But Cameron knew why. As he shut the door, he found himself glancing around as though expecting to find a little yellow square waiting for him. Of course there weren’t any. Audrey had no reason to leave one for him.
He blew out a breath as he turned the television off in the living room and headed toward his bedroom. But at the last minute, he detoured to the guest room, where he knew Piper had been set up for the night. The light had been left on, but Cameron wasn’t surprised. He knew she sometimes slept with the light on because she got scared.
He stepped into the room and watched Piper sleep. Luckily Pinkie Pie didn’t even stir when he sat on the edge of the bed. The thing merely flicked an ear and kept on sleeping. Or plotting a world takeover.
Piper sighed when Cameron ran his hand over her soft hair. As he sat there, he tried to summon a memory of Dianna as this age, to see if Piper resembled her mother. He knew Dianna had been blond, and the two of them shared the same deep green eyes of their father. But Piper’s lips were fuller and her chin pointier. Other than that, he couldn’t tell if Piper really resembled her mother all that much.
For the first time, Cameron felt a pang in his chest. Piper would probably ask questions like that one day, wouldn’t she? She’d want to know more about her mother, what she was like, her favorite stuff. And Cameron wanted to kick his own ass for not taking the time to get to know his own sister well enough. He hadn’t cared. And now he wouldn’t be able to tell Piper everything she’d want to know about her mom.
But Audrey would know.
One more reason for Audrey to stay. For Piper and the bond the two of them had. She could tell the little girl all about her mother and what sort of person she’d been.
Piper stirred in her sleep, and Cameron turned the light off before leaving the room. All he wanted to do now was crash, but he stopped in the hallway. Actually, that wasn’t all he wanted to do, but it was late. She probably wasn’t still up.
But if she was…
Yeah, she probably was.
Despite their tumultuous night together and the uncertain way they’d left things, Cameron still wanted to talk to her. To know…Oh, hell he wasn’t sure what he needed to know. That she was still there. That she hadn’t completely shut him out.
Cameron pulled his cell out of his pants pockets and entered his darkened bedroom. He dialed Audrey’s number and collapsed back on the bed, listening as it rang once, twice, then three times. He was about to hang up when her sweet hello brought a smile to his face.
“I didn’t wake you, did I?” he asked her.
He listened while he heard the rustling of bedding on the other end. Cameron gritted his teeth against the image of her lying beneath the sheets. “No,” she answered. “I’ve been awake.”
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth while he stared at the dark ceiling. “Couldn’t sleep without me there, huh?”
“Wouldn’t you like to think so?” she teased.
Cameron folded one arm behind his head. “I know so.”
“Okay, you caught me,” she agreed. “I was lying here, pining for you.”
His grin grew. “I knew it. You can’t live without me.”
“Don’t let it go to your head or anything.”
“Too late,” he admitted. “And we won tonight, so thanks for asking.”
Her chuckle was soft in his ear. “You haven’t given me a chance. You’ve been too busy stroking your ego.”
“I’d rather you do the stroking,” he murmured.
“I’m sure you would.”
Cameron shoved back the disappointment when she hadn’t agreed. “How was your drive up there?”
“Long and uneventful.”
He paused before asking his next question. “When’re you coming back?” Desperate much?
She sighed. “I just got here, and you’re already desperate for me to come back? Is Piper driving you that crazy?”
“She always drives me crazy,” he admitted, deliberately ignoring her first question.
“I think you love the crazy,” she teased.
Yeah, he did. Never thought it possible, but there it was.
They were both silent a moment, Cameron listening to the night sounds and to Audrey’s easy breathing from the other end.
“I miss you,” he finally admitted. “I…I want you to come back.”
She didn’t respond right away, and Cameron’s heart started to sink. “Cameron,” she said on a sigh. “We both need time before we have this conversation again.”
She was right. He knew she was right. But he didn’t want time to think. He just wanted her.
“Of course I miss you,” she said after a moment of silence. “I have no one here to show me the incorrect way to throw a football.”
He narrowed his eyes, even though she couldn’t see him. “One more word like that out of your mouth and I’m hanging up.”
She got quiet a moment. “I missed you the second I pulled out of the driveway this morning.”
Her admission created a knot in his stomach.
“But I still need time to think,” she went on. “And you need the time to think too.”
He pulled the phone away from his ear and glared at the screen, as though she could see him. “What the hell would I need time to think about?”
“Whether this is what you really want,” she answered.
He clenched his teeth. “I already told you it was.”
“People change their minds, Cameron.”
Damn it, she still didn’t trust him. “I already told you, I’m not going to.”
Her deep sigh was like a fist around his heart. “I know you said that, but…”
He waited for her to finish, but she didn’t. “But what?”
“I have a history of people deciding not to stick around,” she explained. “Things get a little tough and they check out. I’m trying to protect myself.”
He got the need to protect oneself, but damn. “I’m not your father, Audrey. Haven’t I told
