Cameron did as instructed and dried his hands on a dish towel.
“You like her,” his mom calmly stated. Everything about the woman was calm.
Perhaps he should take a page from her book. “Yeah,” he acknowledged.
“She’s good for you.” Pam placed her cool palm over his forearm. “And just so we’re clear, I’m talking about Audrey. Though I think Piper is good for you too.”
He slanted his mother a look. “Yeah, I got that. But she can’t stay here.”
Pamela tilted her head. “Why not?”
Cameron braced his hands on the counter behind him and sneaked a peek into the living room to make sure Audrey wasn’t close by. She’d moved from the table to the living room, where she and Piper were playing with the cat.
“Because she lives in Boulder,” he told his mom.
Pam waved that away as though it were such an easy problem to fix. “Oh, and people never move.”
“Why would she?” he countered.
His mother paused before answering. “That’s a good question.”
He heaved a long sigh. “Mom, why don’t you just say what you want to say?”
She smiled as though he was so amusing to her. “What I’m trying to say is, you like each other. And you both love Piper. Maybe you should give her a reason to stay. Make your move already.”
Make his move? Seriously?
He opened his mouth, but his mom beat him to the punch. “Why are you afraid of her?”
Okay, wait a minute…“Afraid?”
His mom laughed. “Honey, men never change. You all are the same at sixteen as you are at sixty.”
He didn’t think that was entirely true, but whatever.
“I’m not afraid of her,” he clarified.
“Okay, then you’re afraid of what she represents. And don’t pretend like you don’t know,” his mother went on as though reading his mind. “She’s different. She makes you uncomfortable.”
Cameron shook his head. “Why are you saying that like it’s a good thing?”
His mom came closer. “Because uncomfortable means there’s something there. Something you don’t want to acknowledge. And probably because you’ve never felt it before.”
Another sigh left him. “Mom…”
She held her hands up in defeat. “Okay, I’m officially butting out.”
Thank God.
Then Pam pointed an index finger at him, to drive her point home one last time. “But let me just say this. It’s rare to find someone who brings us out of our comfort zone. And, honey, I think you could use a little of that in your life.”
And she was gone, out of the kitchen as swiftly as she’d delivered her cryptic message. Or not so cryptic. Because Cam got what she was saying.
He liked it, his comfort zone. He supposed that was the point, but still…it kept him safe. Safe from commitment. Safe from getting hurt.
Cameron rubbed a hand along the back of his neck and spotted the woman who had his stomach tied up in knots. She was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, balancing plates in both her hands.
“Sorry,” she said with a blink. “You looked sort of…tense.”
Cam’s scowl deepened. “Why does everyone keep saying that to me?”
“Um…because it’s true?” Audrey ventured.
Cameron took the plates from her hands as she approached. “I’m not that tense.”
She offered a comforting smile. “You’re practically vibrating.”
“Yeah…” he started, and then forgot what he was going to say. Audrey blinked at him, and Cameron realized he’d been staring at her. How could he not when her hair kept brushing over her shoulders every time she moved? Or the way her enticing lemon scent kept making him think about summer afternoons and cuddling in a hammock.
“Cameron?” Audrey prompted.
“Yeah?” He gazed down at her, momentarily distracted by how her teeth kept stabbing into her lower lip.
“You sounded like you were going to say something else.”
Oh. Right. Except he couldn’t remember what.
“I just wanted to apologize for earlier,” he blurted. Because why not? He’d gotten so good at it.
Audrey’s brow furrowed. “For what exactly?”
Shit, she was going to make him spell it out. Of course she would.
“I didn’t want to imply that you and my mom couldn’t be friends,” he told her.
Audrey nodded. “So you’re apologizing for being an ass?”
He narrowed his eyes at her.
She held her hands up in defense. “Just trying to be clear. And just so you know, I don’t need your permission to be friends with your mom.”
Yeah, Cameron had already learned that about Audrey. She did as she liked, and screw it if Cam didn’t like it. “Okay, yeah, I was an ass.” He placed the dirty dishes on the counter and opened the dishwasher.
“Apology accepted. So, that was a nice thing you did for Piper,” Audrey told him. “Letting her keep the cat.”
Cameron snorted. “Do you really think I’d make her get rid of it? Even if it does look like an alien life-form?”
Audrey leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. “Actually, no. You wouldn’t do that to her.”
Cameron snorted. “Good to know you don’t think I’m that much of a dirtbag.” He hadn’t meant for the words to slip out. But there they were, hanging between the two of them like some insecure confession. Only Cameron had never had issues with being insecure. Some would say he was cocky. He’d call it confident. But with Audrey…something about her perceptive gaze made him feel like he was under a microscope. She was always watching him, making him feel like he needed to sit straighter or…something.
“Cameron,” Audrey said. She took a step closer and placed a hand on his arm. “Is that really what you think?”
His gaze dropped down to her slim, cool palm, cupping his forearm in a soft grip that he was sure was meant to be comforting. Except her touch didn’t comfort him. It was damn hard to be reassured when all he wanted to do was pin her against the counter and shove his tongue down her throat, maybe slip his hands underneath her baggy sweater so he could mold his palms over her plump breasts.
Audrey must have sensed the direction of his thoughts, because she snatched
