Page 106 of Double Daddies
I feel something inside me clench with what he left unsaid.Considering the baby.My gaze shoots over to Helen, but once again she’s wearing her impassive face. “We’ll take a look.”
“Cami—”
The betrayal in Ben’s voice would normally stop me in my tracks, but I don’t so much as blink this time. “If roles were reversed, you’d make sure we did whatever we had to make sure I didn’t take extra risks.”
Ben lets out a long sigh. “Yeah, but?—”
“So, I’m going to do that for you. Besides—you owe me.” I look from him to Ryle this time, including both of them in my determination.
Ben’s lips press firmly together, and that’s it. My secret sign that I’ve won.
Chapter Five
Ben
“It’s nice,” Cami says for what must be the fifteenth time since we’ve arrived at Ryle’s mansion. And it’s an understatement, but I know she’s trying to downplay her own awe for the sake of my pride. It’s pure Cami—she’s a caretaker down to the core, which is why she needs someone to take care of her, because she always puts herself last.
“It’s nice,” I force myself to agree. The words roll reluctantly off my tongue, but I make them. I squeeze her hand and look around the room Ryle put us in. It’s bigger than the bedroom in our apartment, despite being a guestroom. “I think that’s a pure silk Persian rug.”
“Ooh.” Cami gazes at the rug, understated with light blue and oatmeal threads, but beautiful. Then she looks back up at me, trying to mask her excitement. “It’s nice.”
I chuckle and squeeze her hand once more. The feeling of her fingers threaded with mine makes me feel steady despite the discomfort in my left leg. “Go on.”
“What?”
“Don’t play naïve with me.” I bump her shoulder playfully. “I know you’re dying to kick your shoes off and run barefoot over it.”
Surprise, guilt and mischievousness flash over her face in rapid succession. But when she toes off her shoes and runs her bare toes over the carpet, the earlier expressions are replaced with pure ecstasy.
“That good?” I laugh.
“You havenoidea. But you’re about to.” Her brown eyes glow with mirth as she smiles at me.
“What?”
“Take off your shoes, Ben. Right now.”
“You’re getting a little bossy.”
Normally, such a warning, even said teasingly, would give her pause. But Cami is either emboldened by our move here, or delirious with the thread count of the rug because she kneels and begins to untie my shoelaces.
“Cami…”
“Do it. You won’t regret it, I promise.”
I groan, but reluctantly lift each foot in turn so she can remove the shoes and then my socks. I feel a little silly being undressed this way, but Cami’s childish glee is hard to resist. Especially in light of everything we’ve been through in such a short time.
“Now.” She sits back, grinning with a self-satisfied smile. “Trynow.”
I run my foot lightly over the carpet, and damn if it’s not more comfortable than any sheets I’ve ever slept on.
“Good, right?” Her smile says she knows what I’m not saying.
“It’s great,” I admit.
“Hey, I have an idea.” She jumps to her feet just to pull me down with her. “Here. Lie down with me.”
I’m on my knees, but she makes such an enchanting picture with her hair splayed like silk against the Persian rug that I lie down next to her and scoot close.
