"Okay, that"s the stock answer you guys give everyone. I"m your big bro, so what"s the real deal?"
Nate turned and looked over at his wife. "I"ve thought about it a lot, but the subject hasn"t come up between us. And I don"t know if I"m ready, Cam. The last thing I want to do is have a child and not be the parent that Dad was."
His words resonated with Cam. Their dad had been a great father, and living up to the old man would be hard. But when Cam looked at Becca and Ty, he wanted to be a parent. He wanted to be the missing piece in their little family.
And that didn"t fill him with panic the way it once would have. He thought that was a good indication that he was on the right the track with Becca. That she was the one.
"I guess you think about it," Nate said.
"I didn"t before Becca came back into my life."
Cam rubbed the back of his neck.
"I bet."
Becca walked right up between them. "Ty, this is your uncle Nate. Nate, this is Ty."
Nate looked down at Cam"s son, and Cam felt a moment of familial bonding that until now he never could have imagined. He was glad to see his brother and his son together. And when Nate held out his arms to Ty and Becca handed him over, Cam realized he"d made the right choice in going after joint custody and in naming his brothers as guardians in the will.
"He is so cute," Jen said as she came up to them.
"My brother sure is," Cam said with a wink.
"I meant your son. But I have to agree-my husband is a hottie."
She slipped her arm around Nate"s waist and looked up at Cam. He was very happy that his little brother had found a woman who loved him. And that that love was clear for everyone to see.
"I am a hottie," Nate said. "I think the entire world knows that."
She laughed. "Gosh, I hadn"t noticed."
Nate kissed her soundly on the lips and then smacked her b.u.t.t. "Smarty. Everything is almost ready here. Go get ready for our dance."
Jen pinched Nate"s b.u.t.t. "I will but only because I"m the one who thought of the idea to get everyone in the party mood."
Cam laughed at the two of them as Jen walked away. There was something welcoming and refreshing about being in their presence. Nate handed Ty back to Becca.
"I don"t pretend to understand what"s between you and my brother," Nate said. "But I"m glad you and Ty are here."
"Me, too," Becca said.
"I have to agree," Cam said. "I"m very glad to have you both in my life."
Nine.
Becca hadn"t expected to enjoy herself as much as she did at the rehearsal dinner. But when the music started and as the mojitos kept flowing, she found herself on the dance floor with Cam.
"This is where it all started," he said.
"The dance floor? We met in Russell"s conference room," she reminded him.
"No, that"s the past, when we were too involved in ourselves to figure out what was really important. I knew when I danced with you in New York that something had changed. You weren"t the woman I had known before," he said, spinning her around as one of Shakira"s slow, s.e.xy ballads played.
"I"m definitely not the same woman. It was hard for me to be attracted to you and know I had a big secret."
"I bet. Did you think about running away?" he asked.
It was the first time they"d really talked about everything, and she was glad to finally have the chance. "For a minute. But I had Ty to think about. And once I talked to you that night I realized there was more to you than just a s.e.xy guy I had an affair with. I"m not sure how to say this, but I think you were right to tell me I wasn"t in love with you two years ago."
"You do? Why?"
"I didn"t know you at all. If you had taken me up on my offer...we would have been married with a kid and both felt trapped and miserable," she said.
"Or would we have uncovered the truth about each other as we have these last few weeks?"
"I"d like to think we would have, but I don"t believe in fairy tales anymore."
"Did you at one time?"
"Yes. When I was young. I spent a lot of time dreaming up where my dad was and making up excuses for why he never came to see me."
"Ah, Becca," he said, pulling her close in his arms. "I"m so sorry."
"It"s not your fault," she said. "Life is like that sometimes. Then other times the man who you cursed for being a jerk shows up and turns out to be a hero."
"Me?"
"You."
He leaned down to kiss her. And saw his brother walk up right behind her on the dance floor.
"No need to ask who this is," Justin said. "Your son"s mother, I presume."
"I am Ty"s mother," Becca said, turning to confront Cam"s other brother. "You must be Justin."
"I am. I"m also the family attorney. Did he mention that?"
"Back off, Jus."
"I"d be happy to if I could understand why she kept your son a secret for so long," he said.
"Cam had told me he wasn"t ready for a family and I am a loner. I like to do things on my own. That"s the only explanation you are going to get," she said.
"That"s more than he deserves. I told you not to bring this up tonight," Cam said.
"I"m sorry, Cam. I don"t like the feeling that she"s trying to pull one over on us," Justin said. "She"s not."
"I"m not," Becca said at the same time. "I didn"t trust your brother to be a good man."
"I didn"t see it that way," Justin said.
"That"s because you are used to seeing the worst in everyone," Selena said, coming up net to her fiance. "I"m Selena Gonzalez, by the way. You must be Becca."
"I am. Nice to meet you," Becca said, holding her hand out to Selena.
"You, as well. Please excuse Justin. He just-"
"Doesn"t want to see his brother treated poorly," Justin said.
"I"m not treating him poorly. That"s why Ty and I are here," Becca said.
"I"m sorry for being so rude," Justin said, easing up a little after a moment"s pause. "I don"t trust people who keep secrets like that one."
Becca nodded. "I don"t trust men."
Cam looked over at her. "Do you now?"
"Yes," she said.
"That"s all that matters," Cam said. He pulled Becca back into his arms and danced her away from Justin.
After that, Cam held her close for the rest of the night until it was time to go home. He collected Ty from Jasmine, and when he left with his son and Becca, for the first time since his dad died, Cam felt like he had something of his own.
When they got home, he watched Becca tuck their son in and felt another surge of some emotion he refused to define. She turned to catch him staring at her.
"What?"
He waited until she was out of Ty"s room, and then he pulled her into his arms and whispered hot needy words in her ear. Told her exactly what she made him feel and how happy he was that she"d come back into his life.
He carried her into her bedroom and placed her on the center of the bed. He reached up under her dress and pulled off her panties and then opened his own pants and slid inside her. He rested there for a minute and looked down at her.
He kissed her long and hard, the way he"d wanted to since he"d pulled her into his arms. His tongue rubbed over hers as his hands swept over her body.
"Thank you for my son," he said.
"You"re welcome," she said. "Now make love to me."
And he did. He made love to her, and then when they were done, he undressed them both and slowly built them to a fevered pitch again. He held her in his arms all night and didn"t question the fact that he"d never had a relationship with a woman feel as right as the one he had with Becca.
He held her through the night, awake while she was sleeping, and watched her. She had changed his life, and he had no idea what he was going to do with her.
Marriage didn"t seem to be the solution. Becca was used to being alone and he didn"t want her to feel trapped. There was a reason beyond his callous behavior that she"d kept Ty to herself.
Though his brothers were getting married, he knew that the inst.i.tution wasn"t necessarily for him. He did know that he wanted Becca to stay in his life and in his home, and he wanted to figure out a way to make her presence here more permanent.
He drifted off to sleep without finding a solution, which later on would bother him. He was the kind of man who always had to solve a problem before he could sleep. But not with Becca.
It was odd to him, but he finally thought he was coming to trust her. And that scared him almost as much as the fact that he needed her.
Her cell phone rang a week later, and she glanced at the caller ID. It was Cam. "h.e.l.lo."
"Hi, Becca. I have an emergency meeting with the community leaders at the Mercado. We are supposed to have one of the tenth-anniversary events there and I thought you might want to come and join me."
The week had been hectic. Nate"s wedding was beautiful and had made Becca long for something more with Cam. She knew she should be content with what they had-it was more than she ever dreamed of. But a part of her-that little girl who"d waited for her own family to be complete, she suspected-wanted Cam as her husband.
She"d continued to work on designs for the Mercado and was slowly settling into a routine here in Miami. Cam had adjusted his schedule and had early dinners with her and Ty before he went to the club at night. He was making time for Ty, which was what she"d asked for, and she saw the signs that he could be a very good dad.
Though they hadn"t really discussed it, she felt as if they"d found a new truce and were moving toward a committed relationship. There was a certain peace between them. Justin still didn"t seem to trust her, but Nate and Jen had been friendly each time she"d seen the newlyweds.
"Okay. Why?" she asked.
"I want you to talk to the community leaders and get some of their input on the stores you will be designing."
"That sounds great. When should I come down there?" she asked. Work had been her solace and her guiding light, and she needed it to help her get back on task. She needed to focus and not let Cam throw her so off balance.
"Now would be perfect."
Of course it would be. "Um...I just gave Jasmine the afternoon off."
"That"s okay. You can bring Ty with you."
"We will be right down there," she said.
"Good. I"m sorry about the last-minute notice."
"It"s okay. Just let me get dressed-"
"Whoa, are you working naked?"
She laughed. "No. Why did you think that?"
"I"m a man," he said.
"And men think about s.e.x all the time?" she asked.
"Exactly."
"So are you not thinking about it now that we"ve become lovers again?" she asked, kidding him. They had never had a teasing relationship before and she was interested to see another side of Cam.