“You were already in the military.”
“Yes.”
Piper had spent a lot of years thinking no one really understood what she’d been up against when her parents had died. But now she knew Cam understood, that he got it in a way she wished he didn’t have to. “I can’t imagine how hard it was for you, growing up like that.”
He shrugged. “She did the best she could. Same with Rowan. And I was still way too hard on him.” He shook his head, eyes tortured. “And now he’s gone, and the last thing I said to him was in anger.”
Her throat tightened at the emotion in his voice. “I’m so sorry, Cam. What happened?”
He let out a long breath. “We fought about his future. It’s hard to forgive myself for that, that his last memory was of me being mad at him.”
“He wouldn’t want you to be holding on to that. You know he never held on to anything negative. That wasn’t his way.”
When he didn’t look at her, she gently turned his face to hers.
“I hear you,” he said. “But it’s hard.”
“I know.”
He met her gaze. “You too?”
“Oh, yeah.” She gave him a grim smile. “When my parents sent us home, I was furious. Even though they’d promised to follow us and arrive as soon as they could, I didn’t understand.” She drew a deep breath because it was always hard to think about, the memories of how awful she’d been. “I just saw it as they were dumping us because we were too much trouble. I told them they were terrible parents who were tired of lugging their children around, so they were sending us away to be selfish.” She let out a long, shaky breath. “They died before I got to talk to them again, to tell them I loved them. That I was sorry.”
“They knew,” he said firmly.
She gave him a small smile. “Because you want it to be true for me?”
“Because you’re an amazing person and they knew that, or they’d never have trusted you with Winnie and Gavin.”
She’d never looked at it that way, but it did soothe something deep inside her. They had trusted her. And now . . . now Gavin was in recovery and Winnie was pregnant at twenty. Yeah, she’d done a bang-up job.
“None of that’s on you,” he murmured, and squeezed her hand again.
Maybe not. But it was going to change her world, in a big way. Because the Mannings were a unit, like it or not.
They remained silent for a long few minutes, no sound except the water lapping at the boat, the squawk of birds, and the occasional buzzing of an insect.
“You’re going to be okay leaving this place that you love?” he asked. “For Colorado?”
She looked around at the gorgeous, lush green rolling hills edging the lake, dotted with ancient oaks and the occasional lost cow from neighboring ranches. “Living here isn’t exactly a hardship. And I love my job. I love helping people. But it’s . . . immediate, so there’s no closure. I want to do more.”
“You’ll make a great physician assistant.”
She wasn’t sure she’d get the chance now, but she played along. “How do you know? You’ve never seen me in action.”
“Actually, I have.”
She laughed. “In your bed doesn’t count.”
“Hell yeah, it does.” He smiled, but then got serious. “But I’ve seen you in action on the job too. The other day, you arrived on scene for a guy who’d had a heart attack at the little diner in town. Caro’s. I was across the street getting gas when you and Jenna arrived. You dropped to your knees and began working on him, and you were amazing. From a hundred feet away, I could see your determination, could tell you wouldn’t give up on him, on anyone.”
She didn’t know what to say to that, so she turned back to the sky, then pointed to a cloud. “That one looks like an elephant. I love elephants.”
“You really will make a great PA, Piper. You can do anything you want to. I know it.”
She sighed. “Maybe I should hit on you again.”
“So we’ll stop talking?” he asked, sounding amused.
She glanced over at him. “You make me sound like a better person than I am. Because what I didn’t say was that I wasn’t all that sorry to be getting away from Wildstone for a bit.”
“Past tense?”
“Well, obviously I can’t go now. Winnie’s going to need me.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. You’ll find a way.”
She let his words wash over her. She’d told him her deepest, darkest shame, that she wanted to run away, from the house, her siblings, everything. And he hadn’t judged her, not even a little bit. “Cam?”
“Yeah?”
She came up on her elbow and met his gaze. “It turns out that I am going to hit on you again. You should brace yourself because I’m going to be very convincing.”
“I brought you out here so you could get away.”
“Captain, my Captain,” she whispered. “Whatever you say.”
He sucked in a breath. “You’re fighting dirty again.”
“I get it, you don’t want to take advantage of me, blah blah. But . . . how do you feel about me taking advantage of you?”
His eyes went heavy lidded, his expression smoldering as he lay back, interlacing his fingers behind his head. “You know what? You’re my neighbor, and your life choices are yours to make, and I’ll support you no matter what . . .”
She was laughing as she climbed him like a jungle gym.
Chapter 21
“Sucks to be the one left behind.”
Later, much later, now in the small interior of the boat, Piper and Cam dozed, lulled by the heat they’d generated. The windows were steamed and night had fallen, blocking the outside world, creating an intimacy that she wasn’t sure she was ready for.
Cam was terrifyingly amazing, and it wasn’t just because he knew his way around a woman’s body. Even out of bed, he was a distraction, and she enjoyed spending time with him.
Which wasn’t good.
But it didn’t stop her from sighing in pleasure as he murmured something inaudible in his sleep and tightened his arms around her, as if to keep her from sneaking off.
Which had been her plan.
But there was nowhere to go unless she wanted to swim back. But even if she could do that without drowning, she’d misplaced all the bones in her body thanks to the orgasms. Content for now, she pressed her face into the crook of Cam’s neck. Just for a few minutes, she told herself, and let herself float away.
She awoke sometime later, violently aroused, with Cam’s mouth working its way down her writhing body. Her fingers were digging into his shoulders and she was making the same “yummy” sounds she made when she ate ranch-flavored popcorn with extra butter.
She already knew he was as incredibly instinctive in bed as he seemed to be everywhere else. He knew exactly when and how to effortlessly take her to the very edge and hold her there just long enough to make her slide her fingers into his hair and tug.
The bastard just huffed a soft laugh against her and then . . . sent her flying. She came back to herself to feel him right there, kneeling between her thighs.