15 Chapter 15

After dinner, Troy walked into the media room to pick out a movie for him and Cam to watch upstairs. Maybe the Hortons had Major League. Now that would be funny.

Bernice and Cam were inside, Cam wearing a formal purple dress and Bernice standing behind her, pinning the hem.

He stopped short. The strapless dress fit snug around her breasts and waist before cascading to the floor, illustrating her hourglass curves. It was beautiful. So was she. Cam didn't wear much color, sticking mostly to shades of whites, beiges, and black. She looked different in color.

After a few minutes of staring unnoticed, he cleared his throat. "Is this the bridesmaid dress?"

Cam glanced at him, all surprise, then turned to Bernice. "I'll go change. Thank you for fixing it." She reached down to grab her clothes from a recliner. "What are you doing in here?"

His gaze skimmed down the length of her, then over to the twelve-foot shelves holding Blu-rays and DVDs by the huge flat screen. "Picking out a movie for us. Any suggestions?"

Her gaze was skeptical, but she shrugged. "Just make sure it doesn't have clowns in it."

She walked out and headed for the staircase.

Troy grinned. He'd almost forgotten about Cam's fear of clowns. She'd been the butt of many jokes for that. It seemed a silly thing to be afraid of.

And then he got an idea. A quite dreadful and brilliant idea. Last night, he'd gotten Camryn to wish on a star. Logical, composed Camryn had done something impractical and frivolous. Maybe he could get her to do it again. A list of stuff, perhaps. Things not in her norm to bring out another side of her. Make her less tense. See the world for all its beauty.

"That's a wicked grin on your face, Troy."

He nodded at Bernice. "Yes, it is. Do you have any Stephen King movies?"

Bernice eyed the shelves. "I'm sure we do. Try the second shelf."

Troy walked over and found what he was looking for. Tucking the DVD under his arm, he told Bernice thanks and headed upstairs.

Cam was just coming out of the bathroom wearing PJs when he strode into their bedroom. He put the disc in the player and sat on the bed. She joined him a second later, sitting and applying lotion to her legs.

He'd never noticed her legs before. Long, shapely-

"I can't believe I hit Baba with a baseball."

Snapping his eyes away, Troy swallowed. "She's okay. Besides, you didn't do anything the rest of us haven't wanted to."

She shook her head and grinned as if amused, causing his stomach to flop.

"What movie did you find?" she asked, not glancing up from her task as the title menu popped on the TV.

"Check it out."

When she looked up at the menu for It and the evil clown poking his head out of a sewer drain, she squeaked and fell off the bed. She crawled on all fours to the bathroom, where she stood and crossed her arms, glaring at him.

Troy laughed so hard he thought his side had split open. He fell crossways on the bed, wiping tears and clutching his stomach.

"I'll have you know, Troy Lansky, that thousands of people suffer from coulrophobia. That's the official medical term for fear of clowns. An official medical term."

He sucked in a breath and sat up. "Come here, Cam."

"Absolutely not. Turn it off."

He picked up the TV remote and switched it off.

She edged out of the bathroom doorway, peeked around the corner to ensure he'd done as asked, then sat on the bed. "That was cruel."

He shook his head. "Listen, Cam. I'm conducting an experiment. Last night, you wished on a star. Tonight, you're going to do something that scares you. It's all part of a list I contrived."

"And what if I don't want to be part of your experiment?"

He smiled. "You don't have a choice. I have my reasons for the list."

"And that would be?"

"I'll tell you at the end of the week. Now, let's watch the movie."

She rose so fast the curtains shifted in her wake. "No."

She tried to flee to the bathroom again, but he caught her and dragged her back to the bed. He sat her between his legs and trapped her in a bear hold. "One thing, Cam. One thing that scares you."

"Why? There's no point to this."

"Oh, but there is. Trust me."

Her shoulders sagged. "Not on your life." Pause. "How long is the movie?"

"Four hours."

"Four hours?" she repeated, her voice several octaves above normal. "That's cruel and unusual punishment, Troy."

He laughed. "Come on, Cam. Do something you've never done before. It won't hurt. I promise. We'll sit just like this the whole four hours if you want."

He waited her out. One minute, two-

"Fine. Play the movie."

He reached for the remote and clicked the TV back on, then hit Play. She was calm until the first sighting of Pennywise the Clown. In a surprising display of strength, she vaulted out of his grasp, over his shoulder, and behind his back to cower between him and the headboard.

Her face pressed against his back, her breath warm, tickling the hairs on his neck. Her legs hugged his sides. She was right. This was a very, very bad idea. Because he now wanted to turn the movie off, lay her out flat, and finish the kiss they'd started last night.

Instead, he ground his molars and held his position for the next fours hours until the movie ended and he didn't know which one of them got the worse end of the deal.