Love At Last (Lily's Story, Book 3) (24 page)

“Great. I’d love that.”

I smiled when I heard his eagerness, and once again I felt drawn to him, his undisguised desire to spend time with me wrapping around me like a soft blanket. It was exactly what I needed just then, and I felt my heart swelling with affection for the man I’d had so much fun with on my Alaskan cruise. “I’ll see you on Saturday.”

“Yes. Take care of yourself, Lily.” He paused. “And that cute baby of yours, too.”

Thrilled that he mentioned Natalie, my smile widened. “I will. Bye, Cameron.”

I set my phone down and stared at the ceiling, amazed by how my emotions could rocket from one extreme to another in such a short period of time.

Saturday morning dawned sunny and bright. It was Labor Day weekend, and the morning was cooler than it had been lately. As I waited for Marcus to arrive, my mind bounced between thinking of him with Chelsea, and thinking about my date with Cameron that night. My emotions ran the gamut too, making me anxious. Natalie must have felt my unsettled mood, because she was fussier than usual that morning.

“It’s okay, baby girl,” I soothed as I held her in my arms. “Everything will be okay.”

I had no idea if I was telling her the truth, but I hoped speaking the words out loud would convince myself as much as comfort her.

When Marcus knocked, Greta raced to the door, all wagging tail and lolling tongue. I laughed at her excitement, which helped to settle my mood a bit. I swung the door open and invited him in. I’d put Natalie in her swing, hoping that would calm her, and she had quieted.

“Good morning,” Marcus said, a smile on his face.

“Hey.”

“Are you ready for some tile shopping?” He was obviously in a great mood.
 

I wondered what his mood would be like that evening when Chelsea and his mom surprised him with a party. “I suppose.” His positive attitude was contagious and I found my spirits lifting. “Do you have some places in mind where we can shop?”

“Of course.”

“Great. Let me just get Natalie, and we can go.”

A short time later we were loaded into my car. I suggested Marcus drive since he knew where we were going.

“Do you have any idea what you want?” he asked, glancing at me.

I gazed at him, and unbidden came the thought,
I want you to love me
. My face heated and I turned away, looking out the window.

“Lily?” he asked.

I took a quick breath, then turned back, a faint smile on my face. “No.”

“Well, that’s no problem. I’m sure you’ll get a better idea once you see what they have.”

I nodded, staring at his profile as he drove. I wanted to reach out and stroke his face, and imagined doing it, then him turning to me with love in his eyes, and confessing that he’s loved me all along.

“What?” he asked, glancing at me with a smile, apparently feeling my eyes on him.
 

“Nothing.” Embarrassed at being caught staring, I said, “Just wondering how much experience you really have with installing tile.”

“Oh, I see,” he laughed. “You’re worried I’m going to mess it up.”

“Exactly. I mean, you come pretty cheap. And you haven’t even given me any references.” He looked at me and I narrowed my eyes. “How do I know I can even trust you?”

“You caught me. Now you know I’m only in it for the money.”

I laughed. “Yeah, because I pay so well.”

“I’ve helped my dad with some tiling projects over the years, so I’ve done it before.”

“Good, because I have no clue what to do.”

“Here we are,” he said as he pulled into a parking space in front of a large building. He got out of the car and opened my door for me.
 

I climbed out and stood next to him.

“They have so much to choose from,” he said. “I know you’ll find something you like.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

He must have sensed my uncertainty. “Don’t worry, Lily. I’ll be there every step of the way.”

I flashed back to the day Natalie was born, and how he’d been in the delivery room. He’d truly been there for me at one of the most important events of my life. How could I give up on a future with him so easily? But then, how could I
make
him love me as more than a friend? If he didn’t feel that way about me, if he didn’t feel that spark, then I didn’t know how I could change that.
 

Resigned to loving him from afar, my shoulders slumped and I sighed.

“Hey,” he said, slipping one arm around my shoulder and pulling me against his side. “It really will be fine.”

I melted into him, desperately wanting to throw my arms around his neck and have him hold me close, but I knew I couldn’t take the rejection right now. Not when my emotions felt so fragile. He released me, leaving me feeling bereft, and walked around to Natalie’s door. I followed him and waited while he took her out of her car seat, then watched as he held her in his arms.

“Do you want me to take her?” I asked.

“No. I don’t get to see her very often, so I want to hold her while I can.” He laughed. “Before you know it, she’ll be so active that she won’t want anyone to hold her. I have to take advantage of her willingness to be held while it lasts.”

My love for him surged, and I couldn’t imagine anyone else being a father to her. Tears filled my eyes and I blinked to clear them.

He didn’t seem to notice my emotion and turned to go into the tile store. I followed him and a moment later we stood in front of a wall of tile displays. Pushing aside my thoughts of a father for Natalie, I focused on the task at hand. As I perused the choices, I felt my anticipation for the project building.
I was buying a house
. “There are so many,” I said. “And I like a lot of them.”

“Good. Just try to picture how they would look in your kitchen.”

I turned to him and grinned. “
My
kitchen.”

He returned my smile. “That’s right.”

We walked up and down the display aisles. “I like this glass tile.” I pointed to a sheet of blue and gray squares. “Can I use them for a backsplash in the kitchen?”

“You can do whatever you want. It’s
your
kitchen.”

I laughed. “Maybe I should rephrase that. Will
you
put these in the kitchen as a backsplash?”

His eyebrows rose. “I’ll show you how to do it.”

As I gazed at the tile, I felt my confidence growing. “We don’t have to use any power tools, do we?” I turned to him and smiled.

He must have remembered installing the dog door, because he smirked. “No. I won’t make you use the power tools.”

My smile dimmed. “So there are some involved with this project?”

“We’ll need to use a tile saw sometimes.”

“Oh.” My confidence in truly doing this on my own plummeted.

He laughed. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not going to leave you on your own.”

Relief swept over me because I knew he would never do that. “You rock, Marcus. Do you know that?”

He grinned. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.”

I gently shoved the arm that wasn’t holding Natalie. “Now, don’t get a big head or anything.”

He laughed. “Never.”
 

We spent the next hour picking out tile and the other supplies we would need, then we went to another store and I found carpet and paint that I liked. By the time we finished, I felt much better about the project and much less overwhelmed.

“I think Natalie’s getting tired,” I said as we walked out to the car. Her head rested against Marcus’s shoulder and her eyelids drooped.

“What about you?”

“I have to admit, I’m kind of worn-out after all this decision making.”

He nodded. “Not to scare you, but picking stuff out is the easy part.”

I grimaced. “I don’t think I want to know that.”

He laughed. “You’d find out soon enough.”

We drove to my house and he carried Natalie in, then brought her up to her room. I watched him settle her in her crib—she’d fallen asleep on the drive home—and my heart swelled with feelings of tenderness for the man standing in my daughter’s room.

We tiptoed out of her room and went into the living room. I still needed to plan the meal I was making for Cameron, but I wasn’t eager for Marcus to leave. In fact, I wished it was
him
who I would be cooking for that evening. As much as I liked and was attracted to Cameron, he just wasn’t Marcus.

“Well, I’d better get going,” he said. “I have some things to get done before tonight. My parents invited me over for dinner later, so I just have a few hours.”

I noticed he said his parents had invited him for dinner and he hadn’t mentioned Chelsea. In fact, when I thought about it, I’d never heard him utter her name. Was that to spare my feelings? “I hope our errands didn’t keep you from getting your other things done.”

“No, it’s fine.” His eyes softened. “I enjoyed spending time with you and Natalie today.”

Me and Natalie, I thought. Not just me. “Me, too,” I said, pushing down my disappointment.
 

“Once you close, we’ll have lots of work ahead of us.” He grinned. “But I promise, once we’re done, you’ll be really glad you did all that work.”

“I hope you’re right.”

He reached for the door knob. “Trust me.”

“I do,” I said, mentally adding,
Completely
.

He smiled, then left. I stood in the doorway and watched him climb into his car, then waved as he backed out of the driveway. An image of Chelsea filled my mind, and I wondered if he would be spending the rest of the day with her. Frowning, I closed the door, then sat on the couch, trying to change my focus to Cameron and the time I would spend with him.

It’s true that I didn’t feel toward him like I did with Marcus, but at least Cameron had a romantic interest in me. I just had to allow myself to let my feelings for him grow, and then everything would be perfect.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Late that afternoon Cameron knocked on my door. Before answering his knock, I took a deep breath, and slowly released it. I could do this. I could push aside thoughts of Marcus and focus on my budding relationship with Cameron.

I turned the knob and pulled the door open. “Hey, there,” I said, a bright smile on my face.

“Hey, gorgeous.” He held a bouquet of flowers.

His thoughtfulness, added to his words, warmed my heart, and I felt drawn to him. Impulsively, I threw my arms around him. His free arm wrapped around my waist and I felt his strength as his arm tightened protectively around me.

“Thank you, Cameron,” I murmured into his shoulder. “You’re so sweet.” Though tempted to kiss him, I restrained myself, wanting to see how things went before going there. I loosened my arms, and he released me.

“These are for you.” He held out the flowers.

I took them and breathed in their scent. “Thank you. They’re so pretty.”

“For a pretty lady,” he said, smiling.

My voice softened. “Thank you.” Backing up, I said, “Come in.”

He followed me into the kitchen, where I put the flowers in a vase, then filled it with water from the sink faucet. “I’m glad you came down,” I said, setting the vase on the table.

“Can I just say I’m glad we don’t have to look at houses?”

I laughed. “It wasn’t that bad, was it?”

“It’s just not my favorite thing to do.”

“Oh yeah? What do you like to do?”

“Hmmm. I like to go on whale-watching expeditions with beautiful women.”

I laughed. “What else?”

He walked over to me and put his hands on my shoulders, and dropped his voice. “I like when you kiss me.”

A thrill raced through me, and without thinking, I slid my arms around his waist and pressed my cheek to his chest. His arms tightened around me and I reveled in his closeness. Yes, he wasn’t Marcus, but the strength of his affection, and the warmth from his body drew me to him like metal to a magnet, powerfully and irresistibly.

“I like hugs too,” he murmured in my hair.

I tilted my face to his, my smile wide and inviting, and he closed his eyes as his mouth descended toward mine. Our lips met and desire tore through me. His arms tightened around me, snugging me close, and our mouths pressed together hungrily.
 

As we kissed, an image of Marcus passionately kissing Chelsea filled my mind, and jealousy lanced through me. Distracted by thoughts of Marcus, my ardor toward Cameron cooled, and I gently pushed him away. His eyes were filled with desire, but I couldn’t bring myself to kiss him when my mind stubbornly refused to dislodge Marcus from my thoughts.

“I need to check on Natalie,” I said lamely as I turned and walked out of the kitchen and toward the stairs. She’d been asleep for a while, so it wasn’t unreasonable for me to want to look in on her, but I knew that was just an excuse to put some space between myself and Cameron so I could think for a minute.

Shaking my head as I trudged up the stairs, I felt frustration at myself. I needed to make a choice, and soon. It wasn’t fair to Cameron to encourage him when my heart was with another man—even if that man would never be mine.
 

I walked into Natalie’s room and saw her lying on her back, her fingers curled around her toes, babbling to herself. I smiled, my heart swelling with unconditional love for my daughter, and leaned over her crib. “You’re awake, baby girl.”

Her eyes went to my face and she smiled, filling me with joy. I reached toward her and she held out her arms, and I scooped her up and held her close. “At least I know you’ll always be my sweet Natalie,” I murmured in her ear.
 

She giggled as my breath tickled her ear and I laughed with her. After changing her diaper, I carried her downstairs and into the kitchen, where Cameron stood next to the counter. He smiled at me, but I could tell he felt a little neglected.

“Sorry. I heard her waking up.” That wasn’t true, and I think he knew it, but he didn’t comment. I set her in her high chair and went to the cupboard to get a jar of baby food. After opening the lid, I held it out to Cameron. “Do you want to feed her?”

His eyes widened. “Uh. I guess?”

I smiled, pleased that he was making an effort. He took the jar and spoon from me, then sat in the chair across from Natalie.