Page 15 of Among the Stars
This was the timeline they’d concocted in the driveway before coming inside. First, they’d discussed the gaudy display on the lawn, which Cam had diplomatically referred to as nice, but then they’d settled on six weeks of casually seeing each other. Well, not too casually since she was bringing him home to meet the family.
“You couldn’t have mentioned that over a drumstick?” Olivia asked.
“It was new, and I didn’t know if it would go anywhere. You know how mother is.” Veronica finished taking off her coat and hung it on the rack to her left. “The minute I mention a man, she starts picking out china patterns and talking about grandchildren.”
“Oh. My. God,” Emma said, closing her eyes. “Can you imagine how beautiful Cameron Rhodes’ children would be?”
“Get a grip.” Veronica pushed her sisters along. “We aren’t anywhere near the child-bearing stage.” And never would be, sadly. “Don’t embarrass me. Or scare him off. I really like him.”
Finally, a statement of truth. Cam didn’t have to take a drunk woman home, and he likely regretted the decision right about now, but he’d done it. And he’d tagged along today for no reason other than Veronica didn’t want to feel like a loser for one afternoon.
He also didn’t seem to mind her constant chatter or her dramatic leanings. She’d have survived today on her own, but thanks to Cam, she didn’t have to.
Stepping into the living room, Veronica scanned the area for her date and found him in the worst possible place—trapped in the kitchen with her mother. Crap. She needed to rescue him and fast.
“Hey, Veronica. We thought you were dead.” Chet had never been the most tactful guy. Nor was he, as Daddy liked to say, the sharpest crayon in the box, at least not socially. But the man was a genius when it came to science. He also loved Olivia, adored his children, and tolerated his mother-in-law’s constant demands. That made him a winner in Veronica’s book.
“Not yet,” she replied, accepting his hug but keeping an eye on Cam. He didn’t look angry or annoyed, which was good. “How are the Predators doing this year?” Chet was an avid hockey fan and bled yellow and blue from September to April. Unless the team made the playoffs. Then his devotion lasted well into June.
“Great!” he exclaimed. “And we should have Arvie back by the end of the year.”
To Veronica’s confused look, Olivia said, “He’s a player who’s been injured.”
“Ah. Got it.” She held two thumbs up. “Go Preds!”
Chet mimicked the thumb thing, and his wife said, “Honey, why don’t you go see what the kids are up to?”
“I can do that.”
The sweet man wandered off in search of his children, and Veronica leaned toward Emma. “Olivia likes harmless.”
Chet was the poster boy for harmless.
“Olivia is an alpha. Of course, she’d marry a beta.”
“What?” the older sister asked.
“You two really need to read the books I send you.” Emma had been sending her sisters romance novels for years, but neither ever actually read them. “Olivia is a boss. She could run the world if necessary. That’s alpha. She’d never be able to live with another alpha. They’d fight all the time, and she’d eventually beat him to death with a frying pan.”
Olivia opened her mouth, but instead of protesting, she said, “That’s pretty accurate.”
“I could run the world,” Veronica pointed out.
Both sisters laughed. “We’d all be toast,” Emma said.
Veronica pinched her younger sister, and Olivia stepped in between them. “What Emma is trying to say is that you’re more of a free spirit. A little more. . . floaty.”
“That isn’t even a word.”
“Yes, it is. Don’t argue with a schoolteacher.” Holding silent, Veronica crossed her arms and huffed. This probably wasn’t the time for the lickable question. Another quick glance to the kitchen revealed Cam had been granted a reprieve. Mama was gone, and Emma’s husband, Nick, had taken her place. “Being floaty isn’t a bad thing,” Olivia continued. “It just means that you need a man who can take charge. Someone who can keep you tethered just enough so you don’t float away.”
Not the most flattering assessment, but Veronica had to admit that Cam fit that description perfectly. Except for one tiny speed bump. None of this was real. Tomorrow she would be back to her floaty existence, and Cam would be back in his penthouse in the sky.
* * *
Veronica Shepherd was a liar.
Cam hadn’t been in the Hamilton home for longer than a few minutes when the matriarch of the family cornered him and demanded his life story.