Vampire Babysitter (Camren)

Chapter 4

"Wow, Dinah," Camila gushed, popping the last of a chocolate cupcake into her mouth and grinning at her,  "That was the best cupcake I've had in a long time. You're coming home with me to be my personal chef, right?"

The little humming sound she made might have been indecent if it wasn't chocolate-induced.

Instead of focusing on that, I busied myself helping Ari unwrap her own baked treat, making a concentrated effort not to let my thoughts stray beyond the menial task. The disgusting scents of cocoa, milk and flour hanging in the air helped considerably. It was hard to think about much of anything with the musty odor of human confections fogging my head.

Dinah misinterpreted my scowl, one corner of her mouth curling into a smirk.

"I don't think Laur would like that very much, but thanks for the offer. I try." She topped the comment off with cheesy wink that made me reflexively roll my eyes.

I didn't know which was more ludicrous, Dinah’s faux humility, or her far from subtle reference to my attraction to Camila, the latter of which was entirely in her head. Well, mostly.

Camila's coffee eyes widened in confusion at Dinah's remark. Or was that amusement? It was frustrating not being able to peek into her mind to determine what she was thinking. I'd never noticed how much I relied on my ability to get a read on people until now.

"Oh, well, it was a long shot, anyway," she responded, her tone light. I could feel her eyes lingering on me, even though I made a concentrated effort not to look at her directly. "Justin will just have to help me with my baking, isn't that right, sweetie?"

Justin gave her a chocolate-filled grin. Most of his cupcake had ended up smeared on his face. Ari wasn't faring much better. Her hands were a sticky brown mess. What was left of the cupcake was crushed in her small fist.

Justin had warmed up to us a little when it became clear we intended to ply him with sugary treats. He and Ari had that in common. Despite their shared love of sweet things, Justin still didn't seem to trust her, if his wary reaction to her chocolate-covered fist and invite to "pway" was any indication.

"Not so fast," Camila admonished, retrieving a dispenser of wet wipes from the hefty diaper bag she'd brought with her. "Clean up first."

She tugged one of Justin's messy hands in hers, gently cleaning his little fingers like she'd done it a thousand times before. Maybe she had. Justin surrendered to her..

"Do you remember the clean up song?" she asked him, humming a tune I was now familiar with, thanks to a god-awful children's program starring a ridiculous purple dinosaur. The past week with Ari I'd seen – and heard – a lot of things I would never be able to forget.

"Clean!" Justin announced proudly.

"That's right," Camila nodded. "Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere. Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share," she sang softly, smiling at Justin who listened patiently, letting her wipe him down.

"Cwean!" Ari insisted as she reached a sticky hand out to Camila, wanting to join in the fun.