Lost and Found Ch. 02

His voice was low, unwavering. She became frightened, though she didn't know why. His hand stretched toward hers. Without thinking her fingers jumped and brushed lightly against his.

"What I want to say to you as an adult," he said, his voice still low, "is that I want to see you again. It's been long enough. We've both tried to avoid it. But there's unfinished business between us. We're still drawn to each other, undeniably so."

He paused, drawing a breath. It seemed as if a great weight had been taken off his shoulders.

"At least I am to you," he finished, and looked at her, his gaze helpless. He had said his piece.

She sat still, their fingertips bare centimeters apart.

"I need to kiss you," she blurted out, and suddenly caught his face in her hands and pressed a breathless kiss to his mouth.

They drew apart. She saw that his hands were shaking.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"That was for June," she said in a whisper, dusting her hands off on her skirt. She didn't know what to think of herself. He was all eloquence, and she was nothing in comparison. "She asked me to kiss you, for what you did for her."

His eyes saw straight through her.

"It may have been for June, but I think it was for you, too," he said quietly. "If you won't admit it, then we've already lost. But if you will..."

"It was for me, too," she whispered.

Their fingers intertwined. Gap bridged, roses in between. He leaned toward her, his intoxicating scent wrapping her up in him as it had done many times before. Their noses bumped. He kissed her cheek, his thumbs running along her jawline and across the arch of her cheekbones.

"Tell me what you feel," he whispered, their heads bowed, foreheads pressed together.

"I missed you," she whispered back. "I knew it right away. It took me a long time to admit it to myself. But..." She drew a shuddering breath. "I don't know what's right. I don't know how we can be together. I don't know what a relationship with you looks like."

"Maybe it starts with taking me inside and letting me see Tori," he said. He squeezed her hand. "And letting her chew me out, if she must. I hear the music. It sounds like the party's getting started up there."

"Okay," Lila said softly.

"Okay?" He gave her a small smile and helped her to her feet. She found her legs weak and wobbly, and leaned on him as they went up the steps to the back doors.

"Cameron," she said, quietly, when they had reached the door.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Thank you for what you did for June." She put her arms around his neck and hugged him, and wasn't surprised when he lifted her off her feet. "Thank you so much. I know you did it for me. I don't know whether that matters. But thank you."

"It was for you," he said, his voice low. "I still feel guilty about that sometimes. But I don't think it matters." He reached for the door, and his hand paused on the handle. "Shall we?"

Lila drew a deep breath and nodded her head. He opened the door, and they stepped into the back porch. Voices pressed in from the kitchen. Cameron turned back to face Lila, and what had been out of question before was suddenly in the picture in a big way. He kissed her hard on the mouth, his lips bruising hers. It was their moment in the closet, all over again.

"Just had to do that one more time," he said, his voice husky. He gestured for her to go on. "After you."

She emerged, painfully aware of him behind her. The friends grouped around the table setting up a drinking game hardly took notice of the back door being opened. But Tori, who was garnishing a plate of deviled eggs on the kitchen counter, turned around, and her blue eyes fixed on Lila and Cameron.

"Jesus, it's true," she said slowly. "I thought Jonas was pulling my leg. He gave me his gift and said he had to run, by the way. He seemed upset."

Lila shifted from foot to foot.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," she said. "I wasn't ready, I don't think."

"So you two are together now?" Tori asked. She handed off the plate of deviled eggs and turned to face them. "Since Friday, or..."

"We're not together, not exactly," came Cameron's voice from behind Lila. She was surprised, and turned her head slightly to glance at him. He was smiling. "We're figuring it out. And since today. Since right now."

"Well, you better not mess it up." Tori pointed a finger at him, her blue eyes staring him down. "If you break this girl's heart, you'll have me to deal with. Oh, and thanks for whatever you said to Jake Finnegan about my product, by the way."

She breezed off. Behind Lila, Cameron laughed.

"Is she angry with me?" he asked, his hands falling on her shoulders. "Does she approve?"

"She just wants me to be happy," Lila said softly.

"Well, good. Because I intend to make you happy," he said.

His hands left her shoulders, and she watched him take the envelope out of his breast pocket. He handed it to her.

"I thought it was for Tori," she said, carefully opening it.

"It's for both of you, but it's made out to Tori, because I thought you'd try to turn it down," he said, his eyes watching her expression carefully.

She unfolded a check, indeed made out to Tori, for a thousand dollars.

"Cameron, no," she said. "It's too much."

"Hey, I know how much decent furniture costs. Don't get anything too crappy. Check out estate sales." He grinned at her. "And it's not yours to turn down. I know Tori won't pass it up. She has a businesswoman's mentality. More is more."

He checked his watch. Lila's heart dropped.

"You have to go," she said.

"Yeah, I probably should. I wasn't actually free on such short notice, but I wanted to talk, too. I'm glad we did." He stood facing her, his hands in his pockets. "Well, Lila. How about a date next weekend? I have tickets to the ballet. I was going to take this other girl, but seeing as how we've straightened some things out..."

"No other girls," she snapped. "I don't know what we are to each other, but no other girls. All right?"

"If that's your only demand, princess," he teased. "Of course. You're far too much for me all by yourself. So, the ballet. I'll pick you up on Saturday afternoon around five for dinner beforehand. I have box seats."

"Of course you do." The words fell out of her mouth. "All right, Saturday around five. Dress code?"

"Ask Tori," he said with a wink. "She's a stylish gal. She'll know exactly what a girl ought to wear to the ballet. Bye now, baby."

He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers, the kiss feather-light this time. All the same, she grew dizzy and caught hold of the counter to stabilize herself.

"Bye," she said softly.

"Have a good time at your party. Don't drink too much."

"I won't. Have a good time... wherever you're going."

"Work dinner." He flashed her quick grin. "I'll call you later tonight."

She watched him go. It was a few moments before Tori returned to her side, caught her hands, and squealed, pulling her into a tight hug. Then she knew that her friend more than approved, and that Tori didn't just want her to be happy, she also thought this would make her happy. As for Lila, she wasn't certain, but she did know that she felt lighter than she had in months -- no, in years. She took a few shots and played a few games of checkers with party attendees who were rapidly growing drunk, before retreating to her bedroom and starting in with paint, bold, broad strokes, on the canvases she'd blocked out. She felt fearless, far more fearless than she'd ever felt before.

"He's your muse, baby," Tori said quietly from the doorway much later, when most of the people from the party had long cleared out.

"Huh?" Lila asked, lifting her head from her work.

"Cameron. He's your muse. I haven't seen you paint like this in ages."

"He's not my muse," Lila scoffed. "He's not the muse type. He's much too much to be a muse."

But then she fell silent, Tori leaving the doorway with a shrug. A cold feeling suddenly filled her, and she dropped her paintbrush into the jar of oil on her painting cart and sat on the edge of her cot. Who was to say it hadn't all been a dream, or that he wasn't already slipping away from her again? Her head spun, until its spinning was broken by the ringing of her phone.

When she picked up and heard his voice on the other end, she knew it was real. This was real. She rooted her feet on the floor and walked to the window and looked out at the sun setting behind the boughs of the maple.

"We'll tell the landlord to prune the tree," she said.

On the other end of the line, Cameron laughed.

"That's how you start your conversation with me? No hello?"

"Hello." Lila blushed, her cheeks growing warm. "Hello, it's nice of you to call. How was your work dinner?"

"Tedious. How was the party?"

"I wouldn't know, I was working on something on my own during most of it."

"Painting?"

"Yes." She sank her teeth into her bottom lip. "Tori said you're my muse."

"I never thought I'd be someone's muse," he said. "But I'm happy to be yours, if you'd like."

"I want to paint you," she blurted out. "Not now. But sometime."

"Okay. Whatever you want."

She grinned, cradling the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she tidied up her work station.

"I could get used to hearing that."

"I'm sure you could." His tone had become serious. "You know all I've ever wanted to do is spoil you rotten, right?"

"Yeah, right."

"You deserve it."

She drew a long breath, turning back to the sunset, the sky fletched in streaks of orange and pink, the golden orb of the sun disappearing behind a roof on the next street over.

"It's going to be different this time," she said all at once. "It's going to have to be. I don't want to burn so fast. I don't want to -- " She bit her lip again. "I don't want to burn out. I want to know you, everything about you. You need to tell me things. You need to let me in."

"No promises," came his reply. "But I'll try my best. You have to promise to be patient with this old man."

"You're not an old man, Cameron!" she said, laughing.

"I'm getting there. Do you promise?"

She fell quiet, becoming serious once more.

"I promise," she said. "I'm more patient now than I was two years ago."

"I'm sure you are. In fact, I can already tell." He sounded proud. "You've grown up well, Lila. Inside and out. You're not skin and bones anymore. I like that."

"That's good, because I thought..." She paused, sucking in her breath. "I was worried you might not."

"No, I'm not that kind of guy," he said. "God, did I seem like that kind of guy?"

"No. You didn't," she said softly.

"Good. Because I don't want to." His voice pressed through the phone to her almost like a caress. "All right, baby girl, it's late. You need your sleep and so do I. Text me whenever you get bored. I can't guarantee the timeliest of responses, but I'll call whenever I'm able. Every night, if I can swing it. Does that sound good?"

"That sounds good."

"Sweet dreams, princess."

"Goodnight," she said.

He hung up. She let her hand, still holding her phone, drop to her side. She felt glorious. She was flying. How could she sleep when she was flying? But she sat on her cot and watched the sunset fade, and as it grew dark she became tired, until eventually she curled up beneath her blanket and passed into dreams.

Thank you so much for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. As always, I welcome your feedback and comments and would love to hear what you thought. I was able to write this chapter quicker than usual and will get started on Chapter 3 shortly, so you can look out for that in the coming week or so. Until next time. ❤️