Cameron stretched, then tried to turn over onto his back-and landed on the floor.
“What the-?” he grumbled. Where the hell was he?
His brain slowly engaged and he groaned as he remembered exactly where he’d slept last night. Moving slowly, he pulled himself up off the living room floor, then sat on the couch with his elbows resting on his knees.
After Julia had gone off to bed, he’d finished his beer and tried to watch the football game, but it had lost its appeal. So he went to bed where he tossed and turned, unable to sleep with the knowledge that Julia was sleeping in the room just across the hall. He wanted her in bed with him. Wanted her lush body pressed against his. Wanted to bury himself in her silken warmth.
But you can’t always get what you want, he thought. Not right away, anyway. He was a patient man and he would have her in his bed soon enough.
Last evening, though, that thought had not been conducive to a good night’s sleep. So Cameron had come out to the living room couch, thinking he’d zone out on late-night television. He finally fell asleep and now he regretted it as he stood and tried to stretch out his spine. Damn, his couch looked spacious and luxurious, but spending the night on it had been a tactical error. His back was whimpering like a whiny schoolgirl. He stood and stretched and tried to remember when, exactly, had he turned into such an old man? He was barely into his thirties.
Determined to work out and get rid of the aches and pains, he slipped on a pair of gym shorts and sneakers, then left the suite for a brisk twenty-minute run around the resort grounds.
Forty-five minutes later, after a hot shower and two cups of coffee, he felt a whole lot better. A good thing, because he would need to be in peak condition to deal with the new occupants of his suite.
“Dada!”
Speaking of.
“Good morning,” Julia said as she carried Jake into the room. She had him in some kind of space-age kid carrier and without thinking, Cameron took it from her and placed carrier and baby up on the breakfast bar.
She was dressed in a sleek, navy pinstriped suit with a crisp white blouse and black heels. Her wavy blond hair was tamed back into a simple ponytail. And why he found that look so damn sexy, Cameron couldn’t figure out, but he knew he was on a slippery slope, watching her walk around the kitchen as she grabbed an apple for herself and warmed a bottle for the baby.
“Dada,” Jake whispered, gazing up at Cameron’s face.
“He says that a lot,” Cameron said, staring at the kid. He realized as he spoke that Jake’s repetition of the word dada didn’t bother him half as much as it had last night.
“It feels good on his tongue,” Julia explained, then blinked and quickly turned toward the coffeemaker.
Cameron laughed as she crisscrossed the kitchen, her cheeks blushed pink after realizing what she’d just said. Obviously, she hadn’t thought about the words before uttering them, and now he could think of a few things, too, that would feel good on his tongue.
“I’ve got a conference panel in forty minutes,” she said briskly, back to business after a few hurried sips of coffee. “I’ve arranged for a babysitter to watch Jake for the day, and she should be here any minute. But if you’d rather not have anyone in the suite while you’re here, I’ll understand. I can check with the concierge for another place to-”
“It’s fine if the babysitter stays here.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “Good. Thanks.”
“Did you sleep well?” he asked.
“Wonderful, thank you,” she said, and rinsed her coffee mug. “You?”
“Like a rock,” he lied.
“That’s great.”
Well, this was awkward. He leaned against the bar, watching as Julia put the mug in the dishwasher. Then he glanced over at Jake, whose eyes were closed. He was already sleeping peacefully, Cameron realized. Must be nice.
The doorbell rang and Jake’s eyes flew open. His mouth quivered in a pout, and Cameron realized he was about to cry.
“Hey, kiddo, it’s okay,” he said softly, and stroked his tummy. “Shh. Don’t worry. Doorbells scare me, too.”
Jake stared up at Cameron as though his words were written on stone tablets. A wave of something powerful swept through him and he felt as if he just might be the most important person in the world in that moment.
“That must be the sitter,” Julia said, her voice a little hoarse. “I’ll go let her in.”
Ten minutes later, the babysitter and Jake were ensconced in the back bedroom, and Julia was ready to leave. She had her purse strapped over her shoulder and she carried a soft leather briefcase. She looked like a lawyer instead of the best pastry chef on the Central Coast. Cameron walked her to the front door and opened it.
“I showed her where everything is and gave her my card in case she needs to call me,” Julia said nervously. “I won’t turn off my phone.”
“Everything will be okay,” he said, and leaned against the door jamb, blocking her way out. “Look, we haven’t talked about the paternity test yet.”
“Oh,” she said. With a frown, she dropped her briefcase and folded her arms across her chest. “I was hoping you’d changed your mind about that.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You don’t think I’m handing you a child support check until I’ve verified that Jake is my son, do you?”
“I don’t need child support, Cameron,” she said testily. “You can keep your money.”
“Yeah, that’s what they all say.”
Her lips thinned in anger. “First of all, it’s Jake’s comfort I’m concerned about. Do you have any idea how many immunizations he’s been through in his short nine months? I’ve lost track of the number of needles he’s had to suffer through. But don’t worry, you’ll have your damned paternity test. Second of all-”
“Look, Julia, I-”
She held up her hand. “Just let me finish before you say anything else you’ll regret later about the money thing. Do yourself a favor, go online on Google and look up the Parrish Trust. When I get back, we’ll talk about money.”
“Fine.” He realized he’d pushed her a little too far, but where did she get off thinking he’d just accept her word on everything?
She picked up her briefcase and started to walk out, but stopped again and glared at him. “And as long as you’ve got your computer fired up, you might want to take a look at those emails I sent you a while back. They just might paint a different picture than what you think is going on here.”
“Julia, I’m not-”
“And while you’re at it,” she said, pulling a flowery scrapbook from her briefcase, “I brought this to show some friends, but you might want to take a look at it first.”
He stared at the thick journal, then began to thumb through it casually. There were photographs of the baby affixed to the pages, along with handwritten passages describing the pictures. Frowning, he gazed at her.
“And one more thing,” she continued before he could say anything. “You caught me in a weak moment last night, but it won’t happen again. We’re willing to stay here with you for the next ten days, but there’s no way I’m having sex with you. That’s a deal-breaker.”
With that, she left the suite in a huff.
Three
T hat’s a deal-breaker.
Sex? A deal-breaker? Not in this universe, Cameron thought. He could recall Julia melting in his arms last night and knew it was only a matter of time until he had her in his bed.
After she left for the conference, Cameron pulled his computer out of the second bedroom and set everything up in the dining room. That way, he wouldn’t disturb Jake when it was nap time later.
Cameron couldn’t get Julia’s irate words out of his head so, with great reluctance, he finally did as she suggested and went online to research her family business.