Chapter 19 Emily
EMILY
Idipped the brush into the green face paint, mixing in a little brown to get that perfect murky swamp watercolor. “Okay, tilt your head back a little.”
Alice did as I asked, her eyes squeezed shut, practically vibrating with excitement. I’d already finished Audrey’s face, and she was currently admiring herself in the hand mirror, turning her head from side to side to catch all the angles of her swamp monster transformation.
“Can you make the warts really big?” Alice asked, her voice hopeful.
“The biggest.” I dabbed small circles of darker green across her forehead and cheeks, building them up with layers. “You’re going to be the wartiest swamp monster in all of North Carolina.”
“Yes!” She pumped her fist in the air, nearly knocking the paint palette out of my hand.
“Hey, careful, unless you want green paint all over the couch.”
“Sorry.” But she was grinning, that gap-toothed smile that made my chest feel warm.
I added some purple around her eyes, smudging it to look like bruises, then used black to create the illusion of missing teeth. A few strategic brown streaks down her cheeks completed the look, like she’d just crawled out of a bog.
“There.” I sat back to admire my work. “You look absolutely disgusting.”
“Really?” Her eyes flew open, hopeful.
“The most disgusting.”
She scrambled off the couch and ran to where Audrey was still holding the mirror. They both leaned in close, examining their reflections with the kind of serious concentration usually reserved for studying museum artifacts.
“We look so gross,” Audrey breathed, clearly delighted.
“Wait until your dad sees you. He’s going to lose his mind.”
The words were barely out of my mouth when Audrey’s tablet started ringing on the coffee table. She grabbed it, her face lighting up when she saw the screen.
“It’s Daddy!” She answered the video call, then immediately spun the tablet around so the camera faced away from her face.
“Hey, monsters.” Cam’s voice came through the speaker, deep and rumbly.
I had to ignore the way it skittered over my skin.
“Just wanted to let you know I’m about fifteen minutes out. How was your afternoon?”
“We had so much fun!”
“Yeah? What did you guys get up to?”
“Emily did our makeup!”
There was a beat of silence. Then, “Did she now?”
The temperature in the room dropped about ten degrees. The shift in his tone hit me square in the chest. Not angry, exactly, but definitely not happy.
“Yeah! Wait until you see it!” Audrey was oblivious to the tension.
“You’re gonna love it,” Alice all but yelled.
“I’m sure I will. See you in a few minutes. Be good for Emily.”
“We will! Bye, Daddy!”
She ended the call and both girls immediately started planning their grand reveal. How they’d hide behind the door and jump out at him. What sound effects they’d make. Whether they should pretend to be actual swamp creatures who’d eaten his real daughters.
My stomach twisted uncomfortably.
He’d sounded off and I couldn’t think why. Or how to fix it.
He’d been fine until Audrey mentioned the makeup, actually. Sooo…
“Hey, girls?” I tried to keep my voice casual. “Maybe we should wash this off before your dad gets home.”
“What?” Audrey turned to me, her swamp monster face genuinely horrified. “No way!”
“We have to show him!” Alice added. “Pleeease, can we keep it on?”
“Maybe he won’t like the mess.”
“We can clean up the mess!” Audrey was clearly getting upset.
“Still, it might be better to wash it off.”
“But we want to surprise Daddy!” Alice’s lip was starting to tremble, and oh god, I couldn’t handle making her cry over this.
“Okay, okay.” I held up my hands in surrender. “You’re right. It’s a surprise. He’s going to love it.”
My words sounded much more confident than I felt.
The next fifteen minutes dragged. The girls positioned themselves behind the front door, practicing their scary faces and their swamp monster sounds. I tidied up the face paint supplies and tried to figure out what had gone wrong on that phone call.
The sound of his truck pulling into the driveway made my pulse jump. The girls squealed and crouched lower behind the door, hands over their mouths to muffle their giggles.
Heavy boots thudded against the porch steps, followed by the jingle of keys, then the door handle turning.
The second Cam stepped inside, both girls launched themselves at him with the most horrific growling, shrieking sounds I’d ever heard.
He jumped back, hand to his chest, eyes going comically wide. “Ah! Monsters!” He stumbled backward against the door. “Where are my daughters? What have you done with my daughters?”
“We ate them!” Alice declared, her arms wrapped around his knee.
“You ate them? That’s terrible!” He crouched down to their level, examining their faces with exaggerated concern. “Wait a minute. Audrey, is that you under all that swamp?”
“Maybe.” She was grinning so hard her face paint was starting to crack.
“And Alice?” He turned to his youngest. “You’re a very convincing monster.”
“Emily made us!”
His eyes found mine over the girls’ heads, and I braced myself. But instead of the anger I’d been expecting, his expression had softened. Relieved, maybe. His shoulders dropped slightly and he stood, ruffling both girls’ hair.
“You guys look great. Really scary.”
“Can we keep it on for dinner?” Audrey asked, bouncing on her toes.
“Sure. Why not?” He straightened up. “But you need to go wash your hands first. Both of you.”
They took off down the hallway, still making swamp monster noises, and suddenly it was just Cam and me standing in the entryway.
The echo of their giggles faded, leaving a silence that felt heavy enough to choke on.
Cam didn’t move. He just stood there, staring down the hall, his broad shoulders rising and falling with a slow, deep breath that seemed to suck all the remaining air out of the small space.
I twisted my hands together, the drying paint tacky against my skin, my mind racing through a dozen worst-case scenarios.
“I’m so sorry.” The words tumbled out before I could stop them. “It didn’t really occur to me that you would be upset at having their faces painted, but it should have, and I should have checked with you first. Again, I’m really sorry. It won’t happen again, I promise.”
I finally had to stop and breathe, my heart thudding against my ribcage.
Cam stared at me, his expression unreadable. Then he dragged a hand through his hair and let out a long breath.
“No. I’m the one who should be sorry.” His voice was rough. “When Audrey said you did their makeup, I jumped to conclusions. I thought...” He trailed off, jaw working. “I thought you were putting real makeup on them. Lipstick, blush, all that shit. And I don’t want that for them, that’s all.”
“I get it.” And I did. More than he could know. “For what it’s worth, I’m not really into makeup myself. Never have been. So it wouldn’t even cross my mind to do that with them.”
His eyes searched my face, like he was trying to figure out if I was telling the truth. Like maybe he was seeing something he hadn’t noticed before.
The air between us felt charged.
Then the thunder of small feet in the hallway broke the moment.
“Daddy, look!” Alice held up her clean hands. “We washed them!”
He cleared his throat, dragging his gaze away from me. “Good job.”
“Emily has to paint your face too!” Audrey announced, her grin absolutely diabolical.
Cam’s eyes went wide. “What? No.”
“Yes!” Alice joined in immediately. “You have to be a swamp monster with us!”
“I really don’t think that’s necessary.”
“Please, Daddy?” They both turned on the puppy dog eyes, which was significantly more effective when combined with their swamp monster makeup. The juxtaposition was honestly unfair.
“Come on, girls. Your dad just got home from work. He’s probably tired.”
“I am a little tired,” he muttered, but the way he was looking at his daughters told me he’d already lost this battle.
“Please?” Audrey clasped her hands together. “We’ll be really good all week if you do it.”
“You’re supposed to be good anyway. That’s not a bargaining chip.”
“But we’ll be extra good.”
His eyes met mine, his expression rueful. “This is your fault, you know.” There was no anger or irritation in his words. The rush of relief I felt almost made me dizzy. We were good.
“Hey, don’t blame me. I’m just the artist. They’re the masterminds.”
His mouth twitched, almost a smile. Then he sighed, long and suffering, and moved into the living room, dropping down onto the couch. “Fine. But you’re making me a hamburger swamp monster. Nothing scarier than that.”
The girls erupted in cheers, already pulling me forward.
My hands were shaking as I picked up the face paint palette. This was fine. This was completely normal. Just painting a grown man’s face while his daughters watched. Nothing weird about that at all.
Except for the part where I’d have to touch him. Get close to him. Look directly at his face for an extended period of time, without losing my cool.
“Alright.” I tried to sound confident as I knelt on the couch beside him. “This is going to take a few minutes, so you need to stay still.”
“I’m a grown man. I can sit still.”
“We’ll see about that.”
I dipped the brush in green paint, then hesitated. The girls were watching with rapt attention, perched on the coffee table like they had front row seats to the best show on earth.
Right. Focus on the task. Don’t think about how close you are. Don’t notice the way he smells, or how his jaw is clenched, or how his eyes are locked on your face.
Just paint.
I leaned in and pressed the brush to his forehead, dragging it down in a streak of murky green. His skin was warm under the bristles, and he tensed slightly at the contact.
“Cold?” I asked, keeping my voice light.
“No. Just weird.”
“You get used to it.”
I continued painting, covering his forehead and cheeks with the base layer of green. This close, the small, jagged scar was visible above his left eyebrow. As was the stubble that was starting to come in across his jaw.
Stop looking at his eyes. Look at your work.
I mixed in some brown, adding shadows and texture. My hand was steadier now, falling into the familiar rhythm of painting. Dab, blend, dab, blend. His face was a canvas, and I was just creating something fun for his daughters.
That was all this was.
“You’re really good at this,” he said quietly.
“Thank you.” I added purple around his eyes, my fingers accidentally brushing his temple as I steadied my hand. He inhaled sharply, and I froze. “Sorry. Did I hurt you?”
“No. You’re fine.”
But his voice had gone rough, and when I glanced at his face, his jaw was tight again.
The girls were getting antsy, asking if they could help, suggesting additions to the design. I let them tell me where to put the warts, what color his missing teeth should be, whether the slime should drip from his forehead or his chin.
It gave me something to focus on besides the fact that Cam’s face was inches from mine. That his breath was warm against my wrist when I leaned in to add details. That every accidental touch sent electricity skittering across my skin.
“There.” I sat back finally, examining my work. “You officially look disgusting.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“That’s the goal, right?”
The girls scrambled to grab the hand mirror, fighting over who got to bring it to him. Audrey won, thrusting it at his face.
“Look, Daddy!”
“You look so gross!”
“We match!” Alice added. “We’re a swamp monster family!”
He took the mirror and studied his reflection. His expression shifted from resigned tolerance to genuine amusement and a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth, crinkling the paint around his eyes.
“I do look pretty disgusting,” he admitted.
“The disgustingest,” Alice confirmed.
He turned back to me, and God, this was absurd. This man, this gorgeous, serious man, sitting in his living room with a fully painted swamp monster face, looking at me like...
Like I’d just given him something he didn’t know he needed.
“Thank you,” he said quietly.
“For making you look gross?”
“For making them happy.”
My chest squeezed tight. “Anytime.”
And I meant it. I really, really meant it.