Protect Her

Chapter Fourteen

Derek

"Today was the very best day ever, ever... ever..." Riley yawned as I carried her into the apartment building. She was nesting into my shoulder, hardly able to keep her eyes open but not wanting to miss out on a single thing.

"I'm glad you had fun." I smiled as all three of us climbed into the elevator. We'd been gone for hours. Since we weren't in much danger of being recognized here, we'd taken advantage of the nice weather. First, I'd taken them up in my plane and we'd been able to fly to a little cove and see a huge pod of orcas. Riley was spouting off every single fact she remembered from National Geographic with the biggest smile on her face. She wasn't the least bit scared to be up on the plane. Her mother, on the other hand, was a different story.

Cam eventually calmed down and enjoyed herself, but every time I turned to look at them or took a single finger off of the wheel, she turned sheet white as if she was about to have a heart attack. I had no idea she was scared of flying, but by the end of our excursion, she couldn't contain her smile, either. And she looked damn cute in the headphones I gave her so we could all hear each other. The sight of her sitting next to me with a cautious grin on her face and the gorgeous mountains in the background made my heart skip and would be etched in my mind forever. It was pure perfection.

After we were back safe in the ground, I took them down to a small farmers' market that sold all kinds of fresh flowers and foods. We all picked something to eat for lunch and had a little picnic in the park, and I made sure to sneak some flowers into the car so I could put some up in the apartment for Camryn. Her reaction to the first bouquet caught me off guard and I wanted to do whatever I could to dissolve the association she had with flowers and being hurt by that bastard. It was typical he'd try to lavish her with love and gifts after he beat the shit out of her. Robby was the scum of the earth, as far as I was concerned.

We spent the afternoon at the beach on the bay, and Riley swam for hours. She was a little fish and never seemed to run out of energy. It was good, though. It seemed like she was distracted enough that she wasn't worried in the slightest about what was actually happening here. This day had been a far-off dream of mine, back when I actually thought I might settle down and have a family of my own. I always imagined showing my own kids some of things I did here when I was younger, and today I'd gotten to live that out. Riley was an incredible little girl, and no matter what happened over the next few months, she'd always have a special place in my heart.

Cam and I kept our distance from each other for most of the day after the incident in the kitchen this morning. I'd come damn close to kissing those sweet lips of hers, but that would have been a mistake.

She was vulnerable, and grieving for a life she thought she had. It wasn't fair of me to take advantage of that. I respected that with every fiber of my being, but the more time we spent together, the harder it was to keep my distance. Once we crossed that line, things would get messy. And I had no clue if that was what she even wanted. She'd been caught off guard and I put her in a bad position, and I'd been kicking myself for it all day.

Cam yawned herself when we got to the top floor. Riley fell asleep during the ride in the elevator, and I held her in one arm as I unlocked the door. We headed down the hallway and I gently laid her down on the bed. Cam took her shoes off and grabbed a pair of pajamas out of the dresser. I got Cole's help when I was stocking the apartment for our stay and it was chock-full of clothes, toys, books, and all kinds of kid friendly food.

"I'll meet you out there." I whispered to Camryn.

I sat down on the couch and took my phone out. I'd been enjoying myself too much today to check it much. The first few texts I had were from Will, and when I saw the last one, I was elated.