He kisses the wetness from my cheeks, while I hug his neck and assure him that they’re happy tears, silently thanking the universe for bringing this sweet, sexy, wonderful man into my life.
I’ve just managed to stop the waterworks when Crissy appears beside Cam’s chair and whispers, “Are you talking about grown-up stuff, or can I come eat more pancakes? My belly said it was still hungry.”
I smile. “Sadly, we’re all out of pancakes. But I can make you some peanut butter toast if you want.”
“Or I can whip up my signature savory pancakes and we can take some to the park with us later, too. They’re good warm with butter or cold wrapped around a slice of cheese and a sliver of apple.”
Crissy wrinkles her nose. “Savory means not sweet,” she observes.
“Correct, Miss Smarty Pants,” Cam says with a fond smile her way.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea for a pancake,” she says. “But I’ll try it because I’m very brave.”
“You’re an American hero,” Cam says soberly, making me snort.
He pinches my hip, my snort becomes a giggle, and then suddenly he’s tickling me until I’m laughing so hard I can barely breathe. We end up tumbling onto the floor by the table, where Crissy jumps on top of us to join the tickle party with a thrilled squeal.
It’s like a scene from a romantic movie—all joy and wholesome fun—but it’s my life. I can’t believe how completely everything has turned around since I came to New York, since I met this man who makes me feel like I won the lottery.
But better.
Money is good, but this sweetness, this safety, this feeling of finally being home, where I belong, where I’ll always belong…it’s everything I’ve dreamed of and more. And that home isn’t this apartment or our new city, it’s Cam and Crissy and me, together.
He’s already becoming family to me, and with every passing day the anxious voice in my head gets quieter. Soon, it will fade away completely.
That’s when the danger will be the greatest.
I know from experience that even the most promising of near happily-ever-afters can go sour faster than you can say “I didn’t sign up for your scary side.” I know better than to dive in headfirst when I have no idea what might be lurking beneath the surface of the water.
And even if Cam is everything he seems, I have so much darkness in my past, darkness he should probably know more about before he gets in any deeper with the Barbu girls. Once he knows the truth, he might decide rolling the dice with me and Crissy is more risk than he’s prepared to handle.
I won’t blame him if he does. He would have every right to skip the insanity and find someone with a nice, normal dating history.
But the thought of him walking out my door and never coming back is too awful to imagine right now, as he helps me off the floor and kisses my cheek, promising, “Savory pancakes in ten minutes if you want to make more coffee.”
“More coffee sounds like heaven,” I say, leaning into his side for a quick hug, silently promising I’ll come clean with him soon.
Soon, but not too soon…
Not until I’ve collected more memories, more hugs, more laughter, enough to keep me warm for the rest of the winter should The Cutest Boy in the World decide it’s time to go our separate ways.
Chapter Twenty
Cameron
Two weeks later…
Life is good. Probably too good.
The restaurant reopening went better than any of us could have imagined, complete with a glowing write-up in the Times and dinner service booked solid through the end of March.
I’ve been promoted to head chef on the nights when Natalie needs to be front of house, schmoozing famous people, and we’ve hired two more highly experienced guys—Kit and Nate—who have a great rapport with the rest of the staff. They’re currently each serving as head chef for the lunch shift on alternating days, but I’m training them to take up the slack at dinner, in case Nat and I both end up too sick to serve.
That’s a very real possibility, we realized, after Crissy gave us a twenty-four-hour bug last week. Thankfully, it was on a Tuesday, so Crave was closed, but we took the infection as a warning from the universe to get our backup plans in order.
Now, work is even more fun, knowing support is there if we need it. We’re having a blast in the kitchen and an even better time after hours.
Natalie and I have discovered a mutual love of old movies and ice-skating in Central Park. Crissy joins us for the skating and for adventures into the kid-friendly corners of the city, but Nat and I still find plenty of time to be alone. We’ve stayed out until two a.m. at a jazz speakeasy in the Bowery, snickered our way through the Museum of Sex, and have plans to see a Broadway show for Valentine’s Day.