Cameron turned his narrowed gaze on Audrey. “You know, most people just count to ten.”
“I’m not like most people,” she told him.
One of his brows quirked. “I’m starting to realize that.”
They stared at each other for a moment, like two cage fighters waiting for the other to go down, the air around them crackling with the kind of crazy tension that would send some people running. Audrey had never been one to admit defeat, and she was starting to realize Cameron wasn’t either. So where did that leave them? Audrey couldn’t return to Boulder with Piper, and the little girl didn’t have anywhere else to go. Somehow she needed to convince Cameron to accept her.
He flicked a glimpse at his sports watch. “Look, I’m late for a meeting. Why don’t you give me your number and I’ll text you later.”
Audrey recited her number while he punched it into his phone. “But don’t text me. Just call.”
Cameron slid his phone away. “What kind of phone doesn’t have a texting feature?”
“Mine does,” she said. “I just don’t like to text.”
“But texting’s easier,” Cameron pointed out.
“I don’t like typing with my thumbs. It’s annoying. Just call me.”
One side of his mouth twitched. Was he laughing at her? “So what do you do when someone texts you?”
“I call them back.” Why was this a hard concept to understand? Then she stuck out her hand, determined to bring some sort of civility to this encounter. And also because she’d neglected to introduce herself or Piper. “I’m Audrey, by the way. I would say nice to meet you, but it really hasn’t been all that nice.”
Cameron glanced at her hand, as though he didn’t want to touch her, and after he wrapped his larger palm around hers, Audrey understood why. Holy mother of all tingles. The man had a firm grip with long fingers and a rough palm that scuffed against the softer flesh of her hand. While he held on longer than necessary, Audrey combated images of his hands sliding into her hair, or maybe skimming down her arms. Yeah, he probably knew how to use his hands to his advantage. Make a woman’s breath hitch, or her eyes drop closed.
Stamina of a porn star.
The women’s conversation slapped Audrey with a reality check. The fact that two strangers so freely discussed Cameron’s bedroom performance spoke to what kind of man he was. A man whore, as her best friend Roxy would say. As in, trouble. As in, Audrey needed to stay the hell away.
But how was she supposed to when he looked at her like he wanted to smear whipped cream all over her?
“No, you’re right,” Cameron responded, shattering Audrey’s thoughts. “It hasn’t been nice.”
Audrey gritted her teeth against his sarcasm and shifted her attention to Piper, who’d been unusually quiet. “And this is Piper.” And then she added with a whisper, “Don’t talk about her mom.”
Cameron squatted to Piper’s level. “Hi, Piper,” he said to the girl. “I’m your uncle Cameron.” Piper nodded, and Cameron reached out to finger Jellybean’s scruffy leg. “And who’s this?”
Piper hugged the stuffed cat closer. “Her name’s Jellybean. She’s a cat.”
Cameron offered a smile, and Audrey’s heart just about flipped out of her chest. “Is she your travel buddy?”
Piper nodded again. “She’s my best friend.”
Audrey’s heart went from tumbling all over her chest to constricting with pain. Jellybean had been with Piper since she’d been a baby, and now was the most constant thing in the child’s life. The knowledge that a stuffed cat was Piper’s best friend only reminded Audrey of how much the little girl had lost. Her mother, then moving away from her neighborhood and friends. Now her only friend in the world was a stuffed cat that smelled like chicken nuggets.
No, she has you.
“She keeps you safe, huh?” Cameron questioned.
Piper blinked those big green eyes, then gave a tiny nod.
Cameron pinched Piper’s chin. “She’s a special cat, so keep her close.”
Piper nodded again, and Cameron stood. But the man didn’t just stand. He unfolded with a gentle grace that shouldn’t exist in a man of his size. His muscles shifted and flowed with his movements as easily as water cascading over a boulder.
And why did she keeping thinking things like that instead of reminding herself of how annoying he was?
“I’ll be in touch,” he informed her before turning and stalking away.
Audrey stood on the now empty field, gaping after the man who’d visibly softened for his niece, giving her a moment’s hope that he wasn’t the ogre she thought he was, then dismissing them with a single curt statement. The man was probably used to giving orders and people jumping to do his bidding. She had no such plans to do any bidding for Cameron Shaw. The only thing on her agenda was getting Piper settled with him so the girl could work on healing and realizing she still had family who loved her.
She took a hold of Piper’s fragile hand and led the two of them off the field. “See?” she asked the girl. “That wasn’t so horrible, was it?”
But Piper didn’t respond, and Audrey had the feeling that she’d been just as horrified as Audrey had.
Three
Cameron Shaw sat on the other side of the desk from the athletic director, Drew Spalding. The two men hadn’t bothered to hide the loathing that had gone all the way back to their competition on the high school football field.
After high school, the two had gone their separate ways, and Cam had been happy to leave the prick behind. But a few years ago, old animosities had resurged when Cameron had an affair with a woman he only later realized was Drew’s wife. She’d worn no wedding ring, made no mention of a husband. Needless to say, the second he’d learned her identity, he’d immediately broken things off, despite her desperate pleas otherwise.
A few months later Drew’s marriage had ended, and he’d blamed Cameron for its demise.
That, in a nutshell,
