Audrey eyed the cat again, who’d already torn a hole in his sock. “Well, it’s certainly not female.”
“I don’t think it’s an actual animal. It looks like a science experiment gone wrong.”
“You guys are hurting J.J.’s feelings,” Piper complained.
“Where’d she come from?” Audrey asked, ignoring Piper’s words.
“Outer space,” Cameron muttered.
Audrey gazed at him for a moment. “Not an animal person, are we?”
Cameron placed a hand on his bare chest. “I’m absolutely an animal person.” He jabbed a finger at J.J. “That’s not an animal.”
Audrey watched as the cat went to town on Cameron’s sock before turning her half smile on him, and damn if it wasn’t like a punch in the chest. “What?” he demanded.
“You have pink socks?”
He resisted an eye roll. “No, smartass. That was a white one that got mixed up with a pile of red clothes.”
She tilted her head at him. “You actually separate your clothes by color?”
Why the hell should that surprise her? “Shocked to learn I can do my own laundry? I can even brush my teeth too.”
Audrey shrugged. “I kind of figured you’d just spray some Febreze on them. Or maybe beat them over a rock.”
“What the hell’s Febreze?” he questioned.
She just smiled as though he’d proved her point for her.
Then her mischievous gaze dropped to his chest, as though she just realized he didn’t have a shirt on. Cameron had yet to bother with getting dressed, and now he was patting himself on the back for his lack of forethought. In the recent weeks, he’d come to love nothing more than ruffling Ms. Bennett’s sexy feathers
His attention shifted back to her, and he added a quirk to his mouth for good measure. As though to say, Yeah, you’re not the only one who can play.
Audrey cleared her throat, effectively ending the moment. She was good at that: dragging them back to reality. Yeah, Cameron needed a good dose of that. But sometimes he wished she’d let herself go.
Hadn’t he told her all she needed to do was say yes?
He thought he’d left the ball in her court, but so far all she’d done was dribble the thing with no intention of returning it. Perhaps he should change that.
“I’m going to go play with J.J.,” Piper announced. She hopped off the counter and chased after the cat to where it had dragged Cam’s poor pink sock.
“So are you going to keep her?” Audrey asked.
At first Cameron thought she was talking about Piper. Funny how his thoughts automatically went to the little girl.
“I don’t know a damn thing about cats,” he said.
“But that doesn’t really answer the question,” she countered.
Yeah, he knew that. He also knew he’d end up keeping the heathen for the simple fact that he/she made Piper smile.
“Listen,” he started, trying to find his words without sounding like an ass. “I need to apologize for last night.” And then he added for old times’ sake, “And I’m not talking about getting your panties in a twist. Because I won’t say sorry for that.”
The red flaring in her cheeks gave Cameron a healthy amount of male satisfaction. “Don’t for one minute think you have any influence on my panties.”
They both knew she was full of shit. She was dying to fling said panties at him like he was a rock star.
“I think I do,” he argued.
“How are you always so sure of yourself?” she questioned.
He shrugged and feigned more confidence than he felt, especially around this woman. “Just am.”
She gazed back at him as her teeth sank into her full lower lip, making Cameron want to lean forward and capture it between his own teeth. Then she’d realize he had every reason to be full of himself. He already knew what she was taking more time to realize: that they’d be really good together. They’d burn up the sheets for hours, just the kind of physical release he loved best. And she’d love it too.
“You were saying…?” she prompted.
Yes, what had he been saying? Ah yes, he wanted to screw her into the early-morning hours.
Except no! That wasn’t what he’d been saying. It had something to do with her taking him seriously. Go figure with how far off track the conversation had gotten.
“Uh, yeah,” he said slowly. “I just wanted to say sorry for how I brushed you off last night.”
Audrey’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“About Piper’s schedule,” he clarified.
She nodded, but still looked like she didn’t understand. Or maybe she did, but simply didn’t believe him.
“I don’t want you to think that I’m not serious about her,” he said. He really had committed himself to learning more about Piper and giving her a permanent home with him.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “So what’s your plan after I leave?” she pressed as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“My plan?” he repeated. Was he supposed to come up with something to present to her?
“Yes,” she answered simply. “What do you plan to do with her in the afternoons while you’re still at practice? She gets off the bus at three thirty and you don’t get home until six thirty.”
“I can probably make an arrangement with a neighbor,” he answered. To be honest, he hadn’t thought who to leave Piper with while he was still at work. It would be a dilemma, because he couldn’t come home, pick her up, and bring her back to the field.
“And you know these neighbors well?” she pressed.
“Well enough.”
She nodded, but he could tell her brain was still turning a thousand miles an hour. “Well enough to leave a six-year-old with for three hours?”
He shifted his feet, trying to stuff back his annoyance. “They’re not convicted felons, if that’s what you’re asking.”
She took a step toward him, probably trying to intimidate him. The only thing she was accomplishing was turning him on. “I’m asking if they’re good enough for Piper.”
He matched her closeness, crowding her with his own dominance. She didn’t back down, and he had to give her credit for that. The woman knew how to hold her own.
“They
