our nights together. We handle each new challenge as it develops, real time.” He ignored the unease that slithered through his stomach at the thought of no reassurances for a future with Trish. It didn’t matter if it made sense—if it was logical. He wanted guarantees that she’d be in his life for the long-term.
Demanding that would mean he’d lose her. She was barely considering extending their fling into something longer. Telling her he wanted something serious, something permanent, would spook her.
She pursed pink lips. “That sounds stressful.”
“And trying to plan every development of this thing between us down to the smallest detail sounds like a lesson in insanity.” He turned her hand in his grip and kissed her wrist.
“You do make me crazy.” But something in her relaxed a little and she gave him a genuine—if small—smile.
“Tell me about your parents.”
Instantly, the smile was gone. “You already know about my parents. You’ve known Aaron for ages.”
“Sure,” he agreed easily. “But his relationship with them is different from yours.”
“There’s nothing more to add. My dad is a good old boy who has lived his entire life knowing where his place is and being comfortable in it. He loves all of us, but he works a lot, even still. My mom...” She tensed slightly. “My mom is a worrier. I don’t know how much Aaron sees it, but she can work herself up into a panic attack over things outside her control. And no one worries her as much as I do.”
“Why’s that?” From what Aaron had said about his youngest sister, she was never anything that could be termed a problem child, and all evidence supported that reality.
A shrug, this one too tight to be as nonchalant as she pretended. “I didn’t have the same sense as my older sister to find a nice boy, get married and start a family close to home. First I went to college out of state, and now I’m working in the big, scary city—both things my mom is sure are choices I made solely to give her a heart attack. I don’t think she was happy to see me fail to land a job after I graduated, but she definitely liked having me home again while I figured out where I was going to land.”
Cameron considered that new information with what he already knew about Trish. The pieces fell into place with a satisfying click. “That’s how you learned to manage people so well.”
“Clients are no big deal when it comes to unruffling feathers. Really, compared to my mom, no one is that big of a deal.” She made a face. “I’m not being fair. She’s a good mom. She loves all of us to distraction, and she was one hell of a support system growing up. Something just...went a little strange when I graduated high school.”
Having her youngest leave the nest had to have been challenging, especially considering that her mother’s entire identity seemed to be wrapped up in her children. Or at least that was the impression Cameron got from Aaron. “She tried to clip your wings.”
“What? No. No way.” Trish used her free hand to take a sip of water. “It’s more like she didn’t exactly cry when I had setbacks that brought me home.”
Which was as good as clipping someone’s wings. Cameron’s parents had shown him nothing but support from the time he could remember. Even when they didn’t really understand his fascination with online security systems, they still sacrificed to ensure he could go to the school of his choosing. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She set her glass down. “Your parents sound pretty great.”
He let her change the subject without pressing the issue. Her feelings about her mother might be conflicting a bit, but it wasn’t something that Cameron could solve in a single conversation. He wasn’t sure he could solve it at all—or if he should even try. So he gave her a reprieve and more details about his own parents. “They are. They made sure I never went without while growing up, and they sacrificed a whole hell of a lot to ensure I got to attend my first choice college.” He’d known exactly the price required to give him that opportunity. They never doubted that he’d succeed, and he’d never doubted himself as a result. “I don’t get to see them as much as I’d like, but I fly over there a few weekends a year, and I fly them over here for Christmas and usually at least once more when they have some free time.”
“Aaron mentioned a vacation.”
He smiled. “Yeah, they won’t take money from me, so I take them on some ridiculously fancy vacation every July. My mom is too damn proud to pick the places she really wants to go, so my dad slips me a wish list every few years and I make sure we get there.” She had a strange look on her face and he glanced down. “What? Do I have something on my face?”
“No.” Trish shook her head. “That’s just...really, really sweet that you do that for them.”
“Don’t get any funny ideas. I’m still an asshole most of the time. I’m just not an ungrateful asshole. Every opportunity I’ve had in life is because they helped ensure I was in a place to take advantage of it. It’s right that I can take care of them now that I’m in a good place.” He was still working on his mom about moving them out to the East Coast when she retired, but that was a long argument that would be years before it reached completion. Cameron got his stubbornness from her, and she wasn’t going to agree to move their life without him pulling some serious moves. After moving so much when his father was still in the army, his parents had embraced living in one place and weren’t eager to uproot again.
Grandkids might help sway her.
He shut down that thought real fast. Too much, too soon.
Trish sat back as the waitress appeared with their food. “Cameron O’Clery, you don’t fool me. For all your snarling, you’re a good man.”
I want to be your man.
* * *
Trish turned the conversation to lighter topics as they ate, but she kept thinking about the look on Cameron’s face when he talked about his parents. Love. He loved them without reservation, without caveats, without complications. She wished things were that simple with her parents. There was plenty of blame for that to go around, though. They might have held too tightly to her, but she’d been so damn determined to put miles between herself and her childhood home. To be free.
She still wanted that.
The thought soured her stomach and she pushed her food around on her plate, conscious of the way Cameron watched her. Faking her way out of her melancholy mood wouldn’t work with him—he’d more than proven that—and she didn’t have any backup plan. A sweet smile and soft tone had always worked as deflection up to this point.
She was stripped bare for this man, and it wasn’t comfortable in the least. How could she have barriers in place to keep herself safe when he saw through every defensive measure she took? “Stop that.”
“Stop what?”
“Stop looking at me like you want to crawl around inside my brain.”
Cameron didn’t look away. “Would you like to fight with me over nothing? Or would you rather talk about what’s bothering you?”
Lord, even in this, he somehow managed to cut through all the
