The team charter took off from Seattle at one a.m. and Cam got home around four. It was still dark out. The dogs greeted him silently, but with wagging tails and happy kisses. He crouched down to give them both hugs and head rubs.
Dakota padded down the stairs from the mother-in-law suite just as he entered the kitchen, the dogs still milling around his legs.
“Hey,” she said. She was wearing a loose lavender T-shirt and some fuzzy pajama pants with unicorns on them. A quick glance at her breasts confirmed she wasn’t wearing a bra and Lord help him, he could discern a slight nipple outline.
“Nice jammies,” he said.
She gave him a tired smile. “Zinny has some exactly like this. Want some tea? How was your flight?”
He wasn’t a big tea drinker, but he said yes anyway. “The flight was fine. How are you doing? You and Zin Bin settle in okay?”
“Yes.” Dakota filled two mugs with water and put them in the microwave. “Except she was so friggin’ excited, she didn’t fall asleep until eleven. And it’s a school night.”
The mugs circled the microwave as Dakota pulled a couple of boxes of tea from the cupboard.
“Just to reiterate, moving in here is the perfect solution.”
She gave him a look. The microwave dinged and after pulling out the mugs, she dropped tea bags in them and handed him one. “You are crazy.”
“No I’m not. Let’s look at the pros and cons. Pros first. I have the room. The rent’s cheap.”
“What is the rent?”
“I don’t know yet, but it’ll be cheaper than average. You won’t have a commute, so no traffic.”
She shook her head while dipping her tea bag. “Not entirely true. Zinny’s school is near Ellen’s house. I’d still have to go back and forth to pick her up.”
“Not if you enroll her in the school down the street,” he said, thinking of the idea as he spoke it.
She paused in her teabag dipping.
“Sure, it’s midyear,” he said, “but Zinny was having trouble with her peers at her old school anyway. This way she could make a fresh start.”
“I hate to say it, but you’re right. That would mean a new teacher too. Lord knows I’ve never liked Ms. Peterson.”
Dakota removed the teabag and so did he. He really had no idea how long to let it sit in there, so he took his cue from her.
The dogs had settled in the giant dog bed in the corner, since Cam hadn’t made a move to go to his bedroom. He hadn’t even taken his bag out of the trunk.
“I don’t know what Ellen has against you,” Dakota said, “but she thinks this place is a den of iniquity and that your life is an endless party with women coming and going like your house is a train station. I mean except for the boob autograph there really isn’t anything to base this on.” She glanced up the stairs. “Give me a sec.” She jogged up to the second floor and Cam tried not to look at the way her ass jiggled as she went. He wasn’t too successful.
A moment later, she returned. “Sorry. I thought I heard her.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s hired a private investigator.”
“They can investigate all they want. They’re not going to find anything.”
“I’m so sorry you were dragged into this and I’m sorry about falling apart on you before. I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to wash your hands of the both of us.”
He waved a hand as if it had not been one of the shittiest, most painful phone conversations he’d ever had. He’d felt so damned helpless even though every atom in his body had wanted to make this problem go away for her. Even now, he couldn’t wait to hear from Grant.
“No apologies necessary,” he said. “I’m completely invested in this with you. She wants to take Zinny away from you? Over my dead body. We’re going to get you a lawyer tomorrow.”
“I have money in savings and I’m willing to spend whatever it takes.”
Pressing her lips together, she nodded and tears welled in her eyes and spilled over, making her look so damned vulnerable, not at all like the strong, dynamic go-getter he was used to.
“Hey, hey, come here. Don’t cry.” He cupped her cheeks and caught her gaze. “You’re not going to lose her. That’s a solid promise.” Then, knowing he shouldn’t, that this was extremely dangerous, he folded her into his arms. The need to comfort her was a lot stronger than his self-control right now.
She felt so perfect, so soft and womanly, he didn’t ever want to let go, especially when, after the initial surprise, she relaxed against him and pressed her face to his chest and cried silently. Her shoulders shook and he held her as her tears soaked into his shirt. It was wonderful and horrible at the same time. He hated that she was crying, but loved that he was holding her at last.
He murmured softly against her hair as she gradually got control of herself. His Dakota liked to be in control, to be strong and unflappably independent, so she was probably hating this show of weakness.
As he leaned back to see her face, she looked up at him again and all he could focus on was her lush mouth. She had his shirt balled up in her hands and he was starting to get hard, which was sort of an asshole thing to do. She was upset. She wasn’t looking for a roll in the hay. And yet, he didn’t have any control over his dick. Never had. Never would.
Just one kiss, he thought. Just to see if she tasted as sweet as he’d imagined she would, to feel her respond to his mouth covering hers. Even if he was a dick for taking advantage of her while she was torn up and worried.
Slowly, he lowered his head, all the while maintaining eye contact. He watched for signs that she didn’t want this kiss. He saw none. He saw a little fear. He saw uncertainty, but he also saw desire. He felt that incredible pull, the same pull he’d felt from the day they’d met when he’d first laid eyes on her in that sexy bra and panties.
After what seemed like an hour, their mouths finally met. He kept the touch light and gentle. She didn’t retreat. He kissed her again, increasing the pressure slightly, brushing his mouth across hers. It was torture trying to hold back the intense lust surging through his body, but he managed it. He kissed the corner of her mouth, her cheek, the side of her neck, and she exhaled and arched slightly.
“God, Dakota, I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” he said in a gruff voice. “Tell me you want it too.”
She didn’t say anything, just threaded her fingers into his hair and dragged his mouth back to hers. Their kisses got harder, more passionate. Cam let his hands wander over her back, down to her waist. He pulled her more closely so she could feel how much he wanted her and she moaned softly. That sound. It inflamed him.
He was just about to slip his hands under her shirt when he heard a noise from upstairs, a whimper. Gizmo scrambled out from under the blanket on his dog bed and raced up the stairs. Dakota extricated herself from his arms, looking upset. She touched her lips and her face flushed.
“Koko?” Zinny’s voice floated down the stairs.
“Coming,” Dakota said. After casting Cam one last worried glance, she hurried up the stairs.
He didn’t think she was coming back down.
He didn’t think his dick was either.
Dakota entered the dimly lit room. Zinny had insisted they leave the bathroom light on and the door ajar.
The suite above the garage was much bigger than the space they’d been allotted at Ellen’s. Here they had a walk-in closet (still littered with Cam’s junk) and a full bath with two sinks. The large bedroom had a roomy sitting area and beyond that, a covered balcony overlooked the pool.
Zinny was sitting up in the queen bed with Gizmo in her arms. Her hair was a frizzy cloud.
“Hey, sweetie. Are you okay?” Dakota kissed her niece on her forehead then sat on the side of the bed.
“I didn’t know where you were.”
“I was just down in the kitchen.”
Making out with Cam.
Thank goodness the room was so dark. That way Zinny couldn’t see how red her face was right now. She’d been kissing Cam. Kissing! How had that happened? One moment she’d been crying into his shirt, upset but somehow still reveling in his strength and emotional support, and the next she was playing tonsil hockey with him. It was wrong. Sure, being in the protective circle of Cam’s arms had felt wonderful. He’d soothed away so much of her stress just by holding her. And his kisses…he’d made her bones feel like mashed potatoes. If she could somehow add up all of the sexual desire she’d experienced in her whole life, it still wouldn’t equal what she felt when he’d pressed the ridge of his erection against her belly.
But she couldn’t sleep with him. Could not. The moment she had sex with him was the moment she had to quit this job. Otherwise, she’d be exactly what Ellen had accused her of being. While she had no problem with women who chose that route, that didn’t mean she wanted to do it herself or for Zinny to grow up with that example front and center. And no matter how good sex with Cam would feel—probably the best she’d ever have—she had to remember that. It wasn’t worth losing the first job she’d truly loved.
“Koko, why are you and Nana so mad at each other?”
Sighing, Dakota crawled into bed with Zinny and held her close. “I don’t know how to answer that, sweetie. We have some grown-up problems we have to figure out. That’s why you and I are going to be living here for a little while.”
“Here? With Cam? And Gizmo and Zeus?”
Dakota had to smile at the excitement in her niece’s voice. “Yes, here with Cam and the dogs. You like that idea?”
“I want to live here forever.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Forever and ever and ever and ever.” She took a breath. “And ever and ever and ever.”
“We won’t be here that long, but long enough so that I’m going to enroll you in the school down the street.”
Zinny squealed and kicked her feet in excitement. “I don’t have to go to school with the mean kids anymore. Yay!”
Dakota laughed. Zinny had said numerous times she wished she could live at Cam’s and now they were.
“Yay indeed. Now it’s time for you to go back to sleep. You have school tomorrow—at your old school. Yeah. Sorry. But I’ll enroll you in the new school first thing in the morning. Deal?” She held out her pinky.
Zinny hooked her own pinky around Dakota’s and they shook. “Deal.”