Chapter 17

After dinner, Troy walked into the media room to pick out a movie for him and Cam to watch upstairs in their suite. Maybe the Hortons had Major League or perhaps A League of Their Own. Now that would be funny after their baseball disaster earlier today.

Bernice and Cam were inside, Cam wearing a formal purple dress in the center of the vast space and Bernice standing behind her, squatting, pinning the hem. Behind them, on two of the four walls, were floor to ceiling shelves containing blurays and dvds, a corner bar next to it. Another wall had a massive flat screen that had to be a hundred inch screen. Gray leather sectionals made a U pattern in the middle of the room with high top tables hugging the remaining wall in back.

He did a double-take and stopped short, eyes on Cam. The strapless dress fit snug around her breasts and waist before cascading to the floor, illustrating her hourglass curves. It was beautiful. So was she. Cam didn’t wear much color often, sticking mostly to shades of white, beige, and black. She looked different. Pretty. Elegant, despite the uneasiness in her features.

Geez, but sometimes she had this innate ability to steal the breath right out of him. Without trying. Her rustic laugh or unbidden grin or the feminine characteristics he was suddenly starting to notice kept smacking him upside the head at random and inconvenient times, heating his gut and tripping his heart.

Like now. Damn, but he was dizzy.

After a few minutes of staring unnoticed, he cleared his throat to get their attention. “Is this the bridesmaid dress in question?” The one Baba had rudely claimed she was too fat for? Obviously another lie because Cam looked great. She was curvy, but not in the vicinity of overweight. Besides that, even if she were, she’d be a sight. Women were beautiful no matter the size or shape.

Cam glanced at him, all surprised to find him there, then turned to Bernice. “I’ll go change. Thank you for fixing it.” She reached down to grab her clothes from a nearby recliner, looking at him and quickly away as if embarrassed. “What are you doing in here?”

His gaze skimmed down the length of her, then over to the disc shelves when his heart wouldn’t quit thundering. “Picking out a movie for us. Any suggestions?”

Her gaze was skeptical, but she shrugged. “Just make sure it doesn’t have clowns in it.”

She brushed by him and headed for the staircase down the hall.

He'd almost forgotten about Cam’s fear of clowns. She’d been the butt of many jokes for that. It seemed a silly thing to be afraid of.

And then he got an idea. A quite dreadful and brilliant idea. He grinned.

Last night, he’d gotten Camryn to wish on a star. Logical, composed Camryn had done something impractical and frivolous. Maybe he could get her to do it again. A list of stuff, perhaps. Things not in her norm to bring out another side of her, one he hadn’t witnessed in too long. Loosen her up. Make her less tense. See the world for all its beauty.

“That’s a wicked grin on your face, Troy.”

He nodded, looking at Bernice gathering sewing supplies. “Yes, it is. Do you have any Stephen King movies?”

Bernice eyed the endless array of films. “I’m sure we do. Try the second shelf. I think there’s horror flicks from when Justin lived at home. I can’t hack the genre myself.”

“Thank you. I’ll have a look.” Troy walked over, skimmed the shelves, and found what he was seeking. Tucking the DVD under his arm, he told Bernice thanks again and headed upstairs.

In PJs, Cam was just coming out of the bathroom when he strode into their bedroom. He put the disc in the player and sat on the bed. She joined him a second later, sitting and applying lotion to her legs.

He’d never noticed her legs before. Long, shapely. The spit in his mouth dried.

“I can’t believe I hit Baba with a baseball.”

Snapping his eyes away, Troy swallowed. Or tried to. “She’s okay. Besides, you didn’t do anything the rest of us haven’t wanted to.”

She shook her head and grinned as if amused, causing his stomach to flop.

“What movie did you find?” she asked, not glancing up from her task to the TV.

“Check it out.”

When she looked up at the menu for It and the evil clown poking his head out of a sewer drain, she squeaked and fell off the bed. She crawled on all fours to the bathroom, where she stood and crossed her arms in the doorway, glaring at him.

Troy laughed so hard he thought his side had split open. He fell crossways on the bed, wiping tears and clutching his stomach. It wasn’t even the newer, creepier version of the movie, but the original. Still, she’d freaked out. There was something acutely hilarious about ruffling Cam’s feathers. Calm, rational Camryn Covic, flipping her gourd.

“I’ll have you know, Troy Lansky, that thousands of people suffer from coulrophobia. That’s the official medical term for fear of clowns. An official medical term.”

He sucked in a breath and sat up. No easy feat. “Come here, Cam.”

“Absolutely not. Turn it off.”

He picked up the TV remote and switched it off.

She edged out of the bathroom doorway, peeked around the corner to ensure he'd done as asked, then sat on the bed. “That was mean.”

He shook his head, attempting his level best not to grin. “Listen, Cam. I’m conducting an experiment. Last night, you wished on a star. Tonight, you’re going to do something that scares you. It’s all part of a list I contrived.”

“And what if I don’t want to be part of your experiment?”

He smiled. “You don’t have a choice. I have my reasons for the list.”

“And that would be?”

“I’ll tell you at the end of the week. Now, let’s watch the movie.”

She rose so fast the curtains shifted in her wake. “No.”

She tried to flee to the bathroom again, but he was onto her. Launching off the bed, he caught her around the waist and plopped her back on the mattress. He sat her between his legs and trapped her in a bear hold. “One thing, Cam. One thing that scares you.”

She huffed, not fighting him, but posture still tense. “Why? There’s no point to this.”

“Oh, but there is. Trust me.”

Her shoulders sagged. “Not on your life.” Pause. “How long is the movie?”

“Four hours.”

“Four hours?” she repeated, her voice several octaves above normal. “That’s cruel and unusual punishment, Troy.”

He laughed. “Come on, Cam. Do something you’ve never done before. It won’t hurt. I promise. We’ll sit just like this the whole four hours if you want.”

He waited her out. One minute, two…

“Fine. Go ahead. But this is stupid.”

He reached for the remote and clicked the TV back on, then hit Play.

She remained calm until the first sighting of Pennywise the Clown. In a surprising display of strength, she vaulted out of his grasp, over his shoulder, and behind his back to cower between him and the headboard.

Face pressed against his back, her warm breath tickled the hairs on his nape and sent shivers of awareness to every atom in his body. Her legs hugged his sides—the very legs he’d just been staring at and fantasizing about--while her fingers clutched his tee. And then, as if he hadn’t been so aware of her he was close to hard, she molded herself to him like second skin.

Independent, strong Camryn Covic, hiding behind him like he was her savior. His brain battled with his body.

She was right. Absolutely, one-hundred percent right. This was a very, very bad idea. Asinine. Ludicrous. Because he now wanted to turn the movie off, lay her out flat, and finish the kiss they'd started last night. The one that never should’ve happened in the first place.

Instead, he ground his molars and held his position for the next fours hours until the movie ended and he didn’t know which one of them had gotten the worse end of the deal.