Whitney stopped, her mouth open, ready to keep going. But then she snapped it shut.

He couldn’t help but grin. “You know that.”

She took a deep breath.

“Whitney,” he said. “You know that.” He wanted to hear her admit it. He hadn’t told her how he was feeling, but he hoped that when she really thought about it, that she would know.

He thought he knew how she was feeling about him.

Of course… yeah, it would be nice to hear.

“I know that we’ve been getting along well,” she finally said.

He grinned and pulled her in close, resting his forehead against hers. “We have been. Things have been great. But for the record, I’m crazy about you. And I’m so fucking happy that you’re here. And I’d really love it if you spent some time with the girls. That would feel really good. I want my family and my friends to know you better.”

She swallowed and nodded her head against his. “Okay.”

“Okay.” Well, she wasn’t saying she was crazy about him too, but that could come later. She was stubborn and proud and she’d been hurt in the past by people she loved. He could give her time. Some time. A little bit of time.

“Cam?” she said softly when he leaned back.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

He lifted a brow. “For?”

“Being crazy about me. I know it’s not easy.”

He gave a soft laugh. “It’s stupid easy, Whit. It’s like I can’t even help it.”

She gave him a smile that he could have sworn he’d never seen. She seemed touched and maybe a little surprised and turned on and maybe a little bit in love.

He wanted her feeling that, whatever it was exactly, for the rest of the night.

With a lingering look at that expression, he finally led them out of the bathroom and back to the kitchen.

All the guys and Cam’s parents were in the kitchen and they all jerked to action as he and Whitney came around the corner, clearly attempting to look busy.

Cam rolled his eyes, but he was grinning and he was certain that his best friends and parents—people who had known him very well for a very long time—would be able to read that grin as stupidly in love. That was okay.

“Dinner is ready,” Maggie said, handing Cam a plate of chicken and Whitney a bowl of salad.

No one said anything about him pulling her off to the bathroom immediately or even about her being here in the first place. They just all gathered food and drink and headed for the dining room.

Aiden went to the back door and pulled it open. “Dinner!”

Soon the dining room was full. Henry and Didi came in from the family room. Zoe, Josie and Jane joined them from the back patio. There was already an extra chair for Whitney—Cam gave his mom a quick smile for that—and Didi greeted Whitney as if she’d been expecting her granddaughter to show up tonight.

Even Zoe and the girls didn’t seem shocked to see her.

Henry was the only one who said anything other than “Hi” and “Welcome.”

“Didi says you should play Warriors, but that it will be tough for you,” Henry told her, scooping cheesy potatoes onto his plate.

He was seated between Whitney and Didi, a move that Cam knew was not random but that he wondered about. Why had Maggie chosen that seating arrangement?

Henry added potatoes to Didi’s plate and then passed the dish to his father. The last time they’d been at dinner and Henry had dished up for Didi and they’d asked him why, he’d said that the casserole dishes were too heavy for her to hold, so he did it for her. He’d said it so matter-of-factly that they’d all just nodded and later agreed that, even though they were playing video games together, spending time with Didi had matured Henry. As the baby of the family, by a lot, there just weren’t many chances for him to care for others. Didi had changed that and it was pretty cool to see his baby brother stepping up to help someone out.

“She said Warriors will be tough for me?” Whitney asked him, bemused. “Why is that?”

Henry was only eleven, but he’d grown up with much older siblings and a constant houseful of people older than himself so he wasn’t shy and he could hold a conversation with nearly anyone. “She said you don’t sit still very well,” he told Whitney.

Whitney nodded. “She’s right.”

“But she said no one needs a chance to kick bad-guy ass more than you,” Henry said.

“Henry!” Maggie admonished.

He looked at her. “What? Didi said it.”

Didi nodded. “I did. And it’s true.”

Didi thought Whitney needed a chance to kick bad-guy ass? Cam looked at Whitney and thought about that. Didi saw how Whitney tamped down her urges to yell and fight, he realized. He wondered if she noticed the little chin lift Whit always did when she was swallowing back sharp words. He’d bet good money that she did.

So Didi thought Whitney would enjoy swinging a virtual sword and chopping off some troll heads, huh? She might have a point. He’d have to introduce Whitney to the game. He could let Henry do it, but he had the sudden inkling that seeing Whitney glaring at the screen, her hair wild from not doing it for a couple of days because she was engrossed in the game, growling softly as she chased down trolls and ogres and monsters and kicked their asses in the name of saving the kingdom and freeing the people would be pretty hot. He wanted to see that.

“Can we use the word butt instead?” Maggie asked, but her expression said she knew the answer to that.

Didi looked at Henry. “You need to remember to use the word butt when you’re repeating this stuff to your mother.”

He nodded. “You’re right.”

Maggie sighed, but didn’t say anything more.

Cam grinned and took a bite of cheesy potatoes—which were the best thing to ever come out of his mother’s kitchen. He loved that Henry and Didi were coconspirators.

“You don’t want salad?” Henry asked Didi when she shook her head as he held the bowl out to her.

“No.”

“But you made it,” Henry said, slightly exasperated.

“So?” Didi asked.

“You made something you don’t like?”

“I put cucumbers in it.”

“You don’t like cucumbers?”

“No.”

“Why’d you put them in then?”

“You said you like them.”

Henry grinned at her. “I do.”

“So that’s why.”

“You can pick them out of yours and give them to me,” Henry offered.

Didi shook her head. “I cut them up really small.”

He sighed. “Okay.” He passed the bowl to his dad. “But next time, make them big so we can pick them out.”

“Okay.”

Cam grinned and took the basket of rolls from his sister, but when he glanced at Zoe, he could see tears in her eyes. He frowned. She smiled and shook her head. Then he looked at his mother. She had a wobbly smile and shiny eyes too. He glanced at Whitney. Her eyes were wet and she was watching Henry and Didi with a look of wonder.

Cam shook his head. But couldn’t help smiling. It was sweet. And he was glad Whitney was here to see it.

They ate and chatted comfortably and casually, but Cam couldn’t stop from glancing at Whitney over and over. She didn’t say much but she had a happy look on her face as she absorbed the conversation.