Page 7 of Under My Skin

I find their animals so cute that I snap a few pictures with my phone. Why, I have no idea, but I feel like I need to remember them.

The back door swinging open draws all our attention to Cameron coming back outside. His well-worn jeans and plain white T-shirt soaked in water and glued to his chest add to his appeal even further. I have a hard time taking my eyes off him, and when I do manage it, he’s staring right back at me with a small smile on his face.

Yep, he totally caught me checking him out.Oh boy.

I feel my cheeks heat from embarrassment. He shouldn’t have to deal with my wandering eyes, and I definitely do not want to face the inevitable looks of pity if I keep getting caught.Time to reel it in, Lizzie.

“Thanks again, Lizzie. I really appreciate the help. You were a lifesaver this afternoon.”

“No biggie. What are neighbors for, am I right?” I emphasize the wordneighborsto hopefully negate getting caught ogling him in front of his daughters.

“Right.” Cameron laughs, almost awkwardly. “Still, I’ll have to find a way to pay you back.”

“You don’t have to, really.”

“But I do,” he counters with a smile.

“Ohhhkayyy, if you insist,” I drag out nervously. “Well, have fun getting clean, girls,” I yell, waving to Addy and Mackenzie as I start to head across the yard. “And good luck on your renovations, Cameron.” I say over my shoulder, trying to make a hasty retreat back home.

“Thanks, Lizzie. Oh, and it’s been really nice seeing you again. Definite perk of moving back home,” he shouts right before I'm about to cross over into my yard. I meant to just give him a slight wave over my shoulder, but I couldn’t help but turn, only to see a big smile on his face.

Unfortunately, that’s also the moment when I slide right into a huge puddle of mud that's slightly dried out but still sludgy enough to be slippery.

After a mortifying display of limbs flying in every direction as I try to regain my balance, I fall straight on my hip and left butt cheek. I go down so hard that the breath is knocked out of me like I've been punched in the kidney.

"Shit," Cameron says and starts to run toward where I’m sprawled in the mud. "Are you okay?"

Before he can run all the way over, I find my voice and throw my hand up to stop him. "I'm good, don't worry." I manage to get up without slipping again, but I’m not able to hide my wince when I move to take a step.

This is going to leave a bruise for sure.

"You went down pretty hard, Lizzie. Are you sure you’re, okay?" he asks.

Thankfully, he stopped where he was when I put my hand up, so he’s a good ten feet away still. Not far enough to miss my flaming red cheeks from embarrassment, but enough that I have space to breathe and rein in my humiliation.

"Just knocked the wind out of me, that's all." I look down at myself and see mud covering the bottom half of my body and arms. "And got me a little muddy. Guess I need a shower, too." I turn around quickly and speed walk to my barn, my hip throbbing with each step I take. "See you around," I call over my shoulder before shutting myself inside the safety of the barn.

Later that night, after washing off the mud and icing my hip and butt, I continually replay the afternoon in my head—especially the exchange Cameron and I had before I made a fool out of myself.

Was he flirting with me? Teasing me? Just being nice?

God, I wish I knew. I’m way out of my depth here. Even if he was flirting, after the display of clumsiness and incoordination, he probably regrets it.

Ugh. Why am I this way?

4

CAMERON

Holy shit.

Lizzie just went down hard. I’m honestly surprised she was able to get up so fast. If it had been me, I’d have been down a lot longer—and I used to play football for a living.

I could tell she was embarrassed and wanted to escape as quickly as she could, so I let her go, even though it went against every fiber of my being not to check if she was actually okay.

To be honest, her clumsiness was cute. I don’t think she’d agree with me based on how quick she hightailed it out of here, but it’s endearing. It’s honest. It’s just…her. And I find how real she is very attractive.

Just as attractive as how red her cheeks got when I caught her checking me out. I watched her eyes move up and down my body and the way she bit her lip slightly and took a deep breath. I saw her throat swallow and the small shake of her head, like she was shaking away some thoughts.

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