God, he sounded like one of Sarah’s books.
“You got this, man?” Javier asked. “I mean, you’re still a little shaky.”
“I can get dressed. I know you’ve got another client. Cam’s here; he’ll help me get to the truck.”
“Totally. We’ll just get dressed and head out the side door. I’m parked over there anyway.”
Javier headed out, and that left them again, standing there, Cam holding him up as he shivered, a towel around his waist.
“I need you to get dressed, man.” Cam met his gaze, the green eyes reminding him of clover, of summer. “Because that’s a lot of skin to ask me to keep my hands off of. You get me?”
“I do. I really do.” He wanted to spend hours just finding new things that he’d forgotten.
“I’m tickled as all get-out. Now please get dressed.” Cam chuckled and winked at him. “By the time you do, I’ll be able to walk out of here without trying to look like I got a log stuck in my jeans.”
“Listen to you. A log. I do like a man who knows his uh…” He searched for the word. “Attributes.”
Cam’s eyes went wide. “Did you learn that one from your daughter?”
“We don’t get to talk about the children and your particular log in the same sentence. New rule.” He was chuckling now, though, and he managed to drag on his shirt. “Turn your back.”
Cam’s lips parted. “What? You can’t be serious! You’re not going to let me look?”
He thought about it for about a quarter of a second, and then he dropped his shorts.
It wasn’t as if Cam hadn’t seen it. Not ten years ago and not now.
He wasn’t hung like a bull moose or anything, but he had a cock, and it worked. He worked for a living, and he thought that it was obvious, especially now when he didn’t have an ounce of fat on him.
Cam, gave him a slow, lazy up and down. “You’re awful pretty.”
“I’d say I’ve worked for it, but I haven’t.” He shrugged one shoulder and put the towel on the bench so he could sit to get his drawers and his clean jeans on. “Still, I’m glad to hear it. It feels good.”
“A lot about this feels good.” Cam shook his head. “I don’t understand it. Not a bit. But it’s true. A lot about being here with you feels good.”
“Should I apologize?” He wasn’t being an asshole. It was an honest question. He didn’t know.
“Would you be mad at me if I admit I’m not sure? I feel like…shit. I don’t know, honey. I didn’t want to come here, and the more that I stay, the harder it’s going to be to go. But I want to be here with you right now.”
He got that, but… “Just remember, there’s three little girls, and at some point, someone’s gonna ask a question.” He met Cam’s gaze again, and it was killing him because he knew this was probably a deal-breaker. But he was a daddy first. Right? “At some point, we’ll have to figure out what we’re going to say.”
“I know.” Cam nodded, his expression completely serious. “And I wouldn’t hurt those little girls for all the world either. I don’t want them to get attached if I’m just going to up and leave again. You know that.”
“I do know that.”
Cam was a brother and an uncle, and he loved kids even if he hadn’t really known what to do with Mitch’s when he’d first showed up. He was getting better at that, and it made Mitch smile, but he knew his girls would be sad when Cam left nomatter what time of the year it was now, because they had gotten used to having him around.
Sometimes it was about letting them down easy. So if Cam was going to ride off into the sunset, he probably needed to do it sooner rather than later.
As a parent, he had found out that managing expectations was a goodly bit of his job.
Mitch took a deep breath, then let it out. “You know I trust you with them as far as watching over them and trying not to hurt their little hearts, but it can happen. They already really like you.”
“So yeah, that enters into everything.” Cam helped him get his shirt on. His pants he had managed, but his shirt felt like a stretch too far today, that whole pushing back thing with his arms was harsh. He should remember to wear a pullover when he came to physical therapy.
Cam turned him around, hands on his upper arms, and put a kiss right in the center of his forehead. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to explore this.”
Lord, his heart was just hammering. He felt as if he might fall over. He was so lightheaded. “Duly noted. But we should probably get out of here so Javier and his next client don’t have to see any of this, right?”
