“Perfect, because I’m taking the two of you out.”
“Cookies!” Tina said.
“You need to finish your apple. Your blood sugar’s a tad low but I don’t want to spike it with cookies.” Elena pointed to the kitchen table. “Go eat.”
Camden went from smiling to looking worried as he watched Tina walk to the kitchen.
“She’s okay,” Elena answered his unasked question. “She’s still adjusting to her new schedule and to the insulin pump, so we’re having some little dips and spikes here and there. The pump helps so much though. Normally, I'd be mentally readjusting insulin doses while waiting to retest her blood sugar after she eats.”
Camden’s lips curled up into a sweet smile that made Elena go a little weak in the knees. “You’re a wonderful mom.”
Elena shrugged. “It’s what any mom would do, right? She’s my world.”And I need to keep that in mind, especially with you standing there looking so damn good, she thought. “So, I’ll give you a cookie, but you don’t have to take us to dinner. We’re good.”
Camden crossed his arms. “What? You want to make me a lawbreaker?”
It took Elena a second to remember what he was talking about. “Oh, right, what you said at Jake and Rachael’s wedding about native Californians showing the newbies around.” She laughed. “How did you put it? It’s the law so us noobs don’t hurt ourselves on all the awesomeness?”
He winked at her. “Good memory. So, you see, it’s not up to me.” He dropped his arms to his sides and took a couple steps toward her.
Elena folded her arms and nodded. “Yeah, I see how you are. You’ll do anything for a cookie.”
He stopped inches from her. He smelled as good as he looked, a light, citrusy scent floating over salty skin. “Not justanycookie.”
“No?” Elena released her arms. Her heart sped up. “What kind of cookie, then?”
He traced down her bare arm with one finger, bringing her awareness right to the surface of her skin. He leaned down until his mouth was right next to her ear and Elena thought she’d faint from the way her heart pounded.If he growls anything even remotely sexy, I’m a goner.I need to shut this down right now. This is not going to happen.
Instead, she stilled as Camden opened his mouth and growled, “Pounds of butter. Extra gluten. All the processed sugar. I’m a feaster, not a faster.”
Elena’s eyes looked heavenward as she pushed him away. “You’re terrible, you know that?”
Camden grinned down at her. “How so?”
“Oh, I think you know.”
If he did, he didn’t say. “So, how about dinner?”
“I can make something for us here.”
Camden shook his head. “Not tonight. You’ve had a rough day—”
“It wasn’t that bad.”
Camden frowned. “You’ve had a rough day and I want to make it better. Let me treat you. We’ll get something to eat and then take a walk on the beach. It’ll be fun.”
Elena sighed.Maybe just this once, she thought.But I can’t make it a habit. “Okay, you win. But nothing fancy, all right?”
“First,” Camden said, counting off on his fingers, “this is not a competition, it’s dinner. Second, you don’t have to go fancy to eat good in L.A. Let me introduce you to the concept of food trucks.”
“Camden, I lived in Nebraska, not on the moon. I know what a food truck is.”
“Yeah, but have you ever been to one?”
Elena’s gut clenched. She hadn’t—Ross, Nebraska was not known for haute cuisine or low cuisine. What they had was Betty’s Diner, Taco Hut, and a McDonald’s off the interstate that mostly served people hurrying off to someplace better. When she and Antonio first moved there from New Mexico, she’d worked the kitchen at Betty’s and enjoyed it. When Tina came along, she needed a job with better hours so she worked the day shift at the meatpacking plant while Antonio worked nights.
Camden frowned. “Did I say something?”
“No.” Elena shook her head to clear it of bad memories. “But you’ll probably think I’m a total hick because no, I haven’t ever eaten at a food truck.”
