Page 72 of My One and Only

Inside the towel he’d wrapped around her, Fiona shuddered. His little girl was really scared. He pulled her onto his lap and wrapped one arm around her. “Would you feel less scared if you slept in here with me tonight?”he asked.

Fiona’s face lit up. “Yes, Daddy! I wouldn’t be scared at all if I was sleeping with you.”

Cam saw the evening he’d planned with Jo vanishing like dew on a hot morning. “How about if I move you to my bed before I go to sleep tonight?”

Fiona shook her head, her damp ringlets flying wildly around her face. “No, Daddy! I wouldn’t be able to fall sleep in my own bed. I’d be too scared.”

“But you wouldn’t be scared if you were in my bed? And you’d be able to fall asleep?”

“Yes.” She nodded earnestly. “Just for tonight.”

Fiona knew the rules about sleeping in his bed -- if she had a nightmare, she could crawl into bed with him. Or if she were scared of something.

“Okay, baby. But just for tonight. I don’t think any bad people will come here tonight, but you can sleep in here with me. Just in case.”

“Thank you, Daddy,” she said, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. “I’ll fall right to sleep if I can sleep in your bed.”

“All right,” he said, pulling back the quilt, blanket and top sheet. “Climb in. And no fooling around. If you fool around, you’re going back to your own bed.”

“I won’t fool around,” she promised, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him.

“I know you won’t,” he said, pressing his face to her hair and inhaling her sweet baby scent. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Fiona smiled at him and snuggled into the pillow as he walked out of the room. He left the door cracked so he could check on her in fifteen minutes. Make sure she was asleep.

Jo was still reading on the couch, but when he emerged into the hall, she set the e-reader aside. “Is Fiona in bed?”

He dropped onto the couch beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “There’s good news and bad news,” he said. “Which do you want first?”

“The good news,” she said immediately.

Cam drew in a deep breath. “She’s not asleep yet, but she will be soon. And when she’s asleep, she sleeps really, really soundly.”

“Okay,” Jo said cautiously. “Then what’s the bad news?”

Cam reached for her hand and twined their fingers together. “She’s sleeping in my bed. The intruder last night really scared her, and she’s afraid he’ll come back. I told her he was in jail, but she’s afraid he has a friend who will try to hurt us.” He swallowed. “I couldn’t make her sleep in her own bed. She was clearly terrified.”

Jo squeezed his hand tight, then brought it to her mouth. Kissed the back of his hand. “Of course you had to let her sleep in your bed,” she said. “The police, the lights, the noise must have terrified her last night.” She sighed. “One of us should have realized that.”

“Yeah.” Cam untangled their fingers and brushed his hand over Jo’s head, letting her silky hair flow through his fingers. “I couldn’t say no. If sleeping in my bed makes her feel safe, that’s where she needs to sleep.” He shifted so he was facing her. “I’m sorry, Jo. I’d really been looking forward to tonight, and I’m sure you were, too. But we’re going to have to postpone our plans.”

Chapter 23

Jo reached for Cam’s hands, curling her fingers around them. “Not necessarily,” she murmured. She glanced at the couch. Swept her hand over it as memories from the night before scrolled through her head. “We had lots of fun here last night. We’ll have to wait until Fiona is asleep, of course, but I can think of ways to keep ourselves occupied in the meantime. I suspect you can, too.”

His eyes darkened as he stared at her, and a flush reddened his face. “Oh, yeah,” he said, his voice taut with need. With want. “I can think of plenty of ways for us to keep busy.”

Jo inched closer and her smile widened. “I’m a firm believer in show, don’t tell,” she murmured. “So why don’t you show me?”

His pupils expanded until there was only a tiny rim of blue in his irises. But instead of reaching for her, he leaped off the couch. “Let me make sure Fiona’s asleep.”He held her gaze. “If she is, I’ll grab the condoms.”

As he moved away, Jo caught his arm. “They’re in your room?”

“Yeah. Hidden in my underwear drawer.” He smiled. “One place I know Fiona doesn’t explore.”

“Are you sure?”

“I caught her in that drawer once,” he said, a tiny smile curling his mouth. “I explained that underwear was very personal. Told her that no one but her should touch her underwear, unless I was doing the laundry. She stared at me for a long time, then pulled her hands out of the drawer. I haven’t caught her in my dresser drawers since.”

---