Semi-Sweet On You (Hot Cakes #4) - Erin Nicholas Page 0,56
he’d ever had.
Grinning and feeling pretty fucking good about everything, he wrapped and stored the cookie dough in the fridge for baking tomorrow and cleaned up.
A few minutes later, he clicked the light off and started down the hall to the staircase.
He heard footsteps coming down as he got to the foyer. His heart kicked against his ribs. Had Whitney changed her mind about leaving him with just one kiss?
“Whit?” he asked softly.
“No,” came the answering not-quite-a-whisper.
He smiled into the darkness. “Hey, Didi.”
“Hi, honey.”
“You okay?”
“Sure.”
He heard a step creak as she came down further.
“What are you doing?”
“My show is on.”
It was eleven at night. He doubted her show, whatever it was, was on. But Whitney had mentioned that Didi was up at odd hours.
“Which show?”
“Magnum, P.I.”
Cam grinned. Okay, so maybe there were reruns on. “The old one or the new?”
“There’s a new one?” she asked.
“Yeah. They remade it.”
Didi stopped on the third step up and he could now see her with the light spilling in through the tall windows on either side of the front door from the lamps on the porch.
“Why in the world would they remake it? Tom Selleck can’t be replaced.”
He had kind of figured she’d feel that way. His mother did. “The new guy is pretty handsome,” Cam told her. “According to my sources.”
“Hmph,” Didi said. “I’m not interested.”
“You don’t even want to check it out? Dark hair. Lots of muscles. Really nice cars.”
She hesitated. “Well…”
He grinned. “It won’t hurt to watch an episode or two.”
“I suppose.”
“And I assume you like Tom Selleck’s new show then? Blue Bloods?” he asked.
“Tom Selleck has a new show?”
“He does. Pretty popular.”
“Can you find that one too?”
“I absolutely can.” If Whitney didn’t already have all the streaming services needed, Cam could fix that in about two minutes.
“I knew having you move in was the right thing to do,” Didi said. She came the rest of the way down the steps.
“Oh… now?” he asked. “How about we watch tomorrow?”
“Don’t be silly,” she said, moving past him to head down the hall to the family room. “We’re both awake, we might as well do it now.”
Cam heard another creak on the steps and he glanced up. Now that his eyes had adjusted to the dark, he could see more clearly. Though obviously it was Whitney. There was no one else in the house.
“She wants to watch Magnum, P.I.?” Whitney asked.
“Yeah. Is that the usual routine?”
“Yeah. She’s seen all the episodes a dozen times but…” She sighed. “She doesn’t remember them so they’re all new to her.”
He smiled slightly. “That’s kind of great. I’d love to see some of my favorite shows and movies for the first time again.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve also seen them all a dozen times now. It’s not so great.”
He gave a small laugh. “Then it really is great that I’m here. I’ve never seen a single episode of Magnum, P.I. Old or new.”
“She’ll be up until three a.m., Cam.” Whitney sounded exhausted just thinking about it.
“But then she sleeps in late tomorrow right?” he asked.
“She’ll sleep past ten. Probably. Though…”
He could see that she was chewing on her bottom lip. “What?”
“This will sound bad.”
“Come on, Whit. Tell me.”
“Okay, I put a bell on her doorknob when she goes to bed so I can hear her when she gets up.”
“Seems like a good idea. Why do you think that sounds bad?”
“It’s something people do for little kids. I feel bad that sometimes I use techniques like that.”
Cam moved to stand directly at the bottom of the steps. Whitney was five steps up but this way he could see her fully. And she could see him. “You’re doing it to keep her safe,” he said. “You’re not harming her in any way. And it probably helps you sleep more soundly because you’re not worrying about what she’s getting up to.”
She nodded.
“So stop feeling bad. It’s all good. And now tonight you can put some earplugs in or put some music on or something and sleep like a baby. I’ve got this.”
“You don’t have to do this.”
“Does it make you like me a little more? Make you a little softer toward me? Make you a tiny bit closer to wanting to take your clothes off with me?” he asked lightly.
He could see her fighting her smile even from five steps away. “The first two things, yes.”
“Not the naked thing?” he asked, lifting a brow.
“Well, I already want to take my clothes off with you, so this doesn’t necessarily have anything to do