by Mia Dymond
Cameron heard Rachel gasp as Hawke stepped out of the back door onto the patio.
“Pirelli,” he said flatly.
The wanna-be-bad boy spun around and took his aim off the girls and onto Hawke. “Well, this is an added bonus.”
Hawke inched his way to Rachel, sat down beside her and laid his hand tenderly over the baby inside her swollen stomach. “Are you okay?”
She nodded.
“What’s the problem, Pirelli?” Hawke stood and crossed his arms over his chest.
Pirelli waved the gun in circles. “Them. You.”
“Come again?”
“I’ve been blacklisted, Hawke.” Pirelli’s eyes flashed a danger signal. “Since you fired me, no one will hire me. And all because Little Miss Innocent here whined to you.”
“This isn’t the guy from the gym,” Holly murmured.
Cameron snorted. “I sure can pick ‘em, huh?”
Hawke frowned. “We fired you because you screwed up several performances.”
“With bubble-headed groupies,” Cameron chimed as she stood and moved next to Hawke.
Hawke shot her a heated stare.
“Sorry, couldn’t resist,” she mumbled.
Hawke took a step closer to Pirelli. “What does Rachel have to do with this?”
Pirelli snorted and took a step backward. “I’m sure she had a vote in the decision.”
Glancing at the hose strung across the patio behind Pirelli, Cameron decided to take matters into her own hands.
“So you decided to get back at all of us.” She walked a circle around Sean.
“That accident wasn’t supposed to be an accident.”
Pirelli turned slightly to follow her movement but stopped halfway, as if he suddenly remembered Hawke was still positioned in front of him. Sweat trickled down the side of his face and the gun wobbled in his grasp.
Sensing his panic, Cameron reached down and picked up the hose.
“You’ve spent enough time in my organization to know you can’t get away with this,” Hawke taunted.
“I’m the one with the gun,” Pirelli stated confidently, “and good ole Max is beating the hell out of the wrong guy.”
While Hawke had him distracted, Cameron used Pirelli’s cockiness against him. She tossed the hose across his legs which caused him to fall to the cement when he stepped forward. Taking advantage of his position, she wrapped the hose around him. Hawke jumped on top of him and the two men struggled for control of the gun. In all of the confusion, Cameron found herself tangled in the hose and all three of them rolled across the patio and fell into the pool.
As the cool water doused her heated skin, Cameron heard a single gunshot echo off the sunny afternoon.
Holly screamed.
* * *
Brett followed Max out the patio door and skidded to a stop to avoid a dip into the pool. Hawke and Cameron subdued Sean Pirelli in the pool with a hose wrapped around his neck while his lips turned blue. A gun floated nearby on the other end of the hose.
Sterling dove into the pool and squeezed Pirelli in a headlock with one muscled forearm. Pirelli sputtered and gasped at the added pressure to his esophagus.
“Hawke?” Sterling thundered.
“I’m good,” Hawke answered.
“Cameron Baby, let go of the hose.” Sterling attempted to pry her fingers loose with his free hand. “You’re strangling him.”
“I’m trying to!” she screeched.
“He’s not going anywhere, honey. I can’t get him out of the pool until you let go.”
She finally released the hose.
“You have an obsession with hoses, don’t you?” he teased as he yanked Pirelli out of the pool.
“Guess so,” she mumbled, climbing out after him.
Satisfied Sterling had the pool secure, Brett jogged across the patio where Rachel knelt beside Holly’s lounge chair.
He laid a hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright?”
She gave him a half smile. “I’m fine, thanks Brett. But Holly’s bleeding.”
“I’ll take care of it. Go convince your husband you’re really okay.”
Brett watched as Hawke unwrapped himself from the other end of the hose and boosted himself out of the pool. Rachel folded herself into his arms.
Despite all the tension, she giggled. “One more adventure for your memoirs.”
Brett shook his head and turned back to Holly.
“Holly!” Cameron shrieked. “Someone needs to see about Holly. I heard her scream.”
“I’m on it, Cameron,” Brett answered as he squatted in front of a pale and shaking Holly.
“He shot me,” she whispered, choking back tears.
“Ssshh, baby,” he soothed. “Let me look.”
Fury almost choked him as blood seeped through the leg of her shorts and camouflaged the actual wound. She moaned. “I’m going to pass out.”
He stretched her legs out in front of her. “Better?”
She nodded. “Thank you. I’m Holly London, by the way.”
He smiled and swallowed hard. Her polite introduction almost made him feel guilty, considering he’d already been introduced to her intimately.
He glanced at her long, tan legs. “Brett Steele. I’m going to have to pull your shorts down. I think you’re hit in the thigh.”
She grabbed his hand as he reached toward her. “Brett, I don’t have anything on underneath.”
He grinned and arched an eyebrow. Bonus.
“I have to look, Holly.”
She sighed and nodded.
He gently eased her shorts over her slender hips and down her long, bronzed legs and dropped them to the cement. Taking a deep breath, attempting to ignore her nakedness, he separated the torn skin of her thigh and satisfied himself it was just a flesh wound.
Sneaking a quick peek at the honey sweet treasure between her legs, he felt himself harden. He pulled his shirt over his head and shook himself free from his arousal.
“Nice abs,” she said weakly.
He gave her an apologetic grin. “This might hurt.”
He wrapped his shirt around her thigh and tied it tightly to stop the bleeding.
“Okay?” He stood beside her.
She gave a faint smile. “More than okay.”
Brett squeezed her shoulder and covered her with a towel as policemen and paramedics swarmed the patio to secure the scene and collect information from Sterling and Cameron.
As soon as the ambulance arrived, Brett lifted Holly from her lounge chair and placed her on a gurney.
“I wonder if either of them had anything to do with the trouble at the gym,” she mumbled.
He tilted his head to the side. “Trouble?”
“Yeah,” she whispered. “My pool flooded yesterday, and the day before, there was a bicycle implanted in the mirror in the aerobics room.”
Brett took half a second to process her confession as he buckled the safety straps on the gurney. Why didn’t she mention this before?
“I didn’t want to bother anyone with it,” she said softly.
Her response jerked him from thought and he lifted his head to study her. He knew damn well he hadn’t spoken. Sterling’s earlier analysis was dead-on. The girl was downright spooky.
“I’ll tell Sterling.” He pushed his curiosity to the side and squeezed her hand. “You rest.”
She nodded as her eyes closed. He waited until she had been loaded into the ambulance and then approached Max and Cameron.
“Is she okay?” Cameron asked worriedly.
He nodded. “She’s fine. It’s just a flesh wound. You might want to grab her something to wear before they take her. She’s, uh, bare on the bottom.”
Cameron giggled mischievously and went into the house.
Sterling arched an eyebrow. “Naked?”
“Yeah,” Brett mumbled absently. “Did you just hear bells?”
Sterling shook his head. “Forget it, Steele, you’re hearing things. How did Holly
end up naked? And why was she naked after you got here?”
“I had to see where she was hit,” he explained weakly.
“Uh-huh, and you had to take your shirt off, too.”
“I needed to stop the bleeding with something, Sterling.”
“Yeah, those flesh wounds bleed a lot, don’t they?”
Realizing he was cornered, Brett grinned. “Kiss my ass.”
“Stone’s probably awake.” Sterling slapped Brett on the back. “I’ll turn him over. You go to the hospital with Holly.”
Once Max was convinced the police had everything under control, he shuffled Cameron into the house and locked the patio door behind them. He pressed her against him and rested his chin on the top of her head.
“Max,” she wheezed from the depths of his arms, “what are you doing?”
“Holding you.”
“I can’t breathe.”
“Deal with it.” He squeezed her tighter. If he had anything to say about it, he’d never let her go.
She wiggled in his arms and rubbed her barely-covered breasts against him in the process.
“I should spank your pretty little ass.”
“For what?” Her words were mumbled against his chest.
“For putting yourself in danger.”
“What else was I supposed to do, Max? Rachel is pregnant and Holly was oblivious to the whole thing.”
He paused to analyze her explanation. “I’m proud of you, but you should’ve waited for me.”
“You took too long.” She slipped from his hold and stepped back. “Are you still interested?”
“In what?”
Her eyes sparkled. “Spanking my pretty little ass.”
“Hell yes.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her up the stairs.
* * *
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Floating somewhere between Heaven and eternal bliss, Max groaned when the bedside phone rang.
“Answer it,” Cameron groused. “Everyone knows you’re here now.”
He planted a wet kiss between her plump, naked breasts and reached for the phone.
“On our way.” He returned the receiver to the cradle and pulled on his pants.
She braced herself on her elbows and squinted narrowly. “Hold on, Minute Man, we’re not done.”
He pinned her to the bed and kissed her valley of cleavage. “If I had my way, Fussbudget, we’d never leave this room. Rachel is in labor. Get dressed.”
“Move it, Max!” She planted her palms against his warm skin and scurried off the bed and into the bathroom.
He pulled his shirt over his head and scooted to the edge of the bed to wait. These things could take hours.
As she breezed back through the bedroom, diligently searching for shoes, he eased off the bed and palmed his keys and her sunglasses from the dresser. He opened the door, leaned against it, and counted to five.
She rushed past him with her tousled curls bouncing behind. “Let’s go!”
He stopped her long enough to hand her the sunglasses and then nonchalantly followed Hurricane Cameron down the stairs. Amused at her impatience, he stopped at the front door, armed the security system, and closed the door behind him.
* * *
The usual click-clack of Cameron’s sandals echoed off the sterile walls of the hallway as she and Max negotiated their way to Rachel’s hospital room. Hawke stood outside the door dressed in pale green scrubs, his forehead bathed in sweat.
“How’re you holding up?” Max asked in greeting.
Hawke wiped one hand across his brow. “I’m good. She’s great. But this is so much harder than I thought.”
Max turned his head to look around the area. “Any media?”
“No,” Hawke answered weakly. “Security seems to be tight.”
“Want Cameron to go in with her?” Max suggested.
Cameron yanked her sunglasses from her face and her eyes widened. “Me?!”
“Yeah,” he said in mock seriousness. “After playing Cops and Robbers, surely you can handle this.”
Despite the nice ashy color of her skin, he watched her take a deep breath and square her shoulders. A surge of pride fell over him. She would do it for Rachel.
“Relax, Cameron,” Hawke soothed. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
Max placed his hands on her shoulders and steered her back down the hallway.
“We’ll park in the waiting room,” he told Hawke over his shoulder.
Cameron kicked off her shoes, folded herself into the nearest chair, and tucked her bare feet underneath her. Max shook his head as her manicured fingernails clicked violently against the metal arm of the chair.
“Cool it, Mighty Mouse. This could take a few hours.”
She huffed and picked up a magazine. After a few silent minutes of flipping pages, she slammed the cover closed and dropped the magazine to the table.
He snickered. “You’ll never make it through childbirth.”
She folded her arms beneath her breasts. “You don’t think I can handle it?”
“I didn’t say that. You’re tough as nails, Sunshine, you’re just impatient.”
“I’m not impatient,” she retorted. “I just like quick results.”
“Impatient,” he repeated.
She sighed. “Do you want kids, Maxie?”
His heart flip-flopped. Where did that come from?
“I need a wife first.”
“Not necessarily.”
He shook his head. “Yeah, necessarily.”
She cocked her head to the side as if analyzing his insistence. “So, if you had a wife, you would also have children.”
Only with you. No one else could ever fill the space she occupied in his heart. His soul. His whole being.
“Maybe,” he answered. “What about you? Think you can keep up with a kid in those stilts you call shoes?”
She smiled a sly smile. “I can do amazing things in my stilettos.”
He shifted as he glanced down the hallway and willed Hawke to appear. With no apparent rescue in sight, he stood and extended a hand.
“Let’s walk.”
Cameron slid her feet into her sandals and slipped her hand inside his.
“You know,” she said as they walked out of the waiting room, “you’d be a great father.”
He pursed his lips. He would be a great father. He’d just have to protect his heart in the process.
“You think?”
She nodded. “Yes. Behind all that macho stuff, you’re really soft.”
“No I’m not.”
“Deny it all you want.” She shrugged. “I know the truth.”
He groaned and swallowed her lips while he walked her backwards and then molded their bodies to the wall.
Lost in the passion of the kiss, Cameron jumped when she heard someone clear their throat from the other end of the hallway.
“In case anyone is interested, I’m the father of a beautiful, healthy baby girl,” Hawke announced.
Max lifted his head briefly.
“Congratulations,” he murmured before capturing Cameron’s lips again.
Cameron pulled herself free of Max’s kiss and heard Hawke’s soft chuckle as he went back into Rachel’s room.
“Let’s go see the baby.” She threaded her fingers through Max’s and pulled him down the hallway.
As they approached Rachel’s room, Cameron eased the door open and stuck her head through the opening. “Can we come in?”
Rachel gave her a twisted grin. “No necking allowed in front of the baby.”
Cameron rolled her eyes as she and Max stepped into the room. “Max has the warped idea he can have me anywhere he wants.”
Hawke cocked an eyebrow at Max. A smug grin graced his face.
Ignoring the male cockiness passed between the two men, Cameron moved next to the bed and stroked the baby’s soft head with her fingernails. “She’s beautiful, Rach.”
“Would you like to hold her?”
&
nbsp; “Of course.” Cameron reached for the tightly wrapped bundle.
The moment she lifted the baby into her arms, she knew. She wanted babies and she wanted them with Max. Now all she had to do was convince him.
Overwhelmed by a sense of peace, she cuddled the baby close and nuzzled her with her lips. All taunting and teasing aside, only one dark warrior made the halo above her head twinkle in the dim bedroom light.
“Come here, Max,” she called softly.
Max stepped carefully next to her. Holding his dark eyes with hers, she placed the baby into his bulky arms. Her heart skidded to a stop at the happiness reflected from him. For the first time, she felt his inner peace and she watched the unsurety and doubt he harbored disappear. And hers followed.
The tiny bundle wiggled restlessly until Max lifted her against his shoulder. Burrowing into the warmth of his neck, she quieted as if comforted and consumed by his overwhelming presence. Cameron understood completely.
“Name?” he asked.
Rachel glanced at Cameron. “Harmony Michelle.”
Cameron’s eyes teared at Rachel’s heartfelt gift. Although she didn’t know it, Rachel had been quite generous with her gifts lately. Not only had she named her daughter after Cameron, she had offered Max on a silver platter.
“How is Holly?” Rachel asked.
Cameron shook her sentimental fog. “She’s fine. She’ll go home tomorrow.”
“I’m sure Brett will be relieved to hear that,” Rachel said behind a giggle.
“I’m sure.” Max handed the baby to Hawke.
Rachel yawned and adjusted the pillow behind her head.
“We’ll let you rest, Rachel.” Cameron gave her a light hug. “I’ll check on you tomorrow.”
She stepped to the door and gave Hawke a mischievous smile. “Congratulations, Music Man.”
Satisfied Holly and Rachel would recover, Cameron convinced Max to take her to the office.
“You can’t take a day off?” he grumbled. “Your eyes are still swollen.”
“Only for a little while, Max. Painting relaxes me.”
Sighing heavily, he steered into the parking lot of Newberry & Tremaine and parked in front of the door.
