ew, I hate cheeseburgers.”
His mouth quirked again. “What about a grilled cheese? They use the really good bread.”
Piper shook her head. “I don’t really like cheese.”
Cameron shot Audrey a quizzical look, but she just shook her head. “Don’t ask,” she said.
“Chicken nuggets it is, then,” Cam said as he tucked the menu away.
“I want jelly beans with my nuggets,” Piper announced.
Audrey patted Piper on the head. “Restaurants don’t serve jelly beans, sweetie.”
Cameron looked at Piper, then back at Audrey. “What’s with the jelly beans?”
“They’re her favorite thing,” Audrey explained.
Cam stretched his arm along the back of the booth, revealing a thickly muscled bicep. “I thought the cat was her favorite thing.”
Audrey smiled. “And the cat’s name is Jellybean.”
Piper held the cat up. “Yeah, and Jellybean loves jelly beans too. That’s why I need some with my dinner. She’s hungry.”
“Why don’t we stop at the store after we leave, and I’ll get a bag of jelly beans,” Audrey suggested.
Piper considered that for a moment, scrunching her face up in thought before nodding. Audrey couldn’t help but smile because the kid was so damn cute and full of expression.
A dark-haired waitress approached their table. Cameron ordered Piper’s nuggets, then glanced at Audrey in question. She shook her head, mostly because her stomach was tied in too many knots to eat, partly because the big man seated across from her kept stretching his long legs against hers, and partly because she knew she had a battle ahead of her. He thought he couldn’t take Piper in, because for whatever reason he’d convinced himself he was no good for kids. Maybe Cameron was one of those people who didn’t give themselves enough credit. Maybe he thought he wasn’t good enough for Piper.
Either way, she needed to change his mind.
“Here,” he said abruptly, bringing one hip off the bench seat to retrieve something out of his pocket. He tossed a small folded piece of paper on the table. “For your trouble coming down here.”
A punch of nausea settled in her stomach as she stared at the folded check. He couldn’t be seriously thinking he could just pay her to go away. Did Piper mean that little to him? What about his sister? Was their relationship so meaningless that he couldn’t give his own niece a chance?
With reluctance, Audrey grabbed the check and opened it. He’d left the pay to the order of blank, and filled in the amount for one thousand dollars. Never mind the fact that Audrey could use the money to dump back into her home staging business, the very idea was so beyond insulting that she couldn’t even think of a decent response. All she could do was set the check down and glance around the crowded diner.
“What’re you doing?” Cameron wanted to know.
“Looking for the hidden camera to see if I’m being punked,” she answered.
She heard his heavy sigh before settling a glare on him. “Audrey, I’m serious.”
“And I’m not?” she tossed back. “You think this isn’t serious?” she questioned with a gesture toward Piper, who’d pulled out one of her books to read.
Cameron held up a hand in defense. “I didn’t say that.”
She crossed her arms over her chest just so she wouldn’t reach across the booth and strangle his sexy ass. “Why don’t you tell me what you are saying?”
Audrey felt a moment of mild satisfaction when Cameron opened his mouth to respond, only to shut it again. Had she rendered him speechless? She should only be so lucky.
“I’m saying what I’ve told you from the beginning. I. Can’t. Take. Her.” He probably thought spacing out his words all dramatic and stuff would really drive his point home. Like she was supposed to collect Piper and head out of town. Fat chance.
“And I’m. Not. Leaving.” Yeah, he wasn’t the only one who could do the theatrical word spacing thing. She could match him. “You think I’ve been annoying so far?” She resisted yanking him by the collar when he snorted. Man, she had some major self-control tonight. “You haven’t seen annoying yet. I’ll continue to show up at practices. I’ll be at your house, all your dates—” Because she was sure he had tons of those. “Everywhere you turn, we’ll be there.”
“You will, huh?” He made a show of taking a long, drawn-out sip of his soda before replacing it on the scarred Formica table. “You don’t know where I live.”
That’s all he had to say? “I’m sure I can find it.” When he didn’t respond, because he was just smirking at her like the whole thing was a big joke, Audrey leaned forward. “You have no idea how much she’s been through,” Audrey whispered, fighting to keep the tears back that had morphed from anger. “You seriously can’t be that heartless.”
Cameron
