Prescription For Love (The Kingsley Series) (18 page)

"Now see, you've gone and killed it," Cameron grumbled. "All that ketchup. How do you taste the meatloaf under all that?" She lifted her fork and scooped a bite of her own mashed potatoes, tasting them before sprinkling the top with pepper.

"Ha, I like it dead," Tabitha laughed. "Tell me how Mac reacted to the tattoo."

"He was actually really sweet, but didn't say much at first. He did make me promise another date though, as part of the conversation," she laughed. "It was really sweet, and then we walked a while after I was okay again. He was quiet for so long that I kind of got a little paranoid, but then he gave me the coolest idea."

"Which was?" Tabitha asked, mumbling around a bite of meatloaf.

"He asked me why I haven't covered the tattoo or had it removed, and I told him I didn't want to risk it scarring up any more than it did. So then he said, 'okay, then, why not reword it?'"

Tabitha looked up, confused. "Reword it? To what?"

"I don't know," Cameron answered, "but even something as simple as changing it from 'my own' to 'I am my own' would be good. Mac said it's like I'd be reclaiming myself, my body. Empowering, you know?"

"I think it would be. It sounds like a really good idea, too. 'I am my own.' I'd get that, myself, if I wasn't such a wuss."

"Well, you could come with me. I can't go anytime in the next few days, but I'm going as soon as I can fit it in to have something done to it. Maybe we can have them duplicate mine, on you."

"Please, like I'm that brave." Tabitha made a show of putting her arms around herself protectively, and Cameron laughed.

"I'm not either," she said. "But I'm sick of feeling like I'm branded. Like a cow in his herd or something. Like the others. It's time I step out and take myself back, my independence, you know? It’ll always be a tattoo, but if I add to it, edit it, then it’s mine, you know, and not something of his. Even if you got it too, it wouldn’t be the same as Kevin’s other victims having this one. It’d be a friendship thing, like sisters. Different."

"I like that," Tabitha grinned. "Like peeling off an old property sticker."

"Exactly!" Cameron exclaimed. "And we’ll just ignore the fact that some people might see it as putting on a new one,” she said, laughing.

“Aw, honey, I promise, I’m easier to belong to than Kevin was. ‘Cause I love ya.” Tabitha winked, taking another bite of her meatloaf and tucking it into her cheek. “I don’t know how you can do it, Cameron. The tattoo thing, you’re so fearless.”

“But I'm not fearless, I’m terrified it’ll hurt, or that it’ll trigger a panic attack,” Cameron answered, startled by what Tabitha had said. “Actually I wanted to ask; will you come with me? Even if you don’t get one, you could keep me company when I go to get it changed if you want."

Reaching over the table to touch Cameron's arm, Tabitha sobered. "After everything? And how I feel about letting you leave the party that night with Kevin? Yeah, I'm totally with you, Cam. You're not going through it alone."

"Thanks, Tabby. Sure you don't wanna go matchy? I'll treat."

Tabitha laughed again, pressing her plate to the side. "We'll see," she said.

***

"I think he needs to lose the bow tie," Cameron muttered, grinning at the stern look her mother shot her.

"Cameron Jane!" Eva exclaimed. "That bow tie is charming!"

Drew laughed, snaking the sapphire bow tie from around his neck and handing it back to the tailor. "Sorry mom, but she's right. Bow ties are kinda old fashioned for me," he continued, raising his hands as his mother glared. "They just aren't my style."

"Well, I'm wearing one," Nick said charmingly from behind Eva. She turned, satisfied, and smiled up at him. "I knew there was a reason my son liked you," she said. "And now look at you, the best man at his wedding. I remember when you boys were little, covered in dirt, and now look at you both." Pulling a tissue from her purse, she dabbed at her eyes.

Giving a devilish grin to everyone else over her shoulder, Nick pulled Eva in close to him. "That's right, and with my mom gone so long, you're all I've got, Miss Eva. And if a bow tie impresses you, I'm wearing one." He waited a beat, raising the drama factor, and then said, "But it can’t be this one. It has to be pink. With lime green polka dots. Cass will love it."

Eva stiffened, and as the room filled with laughter, she backed away from Nick and swatted his broad chest. "You just can't control yourself, can you? Always a jokester. At least, you’d better be joking." Laughing with everyone else, she wandered over to her husband, Adam, who was struggling to get his own bow tie knotted correctly.

"Old fashioned, they may be," she said, reaching up to brush Adam's hands away from his throat. She took over the bow, straightening and twisting until it was to her satisfaction. "But, they match your vests so nicely, and oh, how they look handsome."

Cameron watched as her father dipped his face to drop a kiss on Eva's lips. It never failed to amaze her, how in love they were. Watching them gave her hope; it almost made her believe that true love could still exist, though it brought to the surface her lingering fear that true love came only once in a lifetime. What if she'd met her true love already, a man in a coffee shop who let her skip him in line, or a boy in high school who helped when she dropped her books? What if she'd somehow missed her opportunity, like a one-way train ticket she'd bought too late?

"What do you think, Cam?" Adam asked, moving to stand beside Drew and Nick, the three of them dressed sharply in the tuxedos they'd be wearing to Drew's wedding. He passed his hands over his jacket, smoothing it over the violet vest that covered his shirt, and raised his eyebrows skeptically. "Will we do the Kingsley family proud?"

Cameron and Tabitha looked to each other, and then turned to inspect the men. Contrary to Nick's irrepressible jokes, he was dressed elegantly in a black tuxedo that matched the one Drew had chosen. Drew's sapphire vest was the exact color of the giant flower that would be pinned to the gathered side of Cass's hip, and he was amazingly handsome, the happy twinkle in his green eyes a testament to his excitement. Nick wore a vest of emerald green, the same color Cass's sister Chelsea was planning to wear as a bridesmaid at the wedding.

Cameron laughed. "Daddy, you look great; Cass will be so pleased with all this. And you’ll fit her colors perfectly!" she exclaimed. Turning to Tabitha, she asked, "What do you think?"

Tabitha looked quietly at the men in front of her, her gaze lingering on each of them before moving on. "I think they're all perfect," she said. "We plan weddings all the time, but you guys are like family to me. I'm just so happy to be included in all this."

Looking around, Drew slipped his jacket off and stood for the tailor to measure his shoulders and throat. "I thought you'd said Mac was coming with you today Cameron? Did he get his tux somewhere else?"

"No, he was going to come, because he says the one he keeps for conferences and stuff is a little tight in the shoulders. But he called me earlier to say he had something come up with a patient that he couldn't put off."

"I see," Adam said, slipping his jacket off to allow access to the tailor. "He's still coming to the wedding though?"

Cameron laughed. "Of course he is; he just didn't make it today for this. Mac has told me a few times that he'd like to meet all of you; he's even got someone who's going to cover his practice for the wedding so that he could be sure he'd make it."

"Wow, he must have really wanted you to know he'd be there, huh?" Tabitha laughed, leaning close to nudge Cameron with her elbow.

Shaking her head, Cameron laughed again and rolled her eyes. Still, she couldn't help wishing that Mac had been able to come to the fitting with the other men. Michael and Evan had already come and gone, and as the tailors got down to their business, the conversation gradually slowed and then died out. Cameron sat with Tabitha and watched as her brother was fitted for his wedding, their mother tearfully clucking at him as she pestered the tailors.

She sighed. There had never been any intention in the beginning, any thought or expectation that things with Mac would go the way that they had. She hadn't dared to hope for his genuine affection, had held herself back from men for over a decade. Now she hoped she hadn't missed out on love, hoped that Mac would be another chance for her to forget about her past, that she might begin to finally build a future.

She'd been able to ignore her romantic longings for years, too afraid to step out of her self-protective isolation and reach for the love she wanted. But something about Mac had changed everything. Now, she was less and less able to turn her heart away from its fantasies; she was less and less able to pretend that she wasn't hoping he'd turn out to be the hero every woman wanted.

***

"So what'd you say this thing was called?" Cameron asked nervously, running her fingertips lightly over the raised rear seat of his motorcycle.

Laughing, Mac pressed a helmet into her hands. "It's the Suzuki Boulevard, the M90. You still worried?"

"Uh, yeah. This thing has no doors, no roof. No seat belt." She thrilled at the idea of riding the sleek black bike, her thighs pressed tightly to Mac’s waist, her arms around his body. Still, the idea of falling off or leaning too far in the wrong direction and causing the bike to go down terrified her. "I'm just thinking I won't look very pretty at Drew's wedding with road rash on my forehead."

Standing back, Mac braced his hip on the edge of the bike, his arms crossed over his chest. He smiled, the dimples in his stubbled cheeks calling her sexuality to life. "You sure you want to ride with me? We could take your car," he said gently, the laughter in his voice challenging her to stand up to her fears.

"You're sure I won't fall off? I mean, it really doesn't have --"

"It has me," he interrupted. "You won't fall off. Come on, we'll circle the block and then if you're still scared, we'll take your car."

"Well, okay," Cameron hedged, lifting the heavy helmet in her hands. She raised it over her head, fitting it down snugly, desperately hoping it wouldn't cause her hair to go limp. Looking out through the tinted face shield, she watched Mac suck in a breath, his teeth catching his full lower lip. "What? I look stupid in this thing, don't I?" she asked, her voice muffled through the shield.

Mac threw his head back, roaring with laughter. "Uh, no," he said between bouts of laughter. Finally, he sobered and stepped closer to her. He settled his hands lightly on her hips and said, "With those curls spilling out from underneath and your face hidden behind the tint, you look like a little badass. And if I can say so without you getting self-conscious on me, you look so sexy I could burst."

"Oh, I see," Cameron answered, hoping desperately that he couldn't see her flaming face. "Shall we get going then?" she asked.

"Absolutely," Mac replied, reluctantly releasing Cameron and turning to the bike. He slung one leg over the back of the motorcycle as naturally as if he'd been riding since birth, and then turned to Cameron. "Ready?" he asked, holding his hand out for her. Gulping, she took his hand and sighed. Swinging her leg over, she settled behind him, the unusual feeling of her spread thighs sending a jolt to her lower stomach.

"Okay, now, you'll want your arms around me to help you feel steady on the bike, but other than that, just stick to my back and try to trust me," he threw over his shoulder.

"Uh huh, sure," Cameron muttered, allowing her hands to slip around his waist, just above the tops of her thighs. His body rippled under her hands, and as her hands slid over the firm surface of his chest, heat pooled between her thighs. Mac took a ragged breath, pursing his lips to exhale forcefully as he lifted his own helmet over his head.

"Here goes," he said. She felt his chest expand again in her hands; he lifted his feet to the bike and they were off. Gripping his chest, her fingers clutched his shirt, her thighs squeezing tight around his waist. They reached the end of her street, Cameron's stomach flipping in panic as Mac leaned the bike close to the road and rounded the corner.

By the end of the time it took them to circle the block, Mac was halfway hoping Cameron would choose to take her car to their date. He needed the time to get his raging body under control. The heat of her thighs wrapped around his body paired with the firm rounds of her breasts against his back, and he'd found himself struggling to stay attentive to the bike. Her fingertips clutching the muscles of his chest hadn't helped, and all he could seem to think of was how good it would feel to have those fingers running up and down his naked back, her thighs around his waist for entirely different reasons.