Never Say Never

Chapter 12

Camila doesn't sleep well that night, despite the high thread count of the sheets in Lauren's guestroom.

She spends half the night in the bathroom and the other half tossing and turning, and by the time the clock strikes two a.m., she's almost ready to give up on sleep entirely.

But then there's a tiny knock on the bedroom door, and when she opens it she finds Leo standing there in his pajamas, rubbing at his sleepy eyes with one hand and clutching his favorite teddy with his other.

"Are you okay, buddy?" Camila crouches so that they're the same height, worried that he's gotten out of bed – she knows from Lauren that he usually sleeps easily through the night, and can be pain to wake up in the mornings. "I didn't wake you up, did I?" She thought that she'd been careful to keep quiet when she was wandering the halls.

"No." He shakes his head and tries to smother a yawn. "I had a nightmare."

"You did?" He nods. "Come here." She pulls him into a gentle hug. "You want me to check your room for monsters?"

"No. Want to stay here with you." He peers at the bed behind her, eyes turning pleading. "Can I?"

"I... don't know what your Mom would have to say about that, kiddo. She'll worry when she can't find you in the morning."

"Please?" He looks up at her with his best puppy dog eyes, the ones that Camila always struggles to deny. "Just this one time."

She caves, because of course she does, and less than five minutes later Leo is curled up beside her, his teddy hugged tightly in his arms. He's asleep soon after, breathing quiet and even, and it's enough to lull her to sleep for the first time that night.

//

She wakes early the next morning needing to pee, and carefully slips out of the bed without disturbing the sleeping toddler.

On her way back to the bedroom, she notices that the light in the kitchen is on, changes course and finds Lauren standing at the counter, mug in hand as she waits for the coffee machine to finish. She's not dressed yet for the day, is clad in only her sleepwear and a huge fluffy dressing gown, slippers on her feet and her face bare of make-up, and it's an image that makes Camila ache for her sketchbook, to jot the view down so she never forgets it.

Because bathed in the glow of the rising sun, Lauren is stunning, a vision, so utterly captivating that it's devastating to look directly at her.

"Camila." Lauren turns and notices her standing there, and Camila hopes that she hasn't been caught staring. "Are you feeling better?"

"Much," she nods, grateful for it because yesterday had been brutal and she doesn't want to feel that way again anytime soon. "Thanks for letting me stay here."

"It's fine," Lauren waves a hand. "Do you want some coffee? Apologies for my less than put-together appearance – I didn't expect you to be awake."

"Usually I wouldn't be," Camila admits, "but I'm never very good at sleeping somewhere new, for the first couple of nights, anyway." She thinks it's probably left over from her days in the foster system, never knowing how long she'd be in one place. "And I think I'll pass on the coffee." She grabs a water instead.

"I assume my son is in your room?"

"Oh, yeah." Camila looks sheepish. "Sorry. He knocked on my door early this morning, said he had a nightmare. I couldn't say no to his eyes."

"He can be very persuasive," Lauren concedes. "You can wake him if you like." The coffee machine beeps, and Lauren fills her mug. "While I go get myself ready for the day ahead."