‘Quit almost six months ago.’

‘Thank God,’ he muttered.

His words caused a pang of anxiety at the thought that something as insignificant as being a smoker would make him less attracted to me. Would it be so easy to diminish his attraction in the future? I covered my insecure thoughts with a forced chuckle. ‘What? Would that have been a deal breaker?’

The corner of his mouth quirked up cheekily. ‘Nah. I’d have convinced you to quit somehow. Just glad I missed the withdrawal. That must have been fun for Cole.’

My whole body relaxed at his answer and when I laughed it was for real this time. ‘I wasn’t that bad.’

‘Yeah, yeah, I’ll get the real story from Cole.’

‘Speaking of …’ I muttered and scrolled through my phone until I found his number. Cole’s phone rang three times before I heard his voice.

‘What’s up?’

‘You on your way home?’

‘Five minutes away.’

‘Okay. I have something to talk to you about.’ I smiled at Cam, but inside I was a little nervous about Cole’s reaction to me and Cam being together.

‘That doesn’t sound good.’

‘We’ll see.’

He grunted and I rolled my eyes.

‘See you soon.’

Another grunt and then he hung up. I sighed. ‘Someone should have written a book by now about interpreting teen language. I was never that monosyllabic.’

Cam grinned into his mug. ‘I’ll bet.’

I smacked him playfully. ‘You know what I mean.’

He shrugged. ‘He’s a teenage boy. As far as teenage boys go I think you guys have good communication between you.’

Guessing he was probably right, I nodded and reached for another slice of toast. ‘Well, let’s see how my communication skills hold up when we try to explain this to him.’

As Cam dumped his mug in the sink, he flashed me a wolfish grin. ‘Oh, I’d say from all that screaming you did last night and this morning, those communication skills are pretty sharp.’

‘You’re such a cocky bugger.’

‘Then stop with the screaming. It only inflates my ego. Among other things.’

‘Fine. From now on I’ll be quiet as a church mouse.’

Laughing, Cam reached for me, tugging me against his chest as I took the last bite of my toast. He kissed me, getting crumbs and jam on his lips. ‘I dare you to try to keep quiet. Go on. It’ll make things even more interesting.’

Resting my hands on his chest, I leaned into him, feeling him harden against me through his jeans. I bit my lip, smiling a little as I stared at his sensual mouth. ‘I accept that dare.’ My eyes flicked to his, laughing at him. ‘It’s not like it won’t be a win-win situation.’

His arms tightened around me. ‘Going to make me work for it, huh?’

‘You’ll enjoy the labour.’

His grin widened and he shook his head. ‘I can’t believe we waited this long.’

Still smiling, I nodded in agreement. ‘It’s definitely fun so far.’

Although Cam was still smiling back at me, something grave entered his expression as he held my gaze. ‘Yeah, baby. It’s definitely fun so far.’

16

There was a sense of unreality as Cam threaded his fingers through mine and brought my knuckles to his lips. The soft brush against my skin was like a greeting and goose bumps popped up all over my body to say hello back to him. He led me up the stairs to my flat and the whole time I gazed at him in surreal wonder, the concrete steps like marshmallow clouds beneath my feet. How could it be that sex had not had such a ‘girly’ effect on me but this arbitrary act of handholding did? For a moment, the beauty of it allowed me to forget where he was actually leading me.

Mum.

Fiona was sitting on the couch watching television when Cam and I entered the flat. As soon as I heard the muffled sound of voices filtering into the hall from the sitting room, my whole body tensed with the realization that Cam was about to come face-to-face with her since he’d helped Cole out the night I’d stayed at Malcolm’s.

Yay.

Seeming to read my body language, Cam pressed a reassuring hand to the small of my back, guiding me into the room.

She was lounging on the armchair in her ratty robe with her thinning hair wet. To my surprise I realized that she had obviously taken a shower without being coerced by me. She had a hot mug in her hand and it shook as she raised it to her lips, watching us as we slowly made our way farther into the room.

‘Mum.’ I gave her a brittle nod and Cam’s hand coasted around my waist, his strong arm hugging me into his side.

The slight widening of Mum’s eyes told me she hadn’t missed the deliberate move. ‘You’ve been here before?’ She asked it quietly, with mild curiosity but no accusation, as I had been expecting. Clearly she’d forgotten Cam and his presence that awful night.

‘Cameron MacCabe.’ Cam acknowledged her gruffly, giving me a squeeze.

She made a mumbling noise, her bloodshot eyes darting back to me. ‘No one was here this morning.’

Burrowing deeper into Cam, my hand clutching the back of his shirt like a little girl, I nodded again. ‘Cole stayed at Jamie’s.’

‘I fell.’ Her mouth pursed. ‘I fell. My back is killing me. No one was here to help. If you’re going to be gallivanting around, that little bugger should at least be here to help.’

The insult to my brother was like a steel rod sliding into my spine. I straightened sharply, taking a step away from Cam. My eyes narrowed on her, and I tried to squelch the hurt in my chest – the hurt I felt any time she did or said something so selfish and uncaring, so lacking in parental concern. ‘Did the gin not help you back up, Mum? Funny, it seems to help you with everything else.’

Her rugged cheeks were peppered with visibly broken veins and the little colour that was in them leached out completely at my comment. ‘Don’t you get smart with me because he’s here.’

Taking a deep breath, knowing that if we continued at this pace, we’d end up in a huge argument in front of Cam, I softened my tone. ‘Cole and I have lives, Mum. You need to watch out for yourself more now, okay?’

Waiting for a reaction, I stepped back so I could at least feel the heat of Cam behind me. I was grateful to him for keeping quiet and letting me deal with Mum in my own way. She got shakily to her feet, setting her mug on the table. ‘I just needed a bit of help,’ she answered quietly, hitting me in the chest with her words. Guilt wormed its way inside, despite my urgent battle against it.

I sighed heavily. ‘If you’re really desperate, phone me next time.’ I could have punched myself for giving in.

‘I will, darling.’ She shuffled past us, her eyes on the ground. ‘Nice meeting you, Cameron.’ It was the nicest she had been to me since I confronted her about hitting Cole. Remembering how much I distrusted her, I felt deep regret at being even slightly polite to her. I shouldn’t have given in, I thought bitterly.

Cam grunted in response to her, doing a fair impression of Cole.

I waited until she’d disappeared from the room, until we heard her bedroom door closing, and then my eyes slid to Cam. ‘Well?’

His features had hardened. ‘She’s a manipulative cow and she knows just how to play you.’ At that he turned on his heel and disappeared into the hall, heading towards the kitchen.

I followed him, my heart thumping in my chest. ‘I told you how she is.’

‘Yeah, one minute a bloody witch, the next completely normal and nice. It’s deliberate. When she’s a witch, you stand up to her. When she’s nice, you give in and she knows it. She’s playing you.’

Knowing that he was right and not really wanting to get into it with him on what had started out as the best morning ever, I began helping him make tea and coffee. We returned to the sitting room, having come to an unspoken agreement to put thoughts of my mum aside, and we both sat down on the couch. As soon as I did, Cam pulled me over his lap so that my legs straddled his thighs.