Page 28 of Already At Risk
Couldn’t see how perfect he was if my eyes weren’t open.
“She gets two, and don’t let her fool you into giving her more.”
“I would never.”
The sound of soft meows and cat nibbles filled the room. It was oddly soothing, lulling me further into a sense of calm.
“Anything else?” I heard Cameron ask somewhere in my subconscious.
“Huh?”
“On your list.”
“Coffee,” I listed. “Wash my hair. Find clothes for tomorrow. You know.”
“Well, I can handle one of those, at least,” I heard Cameron say.
But barely.
He sounded distant, far away in my brain—where I was currently going through the motions of preparing my coffee, measuring the grounds and finding the coffee filter in the cabinet. I made sure the water was filled and the time set correctly for the morning. Perfect. Good.
Now, upstairs. It was time to head upstairs. Stuck in a semi-conscious state, I made my way up them, hearing the distinct creaking of the old wood beneath feet. Not my feet, though. No, I sort of felt like I wasfloating. That wasodd, right?
Maybe, but this felt like the easiest nighttime routine I’d ever had, so who was I to complain?
Strong arms supported me like a guide as I entered a room. Chloe’s room first. No, that wasn’t right. I backed out and then reentered a different room.Myroom. There, that was better. That was?—
“I think it’s time for bed, Dr. London,” a gravelly voice said, and that was when I realized that I hadn’t been doing a damn thing at all.
And now, Cameron Bryant was in my bedroom.
CHAPTER SEVEN
cameron
NATALIE FELL ASLEEP ON the counter.
I watched as her body slumped, growing more and more relaxed, until she started to slide. One arm dropped off the counter, and then her shoulder drooped, and I had a split-second decision to make—either let her drop to the floor like an anvil or swoop in to save the day. And like hell was I going to watch her hurt herself.
So I scooped her up off the barstool just in time and tried to contain my fucking smile when she curled into my body, letting me cradle her against my chest. Her weight feltgoodin my arms, like I suddenly realized how empty they were without her.
Natalie barely stirred, unaware of how close she’d been to smacking her face on the floor. And honestly, that was better for everyone. She didn’t need to know.
And sure, maybenowI should wake her. But then she would have tried to play hostess some more or insist on talking to me when she really should just go the fuck to bed, or at least get a move on with her nightly wind-down routine. She had a field trip to chaperone in the morning.
So I carried her up the stairs, and her head tucked further into my chest. The creak of the floorboards didn’t wake her, andneither did the abrupt halt of my body when I walked into a bedroom that looked an awful lot like a nine-year-old girl’s. But finally, when I backed up and tried the other available door in the hallway, her eyes flung open.
I suspected it was my voice that woke her, telling her it was time for bed. Now that I had her up here, I wanted her more alert. The alternative was me getting too close to that bed with Natalie. Or too close to Natalie in a bed. It put me too close to any combination of Natalie London and a bed, which I knew to be a terrible idea.
“Oh my God,” she mumbled, looking around the room with bleary eyes. She rubbed them, and once again, I found myself thinking she was adorable. “Did I fall asleep?”
“Out cold on the counter.”
Almost out cold on the floor, too, but I didn’t say that.
She scrubbed a hand down her face. “Ugh, I’m so?—”
“Don’t say sorry.”
