I shrugged again. Cole would have been so proud. ‘It’s forgiven.’ Just clearly not forgotten.

‘But not forgotten.’

Mind reader.

Heaving another sigh, Cam took hold of my hips and pulled me close, dipping his head to kiss me softly. His right hand coasted up under my tank top, his cool hand on my bare skin sending shivers rippling over me. I felt my nipples pebble as his hand cupped my bra, his thumb tracing the swell of my breast. My knees shook and I gripped Cameron’s waist tightly. ‘You’ve not forgotten,’ he repeated roughly. ‘But you will.’ He crushed my mouth against his, his kiss almost painful in its demand. I didn’t care. It was fair to say that at this point I was absolutely addicted to the taste and feel of him.

‘Customers!’ Joss yelled from behind the bar.

We jolted apart, Cam reluctantly pulling his hand out from under my top and smoothing it back in place. ‘You go out first.’

I glanced down at the bulge in his jeans and grinned. ‘Take your time.’

He growled at me playfully in response as I passed him, adding a taunting swing to my hips.

After the first two come-hither smiles Cam sent to customers I stopped looking at him. I was aware of him, as I was always aware of him, but determined to shut out actual hard evidence of the flirting.

Combating it with my own flirting might have worked, but every time I attempted to flirt with a customer, I could feel Cam’s eyes burning into my skin, and it put me off my game.

My growing irritation finally came to a head when there was a lull at the bar. I threw a dishcloth at Cam. ‘Our tips jar is suffering because of you, buddy.’

Cam had caught the cloth before it hit him and was now laughing as he wiped up some spillage on the bar top. ‘What did I do?’

‘I can feel you watching me. I can’t flirt with you watching me.’

His deep chuckle tickled all my good-for-nothing places and I hated that I found the cheeky grin he gave Joss so bloody hot. ‘Was I doing anything?’

Joss shrugged. ‘I have no clue what you were doing, but keep it up. The fake giggle’ – she gestured lazily at me – ‘has disappeared, so I’m happy.’

Another tag team? I crossed my arms over my chest, hoping my body language was a warning to back off. ‘The fake giggle is not that bad.’

My friend grunted in disagreement. ‘It sounds like Miss Piggy has a machine gun stuck in her throat.’

Roaring with laughter, Cam didn’t even feel the heat of my glower. But watching him laugh as Joss’s apt description took hold of me, I had to stifle my own amusement. I couldn’t encourage them or I’d have Cole and Cam against me at home and Joss and Cam against me at work.

Harrumphing at them both, I turned to greet our next customer. He was male. Tall. Pretty cute. As I poured him a draught, I asked him about his night, laughing and flirting with him for a good five minutes before his friends called him back to their table. I will note that I did all this minus the fake giggle.

Since Cam had already provided evidence that he was a fairly possessive guy, my intention was to piss him off and put him in his place.

I spun on my heel, expecting to face his annoyance. Instead he was leaning back against the bar, smirking at me. ‘Nice try.’

Damn. I was dating Mr Unpredictable. The bloody idiot did not respond to any situation the way I expected him to. How on earth was I meant to navigate these waters if I didn’t know the depth of them?

Bugger.

This really was going to be a relationship unlike any of my others.

The next words out of Cam’s mouth just reinforced that realization.

‘Let’s go to my mum and dad’s for a weekend.’

I blinked rapidly, taken aback by the suggestion, ignoring Joss, who was hovering on the edges of our conversation, pretending to fix the napkin holder.

‘What?’

‘Three weeks from Saturday, it’ll be my Saturday off work. We’ll go then. Stay the night. You, me and Cole.’

‘Dude, he wants you to meet the parents,’ Joss said under her breath. ‘Think carefully before you give him an answer. The parents. Already.’ She shuddered at the thought.

‘Jo?’

I glanced back at an expectant Cam. ‘I can’t leave Mum.’

‘I can check in on her,’ Joss offered loudly.

My mouth fell open as I stared at her in total bafflement. I whispered to her, ‘I thought you just said to think carefully about meeting his parents.’

‘I did. You didn’t say you didn’t want to. You offered up an impediment and I offered up a solution.’ When she turned away I caught the start of a sly grin on her face.

‘You’re twisted,’ I hissed.

Cam flicked the towel at me, bringing my attention back to him. ‘Well?’

I smiled tremulously. ‘Sure. Why not?’

Fuck.

18

For weeks after discovering Mum had hit Cole, I couldn’t go near her, could barely talk to her, and I swam in a muddy pond of bitter resentment and guilt. However, spending my nights with Cam when I could, whether that time involved the best sex of my life, or quiet time reading a book while he and Cole worked on their graphic novel together, changed me. It chipped away at my bitterness.

The weight I’d always carried on my shoulders hadn’t disappeared completely, but it was lessened. When I walked down the street my steps felt lighter, my breathing easier. I no longer felt old and tired.

I felt young. Excited. Charmed. Almost … content.

I’d also decided to try to relax more about our financial situation. As difficult as that was, I did give in to the expense of sending Cole to judo lessons with Cam. It meant the boys were out on a Saturday morning, one of the few times Cam and I could actually spend time together, but I didn’t care. It sounded so cheesy, but seeing Cole come through that door, smiling at Cam, being happy and having a guy to talk to … it gave me a kind of peace I never thought I’d have.

Cameron MacCabe. You charmer, you. You’re changing my life.

I rested my hand on the parcel I’d just finished wrapping, smiling stupidly as I remembered last night. Well, technically this morning. Both Cam and I had returned from work, feeling more buzzed than tired, and he’d finally taken me against his desk like he’d been promising. It had been slow, sensual, teasing, bloody fantastic sex. I swear I was getting through my days on a rush of endorphins. I think that’s what made it easier to say goodbye to some very pretty things. I stroked the brown paper of the package. Inside was my favourite Donna Karan dress – one that Malcolm had bought me. It had sold well on eBay and it was time to send it to its new home.

Blowing air out between my lips in boredom, I eyed my eBay pile. I’d sold a few things but I still had to take photographs of a couple of items and post them on the site. The profits were paying for Cole’s judo lessons, so it needed to be done. I had to crack on. Next up, a pair of Jimmy Choos. Staring at them, I realized I was going to need one of the boys to help me with this. The gorgeous six-inch heels were made up of a lot of spaghetti ties. Off the feet, they didn’t look like much. On the feet, they looked sexy as all hell. I’d have to be wearing them in the photographs, which meant I’d need someone to take photographs for me.

Bundling them into my arms, I left Cole’s room and stopped outside Mum’s door. Loud snoring from within assured me everything was normal with her, and I headed out of the flat and downstairs to Cam’s. Cam and Cole had texted me after their judo class to let me know they were going to Cam’s to work on the graphic novel.

From the sounds of machine-gun fire coming from Cam’s flat I realized I’d been bullshitted. They were playing Call of Duty.

I walked in without knocking and slipped quietly into the sitting room. Cam, Cole and Nate were sitting on the couch, Nate and Cole holding the controllers. Peetie was in the armchair directly facing me. I’d met Nate and Peetie a couple of times since Cam had moved in, but I still hadn’t really spent that much time with them, mostly because when they were over they played video games, only really interacting with me when I took the time to feed them snacks.