23. Cam
CHAPTER 23
CAM
S tella doesn’t seem in any particular hurry to get back inside, so I keep the conversation going. “How are you feeling about what happened last night?”
Something hot flashes behind her eyes, but her smile turns playful. “You mean about the skunk? It was kind of scary.”
I slide my foot closer to hers, and tap the toe of her clog with my shoe. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”
She puts on a sweetly innocent face. “Oh, did something else happen last night?”
If it wasn’t blatantly obvious that she’s joking, I’d be hurt. That kiss was much too good to forget.
“I had a great evening, despite almost getting skunked,” Wyatt says.
I tap her foot once more. “Can I ask why you don’t date?”
She half shrugs and looks down at our feet, where mine is resting near hers. “I don’t know. It’s complicated as a single mom.”
I nod at that. I can’t imagine the amount of work that goes into raising another human, and Stella is obviously doing a damn good job at it.
“With Jessie and with work, I’m busy, and I’m just not interested in going out and having fun for fun’s sake.”
Wyatt and I both frown at that. “You deserve to go out and have fun,” he says. “In fact, I’d argue that it’s like the oxygen mask thing on planes. You need to take care of yourself first, so you can better take care of others.”
She shrugs again, looking everywhere except at us.
She’s interested. She wanted to kiss us last night, and I can tell she’d enjoy going out with us, too, or I wouldn’t be trying to persuade her.
“Surely you can take a few hours off from mom duty?” I suggest. “Can Marissa watch Jessie?”
“She could …”
I clap my hands together once. “Then it’s settled. When would you like to go?”
“Wait, I never said I was going.”
“Just one date, Stella. That’s all. Then you can return to your no-dating policy. Though I doubt you’ll want to.”
She’s looking at me when she asks, “Is this date with you, or both of you?”
“Both of us.”
Her eyes widen. “Where would we go?”
I shrug and grin at her. “A little mystery is part of the fun.”
“What he means is that we don’t know yet either,” Wyatt says.
“Yeah, he’s right,” I say. “The mystery is part of the fun for us, too.”
When Stella laughs, I say, “See? You’re having fun already.”
“Let us know what night you’re free, and we’ll make ourselves available,” Wyatt tells her.
Stella tilts her head, looking adorable. “I still haven’t agreed.”
“You have,” I tease, but then I put on a formal posture and bow in front of her. “Stella, will you do us the honor of going on a date with us?”
Giggling, she says, “I will, but under one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“No more kissing.”
Hmm. Not what I was expecting her to say, but very interesting. I have no doubt she enjoyed kissing me, so I suspect her condition has to do with her not wanting to get carried away.
“Was Cam that bad of a kisser?” Wyatt quips.
“Like hell,” I mutter, offended even though I know he’s joking.
“Kissing you both made my head cloudy,” she says. “And it makes things complicated. You said this is about going out and having fun, so can we just do that?”
“Absolutely,” Wyatt says.
I nod, and give her a smile. “We won’t hold it against you if you change your mind.”