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.
Seven
Audrey closed the sliding glass door with a trembling hand and tried desperately to calm her thudding heart.
Cameron had been about to kiss her. And more horrifying than that realization was the fact that she’d wanted him to. From the second he’d crowded her against the counter, she’d recognized the look in his eyes and the low timbre of his voice.
Worse yet, she’d been turned on as hell, even though she knew this kind of seduction game would never end well.
Luckily she’d been saved by her ringing phone. And like the coward she was, Audrey had run away.
But what had burned her more than anything had been the smirk on Cameron’s face. The half tilt of his mouth had only heightened the burning sensation in her cheeks. He’d known exactly what he’d done to her and the fact that she’d wanted it just as much as he did.
But her focus needed to be on Piper, not a hunk of a man who could melt her bones with a simple stroke of his thumb.
Audrey jerked when her phone rang again. Whoever was trying to get hold of her had hung up, then immediately starting calling again. She stole a glance in the house and spotted Piper still on the stool and Cameron pouring pancake batter into a hot pan.
Audrey was about to answer her phone when a flash of blue out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She recognized the elderly woman in the blue polyester pants and towering beehive from the pancake breakfast, the one Annabelle had told her belonged to some group. What was it she called them?
The Beehive Mafia.
If Audrey didn’t know any better, she’d say this lady was spying on Cameron.
Even though Cameron was the last person who needed a protector, Audrey felt like she should put the woman in her place.
“Can I help you?” she asked Lois.
The elderly woman waved a hand in the air, then produced a phone. “Just pretend I’m not here. Trying to catch a shot of the guy, because he’s so damn crafty.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s not legal for you to be snooping around someone’s house and taking pictures,” Audrey pointed out.
Lois pursed her lips as she tried to see inside the kitchen window. “Oh, Cameron won’t turn me in. He tries to pretend he’s a bear, but really he’s just a big old softie.”
“Does Cameron know you sneak around his house with a camera?”
Lois tossed Audrey a look as though she’d lost her mind. “Well, of course he doesn’t. The man would flip his lid if he found out.”
Audrey arched a brow at her. “I thought you said he’d never turn you in?”
“And I don’t think he would. But that doesn’t mean he’d be pleased to find me here. Ever since that debacle with the married woman, the man’s been intensely private.”
Say what? “Married woman?” Audrey repeated.
Lois slanted her a look as she tried to get a better glimpse inside the kitchen window. “You didn’t hear me say anything.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean? Had Cameron been involved with a married woman? He didn’t strike her as the type, but then again neither had Rick, her boyfriend before Evan, and he’d turned out to be a two-timing douchebag.
But Cameron was different. She’d sensed from the very beginning that he was honorable, even if he was a bit gruff and rough around the edges. Was she wrong about him? What if he turned out to be like every other shallow asswipe?
For some reason the very idea made Audrey uncomfortable, even though it shouldn’t have bothered her. In two months she’d be gone. But it would matter to Piper, and Piper mattered to Audrey.
“Got one!” Lois exclaimed as she pumped her fist in the air. “Nothing sexier than a man who knows how to cook.” She shot Audrey a triumphant grin. “Our followers are going to love this one.”
“I really don’t think you should be posting pictures of Cameron without his knowledge,” Audrey warned her, even though she knew it wouldn’t do any good. The woman was in her own world.
Lois only offered a shrug of her frail shoulders. “Oh, he’ll have knowledge of it eventually. See ya.”
And then she was gone as stealthily as she’d arrived, slipping around the corner of the house.
Audrey blinked after her, warring between Cameron’s invaded privacy and the whole married woman thing. She supposed she could just ask him, but something told her he wouldn’t confide in her.
She shoved the subject out of her mind, for now anyway, and reentered the house, sure of herself that her pulse had calmed down enough. But as she entered the house, the sight in the kitchen brought her to an abrupt halt.
Cameron was at the stove, and Piper was seated on the counter next to him as she poured pancake batter from a measuring cup.
Her little legs were swinging back and forth and her teeth were digging into her lower lip. She finished pouring and set the measuring cup on the counter.
“I think it’s time to stir the eggs,” Cameron advised. He handed Piper a spatula. “Remember how I showed you?”
“Yep,” Piper answered. She stuck the spatula in the pan full of eggs and whipped the thing around.
“Be sure to scrape the bottom real good. We want them nice and fluffy.” As Cameron gave the instructions, he dropped a handful of shredded
