When Cameron turned around and pinned her with those dark blue eyes, her stern talking-to evaporated.
“Did you come by to give a heartfelt thanks?” he asked, then strolled right past her.
Wait, what?
Audrey spun around, still holding Piper’s hand, and hurried after him. “Excuse me?” she called. But he didn’t listen. What a shock. “Can you please wait? Or at least slow down, because I’m wearing heels.”
He paused and glanced at her over his shoulder, while flicking a brief glimpse at Piper. “Look, I don’t remember you, but I always use protection.” Then he turned abruptly and kept walking.
Audrey could only stare because what?
Was this guy capable of saying anything polite?
Audrey stuffed back the bout of serious annoyance and plowed after him. Alexander Wang, Anna Sui, Bill Blass…
She reached him right as he approached the fence and stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. His very bulky and muscular shoulder…No, she wasn’t supposed to allow those thoughts to interfere, and she definitely shouldn’t be thinking about how solid he was after what he’d said to her.
“What is your problem?” she demanded. “Piper isn’t your daughter, you ass; she’s your niece.”
Cameron turned fully to face her and jabbed his hands on his hips, and gave Piper more than a fleeting look. He gazed down at the child as though mentally trying to work through the knowledge in his head. “Come again?” he questioned.
Audrey stepped closer so Piper wouldn’t overhear. Unfortunately, all that did was give her a whiff of some seriously delicious stuff. Woodsy and spicy. “Your sister, Dianna—”
“I was sorry to hear that she passed away,” he admitted. Something flashed across his eyes. Regret maybe? Audrey couldn’t be sure, because it came and went so fast that she almost forgave him for his shitty attitude. “Dianna and I weren’t that close,” he went on.
She’d known Dianna and Cameron hadn’t had much of a relationship because Dianna had said as much. But he’d known he had a niece, hadn’t he?
Cameron jerked his head toward Piper. “How’s she holding up?”
His concern for the girl managed to break through the gruff first impression he’d given. Though Audrey wasn’t ready to let him off the hook just yet. She spared Piper a glance; she’d tugged Jellybean even closer. She was practically strangling the cat. “Pretty good, considering.” She reverted her attention back to Cameron. “Dianna left her with you.”
Cameron blinked; then he scratched his square jaw, which was edging just past five o’clock. “Me?” he repeated. “For how long?”
Audrey paused before answering, preparing herself for whatever reaction he’d have. “Forever. You’re her guardian now.”
Cameron blinked again, and Audrey had the urge to knock her knuckles on the side of his head to see if he had anything going on up there. Then he laughed. As though he hadn’t been a big enough of an ass, he had the gall to actually laugh. That shouldn’t have been sexy but, dammit, it was. And a part of Audrey was more irritated with herself than the man towering over her with his form-fitting shirt, lean hips, and arrogant approach.
“That’s funny,” he stated. “But no.”
“What do you mean no? Dianna signed guardianship over to you, so it’s legal. Piper’s yours.”
“She can’t be mine now,” he argued.
“Well, she is,” Audrey insisted.
Cameron scrubbed a hand down his face, the sounds of his whiskers grating along his palm giving Audrey goose bumps on top of goose bumps. “I don’t understand,” he finally said. “Why would Dianna do this? We didn’t even know each other.”
Audrey had wondered the same thing for weeks. But she’d been too grief-stricken to question anything other than why Piper had been left motherless. “I don’t know,” she answered. “But she made her wishes clear. She wanted Piper to stay with family. She never told you?”
Cameron’s dark blue gaze bore into Audrey’s, making her squirm in her Manolos. He flicked another glance at Piper. “No. Isn’t there any other family who can take her?” he asked in a low voice. “Maybe someone who knows more about kids than I do?”
“There isn’t anyone else.”
“What about the kid’s father?”
Audrey peeked at Piper, who was picking at Jellybean’s ears. “He’s a shithead who took off when he found out that Dianna was pregnant. She didn’t have any siblings, and your father—”
“I know all about my father,” Cameron growled.
The ticking in his jaw gave Audrey the hint that his parent-son relationship with his old man was a sore one. Given how Dianna had come into Cameron’s life, Audrey wasn’t surprised.
“Okay, then,” she replied, trying to regain her train of thought.
Cameron blew out a sigh. “Look, I can’t have a kid in my life right now. You need to find someone else to leave her with.”
“I’m getting the impression that you think I’m asking you to take her,” Audrey snapped. “See, I have a document signed by Dianna and notarized stating you are Piper’s legal guardian until she turns eighteen. I don’t have the authority to ‘leave her,’” she said, using air quotes, “with anyone else. And even if I did, I couldn’t, because there isn’t anyone else.” She poked him in the chest with her index finger. “You’re it.”
“I’m sorry, but no,” he finally said.
Oh, dear God, the man was going to be the death of her. Like slow, painful, agonizing death, and he’d probably watch her go down with a smile on his too masculine, too handsome face.
Audrey pulled a deep breath and forced herself not to strangle his thick neck. “Calvin Klein, Carolina Herrera,” she whispered to herself, hoping the gods of fashion could steady her boiling blood. “Christian Dior, Christian Lacroix…”
“Uh-oh,” Piper whispered.
Cameron shot an alarmed look at the kid. “Uh-oh, what?”
“You upset her,” she told her uncle.
Cameron scratched the side of his face. “I what?”
“Christian Louboutin, Coco Chanel…” Audrey went on.
“She says
