Page 3 of Baby Me

We’d lost a child and my heart broke, but I had to keep living. Even if that hadn’t been my choice, I had been given another chance, and a little selfish part of me didn’t want to waste it. A little selfish part of me wanted to show Cameron how grateful I was for him saving my life, and if that was through sex, who was I to questionit?

Yeah, I was definitelyneedy.

“All right, anything else?” heasked.

“French fries? The New Yorkkind?”

I haven’t had the courage to ask whether he would take me to town after the casts were removed, but I hoped he would make the offer. Up until today, Cameron said it was safer to remain at the cabin, but I couldn’t imagine that the small town was dangerous, let alone on Aaron Cortez’s radar. If it were, he would have found me by now, so until I saw him on my doorstep, I knew that I wassafe.

“I’m sure Mrs. Lockheart will be glad to make a fresh batch foryou.”

“Thankyou.”

I still couldn’t understand why Cameron thought it was better to hide out here than in New York, where we both had lived before. I always thought it was easier to blend in with more people, but since I hadn’t been able to make any decisions when I was drugged up at the hospital, we’d ended up here. At first, I could barely move, dress, or feed and wash myself. Cameron was great at helping. He’d pretty much saved my sanity the past month and a half, but now that I’d healed, I was desperate for somemetime. You know, when you can freely burp or make other bodily noises without being afraid that someone else is going to hear them, or pick at a scab on my arm that was healing and itching like crazy — that kind ofalone.

Up until now, I had no choice. Completely dependent on Cameron, I knew that he held the reigns, and since I seemed to have been a bad judge of character in the past, I let him. He made our decisions for the both of us and for the first time in my life I was okay with that. For the first time in my life I actually wanted that burden to be removed from my mind. I didn’t want to worry about where to go, what to eat, who to speak to, or even worry whether Aaron Cortez was lurking nearby. Actually, I’d always worry about that; I just wouldn’t let Cameron know. He had enough on his mind while trying to protectme.

Letting go of everything had helped me heal and I was ready to take that next step in my life. I was ready to start livingagain.

“Are you ready for your shower?” His throaty voice floated on the thick air and vibrated pleasurably along my skin. If there was one perk about being immobile, it was Cameron’s willingness to do everything for me — well, almost everything. I knew he wanted more. I was well aware that we both needed more, but after nearly losing my own life, it was difficult to return to this new reality of a normal life. It was difficult to let go of a past that was still part of your present and could lead to a devastating future. Hopefully, the feeling wouldn’t last long. If there was anyone up there listening to my prayers, they’d lead the police straight to Aaron Cortez and let us move on with ourlives.

I looked out the window at the orange morning sunrise that glowed through the sheer curtains. The past week the temperatures had risen to well above average and, without air conditioning, the sweat seemed to collect everywhere. Who in their right mind didn’t have air-conditioning? It turned out to be this off-the-grid family cabin in the mountains, where electricity wasn’t easily accessible. According to Cameron, the lack of electricity had many benefits – which I had yet to discover, but I didn’t want to appear grumpy. Besides, I couldn’t argue with the fact that if we’d lived through Arizona heat, we could live through this Indiansummer.

“Kate, where are you? I asked you if you were ready for ashower.”

“Yes, I’m sorry. I’m ready. Let’s get wet.” I paused, the meaning of my words not lost on me, or by the look of Cameron’s bemused smile, on him. At the thought of him making me wet, I felt my panties dampen. “The casts don’t need to stay dry. You can get those wet because I’m getting them off today,” Istuttered.

Shit.

My mind was definitely playing with me, and judging by that mysterious smirk on his face, Cameron didn’t mind. He helped me out of bed, passed me my crutches, and guided me toward the bathroom, saying, “Today I can get anything you’d like wet. It’s a good day for it, don’t youthink?”

Each time I stepped through the bathroom door and saw the clawfoot tub in the middle, I dreamt about the day I’d be able to bathe. With the casts on my body, that hadn’t been an option. Next to the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out into the back yard and the forest, the tub was my favorite feature in this cabin. Honestly, all we needed was a fireplace here and I’d never leave the bathroom. I was afraid that if I mentioned it to Cameron, he’d have one installed the next day, and so Ididn’t.

As I stepped inside the shower, I felt his fingertips at my panties. I froze momentarily, then lowered my gaze, and my whole body stilled at the gentle touch of his hands over my hips. Would he gofurther?

“I can’t wait to snuggle next to you. I can’t wait to hold you in my arms again, this time without any barriers.” He was standing behind me, his mouth at my ear, my back pressed to his chest. His fingers snuck into the sides of my panties and he lowered himself to the ground, his nose skimming right over my bare ass, tickling and arousing me at the sametime.

“Cameron Madden, what are you doing?” I asked on a heavy exhale and turned around to face him, then looked down as he stood up, ever so slowly, and tossed the small piece of fabric to the hamper at theside.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m undressingyou.”

He grasped the hem of my shirt and didn’t even bother lifting it over my head. Instead, he manifested a pair of scissors from thin air and cut through the middle right up to my neck and along the shoulders until the fabric swooshed to the ground. He pushed the pieces out of the shower and turned on thefaucet.

“Put my panties back on right this moment,” I demanded, though I wasn’t sure why. It was the last thing I wanted, but he’d caught me off guard. Now that my heart was beating hard in my chest and my breaths quickened, I felt the room spin out ofcontrol.

Cold water streamed over the back of my head and neck, down my spine, and I didn’t flinch. It would have normally been a perfect distraction, but I was so hot and angry and turned on at the same time that I could barely breathe, never mind think. Over the past month and a half, I’d denied just how much I needed his touch andintimacy.

“Or what? You’re going to whack me over the head with yourcast?”

“That’srude.”

“I don’tcare.”

“But you’re just taking what wasn’toffered.”

“I didn’t know I had to ask. And baby, do I really have to ask? All I want to do is kiss you.Everywhere.”

“I just… it feels sosudden.”

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