Page 32 of The Summer I Loved

"We watched that awful show with the vampires. Just terrible," he yawned.

"Vampire Chronicles?" she whined. "You guys watched it without me? Was the hybrid on?"

"Yes, Bron told me how you love him," he said disgusted. "He's a mass murdering sociopath. What are you even thinking?"

"He's a tortured soul. He kinda reminds me of you." Her wistful voice made him roll his eyes.

"How?"

"He's hot, with a bad temper, and very kissable lips." She gave him a quick peck, buried her face on his neck and went to sleep.

It was a while before Cam could sleep. He gazed at both sides. On his left side, his daughter slept pressed to him. On the other side Adrianna lay her head on his arm. He never could have predicted this. He wasn’t going to dwell because tomorrow he intended to cash in on Adri’s promise.

•••

Adrianna groaned. A warm hand shook her from the most amazing dream. She lifted her head and all she saw was Cam's sleepy face. His mouth was slightly open.

"He snores a lot."

Adrianna turned her head towards the voice and saw her daughter hovering over Cam's body. "You do too."

"How long have you been up?" Adrianna smiled and reached over the sleeping body to kiss Bronwyn. "Good morning, my baby."

"I'm hungry. Can I have pancakes?"

"Yes, you may." She stretched and poked Cam. "Are you having breakfast with us?"

He barely moved. "I'm dying. She kicked me all night and you snore."

Adrianna swatted him on the side. "You have some nerve, complaining about someone else snoring."

"Go away, both of you. I need an extra hour." He struggled to get the words out.

"Daddy's grouchy in the morning," Bronwyn said, giggling.

Adrianna's eyes widened and she looked at her. "Daddy?"

"She calls me that now." Cam smiled in his sleep. "Now, leave."

Adrianna laughed. "Let's go Bron. The baby needs his sleep."

As she was opening the door, she heard him say, "You made me a promise."

What promise? Oh God.

She needed to have a stern talk with herself. She couldn’t allow last night to repeat. She’d jumped into bed with him. Granted, nothing happened. Still, it couldn’t happen again.

Once they bathed and got dressed, Bronwyn ran downstairs ahead of her mother. She got a call on the house phone and rushed out.

Adrianna was coming down the steps when she heard her daughter squeal. She stifled a groan. It was probably another gift from either Luciana or Chase. She should be mad, but Bronwyn's happy laugh never got old.

She reached the bottom step, took one look at what caused her baby’s happiness, and was immediately ready to kill whoever got her the gift. Bronwyn held in her arms a tiny, white British Bulldog. It had a brindle patch that covered his right eye from the top of his nose over to his ear.

By the look of absolute guilt when he saw her, Adrianna's best bet was on Chase.

"Look at what Uncle Chase got me, mama! We can take him home, right?"

"He's beautiful." Adrianna breathed out and it was true. It was the cutest puppy Adrianna had ever seen. As she bent to touch its head, she looked above her daughter's head to Chase and mouthed, "I'm going to kill you."

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