"About some things."
She tilted her head, studying him. "What aren't you confident about?"
"I'm not confident you want me for the right reasons, for one."
"Oh." She pulled her hand back, then twisted her fingers together. "What do you mean?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he said, "If you don't want Darryl to know, I can live with that. But I'm not interested in being fuck buddies or friends with benefits or whatever cutesy new slang is floating around out there."
Her eyes widened and she couldn't keep the horror out of her voice. "Wait. No sex? Are you kidding me?"
He laughed, rich and deep. "I'm flattered the idea mortifies you so much. Frankly, it does me, too. No, I'm totally keeping sex on the table. But I want more." He studied her face as he spoke, and she wondered what he saw in her eyes.
Confusion, probably. Because this wasn't the Cam she thought she knew. And desire, because this was most definitely the Cam she wanted. A Cam who laid it out and took charge. Who had a plan, and went after it. Even if she was the plan.
Or maybe especially if she was the plan.
"What kind of more?" she asked after a beat.
"If we were in high school, I'd say that I want to go steady. Now, I think we can just call it dating."
"But you said we didn't have to tell Darryl--"
"We can be discreet. We're already friends. No one is going to blink if we're together. But I want to get past Christmas. And if all we have between us is sex, that's never going to happen."
"I'm not looking for a relationship," she said, his mention of her Christmas timeframe making her feel a little trapped.
"Fair enough. I'm not asking you to marry me." He took her hand and twined their fingers. "I want to hang out with you, Mina. Not your vagina. At least, not entirely," he added with a wry grin.
And in some weird way that was probably the nicest thing a man had ever said to her.
"Exclusive?"
"Hell to the yes," he said.
She cocked her head. "Tiffany?" she demanded, and realized from his expression that she'd been played. "You bastard. That wasn't a real date? It was all bullshit?"
"Hardly. It worked."
"Worked?"
"You were jealous."
"The hell I was," she lied. But since he so obviously knew she was lying, it didn't count.
"We've become pretty good friends over the last year. She helped me out. But don't worry, she won'
t tell Darryl. She's got her own secret to keep."
"Really?" Mina pondered that for a moment, playing back every memory of Tiff she could conjure from the bar, but didn't have a clue.
"Nope," he said when she prodded. "I promised."
And even though she really wanted to know, she couldn't fault his integrity.
When Faith trotted over and finished the last water bottle before complaining that her tummy was gurgling, they decided it was time to head back to the house. Rather than grab fast food, Cam made them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the crusts cut off, apple slices, and pudding cups.
Technically, he didn't make the pudding cups, but Mina was still impressed with his mad skills with regard to the care and feeding of children.