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“This doesn’t look like our living room.” She stepped into the room, finally letting herself glance at Cam who had locked a neutral expression on his face.
It ticked her off—geez, everything was ticking her off today—that she couldn’t at least partially blame this on him.
“I came home, put my stuff in my room, andthenI came over here.” Tyler was getting that stubborn tightness around the edges of his mouth she wished she could blame on his father. “The buildings areattached. I’m technically still home.”
She wasn’t sure if the noise Cam made was a snort or an exasperated sigh. Even he wasn’t buying this, and she had firsthand experience with how stubborn he could be.
“Head up to your room. I’ll be there in a minute.”
She was pretty sure Tyler was considering a revolt. The fact he even looked in Cam’s direction was something she’d file away for the conversation she and Tyler would be having later about who was the parent and who wasn’t.
Her son stormed out of the workshop, preteen agony written all over every movement. She hadn’t expected this for a few more years, but she’d known it was coming.
Of course, she didn’t think he’d find his new hero right across their front yard… and certainly not that it would be Camden Ross of all people.
When she heard the outside door slam shut behind Tyler, she turned back to the man in the heavy leather apron and tried not to let the swirl of emotions overtake what needed to be said.
This wasn’t the time to let the hormones of teenagers past step into the conversation.
Even if the man made an oversized leather apron look hot.
Before she could start, Cam raised a hand. “There’s no need to say anything. I completely agree with you. And I hate to talk out of turn, but I asked him if you knew where he was when he came in. I’m sorry. I should probably learn to check with you or something.”
Oh, so he was going to be all Mr. Reasonable and crap?
He knew how she hated that.
He was probably doing it just to annoy her.
Vi took a deep breath to even out the emotions she didn’t want to be fighting. She was building a life for her and Tyler. That Cam was accidentally a part of the after… well, not being was a snag she hadn’t fully anticipated.
“Cam, don’t take this the wrong way, but I just don’t think he should be over here at all.” She waved a hand around at all the fairly deadly machinery making up Cam’s custom woodworking studio and went on. “It’s pretty dangerous in here. I know my garage is a safety issue as well, but I guess…”
“You’re his mom.” Cam shook his head, signaling that he got it. Moms had a different sense of awareness of their kids.
“And, well…” Vivian all but took a step back, not knowing how to phrase the next part. “It’s just…”
Cam’s gaze heated her skin like a beam of sunlight in an already hot room. Hehadto know what she was going to say. Was he really going to make her spell it out?
Apparently, he was.
“With our history—”
“Wait, really?” Cam interrupted.
“Yes. Really.” She charged ahead, not giving him a chance to break in again. “With our history, I don’t think it’s healthy for Tyler to be over here, running back and forth between our houses as if he were allowed free rein.”
“Okay, first of all.” Cam literally took off the gauntlets for this as he stripped the heavy leather gloves from his hands and tossed them aside. “He doesn’t have free rein. He knows there are rules to being in the workshop. And secondly, how long are you going to hold that against me?”
“I’m not holding anything against you. I’m just saying that letting Tyler create a close bond with you is probably a bad idea.”
“Because of our history,” he drawled sarcastically.
Vivian wasn’t willing to be sucked into a circular argument. This wasn’t the time or place, and her son certainly wasn’t the reason.
“Yes.”
Cam gave her a long, hard stare. One she was all too familiar with. And then, before she knew what was happening, he stepped into her space, forcing her to look up at him as few men could from her own height even without her work boots.
