Changing the Rules

by Erin Kern

  Before she could consider it too long, her cell phone rang. Her stomach clenched when she spotted her brother’s name on the display. The only time he called was to talk about her mother’s disappearance and the case that detectives were still working on. However, as much as Audrey wanted to hear something about what had happened to her mother, she wasn’t in the mood to talk to him. Their conversations made Audrey long for the time when she and Paul could laugh and tease and play. Now they just passed along information, like two coworkers who occasionally saw each other at a staff meeting. She allowed the call to go to voice mail. If Paul had important information to relay, she could call him back.

  It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Life wasn’t supposed to be this way. At least her life wasn’t. When she’d been a kid, she’d received an unreasonable amount of satisfaction planning her future. Her career, husband, kids, and all that. So far, nothing had worked out the way she’d dreamed all those years ago. Everything was upside down and constantly changing, and the element of the unknown placed a throbbing tension in the back of her skull.

  Mom gone. Best friend gone. A brother she barely talked to. A father who was emotionally unavailable. A career that was finally thriving, and one that she loved. But was that what she’d been reduced to? That woman who threw herself into her job because she had nothing else going for her? No husband waiting for her, no kids to tuck in at night? No big, overly loud Christmases with family bustling around the kitchen and nephews and nieces running down the halls?

  And then there was Cameron. He was everything she’d once wanted. He had a good, stable job. He was a homeowner. Not to mention how softhearted he was with Piper. Smart. Good-looking…

  Oh, who was she kidding? The man gave new meaning to “good-looking.” It was like looking at Chris Hemsworth and thinking eh.

  But Audrey had enough experience to know life was more about a checklist. It was about feelings and instinct. Spontaneity and living. Not simply going from point A to point B. Sometimes Audrey felt like she’d become one of those people.

  Only thing was all her instincts about Cameron had been screaming at her since day one.

  Be careful with this one.

  He’s just like the others who’ve hurt you.

  Audrey pulled in a breath as she lifted her head and spotted Cameron on the back porch watching her. The look on his face was peculiar. His brows were knitted in a way that she thought maybe he wanted to go to her, but for some reason he held himself back.

  Don’t, she wanted to say to him.

  “Everything okay?” he called.

  “Yeah.” Audrey stood from the step, because she needed to do something with her nervous energy.

  Audrey reached the top of the steps, but Cameron hadn’t moved from his spot behind the railing. He had one lean hip pressed against the wood, his hands folded over his impressive chest. That was another thing Audrey noticed about him. The man leaned a lot, as though casual were his middle name. As though he had all the time in the world. He moved with an easy, casual grace of someone who was confident in his own skin. And yet he always watched her with an intensity that made her want to squirm.

  “I see Piper found you,” she said.

  Cameron surprised her by smiling. The action had been unexpected and sent Audrey’s hormones into overdrive. “Yeah, she’s been telling me about her day for the past half an hour. Some kid named Gavin kept poking her in the shoulder with a purple crayon and was sent to the time-out chair.”

  Audrey smiled along with him because it was impossible not to smile when talking about Piper. “I think she had a good day.”

  A look of concern flashed across Cameron’s face. “Were you worried she wouldn’t?”

  “How could I not worry about that?”

  He lifted one shoulder. “I guess you can’t really help it, can you?”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Nothing.”

  She took a step toward him and tried not to notice how the man towered over her. “No, there was something there. You had a disapproving tone.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “Yes, you did. As though I can’t help but to fuss over her, as you put it before.”

  He blew out a breath. “I only meant because you care about her. Not everything has a double meaning, Audrey.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah, oh,” he replied.

  “You know, if she’s ever bothering you, you can just send her back to me,” she said.

  Cameron’s head tilted as though he didn’t understand the question. “Bothering me?”

  Audrey tried not to let his tone get under her skin. She had the feeling she’d insulted him. “Yeah, you know. Piper can be a lot if you’re not used to her.”

  “Meaning?”

  Audrey picked at a splinter on the wood railing. “I just don’t want her to wear you down before I leave.”

  “Wear me down?”

  She blew out a breath. “Why do you keep repeating everything I say?”

  “Because I’m trying to figure out where you’re going with this,” he told her.

  Where was she going? Audrey wasn’t sure she knew. The only thing she was certain of was that seeing Cameron look almost concerned for her had thrown her off balance. Audrey didn’t like being off balance, despite the fact that it was a permanent condition around this man. So she’d done the only thing she knew how to do.

  She was trying to get her bearings back, to get her surroundings back under control. Usually it worked, but around Cameron, her normal methods always seemed to fail her.

  She shook her head, knowing Cameron wouldn’t understand. “Forget it. So Piper got off the bus at three thirty,” she told him.

  Cameron blinked as though trying to process the change in subject. “Okay.”

  Audrey nodded and watched him. Not even a flicker of interest. “Don’t you think that’s something you should know?”

  “And you just told me,” he said without skipping a beat.

  “Yes, but what if I hadn’t told you? How would you know when she got home? And who will be here to meet her after I leave?”

  Cameron held his hands up. “Okay, hold on. Why don’t you tell me what’s really going on?”

  Audrey blinked. “What do you mean?” Except she knew exactly what he meant.

  He took a step closer to her so that his hand rested next to hers on the railing. Close enough to feel the heat from his body, even though the temperature was in the low sixties. “I mean why you’re so hell-bent on picking a fight with me.”

  “I’m not,” she lied. “I just need to make sure we’re on the same page—”

  He stepped closer. “Audrey…”

  “How are you supposed to know these things if I don’t tell you—”

  “Audrey,” he murmured again as he placed his hand over hers on the railing.

  His tone stopped her cold, and she dropped her attention to his hand, so much bigger than hers, cradling it with a soft yet firm touch. His hand felt good. Like warmth blooming across her belly, toe-curling goodness. Which begged the question…if his warm palm felt this good with just a simple touch, what would it feel like if he were to really touch her?

  “Holy John Galliano,” she muttered to herself.

  One side of Cameron’s mouth kicked up. “Christ, don’t start that again.”

  “I can’t help it. You’re so…” Her voice trailed off because she didn’t know quite how to explain Cameron, especially to the man himself. Actually, that wasn’t true. She had a pretty good idea which words to use. Smokin’ hot. Seriously sexy.

  Yeah, no way was she saying that to him.

  The grip on her hand tightened. “So what?”

  Audrey opened her mouth, then snapped it shut when her brain almost malfunctioned and forced her to spew out obscenities, like smoldering and tight-as-shit-abs. No reason to balloon the man’s ego any bigger than it already was.

  “Don’t hold
back, Audrey,” he said to her. “Tell me what you really think.”

  How was she supposed to do that when the thumb stroking back and forth over her hand was short-circuiting her wires?

  She blew out a breath. “Karl Lagerfeld.”

  “You’re going to have to start using your words, Audrey,” he teased.

  “You’re just…” she started. “Too much.”

  “Too much,” he repeated.

  She couldn’t help the smile that curled her lips. “There you go again repeating my words.”

  He shook his head. “And there you go again saying things that don’t make sense.”

  Well, it made sense to her. She just didn’t know how to explain it to him. At least other than I want to jump your bones and bang like rabbits.

  “You’re too much for me,” she blurted out.

  She expected him to pull back. Instead he grinned. A big, sexy, you-know-you-want-me smile that had shivers skating down her spine.

  “That wasn’t meant to be funny,” she scolded.

  “I’m not laughing,” he said around his shit-eating grin.

  “Kind of seems like it,” she argued.

  His thumb continued back and forth over her knuckles. “Yeah, it’s kind of funny.”

  Lovely to know her torment was so hilarious to him.

  He leaned even closer, so that his nose was a breath away from her. She could feel his breath, hot on her skin. She resisted the urge to close her eyes and lean in to him, for just a moment to feel his warmth and strength. Maybe tuck her head in the curve of his neck…

  “Because you want me,” he stated. As though he were giving her a weather report.

  Why was he not as off balance as she was? Why was she the only one who seemed to be affected by…whatever it was between them? The thought left Audrey feeling cold and treading in familiar waters from every other guy she’d been involved with.

  “You have a high opinion of yourself,” she countered, because that was easier than admitting he was right. Cameron straightened and chuckled. “Yeah, okay.” He gave her hand a tug and led her toward the sliding glass door. “Let’s get some dinner.”

  She followed him blindly because his hand felt so damn good wrapped around hers. Protective and fitting. Like their fingers belonged tangled up in each other. The thought startled Audrey as much as it created a warm bubble around her heart.

  Just as she was about to follow him through the door, he surprised her by stopping and pinning her against the door frame. Her brain screamed at her to push him back, to slap away the hands that were creeping over her hips and tugging her to him so that she could feel all the hard goodness beneath his athletic pants.

  “But let’s get one thing straight, Audrey,” he breathed in her ear.

  Why was he always whispering in her ear? And why didn’t she have the compulsion to stop him?

  “Soon you’re going to stop saying those ridiculous names,” his soft voice said.

  Her eyes shuttered closed when his mouth traced the outer shell of her ear. And then her quaking breath turned into a gasp when his lips oh so gently touched the sensitive spot on her neck.

  God, the man knew how to use his mouth. Cameron was persistent and tender at the same time, knowing how to draw out the suspense of just kiss me already until Audrey wanted to sink her teeth into the bulk of his shoulder.

  “And you’re going to say mine instead.”

  The confidence in his voice was almost as unnerving as the reaction her body had to his. She could feel the bulk of his thighs against hers all the way to his hard chest teasing the tips of her breasts.

  Finally she gave in to the compulsion to lean into him and press her lips to his jaw. But the moment was cut short and Audrey was left cold when Cameron pulled away and lifted her chin with the tip of his index finger.

  “Soon, Audrey.”

  Twelve

  The next morning Cameron woke up with a stiff neck and a bitch of a headache, not to mention the serious case of blue balls, straining against the fabric of his boxer briefs. He blamed the woman across the way for that, and the habit she’d developed of licking her lips whenever he was around.

  He’d thought about knocking on her door last night to finally scratch the itch they’d both been feeling. But it had been midnight when he’d returned home, bordering on homicidal after the Bobcats had lost. He’d come to learn that Audrey sometimes stayed up late, but his hand had hesitated on the sliding glass door at the sight of the pitch-dark guesthouse. Instead he’d gone to bed with sweat beading his temples and a raging hard-on. Normally he’d call Tessa, who’d been texting and calling nonstop about when they were going to “get together.” Cameron knew her idea of getting together was what he needed to ease the tension humming through his system. But for some reason the idea of getting sweaty with a woman who enjoyed casual sex as much as he did didn’t really light his fire anymore.

  The thought should have sent him into a panic. But, Cameron realized as he swung his legs out of bed, he felt…oddly calm, as though a final piece of a puzzle was clicking into place. Strange that he hadn’t even realized there was a piece missing.

  Or maybe he had known but hadn’t cared. He hadn’t cared there’d been a hollowness inside him that he’d been content to leave unfilled. He still wasn’t sure if Audrey had been the one to fill it or if it was Piper.

  Cameron scratched his bare belly as he padded toward the kitchen to start coffee.

  “What the fu—” Cameron jumped back at the sight of Piper in his living room, holding some horridly hairless creature that looked like a cross between a giant gerbil and a mutant rat.

  Piper’s eyes widened as she cradled the squirming creature to her chest. “That’s a bad word. You should say ‘shoot’ instead. Sometimes Audrey says cheese ’n’ rice.”

  Of course she did. Cameron cleared his throat and stayed back, for fear that the um…animal might morph into something else. Or spew hot venom everywhere.

  “What is that thing?” he asked the girl.

  The mutant in Piper’s arms squirmed enough until the kid finally let it go. The thing turned over and started licking its crotch. Wonderful.

  “It’s a cat,” Piper answered as a matter of fact, as though it should have been so obvious with its strangely pink skin and way too big, black eyes.

  Cameron cleared his throat again. “That’s definitely not a cat.”

  Piper reached out and ran her hand over the animal’s back, because Cameron refused to call the thing a cat, and giggled when it nibbled on her fingers. “Yes, it is. Isn’t she cute?”

  Cute? It looked like it had been turned inside out.

  “Where’d you find it?” Cameron asked.

  “In your backyard. She was wandering around by herself.” Piper crooned at the thing, telling her what a pretty girl she was. Maybe Piper had swallowed a hallucinogenic. “I think she lost her mommy. I think she’s sad.”

  Cameron was pretty sure the cat wasn’t sad. “Why is she bald? Did someone set her on fire?”

  Piper’s eyes widened as she let out a gasp.

  Good going, asshole. You need to learn how to talk to kids.

  Cameron took a tentative step into the living room, careful to make sure the thing wasn’t going to hiss or…foam at the mouth, or something. “I just mean, why doesn’t she have any fur?”

  Piper just lifted her little shoulders and ran her hand down the cat’s back again. “I don’t know. Maybe someone cut it all off.”

  With what, a lawn mower? Or maybe a blowtorch?

  “I’m going to keep her and name her Jellybean Junior,” Piper announced.

  Was the kid for real?

  Cameron didn’t know what to sputter out first. That no way in hell were they keeping that sorry excuse for a feline, or could they please come up with a more original name?

  But before he could utter either thought, Piper spoke up again. She scooped the real Jellybean off the living room floor and bounced on her knees. “I’m
hungry. Can we make some more pancakes? And can I have chocolate chips in them this time?”

  “Uh…” Cam kept one eye on the cat, who’d pounced over to the end table and was batting her scrawny paws at the lamp cord dangling over the edge. He used his boot to scoot the cat away, because the last thing he needed was for the lamp to come crashing down on Jellybean Jr. Except…No. He wasn’t that heartless. “Why don’t we go see what we can find in the kitchen?”

  It was strange how he’d started thinking “we” when talking about him and Piper. When had he stopped being an “I”?

  Piper ran into the kitchen, dragging her stuffed cat with her. The real cat followed, her sharp claws skidding across the tile. Cameron briefly wondered if he should, like, feed the thing. Maybe give it some water? Cats drank water, didn’t they?

  Shit, he didn’t know. There was no way they could keep it. He was barely fumbling his way around Piper, without adding a deranged cat to the mix. A cat who was currently attacking Cameron’s shoes. Without thinking, he scooped the shoes up and plopped them on a barstool.

  While Piper helped herself to the pantry, because she had already learned where he kept his food, Cameron snagged his cell off the kitchen counter and snapped a photo of the cat. He texted it to Brandon, with the caption:

  Found a buddy for you.

  Cameron placed the phone down and scrounged up some breakfast for himself and Piper. His gaze flickered to the guesthouse, briefly wondering if he should check on Audrey. Would she still be sleeping? Showering? The image of her standing beneath the hot spray, water cascading down her damp skin…damn. Cameron needed to pull himself together, lest he embarrass himself in front of his niece.

  He and Piper had just started cracking eggs in a bowl when his cell vibrated. Cameron checked it, already knowing what Brandon’s response would be.

  If you try to leave me with that thing, you’ll have to enroll in witness protection. What the hell is it? It looks like a shell-less turtle.

  Cameron thumbed his reply. It’s a cat. Just show the picture to Stella.