by Noelle Adams
Opening the front door of the house, Lily simply stopped and gaped. Their families had always been well-off but nothing that she had ever seen had compared to the natural beauty of this home. Log walls and stone fireplaces, exposed beams and twenty-foot ceilings in spots…it was breathtaking.
“There are three master suites and since you were the first ones to arrive, you are more than welcome to the third one,” Angela said.
Cam and Lily both looked at one another and grinned. As the youngest in each of their families, they always seemed to get the last pick on everything so with one mind they turned to their parents and said, “Done!”
Mary Cavanaugh was the one to take them through the house and by the time they had gotten to their room they had seen all six bedrooms, four stone fireplaces, a kitchen that was a chef’s dream with granite countertops and stainless steel commercial grade appliances and a view that was awe inspiring.
The main living area boasted floor to ceiling windows with views of three mountain ranges and had one of the biggest flat screened televisions that Lily had ever seen. On the lower level there was a family media room and a game room that rivaled an arcade. Outside there was a large private Jacuzzi spa, a fire pit overlooking the mountain sunsets, a badminton court and a backyard that was big enough to host really any sport they may want to play.
By the time they were alone in their suite, Lily felt like she had walked a mile. Cam shut the door and smiled at the fact that all of their luggage was already there. He mentally reminded himself to thank whichever father had done it because he was exhausted from the drive and then the tour and both he and Lily collapsed on the bed side by side.
Lily giggled and Cam turned to look at her. “What’s so funny?”
“You know that our sisters are going to be majorly upset that we snagged the last master suite, right?” Cam couldn’t help but nod and laugh. “And I mean, they totally should because look at this place? King sized bed, private bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub and what is that? Like a fifty inch TV mounted on the wall? Never mind going home, I may not leave this room this week.”
Cam found that he was completely on board with that idea especially if it meant that they could spend some of their time here like they had spent up in New York. And then he got worried. He knew that it had been implied by their parents and everyone had joked about it but the reality was that for ten days he and Lily were sharing this room together and it was positioned well enough away from everyone that it afforded them more privacy than they would probably need.
The problem was that he wanted to take advantage of that privacy and forget his rules and his reasoning for making those rules and have what they had on their last trip. He would never, ever suggest it to Lily because he knew that she was struggling with keeping up appearances as it was but he couldn’t help but wonder what was going to happen once the day was over and it was just the two of them under the blankets later that night.
It took a moment for him to realize that she was staring at him and he quirked a brow at her. “What?”
“Nothing. You just got really quiet over there. Don’t you think this room is amazing?”
Cam nodded. “It certainly is. We are definitely going to be the envy of our sisters.”
“We can’t cave, Cam,” Lily said seriously as she sat up and looked down at him. “We can’t let them bully us into giving up this room. You know they’re going to try so we are going to have to mark our territory now.”
Cam had his own ideas on how they could do that but he waited to see what Lily was going to suggest.
“We have to unpack right now; put all of our stuff away and totally settle in.” She scrambled from the bed and began unpacking her toiletries in the bathroom. “It is like a spa in here,” she called out to him.
Laughing once again at her enthusiasm, Cam forced himself to rise from the bed and join her. Personally, there was nothing any of their sisters could do or say that would make him leave this room. He had ten days left with Lily and they were going to spend it in this luxurious room that was making her happy.
By the time he joined her in the bathroom, Lily had pretty much commandeered the entire vanity area. Cam carefully placed his meager belongings in one corner and neatly arranged them before examining the space more closely. It was spa quality; tiled floors, jetted tub, granite countertops and a shower that could easily fit two people.
An image came to mind that was so vivid that he almost blushed.
By now Lily had moved on to the closet and was hanging her clothes. “It’s a shame that we’re only here for ten days because this closet looks a bit ridiculous with just our few measly belongings in here. We’d have to stay a month or so to fully utilize it.”
Cam followed suit and hung up his stuff and then placed the rest of his belongings out in the dresser that was in the main bedroom. Even though he and Lily had shared a hotel room, this seemed more intimate. There in New York, they had pretty much lived out of their suitcases but now they were sharing a dresser and a bathroom and…definitely a bed. There wasn’t a sleeper sofa on the other side of the wall so that he could offer to be a gentleman. They were in this room, pretending to be a couple, for ten days.
Heaven help him.
Taking their suitcases, he placed them in the large walk-in closet when he heard a weird sound coming from the bedroom. Walking out, he saw Lily jumping on the bed. He stopped dead in his tracks. “What are you doing?”
She looked down and stopped, a guilty smile on her face. “The final step to staking our claim; I’m messing up the bed so they’ll think we’ve already done all kinds of things on it and no one will want to take the room from us!”
All she had to do was ask and he would have gladly done all kinds of things with her on the bed. He quirked a brow at her. “Are you done?”
Carefully, she sat down in the middle of the bed. “Spoilsport.”
Cam joined her and gently pushed her so that she was flat on her back and then, for no reason at all except for the fact that he couldn’t seem to help himself, he kissed her. Lily instantly wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close and Cam felt himself sigh with relief. It was wonderful to just be able to do this because they wanted to and not because someone positioned them under some blasted mistletoe or that they had an audience. He was kissing Lily because he wanted to and she seemed more than willing to do the same. He didn’t want to read too much in to it but simply let himself enjoy the moment.
When he finally raised his head and looked down at the peaceful look on her face, he smiled. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she said. “You know, I kind of like doing that when it’s not so forced.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.” Cam saw her features relax even more and when she reached up to touch his face, he turned and kissed her palm. “Lily, I…”
They were interrupted by a knock on the door. “Hey, you two!” Angela said. “The others are starting to arrive and we’ve got food out in the kitchen. Are you coming down?”
Boy was he.
Lily stared up at him with wide green eyes unsure of what they should do or say. When Cam didn’t say anything, Lily shouted, “We’ll be down in a few minutes!” and waited until she heard Angela walk away. Then she waited to see if Cam was going to finish his earlier thought. When he rolled off of her, she figured that the moment was gone but held on to the hope that maybe he was feeling all of the things that she was. Maybe he wasn’t as unaffected by their pretend relationship as he was letting on.
And maybe, just maybe, by the end of the ten days there would be no more pretending.
***
“But that’s not fair,” Beth was saying snappishly as she looked first accusingly at Lily and then back to her parents with a pout. “Why do they get the master suite? Shouldn’t it be done in age order?”
Lily rolled her eyes but held her ground. “Aren’t we a little bit old for that? I mean honestly, what’s the big deal?”
“If it’s no bi
g deal then take another room. I’m the oldest and I should get the master.” Beth looked imploringly at her parents. “It’s only fair.”
Cam had heard enough and was just about to open his mouth when Jack Cavanaugh did something that he had never witnessed before. “Stop being such a pain in the ass, Beth. I mean really. Aren’t you a little old for throwing temper tantrums?” When his eldest child nearly gaped in horror at him, Jack shrugged. “Too bad there wasn’t a room with bunk beds. It seems to me that you would have done well in there.”
Beth stood in pure infuriated glory and stared at her mother for help. Mary simply picked up her glass of wine and followed her husband out to the deck. Then Beth turned to Cam and Lily. “I bet you’re feeling pretty smug right now, aren’t you?”
Lily walked by and picked up her own glass of wine and then handed one to Cam. “I don’t need to feel smug, Beth. The house is huge and each room is magnificent. I don’t see why you’re making such a big deal.”
“Like I said then; take another room.”
Cam pulled Lily in close and kissed the top of her head. “That’s not really an option. You see we’ve already unpacked and settled in and…used the bed.” He gave Beth a wink and then led Lily from the room before either of them could burst out in hysterical laughter at the horrified look on Beth’s face.
“Cameron Greene,” Lily said as she pulled him into a tiny alcove out on the deck. “I do believe I have corrupted you.”
He gave his best evil laugh and when he heard someone approaching he pressed his body against Lily’s, pinning her against the wall and kissed her. Cam heard her soft whimper and touched his tongue to hers and sank into the kiss. If he could have, he’d have taken them right back up to their room and said to hell with all of this family bonding. So far they weren’t off to a great start with that. He heard a disgusted snort behind him and slowly lifted his head up and around to see Beth glaring at them. “For crying out loud, if the two of you are going to carry on like that then at least have the decency to go and use the room you stole from me.”
This time there was no hiding the hysterical laughter as they joined hands and went to join everyone out on the deck.
***
Cam had put it off as long as he possibly could.
It was time to go to bed.
The day had gotten way better after their little confrontation with Beth. Once Cam’s sisters arrived and neither of them even commented on not having a master suite, Beth calmed down considerably. They all worked together to do some makeshift decorating with supplies that both the Greene’s and the Cavanaugh’s had brought with them and the men had actually gone out and purchased a live tree.
All in all it was a festive afternoon and evening. Dinner was lively and thankfully Beth had been the only one to draw any attention to Cam and Lily so they had both been able to enjoy themselves for the first time in weeks.
Looking over to where Lily was sitting beside the fire pit with her parents, he was hesitant to go over and interrupt them. They seemed to be deep in conversation and from where he was standing, she definitely looked relaxed; something that was out of the ordinary for whenever Lily had to talk one-on-one with her parents. Cam looked at his watch and saw that it was nearly midnight and his whole family had gone up to bed. Should he interrupt their discussion to say goodnight or just go up to their room?
Good manners prevailed and he walked over and quietly excused his interruption. “I’m going to head up,” he said to Lily. The Cavanaugh’s looked around and noticed that everyone else had turned in.
“Are we the last ones up?” Lily asked and Cam nodded.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt; I just wanted to say good night to you,” he said to Mary and Jack, “and to tell you that I’ll see you upstairs.” He kept his tone light and hoped that her parents were still able to look at him like Cam, the boy they always knew, rather than Cameron, the man who was sleeping with their daughter. Without checking to see their expressions, Cam leaned down and kissed the top of Lily’s head and turned to walk away.
“Wait,” she said as she stood and stretched. “I’ll see you both in the morning.” Lily turned and kissed both of her parents good night and then walked over to catch up with Cam. Her gait was a bit lazy and she hadn’t realized how tired she was until she actually got up from her comfortable position by the fire. Taking Cam’s hand in hers, together they walked into the house and up to their room.
Eight
Cam quietly closed the door to their room and leaned against it and watched as Lily walked around settling in. She took off her earrings and placed them on the dresser and then opened a drawer and pulled out what he guessed were her pajamas. With a sleepy smile, Lily went into the bathroom and closed the door and that’s when Cam finally let himself breathe.
“This is ridiculous,” he muttered as he walked further into the room to do his best to settle in himself. Kicking off his shoes and putting them near his side of the bed, Cam sat down and wondered just exactly what it was that he was supposed to do. In the grand scheme of things, this situation was nothing new. They had shared a bed in New York for four nights and so he knew that they could do it.
They even managed to sleep.
The problem with the current situation was that Cam didn’t want to sleep. He and Lily were supposed to be laying the groundwork for their breakup and making love was not going to be conducive to making that seem believable. “This is why I hang out in a lab all day,” he said quietly, rising to go and get his own pajamas from the dresser. “I should have just made the move overseas and none of this would be happening.”
“Are you back to moving overseas?” Lily asked around a big yawn as she stepped out of the bathroom. As in New York, she had on a pair of red flannel boxers – this time with snowflakes on them – and a green cami.
“Very festive,” he said motioning to her attire.
“Thanks. It came with a Santa hat but that just seemed like overkill.” Lily trudged over to her side of the bed and began the task of pulling the mountain of decorative pillows off of it and pulling the blankets back so that she could crawl in.
Cam took that as his cue to take his turn getting ready for bed. With any luck, Lily would be asleep by the time he came out and all of his worries would have been for nothing. He worked slowly and went through every nighttime hygiene chore that he had ever been taught. Confident that he had wasted enough time, he shut off the light and quietly opened the door to the bedroom.
And there sat Lily with her tablet playing Solitaire.
“Seriously,” he said with a chuckle as he walked toward the bed, “you have a problem.”
Lily looked up from the screen and smiled at his green flannel pajama pants and white t-shirt. “Are you sure you don’t want to add a hat and gloves to that getup?” she teased.
“We’re in the mountains, Lil,” he said blandly as she climbed into the bed. “We have no idea how well the heat works in this house.”
She shot him a look of utter disbelief. “Really? That’s what you’re going to go with? Poor heating in the luxury house?” With a tsking sound, she went back to her electronic card game. After a moment she spoke. “I’m a little disappointed in you, Cameron.”
“Me? Why?”
Lowering her tablet to her lap, Lily turned her head to look at him. “We’ve known each other our entire lives and you’re tippy-toeing around here like I’m a landmine or something. It’s painfully obvious that you’re uncomfortable with this whole situation and I don’t understand why?”
How could he tell her that he wasn’t so much uncomfortable as he was turned on? Was there a delicate way to say that he wanted to lose himself in her arms and her body that wouldn’t come off sounding crude?
“For crying out loud, Cam,” she sighed, “I can hear you thinking from here.” Lily took her tablet and twisted around to place it on her nightstand and turned off the bedside light leaving the room dimly lit by the lone lamp on Cam’s side of the bed. “Fine
. Don’t tell me what’s going on.” She flopped down and turned on her side, her back to him. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Staring at the ceiling, Cam tried to think of something to say to break the tension but he had a feeling that no matter what he said right now, it would only serve to anger Lily. With a sigh of defeat, he reached over and turned off his own bedside lamp and then simply lay there in the dark, wide awake and still staring at the ceiling.
He could hear her breathing, smell the soap she used to wash her face before she came to bed and even though it shouldn’t have been sexy, it was. Cam inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, savoring the scent. Slowly he let out his breath and was surprised when Lily rolled over toward him.
“Want to watch a movie?” she asked quietly. “We have that ginormous TV at our disposal. I’m sure we could find something to watch.” As she spoke, she managed to curl up beside him and Cam lifted his arm so that her head could rest on his shoulder and her hand could lay on his chest.
“I thought you were tired,” he said softly, his hand playing with her long blonde hair which felt like silk.
Lily shrugged. “You know I’m a night owl. I always want to go to sleep but sometimes…” she sighed, “sometimes it’s hard to just unwind and relax.”
“And a movie will help you with that?”
She was taking a huge risk; thoughts of their earlier time in this room came back to her and it may not be wise and she may very well regret it but for right now, Lily didn’t have the strength to care. “No,” she said huskily as her hand wound up Cam’s neck and into his hair to pull him toward her. “But this would.” And then she kissed him.
In a heartbeat Cam had Lily beneath him and cursed his excessive attire. If he had just worn boxers like he usually did, he’d be feeling Lily’s silky skin as she wrapped her legs around him and her soft hands as they raked up and down his back. They had all night and yet right now he was desperate for the feel of her. His mouth left hers briefly to rain kisses along her cheek and her jaw and down her throat until he reached the swell of her breasts right above the lacy edge of the cami she wore.
