Seriously unfair.
One side of his mouth quirked, as though to say, Yeah, I see you lookin’, honey.
“You hungry?” he asked instead of acknowledging the drool coming out of her mouth.
“Um…” She crossed her arms in front of her, suddenly reprimanding herself for not bothering with a bra. So far he’d been a gentleman, keeping his eyes above her chin, which was more than she could say for herself.
Her eyes, which didn’t seem to be functioning properly, dropped down again, taking special note of his flat brown nipples.
Cameron’s finger touched her chin and nudged her face up. “How about we keep our eyes up here?”
“Easy for you to say,” she muttered. At least she had a shirt on.
“Is it?” he countered.
She gave serious thought to smacking him. But that would mean putting her hands on him again, which she was so not doing.
“Yeah, I guess I could eat.”
“Don’t do me any favors,” he chided.
Actually, breakfast smelled damn good, like the meals her mother used to make. She’d already learned that Cameron was a good cook. Audrey liked having her own way in the kitchen, and Cameron clearly did too, which had led to some disagreements about food.
Who would’ve thought two people would argue about how food was supposed to be prepared.
Piper picked up a slice of bread and dropped it in the egg mixture. “Cameron let me crack the eggs,” she announced. “But I got shells in them. And when I took them out, my hands were all sticky with egg.”
“Let me see.” Audrey studied Piper’s hands and pretended to be appalled. “Oh, these are disgusting!”
Piper giggled, making her green eyes light up. “No, they’re not! I cleaned them,” she exclaimed.
Beside her, Cameron chuckled, and the sound did something funny to her insides, like they went all mushy and soft.
Piper picked up Jellybean, who had been sitting on the counter next to her. “Jellybean wants powdered sugar on her French toast. Powdered sugar is her favorite.”
Cameron shot a quizzical look at Piper as he removed two slices of browned bread from the pan. “I thought jelly beans were her favorite.”
Piper swung her legs back and forth. “Only for lunch and dinner. For breakfast powdered sugar is her favorite.”
Yeah, okay. They both knew the stuffed cat was as particular about her food as Piper was. But Cameron didn’t argue. He snagged a bag of the white stuff from the pantry and set it on the counter next to Piper. “Powdered sugar it is.”
“But don’t stick your hand in there,” Audrey warned when Piper unzipped the bag and stuck her index finger inside.
“Just a little bit to taste.” The tip of her finger came away white, and she licked the stuff off her finger with a soft smack.
Cameron finished making breakfast and settled Piper at the counter with her plate. Audrey fixed her own while Cam dumped a pound of syrup over his.
“I didn’t mean for us to crash your Sunday morning,” she told him. “You could have sent Piper back over to me.”
“It’s fine.” Cameron flicked a glance at Piper, who’d managed to cover the front of her pajama top with white powder. “She just startled me when I heard noise in the living room.”
Audrey watched the little girl for a moment, wondering if maybe she hadn’t been paying enough attention to her. Had she been neglectful with all her thoughts preoccupied with school, her business back in Boulder, and kissing Cameron? A wave of heat flooded her cheeks. She should have been more focused on Piper, not thinking about the man next to her and how she wanted to give those loose sweatpants a good tug. He was probably commando underneath his pants. All the hottest men usually went without underwear, at least in her experience. Something about them throwing off heat like furnaces and not wanting the extra layers.
She bet his ass was nice and tight…
And there she went again, centering her thoughts on a man who had only kissed her last night to shut her up, then turned around and made Sunday morning breakfast for his niece.
“I don’t think she knew what to do with herself,” Audrey commented. “She and Dianna used to make breakfast together every Sunday.”
Cameron glanced at her with an unreadable expression. Did that make him uncomfortable? Would he have had a woman here if she and Piper hadn’t been around?
“She told me,” he finally responded.
Audrey almost choked on her French toast. “Piper talked about her mom?”
Cameron nodded and cleaned the rest of his plate with a final swipe of his fork. He set it down on the counter with a soft clatter. “She said her mom used to make pancakes look like Mickey Mouse. She’d use blueberries for the eyes and a piece of black licorice for the mouth.”
Audrey smiled at the sweet memory, grateful to finally think of something other than Dianna frail and bald from cancer. “Dianna wasn’t a very good cook. They ate a lot of mac and cheese and hot dogs. But they always cooked together; it was sort of their thing.” She slid Cameron a look, hoping he wouldn’t see the sorrow on her face. “Dianna was really hands-on with Piper.”
Cameron shifted his gaze to Piper again. “I can tell. She’s a well-balanced kid.”
“What else did she say?” Audrey asked.
“Not much.” He crossed his arms, which only emphasized the enormity of his biceps. “Just that Sundays were always her favorite with her mom.”
“I should have a talk with her,” Audrey said more to herself.
“Why?” Cameron asked.
“Just to make sure she’s okay.”
“She’s fine, Audrey. You fuss over her too much,” he added when she shot him a confused look.
“I don’t fuss,” she argued.
He watched her while leaning against the kitchen counter. “You fuss.”
Audrey
