Chapter 41
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
natalie
Hi
It’s your dearest sister, here with another babysitting request.
I’m sorry. It’s not for a few weeks.
BLAKE: Nat, you know we never care. Did you pick up an extra shift?
No, actually…I’m trying to plan a date?
NOAH: Why did you say it like a question? Are you not sure it’s a date or you’re not sure it’s happening?
No, I’m pretty sure it’s a date. And I’m pretty sure it’s happening.
I have just been corrected that it is absolutely a date and it’s definitely happening.
BLAKE: Not for a few weeks, huh? I don’t suppose that has anything to do with a certain trial being over in a couple weeks…
It might.
NOAH: And I don’t suppose that means your date is with your lawyer…
Actually, no.
BLAKE: No?
No, I have a new lawyer.
NOAH: Cameron ditched you???
He did not *ditch* me, Noah. But Korey was causing problems. We both thought it was for the best.
BLAKE: When the fuck is Korey not causing problems.
NOAH: Who is your lawyer now, then?
Juniper.
NOAH: Oh, well, RIP to all Korey’s hopes and dreams then.
BLAKE: Will Juniper’s destruction of your pathetic ex-husband be recorded? Or better yet, can I come watch?
The next couple of weeks were tense as we prepared for the trial, and while I couldn’t deny that I was stressed and worried and, well, sometimes downright terrified of what might happen with Chloe’s custody, there were also pockets of time where I felt so incredibly happy and at peace.
The first thing I realized after firing Cameron was just how much he had been holding back.
With his touches, his words, his thoughtful actions.
If I’d thought he was attentive and supportive before, it was nothing to how he treated me now that we’d redefined our relationship.
I felt like a spoiled-rotten princess, even though nothing Cameron had done for me cost him much more than time and consideration.
On nights when I wasn’t at the hospital, he often came over and cooked dinner with Chloe and me.
Sometimes while meals sat in the oven, he’d take Chloe to the park, and I sat in the kitchen with a glass of wine, a moment to put my feet up without feeling guilty.
Cameron encouraged me to spend time on myself, rediscover things I enjoyed.
I read a book, went on a run, took a bath—all for the first time in years.
It felt like a partnership. It felt like I finally had someone who I could lean on, who was willing to split responsibilities and share the load, even when it wasn’t his load to share.
I tried to reciprocate when I could. I often packed Cameron lunches for work and made sure to carve out time for the things I knew he liked.
We’d started watching baseball at our house after dinner, and Chloe eagerly took on the task of learning all the players’ names and numbers while I curled up with my crochet hooks.
Cameron would quiz her over root beer floats, and then she’d fall asleep before the end of the final inning.
That was when I got kisses.
I’d urge Chloe to her room, and then Cameron would press me down into the couch and kiss me until I was breathless, murmuring all the things he wanted to do to me in bed later while I begged him to do them right then and there.
We moved slowly, but likely not as slow as we could have.
And I was more than okay with that.
Falling wasn’t all that scary, not when you knew the person standing beside you would catch you at the end of the day.
Therapy helped, too. I expected my therapist to tell me to take it easy, to proceed into a new relationship with an abundance of caution, but she hadn’t.
She told me to put a little more trust in myself and everything that I had learned—and unlearned—since escaping Korey’s emotional manipulation.
She reminded me that I knew the signs now.
We talked about what those signs were. We talked about how Cameron had none of them.
We ended up not waiting until after the trial to have our first official date night. It preceded it by a few days, but Cameron wanted to give me a night to take my mind off everything, and it worked.
He wasn’t my lawyer any longer; we could go on a date.
We just hadn’t wanted to do anything too publicly right after switching representation and cause any further suspicion or speculation that there had been something carrying on while we were still professionally tied.
And we didn’t want Korey to know, of course.
He’d know eventually, but for now, it was still better if he didn’t.
Korey had acted incredibly smug about the change in representation, like he’d already won by getting Cameron fired.
While I hated that, it also assured me that he was less likely to keep digging.
His ego had been restored. He thought we were behind, that Juniper wouldn’t be able to pull things together fast enough for the trial.
He was full steam ahead, pressing to get this over with now because he thought he had the upper hand.
And while it was still possible he might still try to pull something, at least now if something did happen, I could tell him that I was free to date whoever I liked.
There were no rules anymore. None at all.
Chloe was with Blake and Delaney tonight, who were taking her on a little road trip to get dinner with Delaney’s brother, Bryan.
There was some chatter that Bryan might move to Boston soon, so it would be good for Chloe to get a chance to meet him.
Blake and Delaney had been researching different independent-living opportunities for Bryan, who was a young adult who had Down syndrome.
Ultimately, though, they said moving away from Delaney’s slightly estranged parents was up to him, so Chloe declared she was going to try to convince Bryan that living in Boston was the best, and he should definitely move.
My daughter was always looking to build our family out, as big as she could.
But I was just happy she was excited about tonight and staying over at Blake and Delaney’s.
It took a weight off my shoulder, lessened the guilt I had about spending an evening where I could be with my daughter to instead go out with the hottest, kindest man I’d ever met.
Adjusting the bodice of my corset top, I was wondering if I’d tied it a bit too tight when Cameron knocked on the door.
He hadn’t told me where we were going and insisted I could wear whatever I felt best in.
And this was that. I’d paired the top with a flirty skirt, wanting something that felt different. Because tonight, I felt different.
When I opened the door, Cameron froze. Every part of his body remained still while his eyes worked over me, seeming to meticulously take notes.
Then he released a barely audible curse and tipped his head back, staring at the sky and giving me the opportunity to drink him in.
He’d dressed casually, at least in Cameron’s standards.
His usual work attire was replaced by an unbuttoned, olive-colored linen shirt.
It draped open, and the white fabric beneath it clung to the contours of his chest, leaving me staring.
“Cameron. Baby,” I said, saying his name the way he did mine sometimes. “You look really nice.”
Cameron lowered his gaze again, his eyes flaring. His voice was tight as he spoke.
“Come out here.”
“What?”
He ran a hand down his face and slipped his knuckle into his mouth, biting it before answering. “I need you to come out here, because if I go in there, we’ll never leave.”
Something skipped a beat inside me. Maybe more than one beat, actually.
I cocked my head to the side. “Why’s that?”
He released a weathered sigh, his voice sinking to a new depth. “Because you have no idea how badly I want to hear you call me baby while my hands are up that tiny skirt of yours.”
“I think we can make that happen,” I said, stepping out my front door with a little extra bounce in my step. “Later.”
Cameron made some kind of discernible noise while I turned to close and lock the door behind me. When I spun to face him again, he framed my waist with his large hands. “You are so stunning,” he breathed, sounding husky and warm. “My sunny girl blinded me for a moment.”
“Oh, stop,” I laughed, trying to push him off.
But he wouldn’t let me go.
“No,” he said simply. “You know better than that. You know you can’t push me away that easily, Natalie.”
I stared at him, knowing he was right. I did know that.
“I’m not going to stop,” he went on. “Not for a long time. My girl’s always gonna know exactly how gorgeous she is.”
“Is that what I am?” I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth in thought, and Cameron’s gaze flicked to my mouth. “Your girl?”
I really liked the sound of that.
“Mmm.” Cameron shook his head, oddly a little disappointed in the question. And then I understood why. “If you’re really asking me that, then I have some work to do tonight, don’t I?” He raised a brow. “Let’s go.”
Taking my hand, Cameron led me down the steps. But before we could make it to his car, something caught my eye out of my peripheral vision.
Were plants growing in my garden?
I dropped Cameron’s hand, getting sidetracked as I walked across the tiny patio. “What’s that?”
Cameron was silent for a moment, and then, when he seemed to figure out what I was talking about, said, “Oh, Chloe didn’t tell you about that?”
I frowned, staring at the little sprouts in the soil. “Tell me about what?”
“We planted flowers that night you were at the hospital.”
Turning, I stared at him. “You planted flowers?”
He nodded, looking amused at my shocked expression. “Sunflowers, baby.”
God, the things he could do to my pulse with just a couple of words.
“The flowers were Chloe’s idea,” Cameron added, just like he did with the sunflowers in the vase that night. But I knew better than to believe he hadn’t played a part.
“She has a sudden thing for sunflowers, huh?”