Brielle stood to start clearing the table, and Cam jumped up and began helping her without being asked. He was a good kid. I joined them, and Brielle took the plate from my hands, then took it to the sink.

  “Cam has been wanting to watch the new Marvel movie. I bought it to stream tonight,” she told me.

  “You did?!” Cam exclaimed. “Thanks, Mom!”

  “You’re welcome,” she said, smiling over at him.

  I wasn’t ready to leave. I didn’t want to dwell on it too deeply, but I wanted to be near them. To watch them. A part of me thought if I watched them closely enough, I’d see something about Brielle that wasn’t perfect. That she’d show me her faults. We all had them. I was just struggling to find hers. Probably because I had just found out the faults I had stacked against her were all bullshit lies.

  For a moment this afternoon, I’d imagined taking her the way I wanted. Fucking her until we were both satisfied with this attraction between us. Knowing that she wasn’t a cheater and being with her was all good. But then watching them, seeing her be a mom, I knew I couldn’t. I wasn’t going to mess with this. With her. She deserved more. More than what I was offering.

  I glanced over at their small television, then looked back at Brielle. “How about we watch it in our own private theater?” I asked.

  She frowned, unsure of what I meant.

  “Where?” Cam asked.

  I looked up. “My place.”

  “You have a theater up there too?” Brielle asked me.

  I had a lot of things I wanted to show her. Starting with the sauna. Naked. But that had been before … before I knew all this about her. She was a single mom. A young single mom. She needed a future, and I wasn’t a future for her.

  “Yes, I do,” I replied.

  “Oh my God. Mom, please! Can we?” Cam grabbed her arm with a pleading look.

  It was clear on her face she wanted to say no. She knew I wasn’t good for them.

  “But I bought it on our Amazon Prime account,” she told him.

  “You can sign in to your account on my system,” I told her, but she already knew that. I needed to shut the fuck up. I wasn’t making this easier for myself.

  She cut her eyes up at me, and just like that, I wanted to laugh at her frustrated expression. I liked making her eyes flash with anger. Since I would no longer allow myself to let them flash with passion or lust.

  “See! We can do that. Let’s do it, Mom,” he encouraged.

  I could see her give in before she finally nodded. “Okay, fine.”

  “We have microwave popcorn,” Cam said to me.

  “We could use that or use my movie theater popcorn machine,” I told him.

  I’d never actually used it yet. Maegan had bought it for the theater for when my grandkids visited.

  “Hell yeah!” Cam replied.

  “Camden Dace McGinnis,” Brielle said in a stern voice. She was even sexy in mom mode.

  Cam looked sheepish. “Sorry, Mom.”

  She gave a nod. “Go get your shoes on,” she said.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he replied.

  When he was out of earshot, I leaned down to her. “You realize he probably says worse than that when you’re not around. He’s a boy. He’ll be a teenager before you know it.”

  She glared at me. “Maybe so, but in my presence, I’ll correct him.”

  Because she cared. I knew Blaire wouldn’t allow that from Nate or the girls either when they got a little older and tried it. Rush had cursed like a sailor by the time he was eight. His mother didn’t notice or care. I wasn’t much better. Raising him in my world had been screwed up.

  “If he wants to put on his pajamas or whatever he sleeps in so he can be comfortable, we are just going up the elevator. He doesn’t really even need shoes.”

  She looked back in the direction Cam had gone. “That would be better. That way, he can just go to bed when we get back. I’ll go tell him,” she said.

  I watched her walk away, wishing like hell I could turn off my attraction to her. It was worse now that I knew about her past. There was a respect I held for her after hearing her son talk about her and all she’d sacrificed for him. It had changed everything. Including my plans to get her in my bed. That would no longer be happening. I wasn’t going to be the man in Cam’s life, and that was what he needed. Someone who could stand beside Brielle and help her raise her son. A man who wanted a family. That was not me.

  When Brielle came from Cam’s room, there was a smile on her face I hadn’t seen before. It was a happy, content, maybe even hopeful smile. I didn’t need to be the one making her smile like that. Tonight would be a one and done. Cam was a fan, and I would do this for him. Then, I’d leave for a few weeks. Go back to Beverly Hills until Kiro annoyed me. Give us all a break.

  “You planning a second date with the construction worker?” I asked her.

  She looked surprised by my question before shrugging. “We never made it on our first date. Things kept coming up.”

  Damn. I needed obstacles in my way. It would make it harder for me to cave in and take what I wanted.

  “I’m ready!” Cam said with excitement as he came bounding out of his room.

  I was doing this for the kid. Nothing more. He’d have something to tell his friends. This had nothing to do with his mother.

  I’d keep telling myself that until it sank in.

  “Let’s head on up,” I said as I made my way to the door.

  I could be thankful that Brielle wasn’t wearing her pajamas. There was only so much a man could take.

  I held the door open as they walked out, and we all headed toward the elevator.

  “This is crazy,” Cam said in the elevator. “No one will ever believe me.”

  “We’ll take some pictures. They can’t argue with those,” I told him.

  His eyes lit up once again, and he beamed at me. He had his mom’s smile, I realized.

  “Seriously? You’d let me do that?”

  I nodded. “It’s always best to have proof.”

  My gaze went to Brielle, who was looking at me.

  Thank you, she mouthed silently.

  I knew she meant it. As much as I got under her skin, she would forgive me anything for Cam. That wasn’t why I was doing it though. I liked the kid. I could give him this with no real effort on my part. Maybe one day, years from now, I’d turn on the television, and he’d be on the drums for some hot, new band. I hoped to hell that happened.

  twenty

  brielle

  This was an experience that Cam would never forget. He’d tell his kids about it one day. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and he knew it. There were many reasons I should dislike the arrogant man who was currently showing my son his drums that he had in a soundproofed room with red padded walls, but in this moment, none of those reasons mattered. Cam was living a dream.

  A warmth settled in my chest when I looked at Dean; it was dangerous, and I knew it. I couldn’t let something like this derail the truths I knew about this man. He was good with kids, he was kind when it came to his younger fans, and he was focused on Cam. It was as if I weren’t here at all. No suggestive comments or looks. I respected that about him. Even if watching this scene play out in front of me broke me just a little. It was something I’d never imagined Cam would get to do. He was sharing his love with his hero. The man he wanted to be like. Dean had no idea the impact he had on Cam’s life.

  “Theater is on the other side of the apartment,” Dean said, finally looking in my direction.

  “If you two are ready, then I am too,” I replied.

  Cam reverently touched the drumsticks Dean had left beside his drum set, then looked up at Dean. “I’m ready.”

  Dean nodded his head in the direction of the sticks. “Take those with you. I’ve broken them in, but they need more use than I’ve been giving them these days.”

  That was it. The man had found a way to make me forget all his wrongs. My chest felt so tight that I thought I might cry.

  Cam’s eyes grew wide as he looked at the drumsticks, then back at Dean. “For real?” he asked with complete awe in his expression.

  Dean nodded. “Yep. They need a good home.”

  Cam snatched them up then and held them in his hands tightly. I wondered if he’d ever put them down again. I also feared that, at any moment, I would wake up, and this would all be a dream. This couldn’t be real life. Especially since I was feeling things for Dean Finlay that didn’t need to be there. Things that would lead to heartbreak—and not just mine.

  I watched as Cam walked over to Dean and looked up at him.

  “Thank you,” he said simply, but the expression on his face made it clear how much this meant to him.

  Dean squeezed his shoulder. “Just treat ’em right,” he said.

  Cam nodded. “I will. I swear it.”

  I stayed silent, not sure I could talk over the lump in my throat, and followed them to the theater. At this point, I shouldn’t be surprised by the amenities in this penthouse, but yet again, I was stunned. The room was something out of a magazine. Fifteen black leather reclining chairs. An entire section with a soda machine, popcorn machine, and other snacks inside a glass display case. The screen was as large as one in an actual theater, and the walls had framed posters from Slacker Demon concerts, dating all the way back to the early ’90s.

  Cam went straight to the oldest poster. He stared up at it, then moved down the row of them. Somehow, this evening just kept getting better and better for him.

  He pointed at a poster and then back at me. “This would have been the tour you didn’t get to see, Mom,” he said, smiling. “It was the year I was born.”

  I felt Dean’s gaze on me, and my cheeks warmed. A small part of me felt panicky, but I knew no one could read my thoughts. My secrets were my own.

  “Who wants popcorn?” I asked, changing the subject.

  Dean chuckled, and I shifted my gaze to him and smiled.

  “Happy? I was a fan,” I said to him.

  He smirked and said nothing.

  I watched as he walked over to the popcorn machine and stared at it as if he wasn’t sure what to do with it. I realized he’d never actually used it himself. Before he could call Maegan and possibly get her in here, I moved toward him.

  “I can figure it out if you want to set up the movie. Cam can help you sign in to my account,” I told him.

  He looked relieved. “That I can do,” he replied.

  I was able to figure out the process easy enough, and when the sound of popping kernels began, the screen also lit up. Cam’s laughter echoed through the room, and I glanced over to see Dean grinning. He had said something that amused Cam. The way he was looking up at Dean with complete hero worship was new for me.

  There had been little to no men in my life, and none of them had ever been allowed around Cam. I hadn’t trusted anyone that much.

  This was the first time I was trusting a man around my son. Granted, it was a famous man that my son idolized, but still, this was a big step for me. I was trusting Dean with Cam, and I hadn’t realized I was doing it until now.

  Was this a mistake?

  “Mom! You want a soda?” Cam asked me.

  I shook my head. “A water is fine.”

  “Can I have some candy too?” he then asked me.

  I glanced at Dean, who was looking at me with a go on, let the boy have some candy expression.

  I nodded. Why not? I was letting all this happen and not thinking of the repercussions. What harm would some candy do?

  I filled three bags with popcorn and handed them out before going to find a seat. Cam took a chair in the row in front of me, and Dean took a seat in a chair two seats down from mine. We were all spread out. Somehow, I hadn’t expected that.

  A part of me had thought Dean would sit beside me. I was reluctant to admit I had wanted him to. My feelings for him had taken a turn tonight, or maybe it was that I was willing to accept how he made me feel now that he had made Cam so happy. Before, I had fought it and denied feeling anything for Dean. After all he had done for Cam, my walls were down.

  Dean’s, however, seemed to be going up. I glanced at him and watched as he took a drink of his soda, then tossed a handful of popcorn in his mouth. Not once did he look in my direction. His gaze was locked on the screen in front of him. So much so that it seemed forced. Was he trying not to look at me? What had I missed? Normally, he did all he could do to get me to talk to him. He would go as far as baiting me with his words just to get my attention.

  Tonight, he was different. Was it because of Cam?

  The movie began, and I moved my eyes to the screen. I knew enough about the Marvel world to follow along. Cam had made me watch all the movies, but I still didn’t really care about it. I simply watched them to have something to do with Cam.

  I was more aware of Dean that anything else. The times I glanced his way, he was engrossed in the movie. Then, his phone lit up, and he stepped out of the theater. I had a hard time concentrating on what was happening on the screen when the time went by and Dean didn’t return. Just as the credits began to scroll did he step back into the room. I watched as he stretched and yawned.

  Cam jumped up, thrilled with the ending, and didn’t seem to know Dean had been missing for the entire second half of the movie. I said nothing as Cam chatted happily with Dean about the Marvel world and what he and I had just watched. Dean did a good job, following along.

  He led us to the door and out to the elevator while they talked. He didn’t look at me or say anything. I had become invisible, it seemed. When the elevator doors opened and we stepped inside, Dean remained where he was.

  “Thanks, Dean! Good night!” Cam said to him just as the doors closed.

  I said nothing at all, but then again, Dean hadn’t even glanced my way.

  twenty-one

  dean

  I hadn’t been back from California a full day when Mrs. Jo called me to tell me she had a pie for me and I needed to come get it. When I had returned, I’d intended to catch up on the sleep I had missed while under the same roof as Kiro. However, telling Mrs. Jo I couldn’t come down at the moment wasn’t an option either.

  Grabbing a discarded shirt from the chair in my bedroom, I made my way down to Mrs. Jo’s apartment. It was eleven on a Thursday, so that meant Brielle wouldn’t be around. She’d be working. I wasn’t sure where Cam went when she worked or if he was in their apartment … or was school back in session? I didn’t know when they started school around here, but I knew Nate had gone back last week. Didn’t matter though. Seeing the kid wasn’t an issue, but staying the hell away from his mama was.

  I’d been unable to get her out of my head while in California, but the distance had helped me think through things. I wasn’t what she needed, and she was no longer a hot fuck I wanted in my bed. She was a mom with a great kid who she was raising alone.

  Who knew respecting a woman could screw your head up? I wasn’t sure I’d ever taken the time to respect a woman I had fucked or planned to fuck. This was all new to me, and I didn’t know the best way to deal with it. That was why leaving the morning after our movie night had been so vital.

  I had felt her looking at me in the theater. I knew she wanted me to look at her. If I’d have sat beside her, she wouldn’t have minded. She had softened toward me after I gave Cam some time and attention. But damn if I was going to take advantage of her because she was grateful to me. Getting the hell out of that theater had been the only thing I could do. If she’d have looked at me one more time, I wasn’t sure I could have kept my distance.

  Mrs. Jo’s door opened before I even knocked.

  “Come in; come in,” she said brightly.

  Her apartment smelled like apple pie and vanilla. I followed her inside, and she closed the door behind us.

  “When I heard that motorcycle of yours outside this morning, I went right on to cutting the apples I’d bought at the farmers market. You were gone for too long. I figured you needed a good Southern pie to remind you how much better it is down here. If’n I had to pick a coast and I hadn’t lived here my entire life, I’d still choose the East Coast. Life is just better here. Don’t know why you’d stay gone so long.”

  She hurried into her kitchen, and I stood in her living room among the new furniture I had bought her. The place looked much nicer with the fresh paint and light fixtures.

  “The way you were looking at Brielle last I saw you, I figured you’d be sticking around here more. But I guess finding out she’s a mama can scare a man off. She’s a package deal and all,” Mrs. Jo said as she walked back, holding a pie with a hand towel under the plate.

  I opened my mouth to say something, although I wasn’t sure what to say to that comment. However, Mrs. Jo didn’t seem to need a response from me. She wasn’t done talking.

  “No matter. It all works out the way it’s supposed to. Fate has its plan, and that’s the way it goes. That good-looking man who has been taking her out even took Cam last night. They went to that putt-putt place down along the strip. I reckon fate has Brielle going in another direction, although I sure thought it’d be you there for a bit,” she said, then held out the pie to me.

  “Brielle is dating someone?” I asked, surprised by this information.

  I’d just been gone for three weeks, yet the way Mrs. Jo was talking, Brielle had been dating this guy a lot. What, had she just started dating again the day after I left? Had I read more into her behavior the night in the theater?

  “Oh, yes. That nice construction worker. He’s a fine man. Brings her flowers and went swimming with them the last day before Cam started back to school,” Mrs. Jo said. “Take this pie and add some vanilla ice cream to it. That’s the best way to eat it.”