Her Forever Hero (Unexpected Heroes) (6 page)

Biting his lip, he pulled her from beneath the now-damp comforter, and she immediately snuggled against him, her breath warming his neck and making his lower body throb in time to the pulsing of his heart.

Laying her on the fresh linens, he quickly covered her up, then moved to the other side of the bed, where he stripped the rest of the old bedding off and quickly fixed the new.

More exhausted than if he’d been herding cattle all day, Cam practically stumbled from her bedroom and made a beeline for her fridge. “Please, please, please,” he said repeatedly, then almost felt a tear in his eye when he opened the refrigerator door and found a six-pack of Corona.

Pulling one out, he popped the cap and downed half the bottle in one gulp.

No, he wouldn’t be talking to her about anything regarding the file tonight. But because she was feeling so poorly, he also couldn’t leave her alone. If something happened to her, he’d never forgive himself.

After finishing the beer, he grabbed another one, then checked to make sure Grace was still sleeping before he settled in on her couch, her mango scent drifting all around him, and his lower brain growling at him for being such a fool. Man, that hurt.

Clicking on the television, he decided to settle in for one very, very long night. And yet, before the first half hour was up, his head was lolling to one side and he was drifting off.

Cam was startled awake by a scratching noise. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, and then he heard the noise again. He was instantly awake. It sounded as if someone were trying to pry open the window.

But they were in Sterling. Who in the hell would break into Grace’s apartment? He’d just been ribbing her earlier about her door being unlocked. In this town everyone left their doors unlocked until they went to bed.

When the noise continued, Cam jumped up and moved toward the front door. He went in stealth mode, but the squeaky floors in her apartment probably couldn’t help but betray him. He unlocked the door as quickly as possible and thrust it open.

No one was there, and for a moment he thought maybe he’d been imagining the whole thing. But when he looked again, he saw a flat-head screwdriver beneath her window. With narrowed eyes, he looked both ways on the balcony before he stepped up to the tool and bent down.

There were scratch marks on the outside of her window, as if someone had indeed been trying to break in. What the hell? Taking off his shirt, he used it to pick up the screwdriver. With luck, some prints could be lifted from the handle. But the whole idea was absurd. It had to just be neighborhood kids thinking they were being funny. Crime never really happened in Sterling. That’s why people chose to live here.

Not able to shed his sense of unease, though, Cam moved back inside the apartment, his rest for the night ruined. When she woke up, Grace was going to answer his questions. This time, he wasn’t taking no for an answer.

If someone was after her, he wanted to know why.

Her brain fuzzy and her vision unfocused, Grace woke up to the smell of fresh coffee, bacon, and something delicious that she couldn’t identify. Sage had to be making breakfast. Grace lay there a moment longer, her lips turning up and her stomach growling.

When she took in a big breath of air, she nearly laughed aloud for pure joy when she realized her nose was no longer stuffy. Wiggling her legs, she still felt aches and pains, but they weren’t as debilitating as they’d been the past few days.

Then her eyes snapped back open. Wait a freaking minute. Sage had moved out six months ago. She was married to Spence now—Cam’s brother. Cam! He’d been at her house the night before. Thinking hard, Grace tried to call up the last thing she remembered. The tub!

She’d been in the tub and had obviously fallen asleep. Her hand shot to her chest and touched the silky smoothness of her nightie. Slowly lifting the blanket, she peeked underneath. That nightie was all she had on. Her face went crimson as she realized that Cam must have pulled her from the tub, dried her off, and dressed her.

She racked her brain for any other memories, and came up blank. She knew there was no way they’d done anything. As much as she wanted to “monsterize” Cam, he wasn’t a bad guy and he would never take advantage of a sleeping woman, not even if the two of them were in a relationship. So her horror was strictly at knowing he’d seen her naked—again.

Then, with the morning light streaming in through her blinds, she noticed her bedding had been changed. Had he done all of this for her? Why? Since she’d come back to town, not a single conversation had ended without one or both of them either yelling or the one time at her best friend’s wedding with them ripping each other’s clothes off, she thought in shame. So why in the world was he taking care of her now?

“Good morning, Grace. You look much better than you did last night.”

Grace froze as she looked to her doorway and found Cam leaning against the jamb with a cup in his hand, smiling at her.

“What are you doing, Cam?”

She clutched at her comforter, pulling it to her chin as she stared at him. Age had only made him better. He’d been so dang handsome when he was in his late teens and early twenties. She’d been in love with him from the time he was sixteen and she was only twelve, and he’d thought of her as nothing but a child.

He was all man now, his cheeks still chiseled but filled out nicely, his shoulders wide and making the perfect upside-down A-frame, and his arms . . . oh, his arms were solid, and looking at them led her gaze down to his stomach and beyond.

Shaking her head, she snapped her eyes back to his, which were, of course, twinkling. “Like the view, darlin’? Need me to turn around?”

“I asked you a question, Camden.” She was growing grumpier by the minute.

“I stayed the night. You were so sick and out of it that I was worried about you. And now I just finished making breakfast. You hungry?”

Her stomach growled her answer and he chuckled. She wished she could be stubborn enough to insist he get out, but she really was starving, although she didn’t see how she could be after pigging out the night before.

“Would you leave so I can get up?”

“Why? I saw plenty last night,” he said with an exaggerated wink.

“That’s just plain rude, Cam!” she snapped, sending him a look that should have shaken his confidence, if only a little.

“You weren’t thinking I was rude last night.”

“I was drugged and out of it. A real man wouldn’t have taken advantage of that fact.”

He stepped into the room and her heart thudded as she wondered what he was going to do. Slowly, so slowly, he approached the bed, set his coffee cup down on her nightstand, and then leaned down, his face now only inches from hers.

“I showed more restraint last night than could be expected of any mortal man. Now, if you want to thank me properly . . .” he said, with enough of a growl that her stomach was now flipping for reasons that had nothing to do with food.

“I need privacy,” she managed to squeak out, but was afraid to move even an inch as his scent enveloped her, making her realize if he were to touch her, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep from grabbing him.

“As you wish,” he said, backing off immediately, picking up his cup, and sauntering out of her room.

Breathing deeply, she lay there until she felt that her body was safely under control, then finally flipped back the covers and climbed out of bed. She couldn’t wake up to Cam. It was far too hard on her hormones.

Stepping into her bathroom, she decided a shower was in order. As hungry as she was, she hadn’t washed her hair in a while, and until she scrubbed every inch of her poor body, she wasn’t going to feel as if she’d beaten the cold that had dragged her down for days.

After she dried off, she peeked in her bedroom—no, Cam wasn’t there—then walked over to her closet and selected a warm outfit. Style, for once, wasn’t on her mind.

Now clean, clothed, and craving food, she couldn’t put off seeing Cam any longer. She emerged from her bedroom and found him sitting at the table, reading her newspaper.

The phone rang before she could say anything. Stepping over, she picked it up and then immediately regretted that decision.

“What can I do for you, Kitty?” she said, trying to have patience. The woman had been her client only for a few days and already Grace was wondering how she was going to get through this wedding. At least she wasn’t drawing the event out for a year.

“What did you just say?” Grace wasn’t sure she’d heard the woman correctly. But when she repeated it, Grace wanted to slap her.

After a few moments she finally hung up the phone and then was even more grouchy than when she’d come down the stairs, therefore poor Cam was about to get the brunt of her anger.

“Make yourself right at home,” she said with a scowl before moving to the coffeepot and pouring herself a fresh cup.

“Don’t mind if I do,” he murmured, unaffected by her ill mood.

She sat down, refusing to serve herself yet. That would excuse his behavior. Where in the world had all the groceries come from? She was really a boxed-food kind of gal—who had the time or the energy to cook whole meals? Boring . . . Baking, on the other hand, she absolutely loved to do.

“What was that phone call about? You seem upset,” he finally said.

“That was my client from hell,” she murmured.

“I’m sure it’s not that bad,” he said.

“Really?” she gasped. “She was just telling me that her grandmother just had the gall to die on her and so now her seating chart was all messed up. She’s demanded a meeting this afternoon to get it fixed.”

Cam sat there, his eyes widening as he looked at her as if trying to figure out if she was speaking the truth or not. When she said nothing more, his lips twitched and then he laughed out loud.

“Okay, then. I think you’re right. She just might be the biggest bridezilla I’ve ever heard about.”

They both continued sitting there in silence for several more moments, and Grace’s stomach rumbled. Dang it! She really wanted to eat, but weren’t they in a standoff at the moment?

“Are you going to be so stubborn that you’re not going to eat after I went shopping and then was kind enough to prepare breakfast?”

“Are you going to be so needy for compliments that you’re going to beg for them and puff up your own worth? Look, I didn’t ask you to do that. I didn’t ask you to do
any
of this,” she told him.

“I know. However, I like taking care of you. You’re one of the strongest women I know, Grace, and it’s been nice to catch you in a weak moment,” he said, his voice soft, although he didn’t look up from the paper.

“So you’re one of those guys that like weak, simpering little females who can’t do anything without a big, strong man around the house?”

“Not at all. I love your strength, but a truly strong person also knows when it’s time to ask for a little help, to ask when she needs a shoulder to cry on, and to ask when she’s so weak she can’t even feed herself,” he told her, finally setting the paper down and sending her an intense stare.

“I was doing just fine on my own.”

“Yes, you were, and I’m sure you would have woken up today, still weak, but able to get moving again. It was still my pleasure to be here for you.”
If only he had been there for her the one time in her life she had needed him the most.
But she would never say that to him. That wasn’t a can of worms she was ready to open, one she probably never would be.

“I don’t like people taking care of me.”

“I’ll make sure to not do it too often,” he said with a laugh, holding up his hands. “Do you want a little of everything?” He stood up and moved over to the oven, where he began pulling out dishes he’d placed in there to keep the food warm.

“I can get it myself.”

“Then you won’t be surprised by what I’ve made you. Enjoy your coffee and be awed by my culinary talents.” With that, he grabbed two plates and piled them high. He set hers in front of her, then went to the fridge and pulled out a bowl of fresh-cut fruit and set it out, too.

He’d made a breakfast strata, potatoes, and bacon, along with muffins and the fruit. It looked and smelled delectable, and she wasn’t such a fool that she was going to let it go to waste just because she didn’t appreciate the way he’d swooped in and saved the day.

Not able to stifle her ecstatic groan, Grace finally looked up at Cam again. “You really went to far too much trouble, but it is sort of nice.”

“There’s no way I’m getting another thank-you, is there?” he asked.

“Nope. If I gave you another one, you’d think I want or expect this sort of thing, and I don’t.”

“All righty, then. When you’re finished, we can get down to business,” he told her.

She took her time eating, because she knew what he was going to say and she didn’t want to have this fight with him again. It had been going on all year, and he was starting to wear her down. But it was all so stupid. She hadn’t opened that damned nonprofit, so she had nothing to worry about.

The innocent didn’t get accused—that would just be wrong, she assured herself.

The two of them finished in silence, and she made sure to be the first one up, gathering the plates and empty dishes and going with them to her sink.