by J. L. Lora
Cam lay on his back, holding his stomach, trying to calm the waves of mirth her speech caused to roll through him.
"Come on, Adri. I'm sorry. Don't be mad," he said trying to do some damage control. Her back was to him now and her arms were crossed. "Come on, babe. I'm sorry. I take it all back."
"You know, there are better ways to be adventurous than to get on that death trap," she said, turning around to face him.
He leaned on his elbows. "Like what?"
The smile she gave him froze the laughter in his throat. Then she reached behind her dress and pulled down the zipper. She pulled her arms from the straps and let the short dress fall slowly. He stopped breathing at the same time his heart began to race. Her tits bared for his eyes to feast on, followed by the planes of her belly, then the curves of her hips and finally her long legs. He tried to swallow but found that he couldn't.
She was naked before him, except for pink, lacy boy shorts. She stepped out of the dress and walked over to him, not stopping until she was towering over him one leg on each side of his face. His hands shook.
"Tell me, Cam, where would you rather be, on top of the ride or under it?"
•••
"I don't think I stopped smiling for a week," Cam confessed.
"I know," Adrianna laughed, stopping the spoon on the way to her mouth. "It was weird and so cute."
"Cute?" His lip curled.
"Mmmhmmm," She answered him with her lips around her spoon but her shoulders shook, trying to suppress more laughter at the pained face he made.
"Cam?"
She’d been so caught up in Cam and their memories, Adrianna didn’t see the tall brunette with eyes as green as Cam’s approach their table. She wore a form-fitting dress Adrianna saw in Marie Claire last month. It was a designer number that seemed like it was molded from the woman's body.
Cam mirrored her warm smile as he stood up and embraced her, Adrianna couldn't remember where she knew the woman’s face from. He turned to introduce the woman and the memory struck Adrianna like brick on a glass, shattering the warmth in her chest and breaking the mood.
"Adrianna, this is Sophia."
"Hello." Adrianna ignored the heat flushing up her neck and managed to smile, extending her hand towards the woman. "It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise." Sophia smiled and gave her a limp noodle handshake. The woman's eyes were sharp, searching, measuring, assessing. Apparently not finding, she turned back to Cam. “I'm so happy to see you. It's been a while since you called." Sophia pouted a bit. It was pretty and perfect, the kind of pout that sells lip-kits.
Her fingers drifted over his forearm comfortably, making Adri stiffen. Cam put his hand over them, removed them and pressed them on to the table.
"It's been a busy time and you could have called as well," Cam said, his tone soft and friendly.
"Cam and I used to date but we’ve stayed really good friends." Sophia explained to Adrianna. The slight waggle of her eyebrows and emphasis on the word “friends” was lost on no one.
Bile crept up Adri’s stomach, taking hold of her belly. Adrianna wanted to hurl her wine glass at them.
She chuckled instead. "Yes, I remember seeing you on the red carpet one time. You wore that beautiful, long, green dress with the deep V. I watched from the TV in the hospital the night I had to take my two-year-old to the emergency room. She was running a fever of one hundred and four."
"Adrianna…" Cam started but Sophia cut him off.
"That was so long ago when we attended the Met Gala. If your baby was two then, what is she, ten now? Are you into the whole family thing now? You hate children." Sophia said, her eyes widening before she let out a laugh. “Cam, the family man.”
The maliciousness in the woman's voice was obvious, but even more glaring was that Cam didn’t set her straight. That’s what set Adrianna off.
"My daughter’s nine, actually. You know, I remember hearing about your breakup and wondering why such a perfect couple would break up. You are obviously made for each other." She stood up from her table, ready to leave.
Cam reached out and stopped her. He moved closer to her and whispered in her ear. "That was long ago. There's no reason for you to make a scene."
"Oh, that was not my intention at all. Should I apologize to your girlfriend?" she asked for his ears only. She turned to face Sophia. "Excuse me, I need to retouch my lip gloss. I’ll let you both catch up. It was nice meeting you."
She pried her arm from Cam's grasp and made her way to the bathroom.
Once there, she resisted the urge to pull at her hair. She wasn't a teenager anymore. She was a woman and a mom. Jealousy fits should not be part of her life. Still, no matter how much she lectured herself, she couldn’t get her blood to cool or her breathing to slow down. She retouched her lip gloss while giving herself a you’re-better-than-this talk. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and walked back to the table. Cam waited alone.
He stood up. "I settled the bill. I figured you wouldn't want to stay."
His tone was sedated, the kind you use when you’re afraid someone will go mental. A fresh wave of anger set off through her but this time it was directed at herself. She’d been immature and she couldn’t forgive herself for that. Why couldn’t she fall into a black hole before she’d made a fool of herself?
"That's for the best. I'm tired and would like to go home," Adrianna said, proud of how steady and casual she sounded. Home didn't mean his house but her apartment over her little bistro. It meant her bed, watching TV with her baby, where she never had jealousy fits. He wasn’t back in her life even a month and she was already reverting to her teenage self. It was a sign. One she’d be a fool to ignore.
They walked out of the restaurant in stark difference to how they came in. There were no provocative looks or small touches. When he opened the door for her, she thanked him but didn't look at him.
The ride home was mostly silent, except for the time he tried to talk.
"I don’t want to be rude, Cam, but I don't want to talk about this right now. I have a headache and just want to go to bed."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Crab was going to leave her broke. Adrianna groaned and hit the enter key harder than she had to on the spreadsheet cell. They’d spent more than usual on crab meat for the bistro in the past two weeks. Damned that market price bullshit and the shortage of crab pickers.
"It's pitiful."
She looked up from the laptop to find Luciana at the foot of the bed.
"Ever heard of knocking?" she snapped.
Unfazed, Luciana climbed into the bed and scooted closer to her. "You look awful."
"Thanks," Adrianna muttered and bared her teeth. "Now, get the hell out."
"You and my brother left this house disgustingly in love last evening. You were like lovesick teenagers with all the lingering looks and small touches. I considered taking Bron and going to a hotel somewhere because I thought we were going to hear some ungodly noises." Luciana paused. "Instead, I wake up next to my snoring niece. Both my brothers are passed out drunk in the living room and you're here looking like a city bus full of hobos ran over you.”
"I hate you so much," Adrianna practically growled.
"No, you don't." Luciana reached for the laptop, closed it, and placed it at the end of the bed. Then, she sat back against the headboard and patted the spot next to her. "Now, tell Doctor Lux all about what happened."
Luciana lost her mind. There couldn’t be any other reason and the last thing Adri was going to do was indulge her crazy. She wanted nothing more than to flick the other woman on the forehead with her finger and kick her the hell out of the room. Instead she sighed and moved to sit where Luciana indicated. The miserable four hours of sleep caught up with her and left her without fight. She gave up trying to sleep at four in the morning. She spent the time since then doing the books for the bistro, organizing inventory, double checking Bronwyn's events for t
he next two months. She was exhausted but not sleepy. Mostly, she was hurt and embarrassed.
"We were having a great evening," she began. "The restaurant was beautiful and everything was sexy and we were in this haze, you know? Then, this woman came to our table and began talking to Cam…” Adrianna went through the whole eventful evening, all the way to the point when they got home.
Luciana was silent for what seemed like hours to Adrianna before she began to laugh. "Thank God!" She threw her arms around Adrianna and kissed her cheek loudly.
What the fuck. She tried to pry herself away from Luciana, to no avail.
The other woman continued talking, "This is such a relief! I thought you turned into some kind of patron saint of maturity and poise. I am so glad to see the old Adrianna is in there. I mean, don't get me wrong. New Adrianna is a great mother to my niece. But it's nice to see traces of the girl who dragged Stacy Morris by the hair when she found her with Tommy near the bleachers."
Adrianna covered her face. "God, I was awful back then."
Luciana shook her head. "You were fun."
"You hated me," Adrianna reminded her.
Luciana smiled. "We hated each other. We also made that fucking hick town tolerable. What are you going to do about Cameron?"
Adrianna sighed. "I don't know. It wasn't exactly my best moment, and God knows I don't want to face him right now." She was mortified at the way she acted the night before. She should have known better. There were better ways to handle something like that. She was always preaching to Bron about being a lady and look what she did.
"You don't have to face him now."
Adrianna frowned. "What do you mean?"
"We can go have a girls' day. Do some shopping, grab some food and maybe a movie, or hit the spa so they can make you look human again," Luciana said, lifting one of Adrianna's limp curls between two fingers. “I can make a call and get us into the Green Goddess Spa. They’re dying for a review from me.”
She ignored the dig Lux buried between sentences. "What about my daughter?"
"She has a father now, Adrianna.” Lux winced right after she said the words but plowed on. “And don't you want to face him when you're looking your best?"
"I couldn't do that to him. You said he's hung over. Bronwyn is a ball of energy and she has two puppies that require constant attention. It would be torture." Adrianna toyed with the hem of her tank top, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. With Cameron not being a morning person, it would be pure hell.
She wasn’t that evil, though.
"I guess it's good that you are so mature. I admire you, really.” Lux studied her nails and sighed. “You’re just so good. I bet you have never had a few drinks and then had to take care of Bron hung over or when you didn't feel well." Luciana got off the bed and began to walk to the door.
"It just wouldn't feel right," Adrianna called out after her.
Luciana stopped at the door and said one word, "Sophia."
Adrianna got off the bed. "Give me two minutes."
Five minutes later, they were tiptoeing down the stairs and to the family room. She checked on Bronwyn, kissed her and whispered in her ear that she would be back later. Her daughter barely stirred but nodded. Then, she and Luciana snuck out the door but not before stealing a glance at the two men asleep on the couches. Adrianna texted Cam as Luciana drove away.
"This is so bad," she said.
"No, it's not. It's co-parenting," Luciana countered.
•••
The earth was shaking. Cam was sure of it. It was the big one that would sink the island of Manhattan forever. He was trying his hardest to remain still and ignore the buzzing sounds coming from his back pocket. Only, his phone wouldn't stop ringing. He reached back and pried it out, bringing it close to his face. He opened his eyes and immediate pain seared through his skull and his stomach revolted. He moaned. His mouth was dry, like he swallowed a cup of sand. He took a few shallow breaths and opened his eyes again. His phone screen flashed Adrianna's name.
He sat up too quickly, then heaved forward, praying for death’s merciful touch. Hope filtered through the wave of nausea surging through him. It was a text message. He unlocked the phone and proceeded to blink a few times.
I went out with your sister. Bron's sleeping in the family room. Luciana threw away the empty liquor bottles but you and Chase may want to clean up before she wakes up. She is very inquisitive.
Cam wished he had the strength to fling the phone into a wall. Instead, he set it next to him on the couch. He planned to lie back down when a movement caught his eye.
Frida was licking at Chase's face while he slept on the floor and Diego was tugging at the hem of Cam's pants.
"I guess Manhattan’s not moving. At least not today," he said, reaching for the puppy. Diego evaded his hand and began to bark.
"Make it stop," Chase groaned.
Cam tried again to reach for Diego but the puppy moved back, still barking. Cam got up and began to chase after him. Unfortunately, the puppy must have thought it was a game and began to run faster. Frida joined him and both puppies were barking soon.
"I'll kill you, Cameron, if you don't make them stop now." Chase now sat.
"Shut up, Chase. I think they may need to go outside. I'll go take them. You call the maid and tell her to clean up before Bron wakes up. And go shower," Cam barked.
"You're a mean drunk, Cameron," Chase said.
After praying for thirty minutes for death to come for him, Cam came downstairs to hear his daughter's voice coming from the family room. He made his way there.
"No, Mom's out with Aunt Lux. I'm home with Daddy and Uncle Chase. The maid said they were showering. She is always so nice and gives me cookies. She offered to make me breakfast but I said, no, thanks. She almost ran from the room when I said Daddy should be down soon."
Cam didn’t have to be told his daughter was smiling. It was infused in her voice.
"What will you eat for breakfast, then?" a female voice asked on the other end.
"I'll let Daddy figure it out," Bron said.
"Does he normally sleep in this late?" the woman asked.
"No, Him and Mom…excuse me. He and Mom went out to dinner last night. They didn't take me. It was a romantic dinner. Mom looked amazing."
"Did she now? Who did you stay with last night while your parents were out?" The woman asked a lot of questions and Cam couldn’t begin to guess who she was.
"Aunt Lux and Uncle Chase. We watched Elf! Can you believe they never saw it before? I don't know what people watch here, abuela." Bronwyn's voice was full of disappointment. She turned just then and saw Cam by the entrance to the room. "My dad's here now!"
Cam's stomach turned at the word abuela, grandma. Shit. He didn't have time to prepare or duck out of the way. Bron turned the iPad to face him. There, staring at him with schoolmarm eyes was Victoria Hayes. The last time he’d seen her was the week before he left Acacia. She caught him with his lips wrapped around her daughter's in a secluded area near a town function. The blood had drained from his head at how relieved he and Adrianna had been her mother hadn't shown up five minutes before.
To say this was an encounter he wasn't looking forward to, would be putting it mildly. The disapproving look in her eyes only made it worse. After all, to her knowledge, he’d impregnated her daughter and skipped town.
Cam cleared his throat and forced a smile. "Good morning, Mrs. Hayes."
"Arenas,” she corrected. “Hello, Cameron. It's been a long time."
Fuck his life.
Cam struggled to keep his smile in place. Adrianna's mother was not smiling.
"Yes, it has. About that, um, I don't know if Adrianna told you. I was not aware—"
"I know," Victoria interrupted, "Nonetheless, we have a conversation pending. That is, when you are not taking care of my granddaughter while nursing a hangover."
Nausea rose in waves until Cam was
ready to vomit right then and there. Her voice dripped with disapproval. Only he could have managed to piss off both the mother and daughter at the same time. The last thing he needed was for Victoria to call when Adri was pissed off at him.
He opened his mouth but before he could speak, his angel daughter saved the day.
"I'm hungry. Let's go eat something," Bronwyn said with a smile, flipping the screen back toward her, "Can we call you back, abuela?"
"Of course, you can, Mi Niña." Victoria’s voice did a radical switch, becoming infused with warmth. Her love for Bronwyn was evident in every word. "I'm going to run back to work and we'll talk this afternoon during my coffee break. I love you."
"Love you too." Bronwyn leaned forward and kissed the screen.
Cam smiled and rubbed his temples.
"You don't feel so good, do you?" Bronwyn said coming closer. When he nodded, she smiled and put her arms around him.
Cam picked her up and she took his face in her hands. "Your head hurts?"
Cam nodded again. She kissed each of his temples and then both cheeks, making him smile. His heart ached, thinking of how he just met her and how lost he would be without her now. She was so sweet, so loving. Just like her mother when she wasn't angry, scowling, or giving him the cold shoulder. "That feels a lot better."
"When Mom comes home, I'll get her to do it too. She's the best at kissing boo boos."
Cam cleared his throat and put her down on the floor. "How about you go shower and change and I'll order us some breakfast?"
"Okay," she answered.
"Do you need my help with anything?" he offered.
"Nope. I can do it myself."
She began to walk away when Chase appeared at the door. "Hurry back, Bron. I have head boo boos that need kissing."
Bronwyn giggled. "You're so funny, Uncle."
"Even she knows you're beyond help," Cam said dryly.
"You're ugly," Chase retorted before adding, "And by the way, I think it would be a bad idea to ask Adrianna to kiss any part of you. She may take a chunk off."
