Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
natalie
SHIT, SHIT, SHIT.
Noah assured me that Chloe was fine, but I could tell he was worried.
Apparently, she threw up after they went to Scoopies, and he thought maybe she’d just overindulged in her ice cream.
But then she threw up a second time. And then a third shortly after, and Noah couldn’t get her to keep down any fluids.
Her temperature was a little high, but nothing alarming. Not yet, anyway.
“I’m sorry,” I said while rushing back down the stairs after changing into a T-shirt and shorts. “I’m so sorry we got interrupted like that—”
“Don’t be.” Cameron shook his head, looking entirely calm and put together. Like his body wasn’t vibrating with need like mine was. Like none of this was a big deal, like we hadn’t been about to have sex on my couch. “I’ll drive.”
His keys were in his hand, ready to go.
“You don’t need to come,” I said, automatic words that I didn’t really mean.
“I know I don’t.” Cameron’s voice was as steady as ever, and I hated to admit how much I craved that right now. “But if I handle the driving, then you can focus on Chloe.”
That little piece of logic was all I needed to cave.
“Okay.” I started out of the front door. “Do you know where Noah—wait, Noah.” I whirled back around, changing my mind about this entire arrangement. “If you come, then Noah—”
“I’ll stay in the car,” Cameron replied evenly. He took my elbow and turned me back around, leading me out of the house before he closed the door behind us. “Just give me the directions.”
Yeah, okay. Cameron could stay in the car while I ran in to get Chloe. Noah wouldn’t need to know. Cameron could drive us back home again, and I could manage the puke bucket because I assumed there’d be a puke bucket.
Everything would be fine.
“It’s possible Chloe has already told Noah that we’re together working on the case, anyway,” he said, continuing to be my voice of reason.
We walked to his car and then paused by the passenger door.
Cameron leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead that surprised me and caused a flurry of emotion in my chest. A silly reaction, really, considering the things we’d done on my couch less than ten minutes ago.
“If Noah sees me, that’s what we’ll tell him. ”
I had a lot of other things to say to that.
Like how that story might be believable to a nine-year-old, but my brother would see right through it.
How I should have considered that Chloe might repeat my plans to Noah in the first place.
And how none of that was going to change my mind about letting Cameron drive me to get my daughter.
Because he was calm and collected and everything I needed at the moment.
I called Noah from the car, and he assured me that Chloe had been able to hold down a little water since we talked, which was promising.
Cameron parked in front of Noah’s building, and I ran up to his apartment, where Chloe was wrapped in a blanket on his couch with a bucket by her side, as expected.
Noah assured me he did not want the bucket back.
“I’m sorry, Lo,” he said, giving her a hug before leaving. “We’ll try this again. I promise.”
Chloe made a few noncommittal noises, tucking her head into my stomach.
“You good to get her home?” Noah asked me. “I can come with if you need another set of hands. Gemma’s with Delilah.”
“We’ll be okay,” I assured him. “Right, Chlo?”
She nodded, and I said a hasty goodbye, whisking my daughter out the door before she threw up in the entryway of Noah’s apartment or he asked too many questions.
“Hi, Chloe,” Cam said when we got in the car. His voice was so tender, so gentle, displaying absolutely no irritation or frustration that our night had gotten cut short.
Korey was never this calm in moments of disruption or emergencies.
It had bothered me to no end, always having to be the one who kept a level head, who worked through the logistics of a situation and ensured there was an outcome that would keep everyone safe and sound and happy.
Well, except Korey. There was no pleasing Korey unless things went precisely the way he wanted them to.
He made the littlest inconveniences into the biggest deals, sometimes terrifyingly so, and I didn’t miss his raised voice, flailing arms, and blame throwing. Not one fucking bit.
Chloe peeked her head up to look at Cam and squeaked out a greeting before sprawling across the back seat, rather dramatically.
I slid in beside her, nudging her to make room for me, which she allowed.
Then I stripped off my sweater to cover the seat, wishing I’d asked Noah for a towel or something to put down in the car in case she didn’t make it home before another bout of nausea.
“It’s okay, Natalie,” Cameron said. I looked up to find him shaking his head at what I was doing, fussing over covering his car seats. “Don’t worry about it. Just buckle up so we can get the two of you home.”
I obeyed, putting my seat belt on and holding the bucket for Chloe as we drove across town, taking note of just how careful Cameron was with every stop of traffic, making sure the car didn’t lurch.
Breathing a sigh of relief when we made it home without any vomiting, I ushered Chloe out of Cameron’s car and into the house, covering the couch with an old sheet and putting the bucket in a prime spot.
Cam strode to the kitchen and came back a few minutes later, when I was fumbling with the remote, getting frustrated when it wouldn’t do what I fucking wanted it to.
Cameron held out his hand, an offer of help that I’d gladly take because I didn’t have the patience to find that exact spot where the remote connected to the TV, somewhere behind my stack of crochet needles and Annabeth’s cat tower.
After I handed it over, Cameron easily turned it on—annoying, but I really didn’t care at the moment—and found the streaming channel with Percy Jackson.
“There you go, Champ,” he said, giving Chloe an easy smile, which she attempted to return despite looking a little green.
“Thanks, Cam.” She scooted to the edge of the couch, giving a wary glance at the bucket on the floor. “Um, Mom, I think I’m going to—”
She cut off, staring extra hard at the bucket, which I rushed to pluck off the ground and bring closer to her face.
If we could avoid a splash zone, that would be great.
Chloe didn’t vomit, as I’d been expecting. But she groaned, clutching her stomach, and my chest ached at seeing her like this. She’d been so excited to spend the night at Noah’s tonight. My poor girl.
“Do you want me to run to the store?” Cameron asked. “I could get some 7UP or Pedialyte. I’m not a doctor, but that’s what my mom always gave me. And I didn’t see anything like that in your pantry.”
“7UP?” Chloe requested weakly, rolling back onto the couch, which told me the wave of nausea must have passed.
I didn’t have it in me to say no to her right now, even though I shouldn’t let Cameron do me any more favors.
“Does that sound good, honey?”
Chloe nodded, which set Cameron into motion.
“I’ll be right back,” he said definitively. “Text me any specifics you want.”
“Cam, I really appreciate it,” I managed to cut in before he got to the door, feeling conflicted. “But you don’t want to spend your Saturday night running errands for me.”
“You were my Saturday night plans, Natalie.”
The insinuation of his words wasn’t lost on me, nor was the way his gaze burned bright. “But—”
“That doesn’t have to change now,” he added, leaving me somewhat speechless before he could repeat, “I’ll be right back.
” It was said in a way that harbored no argument.
“You can’t leave Chloe, so let me go get a few things for you girls.
It’ll just take a few minutes, and then I can head out, if you want. ”
Oh, what a dangerous thing to think about—what I wanted.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
Cameron nodded, and then he was out the door.
Right before Chloe vomited all over the couch.
Thank God I put down that sheet.
When Cameron returned thirty minutes later, I realized that his idea of a few things and my idea of a few things were entirely different.
He’d bought all the electrolyte drinks the grocery store likely carried, as well as every food item that might fit in the brAT diet, with the exception of bananas.
He must have noticed the overabundance of them in the fruit basket and realized I, at least, had that covered.
“There’s fresh tacos on the counter,” he said after emerging from putting everything away in the kitchen, and my stomach took that inopportune moment to growl. Loudly. Cameron lifted a brow. “Eat them, Natalie. I can sit with Chloe.”
I shook my head as I pushed to my feet. Chloe was feeling well enough that she was sitting up, which I knew was likely because she’d just cleared out her stomach a few minutes before.
Or what was left in it, anyway. But her temperature was still holding steady, only slightly elevated, and I suspected this was just a stomach virus that needed to run its course.
“That’s okay,” I assured Cameron. “I’ll get to them in a second. Thank you so much.”
Cameron narrowed his eyes, like he wasn’t sure if he should trust me to take care of myself. But he didn’t push it. He just pressed a glass of water into my hands that I hadn’t realized he was holding.
“Drink, then,” he said before dropping his voice. “You need to stay hydrated, too.”
I drank the water, not arguing. Mostly to save me from finding a response.
“Good girl,” he muttered, low—so low that I almost hadn’t heard him.
I took another long drink, practically draining the glass, and the corner of Cameron’s mouth twitched.
“Do you want me to stay?” he asked after a beat of silence where it was just me gulping water, him watching me with fascination, and Percy Jackson talking in the background.
“We’re not going to get to any more…case notes tonight. So no, I don’t think that’s necessary.”
Cameron gave a slow nod, seeming to recognize that he’d been dismissed.
I didn’t mean it to sound like that, but I wanted him to know that staying any longer would shift our predetermined roles.
I couldn’t ask him to do that. I shouldn’t ask him to do that.
Cameron’s expression was mostly unreadable, though, and for some reason, it irked me to no end.
What I wouldn’t do to get in this man’s head, just for a little bit.
“Okay,” he agreed. “If you or Chloe need anything, text me.”
I nodded, but it wasn’t good enough for Cameron.
“Promise, Natalie.”
“Promise,” I whispered. “How much were the groceries? I’ll send you some money.”
Cameron made a face. “Don’t do that.”
“But—”
“I don’t want your money.”
“I’ll figure out another way to pay you back, then.”
He shook his head at the idea, not even playing into the possibility for an innuendo, like I thought he might.
I’d expected to see that twitch of his lips or glint in his eyes, but he actually looked…
annoyed. His lips pursed, and then his gaze swept over me, almost like he was analyzing the moment as it stretched on.
His body shifted, uncomfortable with standing still but incapable of walking away.
It was like he didn’t know how to say goodbye without using more than words.
Like he wanted to touch me but knew he couldn’t.
Touching you again is all I can think about, Natalie.
I’d assumed he’d meant in the context of sex, specifically.
But maybe…
“Night, Sunshine,” he breathed, once again low enough that I felt his words more than heard them.
His fingers brushed the inside of my wrist as he walked past me, striding straight to the door. He paused when he reached it, fingers wrapped around the knob.
“Feel better, Champ,” he called to Chloe.
And then he was gone, leaving a balloon of emotion in my chest.