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“Not at all,” he said quietly, against her hair. “I get it. When my dad died, it pushed me even harder to make a success out of music, because it was the attribute we had in common. Plus, it was the career he always dreamed of but never got to have.”
She lifted her head to meet his gaze. “He wanted to be a professional musician?”
Cam tucked her hair behind her ear. “Yeah. He played guitar, drums, piano, the works.”
A heavy sadness filled Nina’s chest at the thought of all these unfulfilled plans and dreams. “Did he keep doing it on an amateur level?”
Cam smiled and nodded. “Mum took us to his gigs.”
Nina smiled back. “Have you got a photo of him?”
Cam appeared pleasantly surprised. “I’ve got some saved in my phone.” He took it out and fiddled with it, then showed her the screen.
Nina studied the picture of the sandy-haired man. “He was handsome, like you are.”
Cam smiled, colour lightly streaking his cheeks. “Thank you. Mum always said I took after him in appearance but not character. Performing came so easily to him. He had a natural stage presence and charisma.”
Something occurred to Nina, and things fell into place. “Was your dad’s name Logan?”
Cam snapped his gaze up to meet hers. He hesitated, staring into her eyes. “Yes. But no one has ever guessed that under their own steam before.”
She searched his face. “It makes total sense. Having him as your persona bolsters your confidence to get on stage and perform.”
He nodded almost imperceptibly. “He was so outgoing. His showmanship was awesome. Our personalities were so different in that way, and I figured…” He hesitated, watching her.
It almost seemed she could read his mind. “You figured you could just channel him instead of struggling along as yourself. Plus, it keeps his memory alive, like he’s still performing through you.”
He smiled, still holding her gaze for a few more seconds. Then he took a deep breath and put the phone down. “What about you? Any pics of your family?”
Nina sat up to retrieve her phone and showed him one of her, her parents and her brother.
Cam took the phone and zoomed into the photo. “You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
She raised her eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
He handed it back to her. “You’ve got your dad’s eyes. There’s no way you can ever lose your connection to him. You only need look in the mirror.”
Nina swallowed hard against the lump in her throat, unable to speak for fear of tears spilling over. She put the phone down and cuddled back into his chest, aware that her tears were creating tiny damp patches on the fabric of his clothing. Her voice cracked. “Thank you.”
He hugged her. “Don’t worry about your career. Everything will be okay. Do what feels right. Your dad would be proud of you either way.”
A few tears started to flow, and they soothed her mind. “Your dad would be thrilled to know what an incredible man his son became.”
Cameron tightened his arms around her. His voice was husky. “I appreciate that.”
He stroked her hair and gradually she felt her eyes becoming heavier.
Her soul felt lighter for some reason and she sensed sleep was close by.
Cameron pulled a fleecy blanket over them both. He spoke softly. “You can go to your room if you like, rather than sleeping here.”
The fact that he called the room that she’d only stayed in once ‘hers’ filled her with a glow. But she didn’t want to go upstairs because that would mean that he’d go to his bed with Ash and Nina would have to relinquish their physical closeness. She knew she couldn’t have him in a romantic way. The lovely things he’d said to her had only been because they’d become such good friends and had a natural empathic connection. He was in a relationship with a gorgeous woman, and he wouldn’t have looked twice at Nina, even if he weren’t. But she wanted to savour their platonic bond as long as possible.
“No,” she said. “I’m too lazy to move from here.”
“Okay,” he said.
Nina prayed that he wouldn’t say he was going upstairs. He didn’t. He just held her tightly and Nina sensed their breathing fall into sync as they both dropped off to sleep.
