Chapter 40
CHAPTER FORTY
cameron
WHEN I ARRIVED AT Natalie’s the next day, she opened the door before I even walked up the steps, giving me a shy smile. I gave her a bold one back because I was so fucking done hiding how I felt whenever I saw this woman.
That caused her grin to widen. She waited for me on the top stair, the door closing behind her, and I skipped a few to get up to her, stepping into her arms when she opened them for me.
God yes.
This. This was what I’d been craving.
Natalie locked her hands around my neck, pressing herself closer, and I took that as a sign that I was allowed to swoop in for a kiss, brushing one against her mouth.
Heat sparked, unraveling inside me. I’d wanted to do this on Friday so badly.
I hated not being able to kiss her freely, and her lips curved beneath mine, as though she’d been feeling and thinking the same things as me.
“Yeah?” I questioned, needing to hear from her mouth that this was the direction we were heading.
The one where I got to kiss her whenever I wanted.
Outside of confirming our plans for this evening, I hadn’t heard from her all day, making me anxious about her decision for the case.
Although I’d hate pausing our relationship, it would be fine if she decided she didn’t want to switch representation.
But we’d have to be incredibly careful moving forward.
And kissing in front of her house probably didn’t fall under that definition.
“Yeah,” she breathed before lifting on her toes to kiss me again.
And fuck if I didn’t want to kiss her back. I’d never wanted anything more in the world, actually.
But I needed to know.
“What’d you decide about the case, Sunshine?” I breathed against her lips. “Can you tell me where we stand before I lose my mind?”
“Oh.” Natalie pulled back, her cheeks tinting pink. “Right. You’re fired.” She winked at me, and I’d never once been happier to hear those words or see her smiling face.
Relief trickled down my back, making me feel like I was melting on her front steps. I had to put a hand on her door frame to steady myself before I pressed my forehead to hers, murmuring, “Say it again.”
“What?” she laughed. “You’re fired?”
“Mm yeah, it’s the hottest fucking thing you’ve ever said.”
Natalie batted her lashes, dropped her voice, and then repeated slowly, “You’re. Fired.”
“Thank fucking God, Natalie,” I groaned before capturing her mouth, kissing her hard and fast before trailing my lips to her jaw and her throat and eventually back up to her lips.
“I talked to Juniper more this morning,” Natalie added, and I tried to ignore the way her breaths were slightly labored, her cheeks becoming even rosier when I looked down, forcing some space between us.
Her hands drifted to my chest, one palm resting over my heart.
“And I told her that I’d fill you in. I’d meant to lead with that when you got here, but then I saw you and… ” She drifted off with a shrug.
“Trust me, I get it,” I assured her with a sigh. “But I needed to know for sure what tonight was.”
Natalie dropped her arms and took a step back, leaning against her front door. She hesitated before giving me a hopeful look. “If you’re still okay with the idea of dates including my nine-year-old daughter, I’d like it to be that? A date, I mean.”
She sounded a little tentative, a little unsure, and I knew I still had some work to do to prove to her that I’d take any kind of date—as long as it was with her.
“I’m so fucking okay with that.”
“Great.” A heavy breath fell from her lips.
“I don’t know what you had in mind, but there’s this sandwich place over by our favorite park.
It’s a nice night, and I was thinking we could walk there?
” She bit her bottom lip, blinking up at me with a bit of uncertainty. “I know it’s nothing special, but—”
“That sounds very special,” I cut in. “And I love that idea, but only if you let me buy.”
“Oh, you don’t have to—”
“Is this a date or not, Natalie?”
She rolled her eyes, but her still-pink cheeks gave her away. “It’s a date.”
“Damn right it is,” I muttered, leaning forward to drop a kiss on the top of her head.
“How was your weekend?” she asked when I straightened again. “Is your grandfather doing better?”
“He is.” Well enough to give me shit for most of the weekend. “And it was great to see everyone. Missed you, though.”
“I missed you, too,” she whispered. Our eyes caught, and I sank into her green ones, momentarily getting lost to the pull of them. The pull of her. Until she brought me back to reality, asking, “Hey, before we leave…can you talk to Chloe?”
“Of course, I’ll talk to Chloe,” I said, my brows pulling together. “Is everything okay?”
Natalie nodded, grabbing the door handle and twisting to let us inside. “Yeah, she’s just a little bummed and wants to talk to you.”
Concern and confusion wrapped around me, but I followed Natalie into the house without any more questions.
We found Chloe sitting on the couch, slumped in the corner of it.
She looked up when she noticed me standing there and then focused back down on her hands, which were resting on the orange cat curled in her lap.
“Hi, Cam,” she said, soft and shy as I sat next to her on the couch.
Natalie squeezed Chloe’s shoulder and then disappeared into the kitchen, but not before giving me a little glance, one that meant the world. Like she was trusting me to handle this—whatever this was—on my own.
“What’s up, Champ?”
Chloe’s eyes skirted over to me when I spoke, doe-eyed and a little withdrawn, a look I’d honestly never seen on her before.
“Everything okay?” I added.
“I just…” Chloe drifted off, repositioning in a way that had Annabeth jumping off her lap. But when she settled into place again, she was a few inches closer to me. “Are you mad at me?”
She peeked up like she was afraid of my answer.
“Mad at you?” I echoed with disbelief. “Chloe, why would I be mad at you?”
Her face screwed up. “Because I told Dad about you, and then he got mad. I don’t know why he got mad, but I guess I shouldn’t have told him about going to the law gardener and the baseball game and stuff.”
My heart squeezed, even while I tried not to chuckle at what I was pretty sure was a mispronunciation of Gardner. “Oh, sweetheart. No, of course I’m not upset with you about that.”
Chloe dared to look hopeful. “Really? But Mom says you’re not her lawyer anymore, and I feel like it’s all my fault.”
“It’s not your fault,” I insisted. “And I’m not mad. Okay?”
Natalie firing me was the best part of my day, but I understood why Chloe might be confused about that.
“Okay.” She gave a little nod, but doubt still lingered.
I sighed, debating the right course of action on this, debating what to say that would help Chloe wrap her head around what had happened in a way that wouldn’t demonize the one real father she did have.
While I certainly didn’t like the man, it would never be my place to try to push him out of Chloe’s life if she wanted him there or frame him in a way that created a wedge in their relationship.
“There are some things you should know, Chloe,” I said after a beat of silence.
She cocked her head to the side, her eyes still round. “What?”
“First of all, because I was your mom’s lawyer, your dad’s automatically not going to like me very much.
” She needed to know Korey’s reaction wasn’t her fault, not one bit.
That man didn’t like me from the start. “It was my job to ask him some uncomfortable questions, and that might mean he’s not my biggest fan. Does that make sense?”
She pressed her lips together, seeming to think hard on it before saying, “I guess so.”
I nodded. “Second of all, your mom and I decided together that it would be best that she get a new lawyer. Your dad didn’t make us do that, okay? So nothing’s your fault.”
She released a sigh that was too heavy for a nine-year-old, making my chest hurt. “Okay. I guess…I guess that’s good.”
“You’ve met Juniper, right?” I gave Chloe an encouraging smile, and she nodded. “She’s going to be your mom’s new lawyer.”
“I like Juniper,” Chloe said, but her voice was still distant. “She has pretty dresses.”
“Yes, she does,” I agreed. “Is something else still bugging you, Champ?”
She shrugged, not answering aloud, so I gave her some time. Annabeth jumped back onto her lap, and she pet her absent-mindedly.
“But if you’re not mom’s lawyer…does that mean you won’t be around anymore?” she asked eventually—so quiet I almost couldn’t hear her.
Oh, this kid. She’d wormed her way into my heart in ways I never imagined possible.
“I’m here tonight, aren’t I?” I said, grinning through the emotion in my throat.
Chloe gave a slow nod.
“I’m hoping to be around a lot, Chloe,” I said, a little more seriously. I wanted to tell her just how much I planned to be around but knew that would contradict the promise I’d made to Natalie about going slow. So I just added, “Would you like that?”
Her nod was more eager this time. “Yes.”
“Good. That makes me happy.” Happy and achy and maybe a tiny bit terrified, knowing that this tiny human was counting on me. But mostly happy. So fucking happy. “You ready to head to the park?”
She perked up a little, but I could tell there was still something on the tip of her tongue. I just never expected it to be “Can I give you a hug?”
I held my arms out, chuckling as Chloe immediately dove into them.
“Yeah, Chloe,” I promised her. “I’m always here for a good hug.”
Chloe bounced up off the couch a moment later, her usual energy mostly restored.
And then I took my sunshine girl and her spirited daughter to get sandwiches in the park.
To no one’s surprise, we stopped to get ice cream on the way home and ate it on their front stoop, attempting to look up at the stars through the small clearing of tree branches above.
It was admittedly hard to see very many, and the setting sun brought a swarm of bugs with it, chasing us inside.
But that was okay.
I told Natalie there’d be other chances to see the stars.
Other dates.
So many other dates to come.