When they go home, he sat on the couch and she curled up next to him. He had his arm around her with his hand on her hip. He had been rubbing circles on her for hip for about half an hour and it was driving her up the wall. She rubbed her hand slowly up his thigh and back down, hoping to torment him like he was her. He slipped his hand under the hem of her shirt so he was stroking her bare skin. She rubbed her hand under his shirt and lightly traced the muscles of his abs. Just as she started to run her fingers across the waist band of his jeans, her phone went off. She heard Cameron groan as she got up to check her phone and smiled, at least she had affected him too. When she opened the message that came through, she stared at it confused.
“What is it, baby? Is something wrong?” Cameron asked leaning up to look over her shoulder.
“I don’t remember anyone taking a picture, do you?” She asked turning the phone toward him.
“No, but I like that picture. We should have it printed.” Cameron said rubbing her back.
It was a picture of her and Cameron holding the baby. Callie had taken it when Cameron leaned down to kiss the top of her head. You could see his hand helping her support the baby. The smile on Kara’s face was beautiful. She couldn’t remember ever smiling like that. Cameron reached around her and sent the picture to his phone then texted a thank you to Callie. Callie immediately texted back girls meeting tomorrow at two o’clock at the hospital and she was kind enough to inform Kara she would be in the hot seat. Kara groaned and set her phone back down.
“Want me to distract you?” Cameron murmured against her neck.
“What did you have in mind?” Kara whispered.
“We could watch TV.” He placed an opened mouth kiss on her neck.
“Don’t want to.” She said as she leaned into him.
“Or we could…” Cameron trailed off as he pulled her around in his lap and kissed her.
“Yes, that.” Kara answered as he kissed down her jaw.
Cameron stood and carried her to the bedroom. An hour later she had her leg across his and her head on his chest as she sighed in contentment. She never imagined her life could be so good.
“Night, Kara, I love you.” Cameron whispered then kissed the top of her head.
“Love you more.” She murmured, then drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 8
Kara stared down at the beautiful baby in her arms. It was hard to believe Carter was already a month old. He was such a little cutie. He was wide awake looking up at her. Her cast had come off yesterday. She felt better being able to use both hands to hold him. He had his tiny fist wrapped around her pinky as she cooed to him.
Today was the first actual girl’s night they had since she was beaten, and she had managed to avoid being questioned when Chasity was still in the hospital because Carter had been fussy that day. She would be in the hot seat to night, but Carter was doing a great job of diverting their attention for now. They all sat in Chasity’s living room passing the baby around. Lately, their wine had been replaced by sweet tea. Kara liked tea better than wine. She had never developed a taste for it, or any alcohol actually. Chasity, Callie, Lindy, and Taylor chatted in the back ground, but her mind seemed to be stuck on Cameron.
He had stopped wearing his black cowboy hat at home. She asked him why he always took it off and hung it by the door when he came home instead of wearing it anymore, instead of answering right away, he had kissed her. She had a habit of rubbing her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck and that time was no different. When he pulled back, he had smiled at her and told her it made kissing her easier when they didn’t have to look for his hat later. She felt her cheeks heat at the memory and she smiled.
“Earth to Kara.” Lindy waved a hand in front of her face to bring her back to reality.
“Sorry, what are y’all talking about?” Kara asked as she bit her lip.
“We were talking about planning a cookout, but now I think we should talk about that look.” Callie said staring her down.
“What look?” She asked innocently.
“Don’t play dumb with us. It’s time you come clean about everything.” Taylor said, her expression was half irritation, and half hurt.
“Please, don’t be mad at me.” Kara said reaching for Taylor’s hand. “I didn’t tell you at first because I didn’t want you involved in my mess. After a while, I thought I was safe and didn’t want to relive that part of my life.”
“We can understand that, but will you tell us now?” Chasity said passing her a bottle to feed Carter.
Kara nodded and told them her story. She tried to keep her eyes on Carter so she didn’t have to see their reactions, but by the end they had all moved to crowd around her. She felt the tears fall, even as she tried to fight them back. Someone took the now sleeping baby from her arms. Once he was gone, she felt arms come around her. She leaned into Callie’s hug, as Taylor gripped her hand again. Once she calmed down, she looked at the girls and saw they all had tear tracks down their rosy cheeks.
“Well, this calls for ice cream.” Lindy sniffled then went to the kitchen. Kara laughed as she returned with a gallon of chocolate swirl and five spoons.
“What? I figured this would be easier than washing dishes later.” Lindy said passing the spoons around.
“Yeah, I can get behind that theory.” Chasity said scooping up a heaping spoon full. After taking a big bite, she looked at Kara. “Now, tell us the rest.”
“That was the whole story.” Kara tilted her head in confusion.
“Of the bed stuff yeah, but what about Sheriff Hottie?” Taylor said wagging her spoon at Kara.
“Um.” Kara stuffed a spoon full in her mouth so she didn’t have to talk.
“Yeah, you said he married you to keep you safe. He shot that son of a biscuit eater over a month ago.” Lindy said tapping her spoon against Taylor’s in victory.
“Do you loooove him?” Chasity sing-songed. Kara blushed deep red and they gasped.
“I knew it!” Callie said excitedly trying not to wake the baby. “So, are y’all staying married then?”
“Yeah, he told me from the start this marriage was real. By some miracle, that man loves me too.” Kara whispered the last part.
“I knew there was something between you and the sheriff.” Chasity grinned at her.
“Is the dimple in his chin as much fun to lick as a dimple in the cheek is?” Lindy asked.
“Lindy! Did you seriously just ask that?” Chasity said putting her head in her hand.
“What? I think it’s a legitimate question. I love to lick…” Lindy was cut off by Callie’s hand covering her mouth.
“Seriously, that is our brother. Those should be inside your head thoughts.” Chasity said pointing her spoon at Lindy.
“Must be the pregnancy hormones.” Callie mumbled as she mover her hand away.
“Whatever.” Lindy shrugged going back for more ice cream.
The rest of the night went by in a blur. Kara had missed these girls so much. Lindy must have left her brain to mouth filter at home. She had everyone laughing so hard they had to wipe away the tears. Lindy had always been hilarious, but tonight she didn’t even know why they were laughing. When she got home, Cameron met her at the door with a kiss, then they went to bed.
*****
Cameron looked around at all of his friends gathered for a cookout. The only thing wrong with this picture was that Kara had disappeared as soon as they got there. None of the girls were in sight, so he didn’t take it personal. He walked over to where Chase was grilling steaks and chicken for dinner. Luke walked over a minute later and handed him a bottle of water.
“Thanks.” Cameron opened it and took a swig.
“How is Kara doing?” Chase asked him.
“Good. She disappeared into the same whole that swallowed up the other girls.” Cameron told him with a smile.
“Does she have trouble sleeping or going out after what happened?” Luke asked quietly.
“No.
That stubborn woman demanded to sit on the porch swing the day she got out of the hospital.” Cameron said shaking his head.
“I would have taken the damn thing down.” Chase mumbled.
“I wanted to. I even told her we could move, but she refused and said she wasn’t going to let fear stop her. She said it was like letting him still have power over her if she ran from it.” Cameron’s heart beat sped up at the memory of how scared he had been when he heard the door open that day.
“It must be something in the water. All of the women here are so stubborn.” Luke told him with a shrug.
“What are we talking about?” Jacob asked as he walked up to them.
“We’re talking about how stubborn the women are around here.” Luke told him.
“Yes, they are, but I wouldn’t change anything about them.” Jacob nodded.
“True.” Cameron echoed. “I wish Kara’s life would have been easier, but she wouldn’t be Kara without going through what she has.”
“Speaking of Kara, how are things with y’all?” Luke asked.
“Great. She enjoys being at the house.” Cameron said with a smile.
“Really. Lindy came home the other night talking about licking a dimple, any ideas?” Luke raised an eyebrow at him.
“Hmm.” Cameron murmured then burst into a fit of laughter.
“Are we going to have to ban them for girl’s night?” Jacob said shaking his head.
“No, Kara said Lindy forgets to filter her thoughts.” Cameron said getting himself under control. “But she didn’t tell me about that conversation.”
“I came home to five giggling women and an empty gallon of ice cream in the middle of them.” Jacob said shaking his head.
“Don’t be a tattle tell.” Chasity said elbowing Jacob in the ribs.
“Trust me, they have more to tell than me.” Jacob said as he kissed the top of Chasity’s head.
“What do you mean?” Callie asked walking over to Chase.
“Not me.” He told her.
“Girl’s night conversations are supposed to be kept a secret.” Kara told them. Cameron pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her as soon as she was close enough.
“Dimples.” Luke said throwing the word out to the group.
“Who told?” Lindy gasped trying to look innocent.
“Who indeed.” Luke said then kissed her.
Cameron laughed with everyone else. He would have to ask Kara more about it later. She liked to touch the dimple in his chin, so he figured it was something about that. He leaned down and kissed her neck, thankful she had her hair in one of those messy buns she loved. The cookout went great. There was an incident with food being thrown, but not by the twins. Apparently, anymore talk of dimples was out, and when Lindy brought it up, Callie threw a carrot at her. It got bad after that. Kara still had icing in her hair from Chasity throwing a red velvet cupcake at her.
“You look happy for someone who had a water hose turned on her.” Cameron said loving the look on her face.
“That water was cold, but the twins had fun.” Kara said. “At least Callie gave me a towel so I wouldn’t soak your seats.”
“Yeah, the twins had you pinned.” Cameron agreed, then put his hand on her thigh.
“Honestly, I couldn’t imagine a better day. We got to hang out with all of our friends, and now I get to go home with my husband.” She said covering his hand with hers. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her palm.
“Every day with you is a perfect day.” Cameron told her setting his hand back on her thigh. “I do have a question though.”
“Okay.” Kara squeezed his hand.
“Tell me about the dimple thing.” It was more of a statement, but it didn’t matter.
“Nope.” Kara said then turned to face her window.
“Come on baby. Luke said Lindy came home talking about licking a dimple.” Cameron tried to coax her.
“Lindy has a big mouth.” Kara huffed.
“Come on, tell me what it means.” Cameron tried again.
“Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. She asked if the dimple in your chin was as fun to lick as one on a cheek.” Kara glared at him. Cameron felt his cheeks heat with a blush.
“Lord have mercy, no wonder y’all keep what’s said at girl’s night a secret.” Cameron said shaking his head.
“Usually it is very tame, but we decided being pregnant broke her brain to mouth filter.” Kara shrugged.
“What did you tell her?” Cameron was curious now.
“Nothing. It took Chasity and Callie to make her shut up about Luke.” Kara had started to relax again.
“There are some things people shouldn’t know.” Cameron said faking a full body shudder and making Kara laugh.
“Absolutely. We spent most of night eating ice cream and passing Carter around.” Kara leaned her head back against the seat.
“He’s a very quiet baby. If I hadn’t seen the portable crib, I wouldn’t have known he was there. Are you getting tired, my love?” Cameron asked softly. He wanted to talk to her about them having children, but he didn’t want to push her.
“Yeah, I don’t know why. I’ll take a quick nap when we get home.” Kara muttered.
“That’s fine baby.” Cameron slowly rubbed her thigh knowing he would have to carry her in.
She didn’t stir when he got out of the truck. He went around and opened her door, then gently picked her up and carried her inside. He knew the wet clothes would chaff her skin, so he stripped her, then put one of his t-shirts on her. After he changed clothes, he crawled in bed with her. She wasn’t usually this tired, maybe it was playing with the twins in the water that had worn her out.
Chapter 9
Kara was glad to be back at work. Susie had lifted her hostess duty only rule when the cast came off almost two months ago. Cameron had stopped in this morning and kissed her before he went to the station. She wasn’t going to tell the girls, but licking the dimple in his chin was a lot of fun, and it seemed to drive him wild. She smiled at the thought as she poured drinks for some of her regular customers.
“I put a group of tourists in the back booth.” Susie told her as they passed.
“Thanks. I will get them after I drop off these drinks.” Kara said as she kept moving. It was almost the end of her shift, and she was definitely ready to go home and rest.
“Hey, guys, what can I get y’all to drink?” She asked the group of tourists once her hands were empty.
“Coke. For everyone.” One of the men answered and something about his voice unnerved her.
“Sure. Do you know what you want to eat or do you need a minute to look over the menu?” Kara asked trying to keep her hand from shaking. What on earth was wrong with her? It was like her body was reacting to a fear her brain didn’t understand.
“Burgers all the way and fries for everyone.” The man told her. “What’s your name?” He smiled at her.
“Kara.” She didn’t want to answer him, but Susie had ingrained the southern hospitality rules in her head when she started here. It wasn’t polite to not answer, plus she had on a name tag, so he could have read it at any time. “I’ll go put your order in and be right back with your drinks.” Kara walked away as quickly as she could without running.
As she filled their cups, she took nice deep breathes to calm herself. She had no reason to fear those four men. She hadn’t recognized their faces. Something about the one that spoke’s voice had scared her. While she put the drinks on a tray, she reminded herself Aiden was dead and she was safe. She felt Susie watching her, but she walked over to the table as calmly as she could and sat the drinks down, then walked away quickly.
“Are you alright?” Susie asked when she followed Kara into the kitchen area.
“Yeah. Just give me a second.” Kara had her trembling hands clasped in front of her trying to stop the shaking.
“What is it? You are as white as a sheet, Kara?” Susie said placing her hands on top of Kar
a’s. “You’re shaking. Did they say something to you?” Susie gripped her hands tighter.
“No. I have no idea what is going on. It’s like my body is terrified, but my brain doesn’t know why?” Kara told her honestly.
“Do you want to go on home? I can take care of things here.” Susie offered.
“No. I have less than an hour left. I’ll be fine.” Kara took another deep breath, then tried to give Susie a reassuring smile.
“Nice try, dear.” Susie said with a laugh. “You worry about everyone else, and I’ll take care of the back booth.” Kara nodded and they went back out in the dining area.
Kara felt eyes on her, but wasn’t sure if it was all in her head. About fifteen minutes before time for her to get off, the group in the back booth left, and Kara relaxed. She was tired and ready to get home. She decided to call the doctor when she got home and set up an appointment. Maybe she needed vitamins or something to boost her energy.
“Are you okay to drive home?” Susie asked before Kara left.
“Yeah, I’m good now.” Kara gave her a genuine smile.
“Alright, be careful and call if you need me.” Susie hugged her, and Kara walked out of the diner.
Kara was a cautious driver, but she never paid attention to the cars behind her. Living in such a small town, she knew everyone and always waved when she passed someone. When she first moved here, it had made her feel uncomfortable, but now she loved her small town life. It didn’t take her long to leave the small town roads behind on her way home. Cameron’s house wasn’t really far out, but there wasn’t much traffic out this way. She enjoyed the scenery and foliage as she drove, hating she forgot her sunglasses. It was a beautiful day, but the way the sun shone through the trees as she drove, it was almost like driving through a strobe light. The light and shadows could be killer if you had a headache.
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