No! Hell. They didn’t need the complication of still being ridiculously attracted to each other. And acting on that attraction, which he really wanted to do, would just be stupid.
He’d made a point of not acting stupid, but damn, this time it was hard.
He saw confusion in her eyes, noticed her embarrassment. Cam hauled in a breath, saw that they were alone—when had the medical staff left?—and sat down on the edge of her bed. Unable to resist touching her, he allowed the tips of his fingers to trace the fine line of her jaw. “Hell of a day, huh?”
Vivi nodded. She started to pull her bottom lip between her teeth, but he tapped her lip and she let go. “You’ve really got to stop doing that.”
“I know.”
“I’ve got a better idea.” He shouldn’t be doing this, but he needed just one taste, one kiss. He needed to know whether she tasted as good as he remembered, or whether his imagination had played tricks on him for the past three years. One kiss couldn’t hurt...
Could it?
Under his lips, hers were soft and silky. Holding her jaw, Cam moved his lips across hers, breathing in her scent, sweet flowers touched by dark waters. Keeping his kiss gentle because of the cut on her lip, he inhaled her breath and tasted her essence. He remembered her as being hot and sexy, but this woman, this new version of the girl he’d met, held more depth, was a hundred times more interesting. Her lips parted, and his tongue slid past her teeth and he tasted sweetness and sin, vulnerability and strength. Determination and independence masking a ribbon of fear.
Fear? What was she scared of?
He pulled back, looked into her eyes and saw that same emotion reflected in her eyes. A second later it was gone, shut up and put away. Vivi Donner was almost as good at masking her emotions as he was. The realization both intrigued and fascinated him, and the fact that he was both intrigued and fascinated worried him.
Complications weren’t his thing.
Vivi swallowed and looked toward the door. “So, I guess if I want to get out of here, you’re my ride.”
Okay, she was ignoring the kiss, their crazy attraction. Maybe he should do the same. Yet his heart thumped when she picked up his wrist so that she could look at his watch. “If I can get home, I’d be able to sleep for a few hours before I need to collect Clem. Do you want to meet her?”
His heart bounced off his chest. He’d just found Vivi again and didn’t know if he was up to meeting his daughter today. He hadn’t had time to process any of this, and didn’t think he even could.
“It was just a suggestion, Cam. You don’t have to meet her if you don’t want to. I’m not asking anything from you...not your time or money or input. So, really, no hard feelings if you say no.”
Except that she would think that he was a wuss, that he wasn’t man enough to acknowledge his child. If he walked away and ignored the situation, Vivi would think he was weak and selfish and a bit of a man-child. And she’d be right.
Suck it up, McNeal. She’s had a near-death experience, escaped from a sinking car, got smacked around by river detritus and ended up in a hospital. If she can cope with all that, you can meet a two-year-old.
An ordinary two-year-old, maybe. His daughter? He wasn’t so sure.
Vivi tipped her head to the side. “Getting a bit too real, huh?”
He thought about laughing her statement away—he could be charming when he chose to be—but decided to tell the truth. “Too real. Utterly surreal.”
She twisted her lips and then her hands. “I suppose you want an explanation.”
“Do you not think I deserve one?”
Vivi lifted one shoulder, as if silently admitting that she had her doubts. Dammit, what did she want from him? He dealt in black-and-white; gray was his least favorite color in the world. Cam was about to demand that she start explaining, when he caught her touching the back of her head, trying hard to contain her wince. He skimmed his eyes over the bruises on her arms and stood up, gripping the edge of the sheet.
He looked at Vivi. “I just want to see what we’re dealing with. May I?”
At her nod, he pulled down the sheet. Her gown ended midthigh and she had a scrape on her thigh, a bruised knee and another bruise on her shin. God, she looked like she’d been hit by a tank.