by J. L. Lora
In the living room, Cam was holding a sobbing Bronwyn.
"You see?" he said. "She's here."
Adrianna walked over, sat down and wrapped her arms around Bron, kissing her teary cheeks. "What's wrong, Princesa?"
"I thought you left me." She burrowed in Adrianna's chest.
"Left you? Where would I go?" Adrianna asked her.
"Back home," Bronwyn said, sounding even younger than her nine years.
"Without you? I can't go without my heart." She waited until her daughter looked at her. "I will never leave you. Nothing's changed. It's just like when you go to school. You understand?"
Bronwyn nodded.
"I brought you something. I think you’re going to like it." Adrianna signaled to Luciana to pass her the bag. She looked through it and pulled out a T-shirt. She handed it to her daughter.
Bronwyn unfolded the garment. Her eyes widened and she let out a high-pitched squeal.
"Las Meninas. I love it, Mom."
Then she stood up, her face still wet with tears, but it was like nothing happened just seconds before. She went around the room, showing the shirt to Lux and Cam, who seemed dumbfounded. Then she turned back to Adrianna.
"Can I wear it now? Please, Mom!"
"Yes, after you've had a bath," Adrianna said, secretly patting herself on the back for buying a backup and two other art T-shirts.
"But I bathed this morning…" Bronwyn complained.
"Yes, and it's seven o’clock and you've been out and about, right? How about you head upstairs and take your clothes off? I'll come to the bathroom and fix you a bath with bubbles in the big tub. You can tell me all about your day and I’ll tell you about mine."
"Okay," she said and ran up the stairs.
Cam and Luciana, whom Adrianna had completely forgotten, stood around in shock. She tried to lighten the mood. “Las Meninas is one of Bronwyn's favorite paintings because my mom calls her Mi Niña, which, to Bron, sounds like Menina. She also bought Bron a replica of the painting. When Mom visits, they come up with stories together about how Las Meninas was a group of girl spies working for the crown.”
Stop rambling, Adri. They don’t care.
"I don't understand. She was having fun and laughing and then she was crying hysterically asking for you." Cam seemed so confused.
"She's nine. Kids are super dramatic at that age. She still doesn't know you all very well. But she needs you, too."
"It's like she thought we would hurt her." Luciana smoothed her hair.
"She's had huge changes in her life the last few days. I was thinking about that earlier," Adrianna said to Cam. "We should probably have her see someone. Just to make sure she is taking everything well."
"That's a good idea," he said.
"I also think we need to get her back into her routine. We can take turns helping her with her homework and making sure she is doing more reading than the basic." She turned to Luciana. "You and Chase are an important part. She's always had an aunt and uncle around and she needs you. No more faces when she mentions the people she loves, no matter how much you hated them in high school."
Luciana nodded, but Adrianna wasn't done, "And no more gifts. You're going to spoil her. No matter how hard you try, you can't make up for your absence all these years with presents. Lauren doesn't always give her presents. She gives her love, attention, and affection. She doesn't need another iPad, but she would love it if you played with her outside, watched a movie, or taught her painting stuff."
"I noticed. She screamed louder for your T-shirt than she did for the iPad," Luciana murmured.
"It's better if you get to know her and you let her get to know you. And don't do everything she says either. You're the adults," Adrianna pointed to them. "I'm going to go give her a bath."
Cam nodded and she headed upstairs, almost feeling sorry for them. They weren’t used to being around kids.
•••
She got Bronwyn to lay down after her bath. Adrianna pumped her fist in the air and walked out of the bedroom. Bron almost never napped anymore but the meltdown probably got the best of her. In the alcove outside her bedroom, she found Cam sitting in one of the chairs. His back was so straight it looked like it could shatter.
She smiled and sat in the chair across from his.
"I should've noticed something was wrong," he said looking down. "She mentioned you so many times. At one point she said she wished you were there during the helicopter ride. Then we went somewhere else and as we headed home, she asked for the time and began to cry when I told her."
"She realized a lot of time had passed."
He nodded. "I'm a stranger to my own daughter. She can't stand to be with me for a few hours."
So that’s where Bron got her dramatic nature. All this time she’d blamed Lauren but nature and nurture worked together in her little girl. My poor baby.
"She just found you and too many things are happening. She got scared for a minute. Did you not see how quickly she bounced back?"
He said nothing. Adri got up and stood before him and soothingly touched his hair like she did with their daughter when she was upset.
But this wasn't their daughter and when he looked up to her, it wasn’t a child’s eyes she saw. Something had replaced the sadness, an emotion she associated with Cam’s name. It provoked a gnawing deep in her belly, releasing a desire pent up for almost a decade.
This. Was. Bad.
He kissed her stomach and circled her lower back with his hands as he rose. His mouth bee-lined for hers and she waited for him with hers a little open and when their lips met, it was like the room caught on fire.
His tongue slipped into her mouth and he pressed his body to hers, searing her skin. She moaned and tried to press herself closer. His hands closed around her ass. Hers roamed his back. He rubbed himself against her, sending her blood straight to her head.
He walked her back until she was up against a wall next to the door. She instinctively got on the tips of her toes to align herself with him. It was her favorite thing, to feel him, all of him, this way. He groaned. Their bodies brushed against each other in a dance as familiar today as it was their last time. His mouth attacked her neck as he rocked his hips against her, kissing his way up to her ear.
"Let's go to my room."
She began to nod and then remembered where they were. "We can't, Cam."
"Okay, here, then," he said, strangling another moan out of her as he captured her lips again, making her dizzy and drunk on the taste of his mouth.
Make it stop, Adri.
He was wearing out her resolve and she had to use the one thing she knew without a doubt would work on both of them.
"Your daughter's in the next room."
Cam lifted his head, confusion and frustration waging a silent battle in his eyes. He pulled away slowly and it took every ounce of self-control in her not to pull him back. He turned around, putting distance between them. His hands buried in his hair, he turned around again.
"Are you seeing anyone?"
His question caught her by surprise. "What? No, I'm not dating anyone. That's not why…"
"What about this Evan guy?" he countered. "The one you're all smiling and happy in pictures with," he spat at her with enough spite to make her wince.
Screw that. She knew where this was going. He was jealous. Yet, he had no right.
"Um, Evan and I ended our relationship long ago. Not that it's any of your business."
"Did you love him?" he whispered
"Does it matter?"
His eyes darkened to an impossible green. It had been the wrong thing to say. He stalked forward until he was right in front of her.
"Yes, it matters. You seemed happy with him. Meanwhile, I was in hell," he bit out with force.
Heat flushed over her body hard and fast. She had to laugh. That’s how ridiculous it was. "Yes, Cam. You were really miserable, escorting around every supermodel and
actress on her fifteen minutes of fame. It was especially beautiful and awesome to read, or watch on TV, while I changed dirty diapers or spent sleepless nights soothing our crying baby. How did you ever make it through that?"
She wasn't making things better, but he had some fucking nerve.
He closed his eyes briefly and took a breath. "I would have been there all along. You have to know that…" His voice trailed off in the end.
He was being honest. It didn’t change what she went through. "I know, but unfortunately it doesn't change those times, and you have no right to question who I saw then, because you were doing your own thing. We were not together. It's unfair of you to do that."
He came closer. "I may not have a right, but I'll ask anyway. Because, yeah, I dated those other women, but none of them meant a thing. Every one of them was a stand-in for you. When I held them, when I kissed them, when I fucked them…it was you I saw, your face, your lips, your body—" Cam’s eyes widened and he clamped his lips together like he could take the words back. “Fuck it all.”
He kissed her again and this time it was deeper, more charged. His lips were slow this time and she melted into him. No one ever kissed her the way Cam did. From their first kiss, he’d made her insides twist, filling her with the need to wrap herself around him. She’d looked and tried to erase those memories of him. She never could.
Her arms went around him despite the screaming in her conscience. She kneaded the muscles in his back and gave in to the kiss, caressing his tongue with flashes of hers.
When they broke for air, the words flew from her lips, "God, I missed your mouth." She pulled him back to her again, but he suddenly jumped out of her reach.
Her thoughts were fuzzy. She frowned. Had she come on too strong? He wasn’t even looking her in the eye, but to the side. She followed the direction of his gaze. Bron stood there, watching them with widened eyes.
Adri’s heart threatened to sledgehammer out of her chest. Their shit had hit the fan and spread all over the place.
She looked at Cam, not knowing what to say, and the look of absolute panic in his eyes indicated he’d be no help. She needed to say something, fast.
"Princesa, I didn't know you were up," she managed to croak out.
"I heard loud talking and I thought you guys were fighting again but when I opened the door you were not fighting…"
A new kind of heat crept up Adrianna’s neck and flooded her face. Time for the earth to swallow her whole. There was some relief: Bronwyn didn't hear the conversation between her and Cam, but how was she going to explain what she saw?
"No, we were not fighting." She smiled and then looked back at Cam, who stood there like a frozen statue with cartoon wide eyes.
Thankfully, he caught her meaning and jumped in the conversation.
"No, no fighting here. We were just…"
"Making out." Bron finished for him and turned around to go back to the bedroom.
Adrianna followed open mouthed with Cam trailing behind her. Bronwyn went into the bathroom and closed the door.
Adrianna turned to Cam and whispered, "Oh my God. What are we going to say to her?"
He raised his hands as if not knowing what to say. "Let's tell her we're dating."
"What? Are you crazy? We can't tell her a lie to cover ourselves. How would we get out of it later?"
"What do you suggest then, Adrianna? Your parents can't keep their hands off each other and were halfway to hooking up. Does that sound better to you?"
If she weren’t so worried about Bron, she would swear at him until the green fell off his eyes. "Just shut up." She dug her fingers into her hair. "What are we going to do?"
"I thought you wanted me to shut up?"
She crossed her arms and blasted him with a look, "Seriously?"
Anything else she thought of saying was interrupted by the sound of the sink water running. The door opened and Bron walked out. “Mom, I’m hungry.”
"What would you like to eat? We can order whatever you want, or do you want to go out to eat? Your choice, anything you want." Though he sounded desperate and pathetic, Adrianna couldn't even fault Cam for trying so hard.
But their daughter shook her head. "I want chicken and rice and beans."
Adrianna exhaled the breath she didn’t know she was holding and laughed at the look on Cam's face. "It’s her Dominican side. What can I say? I think we could manage that. You both can help me. We’ll talk while we make the food."
CHAPTER TEN
An engrossed Bronwyn watched TV in the family room. Adrianna made dinner in Cam’s kitchen like she’d always been there.
Cam stood close by to watch. "I must say, seeing you move around the kitchen these days is a delight. I still remember that time you tried to make that chicken recipe from the magazine." He patted his stomach and fought back the queasy memories.
She laughed. It was loud and musical. Cam had always loved her laughter and the way it reached her eyes first and spread through her body. He didn’t realize how much he missed that sound until now.
"Chicken Merlot. I thought it was okay to use my mom’s Moscato. I still can't believe you ate all of it. It was the grossest dinner ever." She turned to him, touched his cheek. "That's how I knew you really loved me."
He laughed, tilted his head and moved a bit closer to her. "What did you think before that?"
"I thought you wanted me for my long legs."
How did they do that? They were in trouble after getting caught making out in front of their impressionable child and not even thirty minutes later, they were flirting again. With her, rules, rationality, and everything else went out of the window. It’s what she always did to him.
"It was both." He leaned closer to her, "It still is, Adrianna. I…" He was less than a breath away from her lips and she leaned towards him.
"Are you going to kiss again?" Bronwyn chimed in and Cam jumped back.
"She gets her laughter and timing from Luciana," he said, and Adrianna laughed a little.
She didn't look as panicked at getting caught as last time. She tilted her head towards the child and he understood.
"Come here, Bron. We want to talk to you."
She walked over and he scooped her up and sat her up on the kitchen island.
"We want to talk to you about what you saw upstairs," Cam said as Adrianna came away from the stove and closer to them.
"When you guys were making out?" Bron said, staring at him until Cam's face burned. "It's cool. It happens."
"Um. What do you mean?" Adrianna asked after giving him a look.
"You're boyfriend and girlfriend, right? Boyfriends and girlfriends kiss all the time."
It was the most logical thing in the world, which is why he had suggested they went with that, but now he could see the danger in this. If something happened, how would they explain it to Bron? He glanced at Adrianna and the frown in her face said it all. They were both backed into a corner. He chose to speak with as much honesty as he could.
"Your mother and I are getting to know each other all over again. We care for each other but there’s still a lot to learn after so long. You understand?"
Bronwyn nodded, "I think so. Can I go back to watching TV?"
Cam helped her down and she scampered off. As soon as she was out of earshot, Adrianna turned to him.
"What the hell are we going to do now?"
•••
"Mama's not back yet."
Cam walked out of his master bathroom to find Bronwyn standing in front of his bed.
"She's with your aunt Lux downstairs," he said, coming closer and touching her hair. "Do you want me to go get her for you? Or I can stay with you until you fall asleep?"
She chewed on her bottom lip, as if considering the offer. She smiled. "I can stay here with you until she comes to bed."
Cam smiled back, relieved that she wanted to spend time with him alone after what happened yesterday during thei
r tour of the city.
"Do you have a TV?"
"Yes, I do." he grabbed the remote and clicked a button. A panel rolled out, revealing a 60-inch flat screen. Her mouth opened into a perfect circle. "I take it you like it."
She nodded emphatically, her eyes still engrossed on the screen. "Can I have one?"
"Of cour…um…what do you want to watch?" he changed the subject.
"Let's watch Vampire Chronicles on Netflix." She clapped her hands happily.
Thirty minutes later Cam was more confused than ever.
"Wait a minute. Why do these people go through so much trouble to help Elsa? She's whiny and annoying and why are the two brothers always fighting over her? What about Carla? She's beautiful and sexy but she's with that cowardly werewolf. Why can't we have more of her? She's so bubbly." How could anyone like this ridiculous show?
"I know! I love Carla too. She's kickass." She covered her mouth. "Sorry."
He nodded. "And this guy, what's his deal? He's a vampire and a werewolf too? How does that even work out?"
She giggled out loud. "It's called a hybrid, Daddy."
Cam's heart banged against his ribs and he froze. Her eyes were wide and his own welled up.
"It's okay, right?" she asked, uncertain.
A lump lodged high in his throat. He tried to swallow but couldn’t. Daddy. One simple word took the ground from under his body. He released a shaky breath and nodded. "It's perfect."
She smiled into his eyes. "You're sentimental like Mama."
The adrenaline pumped faster along with his heartbeat. Adri was right. He wasn’t going to make it. He’d never wanted this. But being called Daddy was euphoric, like getting a strike out with the bases loaded. He’d done that plenty of times and never experienced this kind of tremor. A little girl not even half his size was doing to him what playing in the world’s biggest stage never did. She was bending him.
Bron leaned against his chest and settled back to watch the show. She was perfectly content while he struggled to breathe normally.
Play it cool. Don’t be weird.
"You said you and your mom watch this show together?"
