Nobody But You Read online

  “Cameron, do we need to postpone this?” Hope asked. Even before she finished speaking, some in the media were protesting. Hope kept her eyes on Cameron. She wouldn’t be swayed by what the news-people wanted. Hilliard put winning first, Hope put her clients first. She had several NASCAR drivers as clients and had a reputation as a tough cookie. When pushed, she pushed back. Cameron liked her for that reason.

  She might only be twenty-six, reach to the middle of his chest, and weigh a hundred ten pounds soaking wet, but like her father, she had steel in her backbone. And the media knew it. They didn’t mess with Hope Alvarado.

  She would push him or any of her clients if necessary, but she had a sixth sense for when to back off. Since his first win of the season at Daytona, life had been crazy. She had helped keep it manageable.

  “Let’s get this over with,” Cameron finally answered.

  Surrounded by his team members and the media, Cameron started down the hall, still trying to process seeing Caitlin after all these years. He’d looked for her after she’d run away, but she’d made good her escape.

  Entering the small conference room, Cameron continued to the front, his mind unable to fully relinquish Caitlin. What he didn’t understand was the fear he’d just seen in her eyes. Was it because of the little boy she held so protectively? Had she moved on while he couldn’t erase her memory? Was he that big of a fool, to have kept hoping that one day she’d come back to him despite the McBride curse of being lucky in business but unlucky in love?

  Faith, his little sister, had certainly escaped the curse. Married to a man she had loved since high school, she couldn’t be happier. Cameron and their older brother, Duncan, thought they had escaped the curse as well, but both had been proven terribly wrong.

  “Mr. McBride, please have a seat behind the middle mic,” instructed the hospital spokesperson. “Mr. Alvarado and Mr. Hilliard can sit on either side of you.”

  Cameron did as told, his mind back in the emergency room. Did he want to find the answers to his questions or just move on? He wished he knew.

  Caitlin couldn’t stop shaking. Wasn’t it enough that Joshua had tried to make a trampoline out of the sofa and injured his shoulder on the end table when he’d fallen? She had to calm down and deal with seeing Cameron. The day she’d dreaded and dreamed of had finally happened. And it couldn’t have come at a worse possible time.

  “Mommy, you’re squeezing me too tight.”

  “Mommy is sorry,” Caitlin murmured, making herself release Joshua and set him on the exam table.

  “I want to go home,” he murmured. “My shoulder doesn’t hurt any more.”

  Caitlin swept her hand over his head, cupped his soft cheek, glad he was too young to notice that her hand trembled.

  “Mommy, you’re doing it again.” Joshua wiggled in her arms.

  Caitlin stared down into her son’s face, felt the lump in her throat grow larger. Each time she looked at him she was reminded of his father.

  Her smile trembled as she brushed her hand over his head again. “You scared me,” she said, an understatement if ever there was one.

  Her heart had stopped on hearing Joshua’s scream of pain. Her son was too much like his father. He didn’t know fear, and that scared her more than anything. She hadn’t been sure what she’d find when she rushed from her home office to the den. He’d been on the floor, crying and holding his left shoulder.

  It wasn’t until after they’d arrived at the emergency room that he’d calmed down enough to tell her and the doctor what had happened. He’d lost his balance while using the sofa as a trampoline. He’d mumbled the explanation with his head down, and for good reason.

  They had rules about playing on furniture and about trampolines. Caitlin refused to buy one or allow him on the one belonging to the family of his best friend next door after another neighbor’s daughter Joshua’s age had broken her arm the week before. That was enough for Caitlin to put it off limits.

  Joshua looked up at her. “My arm doesn’t hurt anymore.”

  She kissed him on the cheek. “I’m glad, but we still have to wait until the doctor looks at the pictures.”

  “You think she’ll give me a treat like Dr. Bob?” Joshua asked, his eyes wide and hopeful.

  “Probably not,” she told him. “But since you were doing something that was against the rules and dangerous, do you think you deserve to get a treat?”

  The answer wasn’t long in coming. “No, ma’am, but it would make me feel better.”

  Caitlin had to smile. Joshua had a way of turning things around in his favor. He was a charmer, just like his father.

  The smile died on her face. Sitting on the bed, she hugged Joshua to her, careful of his shoulder. She hadn’t known about Cameron’s accident until she was sitting in the emergency room waiting for Joshua to be seen. Racing was big business, but since NASCAR only had two races a year at the California Speedway racetrack, she managed to endure the madness.

  Terrified, she’d watched on TV as his car spun like a top on the racetrack as other cars tried to miss the out-of-control vehicle. One couldn’t avoid the contact, clipping his right back bumper and sending the car straight for the wall. She shivered again.

  She’d almost lost Cameron today. He still made her body want, her heart race. And today her greatest fear might have come to fruition—she might have lost him.

  That was the reason she hadn’t been able to resist one last glimpse of him when she unexpectedly passed him in the hall. She’d been sure he wouldn’t notice her with all the media and his crew around him.

  She’d been wrong. Once, perhaps, her mistake could have been costly, but not after more than five years. She’d hurt him. Deeply. He probably hated her, and she couldn’t blame him.

  The curtain whooshed back. Caitlin tensed before she could help herself, then relaxed on seeing Dr. Mathis, who had examined Joshua, enter. She was over-reacting. Cameron wanted no part of her. He was probably long gone.

  “The X-rays confirmed what I thought,” Dr. Mathis said. “Just a deep bruise. You’ll be fine, Joshua. Just remember, a sofa is not a trampoline.”

  Joshua looked sideways at his mother before answering, “Yes, ma’am.”

  The young doctor chuckled. “I’m betting your mother will help you remember,” she said, then turned and spoke to Caitlin. “You can give him Motrin if he complains of discomfort for the next couple of days.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Mathis.” Caitlin stood and took off the hospital gown Joshua wore and helped him put on his shirt, watching his face as he lifted his arm. There was only a slight grimace, unlike the howl of pain he’d given when she removed it after they arrived.

  “Thank you,” Dr. Mathis said with a smile. “Because I was on call, I got a chance to see Cameron McBride.”

  Caitlin tensed as she buttoned Joshua’s shirt. Her gaze snapped up to the grinning young doctor. “He’s not still here, is he?”

  The pretty woman sighed dramatically. “Afraid not. The press conference lasted only about ten minutes. I understand McBride ended it early, saying he had things to do.”

  Caitlin tried to tell herself she was glad Cameron had left. Unfortunately, she didn’t do a very good job.

  “Are you a race fan?” Dr. Mathis asked.

  “No,” Caitlin quickly said, shaking her head for emphasis.

  “My fiancé is nuts about NASCAR.” The doctor pulled a sheet of paper from a prescription pad out of the pocket of her lab coat. “I managed to snag his autograph on his way out the door. My fiancé will be ecstatic.”

  “Thank you for fixing my owie,” Joshua said.

  “You’re welcome.” A friendly smile on her face, Dr. Mathis brushed her hand over his head. “Just play safe. A nurse should be here shortly with your discharge orders and you can get out of here.”

  “Please. I’d like to get Joshua to bed.”

  Nodding, Dr. Mathis left the cubicle. Almost immediately a male nurse entered with a clipboard and went over th
e discharge orders again. Caitlin quickly took the pen the nurse handed her and signed. Putting the sheet of paper in her purse, she picked up Joshua and headed for the door.

  Quickly she exited the double doors of the emergency room entrance, and headed for the exit straight ahead. She was almost there when a man stepped out of a hallway to block her path.

  “What’s your hurry, Caitlin?” Cameron asked, as he lifted his shades.

  Caitlin gasped and stepped back, clutching Joshua tighter to her. She didn’t look around for an escape because she knew there was none.

  Time had run out for her.

  Chapter 2

  Despite how tense the situation was, she couldn’t help but be thankful Cameron was unharmed and admire how gorgeous he remained.

  Cameron was six feet two of lean, conditioned muscles and elegance. The plain black T-shirt molded his wide chest. Gently faded denim flowed over his thighs, and cupped his impressive rear.

  Joshua lifted his head from her shoulder. “Mommy, what’s the matter?”

  She flushed at being caught ogling Cam, but she now had a more pressing problem. Helplessly she watched anger build in Cameron’s face.

  “It didn’t take you long to forget, did it, Caitlin?”

  Joshua turned toward Cameron. “You know my mommy?”

  The anger in Cameron’s face swiftly gave way to stunned recognition, then fury. Caitlin couldn’t recall one thing she had rehearsed all of these years to say when this very moment might come.

  Cameron stared in amazement at the little boy’s face. He’d know the McBride stamp any place, the startling black eyes, the no-nonsense nose, the dimples that all of them detested. The child was his.

  And Caitlin had kept him from Cameron.

  There were so many emotions—joy, anger, relief, betrayal—that Cameron had no way to sort them out. So he did what he did on the racetrack where there was no place for any thought except winning the race: he tucked the emotions away and concentrated on the most important thing—his son.

  Concern banished Cameron’s rage. He closed the distance between them. He had to clench his hands to keep from reaching out and touching his son. His son. Looking at the tiny replica of himself, he still found it difficult to believe.

  And Caitlin had kept him a secret. He might not have been able to find her, but she would have had no trouble letting him know he was a father. He’d take care of her later. For now, the child was all that mattered.

  Cameron’s eyes hardened again when he noticed the simple gold band on the third finger of Caitlin’s left hand. She had let another man raise and love his child. Had he ever known her?

  The woman he knew, loved more than life, wouldn’t have kept his son from him. She was one of the most loving, giving people he knew. Family meant a great deal to her since her childhood had been so tragic. Cameron’s gaze traveled back to the child who was looking at him with mild curiosity.

  Unable to delay the moment any longer, Cameron lifted his hand, gently touched his son’s cheek with just a finger so as not to frighten him. “Hello,” he said, his voice thick. “My name is Cameron.”

  “Hello, Cameron,” the little boy answered, lifting his head to stare at Cameron. “You get a boo-boo, too?”

  Cameron’s gaze quickly surveyed his son, looking for an injury. Seeing nothing obvious, he looked at Caitlin. Her frightened gaze told him nothing. “What happened? Is he all right?”

  Her arms tightened around their son before answering. “He’s fine, just sore. He fell off the sofa and hit his arm on the coffee table.”

  “Where were you?” Cameron asked, his voice harsh. Caitlin flinched. Cameron clenched his hands to keep from reaching out to her. He hadn’t meant the question to sound accusatory.

  The little boy tucked his head and laid it back against his mother’s shoulder. “I broke a rule.”

  “I need to get him home and into bed,” Caitlin said, the words meant to dismiss Cameron.

  Cameron nodded. She’d gotten away from him once, but never again. Not with his son. “Where are you parked?”

  She moistened lips he still dreamed about. “In the garage.”

  Cameron gently grasped her arm. “Let’s go.” He would have reached for his son, but after being hurt, he needed his mother. But later . . .

  She balked. “I can manage.”

  “If you think—” Cameron bit back what he had been about to say when the little boy raised his head. In a calmer voice he continued. “Let’s get out of here before a reporter decides to come back to interview the staff.”

  Her golden-brown eyes, slanted and beautiful, widened. She clutched the boy so tightly against her, he squirmed. Her protectiveness of their son was obvious.

  “Are we going home, Mommy?”

  “Yes, sweetheart,” Caitlin answered, but she didn’t move.

  “Whatever you’re thinking, don’t. I’m not leaving.” This time when he gently took her arm and urged her forward she complied. Outside the temperature was a warm seventy-three. Lights from the security camera lit the area. Neither spoke as they walked to her car on the first floor.

  “I need to get my key,” she said, her gaze bouncing away from him.

  Cameron released her, then reached for his son. “Which arm was hurt?”

  “I can hold—”

  “Give him to me,” he told her, looking at his son who looked back with the same black eyes. “You don’t mind, do you—” His gaze flicked to Caitlin, hardened for a fraction of a moment before going back to his son. “What’s your name?”

  “Cameron Joshua Lawrence,” he said, going into Cameron’s outstretched arms as if he had done it a hundred times. Cameron gently folded him in his arms, felt the warmth, the slight weight, but there was sturdiness there as well. His uninjured arm went around Cameron’s neck.

  His body trembled with emotion. The fact that she’d given the boy his name somehow increased his anger. He could have given his son so much more. Because of Caitlin’s betrayal, Cameron had missed so much of his son’s life. He had to be over four years old.

  “You have a lot to atone for, and a lot to explain.”

  She turned away from him and unlocked the back door of a BMW SUV. A car seat was in the back. Cameron stepped around her when she reached for Joshua and placed the little boy in the car seat. Finished, Cameron climbed inside next to Joshua and closed the door. Caitlin stared at him a long moment, then rounded the car and climbed into the driver’s seat.

  Cameron’s and Caitlin’s eyes met in the car’s mirror. “I did what I thought was best.”

  “You—” Cameron broke off abruptly. “We’ll talk later.”

  During the fifteen-minute ride to where Caitlin and Joshua lived, neither she nor Cameron spoke. Joshua had fallen asleep five minutes after they left the hospital. She kept checking to ensure he was all right, and each time she had looked, Cameron had been watching his son.

  He’d never forgive her; she accepted that irrefutable certainty. It couldn’t be helped. Joshua’s safety and well-being were well worth the price she’d have to pay.

  The hurtful truth was that Cameron had paid a price as well. She couldn’t change that.

  Turning on her signal, she passed the unmanned guard house and stopped by the code box. Moments later the eight-foot black iron gates slowly swung back. She pulled through as soon as space permitted. The sooner she and Cameron talked, the quicker he’d leave.

  She swallowed, her damp palms clamping and un-clamping on the steering wheel. Who was she trying to fool? There was no way Cameron was leaving his son. They’d never talked about having a family when they dated or after they’d become engaged, but she knew the kind of man Cameron was—dependable, intelligent, loyal. He’d want his child.

  Although his parents were divorced, he was close to them and his sister and brother. Family was important to him. And she had kept him from his son.

  He might never forgive her. That was his right, but under the same circumstances she’d do
it again.

  Five houses down she turned into the side driveway of a single-story stucco house with a red barrel slate roof. For three years she had called the house her sanctuary. That was about to change. Pulling up to the driveway, she activated the gate, waited until it opened, and pulled inside the triple bay. Joshua’s bike was in the second bay. By the time she switched off the motor and rounded the SUV, Cameron was lifting Joshua from the car seat.

  “I’ll take him.”

  “You’d had him enough.”

  Fear leaped into her heart, lodged in her throat, making speech impossible. Cameron was a popular NASCAR driver, more so since he’d won the Daytona 500 last week. Even before that he’d been on numerous daytime and late-night talk shows, and had graced the cover of several magazines, including GQ and People.

  If he decided to seek custody of Joshua, she’d have a difficult time winning. Especially when it was learned that he hadn’t known he had a son. “I love him.”

  “I know. You just didn’t love me.”

  Caitlin gasped. The words were so preposterous she just stared at him. She’d loved him with all her heart. She still did.

  He stepped around her and headed for the door leading to the kitchen. “Joshua needs to be in bed.”

  He was right this time. Their son was what mattered now. Their son. Funny, she’d seldom let herself think of Joshua as their son. Just hers. She realized it had been easier that way. She hadn’t missed Cameron as much if she did . . . at least it worked until she was alone in her big empty bed. The ache was unbearable at times. More times than she cared to remember she’d gone to sleep with tears on her cheeks, hugging a pillow.

  Unlocking the back door, she stepped inside and flicked on the light. “This way.” She went through the spacious kitchen, family room, then turned down a wide hallway and entered a room at the end of the hall on the right and turned on the light.