Janelle Denison - Too Wilde to Tame

Then Mia's stepmother, Amelia, joined them to fuss over the baby, too. Recalling the conversation he'd had with Steve about Mia losing her mother at such an early age, Cameron watched with interest at how Mia and Amelia interacted around one another-and learned more than he thought possible.

Though Mia and Amelia conversed easily, something about their body language told him they didn't share the kind of close-knit bond most mother and daughters did. True, they weren't blood related, but it appeared they'd never developed a strong, secure relationship throughout the years. In fact, there was a definite reserve between them-mostly on Mia's part, as if she'd never let those walls of hers down far enough to let her stepmother get close.

"Hey there," Ashley said, approaching the table where he was sitting at out in the backyard. "What are you doing sitting out here all by yourself?"

He shrugged and smiled at her. "Just taking a break. Steve had me flipping hamburgers at the barbecue earlier, and I just want to be sure I'm nowhere near when he needs someone to pull the pinata cord for the kids."

"If you ask me, that sounds like a job for one of the uncles, and there's plenty of them here." She sat down in the chair next to him. "Well, because I finally caught you alone, I thought I'd talk to you about that woman you wanted to get some information on."

"Anything?" he asked and finished off the last of his beer.

She shook her head. "No. I'm really sorry. The front desk had nothing listed under her name."

"It's okay. I honestly wasn't expecting much anyway. I appreciate you trying."

"I'm going to go help Jill and Liz cut the birthday cake." She stood again, her hand automatically coming to rest on the curve of her belly. "Can I interest you in a piece?"

"No, I'm stuffed." He rubbed his own stomach. "I ate two of those hamburgers and way too many servings of all those delicious side dishes you girls made."

She laughed, her green eyes sparkling. "The Wilde gatherings have turned into a huge potluck, which certainly helps since the family seems to be growing by leaps and bounds these days."

Ashley left him alone once again, and Cameron's gaze automatically drifted back to Mia. He was surprised to find she was watching him, too, with a sexy, sinful smile curving her lips. She glanced away again, and as she spoke to her brother Alex and his wife Dana, she lightly touched her fingers to her throat in a way that made him wish he was caressing her there.

She tossed her head back and laughed at something her sister-in-law said, the husky, sensual sound arousing his senses. And when she casually reached down and skimmed up the hem of her long skirt, he wondered what the hell she was up to. She rubbed her fingers along the exposed skin above the top of her leather boot, right where the lace-up ties were.

To anyone else nearby, it appeared Mia was scratching an itch, but Cameron saw right through the pretense. She was flashing those provocative boots his way, tempting him from afar and teasing him with what she knew he wanted but couldn't have.

A low, frustrated growl rumbled up from his throat before he realized he'd let it escape.

"She's getting to you, isn't she?"

Shit . He tried not to wince as Joel appeared from behind him. Cameron had no idea just how long Mia's brother had been watching their exchange or what he'd witnessed. But Cameron wasn't about to admit to anything.

"Who?" he said with an air of nonchalance.

"Don't give me that crap," Joel said, calling his bluff with amusement. He set a fresh bottle of beer in front of Cameron and then took the seat next to him. "You know exactly who I'm talking about. Mia. You've been watching her the entire afternoon, as well as deflecting her remarks, and I'm just waiting for you to snap and jump her already."

Even though Joel's comment surprised Cameron, he managed to maintain a bland expression. "Not likely."

"Want to bet on that?" Joel lifted his own bottle of beer to his lips, a challenge glinting in his gaze.

"Bet on what?" Cameron asked, not completely sure what Joel was getting at. "That I'm going to give into your sister's taunts?"

Joel grinned. "Yeah."

"Not a chance, buddy," Cameron said with a firm shake of his head.

"If you seem so determined to resist her, it should be easy money for you." Joel thought for a moment, glancing from Mia and back to Cam. "Twenty buck says she'll get the best of you before the day is over."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever," Cameron said, agreeing for the sake of putting an end to the issue, especially because Mia was heading their way. "Speaking of which, here conies trouble right now."

Mia stopped at the table, holding a plate with a large piece of birthday cake. "What is this, the singles' table?"

"Yep, the last of a dying breed when it comes to our family," Joel joked. "Care to join us?"

"That all depends," she said with a mischievous twinkle in her slate gray eyes. "Will I look as pathetic as the two of you do?"

Cameron held back a laugh, and instead thought up an appropriate taunt so Joel would think all was normal between him and Mia. "Girls never look pathetic, even when they're old maids."

She set her plate on the table and sat down next to her brother and across from Cameron. "Just for the record, I'm not an old maid, sugar," she drawled sweetly. "I choose to be single, whereas an old maid is a woman who can't get herself a guy at all. I do just fine in that department."

"You know just how to get them to eat out of the palm of your hand, don't you?" Cameron said, sparring right back.

"Only the ones I want eating out of my hand." She dropped a small piece of the cake in her palm and held it toward Cameron. "Care for a bite, sugar?"

"Oh man," Joel said on a chuckle. "You are so down for the count, Sinclair."

It took a huge amount of effort for Cameron to resist Mia's outrageous dare, along with the urge to grasp her wrist and nibble and lick the scrap of chocolate cake off her palm until she was squirming and just as hot as she was making him.

When Cameron refused to take the bait, or in this case, the cake, Mia popped the crumb into her mouth and ate it herself. "Can you believe all the babies this family is going to have this year?" she said, glancing at Joel. "Chayse just had Brandon, and Ashley is due in a few months. And Dana and Alex just announced earlier today that they're pregnant, too. God, I hope it's not contagious," she said with an exaggerated shudder.

"What, you don't want to have babies?" Cameron asked before he could censure the question.

Her gaze shot to his, and it was clear he'd startled her. "Well, I haven't given it a whole lot of thought, being an old maid and all."

She was trying to be cute and funny and dismissive, but Cameron was thinking about it now. Having babies. With Mia. "I'd like at least three or four," he said.

She lifted a brow as she dipped her fork into her cake for another bite. "Sounds like you want a wife you can keep barefoot and pregnant."

Cameron grinned. "Yeah, I like that image."

Mia rolled her eyes and licked away a crumb from the corner of her mouth. "And I suppose you'd expect your little woman to stay at home with the kids, keep the house clean and spotless, and be sure you had a hot meal on the table when you walked in after a long day at the office."

"What man wouldn't?" he said, admitting as much. "But only if that's what my wife wanted to do."

"What if she wanted to work?"

Somewhere along the way the conversation had taken an interesting twist, and while Joel probably thought they were arguing, Cameron was fascinated with Mia's questions and answers, which said a whole lot about how she felt about having a family of her own.

"I'd like to consider myself a contemporary kind of guy." He leaned back in his chair as he absently swiped his fingers along the condensation gathering on his bottle. "I'd have no problem if my wife wanted to pursue a career, just so long as the family didn't suffer."