by Janie Crouch
“Let’s get something straight here, Soph. Yes, I am undercover and yes, this situation is beyond complicated.”
“Listen, Cam…” Sophia tried to step back, but Cameron wouldn’t let her.
“No, you listen. I have to be on, all the time here. My life, your life, the success of the mission, getting justice for my partner, all depend on me staying focused.”
Sophia dropped her gaze. “I know, Cam. I understand that.”
Cameron bent his knees so he could catch her eyes again. When she finally looked at him, he continued, “Well, know and understand this—you blow my focus all to hell. I want you in a way I have never wanted any other woman.”
That got her attention. “Wh-what?”
“You really think I’m just acting when I kiss you, acting during what happened on the desk?”
“You’re not?” Her shocked tone told him all he needed to know.
“Baby, if Rick hadn’t come into that office, we’d still be on that desk. Hell, I should probably thank Rick so that I won’t forever have to try to forget that our first time was on the desk of the man who killed my partner.”
“It’s just so hard for me to tell, Cam. To know what’s real and what’s not with you.”
Cameron brought his lips down to hers and kissed her gently. “Know this is real,” he whispered against her lips.
He felt the moment Sophia gave in to the kiss. Her arms came up and entwined around his neck. Cameron bent his knees again so he could wrap his arms around her waist, then lifted her so she was face-to-face with him.
“You always were a tiny little thing,” he told her, still kissing her.
Her arms wrapped more firmly around his neck. “I’ll have you know, I’m the absolute perfect size.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that at all, Ms. Reardon.” Cameron began backing up until her legs rested against the side of the bed, then lowered her feet back to the ground. He trailed kisses down the side of her neck and delighted as it caused her to break out in goose bumps. He reached down and slid both sleeves of her dress off her shoulders, and because of its open back, it slid to the floor and pooled at her feet.
“Perfect size, indeed,” he murmured as he removed his own shirt.
“Cameron…” He loved the sound of her voice as she said his name.
Cameron stood and picked her up again, lowering her onto the bed slowly and with a great deal more finesse than he had before. His mouth found hers again. Her hands clenched into his shoulders.
Cameron wanted to take things slow, to make sure not to frighten her as he had on the desk. Cameron moved on top of her, propping his weight up on his elbows, holding back. But evidently Sophia had other plans.
She pulled his weight down to her, making quick work of removing his clothes and the rest of hers. Passion was building to a fevered pitch. This was definitely real; no acting involved whatsoever.
That was Cameron’s last coherent thought before he lost himself in the fervor and heat that consumed both he and Sophia.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING Sophia made good use of the giant bathroom again, this time to take a shower. Cameron had joined her in there—good thing there had been more than room enough for two—although him joining her had greatly prolonged the length of the shower.
They were both toweling off now, in the steam-filled bathroom. “I so don’t want to ask this, but did Smith provide any more clothes? Anything casual?” Sophia didn’t want to put on the ball gown again or yesterday’s dress pants.
“I’ll check.” A few moments later Cameron, having gotten dressed in jeans and a soft black sweater, brought in a new package and set it on the counter. Sophia opened it, relieved to see a pair of jeans and a navy blue T-shirt. Underclothes, socks and a pair of casual shoes completed Smith’s wardrobe for Sophia today.
Sophia still hated having to wear what that psycho chose for her.
Speaking of psycho… “So what’s our plan when I meet with him tonight for the code? I don’t think I’m going to be able to bluff my way out again.” A shudder went through her as she put on the jeans.
“I’m going to contact Omega and insist on an extraction for you this evening. Your life is definitely in jeopardy, so they won’t refuse again.”
“Just for me? You’re not coming, too?”
“We’ll see. If my cover’s blown, then yes, I’ll be extracted, too. No point staying here just to be tortured and killed.”
Sophia rolled her eyes. “Some people have no sense of adventure.”
Cameron gave a soft bark of laughter and walked over to kiss her. “We have a few hours. A lot can happen in that time. But either way, I’m getting you out before this goes any further. You’ll never have to see Smith again.”
Sophia felt as if a huge weight was lifted. Not having to see Smith again was just fine. She tried to pull the T-shirt on over her head and winced from the pain in her arm.
Cameron helped her bring her arm back down, staring at the jagged cut on her shoulder and upper arm from the nail. “That’s starting to look pretty infected. Does it hurt?”
Although she hadn’t really noticed it in the midst of last night’s activities or in the shower this morning, Sophia could definitely feel an ache now. She looked over at the wound. The skin around where she had scraped against the rusty nail was puffy and a fiery red.
“It’s a little sore, but not unmanageable.”
“When was your last tetanus shot?”
Sophia had no idea. It wasn’t something she thought about regularly. “I don’t know. High school, maybe?”
Cameron grimaced. “That’s not great, but it’s still within the ten-year mark. Let’s get that bandaged.” He helped her up to sit on the marble bathroom counter.
Cameron applied an antibacterial ointment and began wrapping her arm in gauze, both items from his duffel bag.
“You’re like a Boy Scout with that duffel bag of yours.”
Cameron smiled and winked at her. “I try to keep as much in there as I can without carrying anything that would arouse suspicion if someone goes through it.”
“Do they go through your bags a lot?”
“I don’t know, but I never assume that they don’t. I stay more alive that way. So yeah, I have a lot of junk in there. It helps camouflage the important stuff.”
“Like that cell phone thing you used to communicate with Omega?”
“It wasn’t actually a cell phone, but yes. Like that.” He finished wrapping her shoulder. “Okay, you’re all patched up.”
He helped Sophia ease the shirt over her head. Sophia tried not to provide any indication at all that her arm was hurting her. Then she forgot all about any pain as Cameron grabbed her by the hips and scooted her to the edge of the counter and kissed her.
“Remind me again why we didn’t do this five years ago?” he whispered against her lips.
Sophia smiled. “If we had known it would be this good, I don’t think we’d have been able to wait.”
Sophia thought about Cameron when she had known him before. She had been finishing college then, with her degree in graphic design. He had just been coming out of the US Army Rangers and had told her he wasn’t sure what he was going to do with his life.
Sophia pulled back from him. “You lied to me before. You told me you didn’t know what profession you’d end up in.”
Cameron made a hmm noise in his throat. “I didn’t really lie to you.”
Sophia lifted a single eyebrow.
Cameron had the good grace to at least look sheepish. “Yeah, Omega approached me while I was still in the army, so I knew I was going to work for them. But I wasn’t sure exactly how I would fit in with the organization and what I would be doing. So I wasn’t technically lying…”
“You know, for a w
hile after you left, since you didn’t say a real goodbye or anything, I thought it was because I hadn’t had sex with you,” Sophia whispered.
“What?” Cameron’s head jerked back.
Sophia shrugged. “Well, for the first couple months with all our breakfasts together, I knew you didn’t expect anything. But when things started building between us and we started going out on dates and stuff…”
“Let me get this straight.” Cameron’s jaw clenched and his eyes tightened. He removed his hands from Sophia’s waist and placed them on the counter on either side of her legs. “You thought I left because you didn’t put out?”
Sophia tried not to let Cameron’s looming chest intimidate her. She slid back on the counter a bit. “It was a possible theory, yes. After all, I had no idea why you had left, did I?” Sophia poked him in the big, looming chest.
“That had nothing to do with it.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t know that. All I knew was everything seemed to be going fine between us and then all of a sudden you were gone. No goodbye from you, just a cryptic message on my phone when you knew I wouldn’t be home.”
Cameron’s shoulders hunched. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” There was a long pause. “I couldn’t tell you about Omega Sector, Soph. And they told me I had to break ties as cleanly as possible.”
“You mean no one at Omega has any outside relationships? No marriages or anything like that? It seems a bit extreme.”
“No, they do. A bunch of people are married and have families in Omega. It’s just…” Cameron turned from facing her to leaning against the counter next to her.
“What?” Sophia asked when Cameron didn’t keep talking.
“All casual ties had to be severed.”
It took a second for the pain to set in, but when it did it stole Sophia’s breath. What could she say to that? She had thought he was the one. He had thought of her as a casual tie.
“Oh,” she finally managed to whisper.
“Soph, I’m sorry. I never thought of you—of what we had—as casual.”
“But you told Omega Sector it was.” It wasn’t a question.
“They asked about the nature of our relationship. How long we’d been together and stuff like that. They needed to know how often I spent the night at your house. If I was going to work for Omega, and I was in a solid, committed relationship with you, then you’d have to be closely scrutinized, also.”
Sophia waited but didn’t say anything.
“On paper it looked like we had breakfast together all the time and had been on a few dates,” he said softly.
“Casual,” Sophia whispered.
“Soph, that time we spent together. All those mornings at the diner. The dates, the kisses. They were important to me, too.”
“But not important enough to make you stay. Or to tell Omega that I wasn’t a casual relationship.”
Cameron was standing right next to her, but the gap between them was almost insurmountable. Sophia slid a little farther away from him on the counter. She was afraid if he touched her right now she might shatter into a million pieces.
Cameron pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed. “If I could go back in time to five years ago, there are so many things I would do differently.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Cameron would give every paycheck he’d ever get for the rest of his life if he never had to see that look on Sophia’s face ever again. He had known he’d screwed up when he walked away from her five years ago. But he had never dreamed it had hurt her as much as it had hurt him.
Cameron didn’t know exactly what he had thought. Maybe that she would move on quickly because they hadn’t been too physical. Maybe that she was young and that a clean break would be easy to recover from.
“I had to choose. At the time I thought I was making the right choice.” Cameron knew he had to make her understand, but the right words seemed to fail him.
Sophia turned her head away and it almost broke his heart. “I understand,” she whispered.
He grabbed her chin firmly and forced her to look at him. “I’m pretty sure you don’t understand at all. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t regret that decision.” He sighed, releasing her chin and turning away. “But it’s complicated. I know I’ve done a lot of good work with Omega—maybe even saved a lot of lives. But…”
Cameron wasn’t even sure what the rest of that sentence was. Silence hung between them.
“But you wonder, deep inside, if it was worth the price you paid personally,” Sophia finally said.
Yes, that summed it up perfectly. Sophia had always understood him.
“Every. Damn. Day.” Cameron turned around to face her again. He reached up and trailed the back of his fingers down her cheek. “And always because of…”
They both jumped a bit at the pounding on the door.
Cameron reached over and kissed her briefly and went to answer their bedroom door. It was Fin.
“Mr. Smith wants to see you in his office to talk about business stuff. She—” he gestured at Sophia “—doesn’t need to go.”
“Right now? It’s eight o’clock in the morning.”
“Yes, now. Mr. Smith is an early riser.”
There was nothing particularly bad about what Fin was saying, but Cameron still felt tension pooling in his stomach. “But Smith doesn’t want to see Sophia?”
“No, just you. For stuff having nothing to do with her. She can stay here and somebody will bring a breakfast tray.” Fin gave nothing away, probably because he knew nothing.
Cameron wasn’t sure which way to push. He didn’t want to be away from Sophia and leave her here by herself, but on the other hand keeping her as far from Smith as possible was probably the best plan.
“Okay,” Cameron finally said. “I’ll go to Mr. Smith’s office in just a few minutes.” Maybe it was time to get Sophia out of here right now.
“I’m supposed to wait for you right here and take you,” Fin told him.
So much for getting Sophia out right now.
Did Smith know they had been in his office last night? Had Rick told them? Surely they would’ve already been summoned, both of them, if that was the case. Maybe this really was just a routine meeting to discuss details. Cameron nodded. “Give me just a second.”
Cameron closed the door and Sophia came out of the bathroom. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I think. Fin just came to tell me Smith wants to meet with me.”
Cameron could almost see the tension that flooded Sophia’s body. “Why? Is there a problem? Do you think Rick told him about us in the office?”
“No. We’d have already been dragged in there if he had.”
Sophia still looked worried. “Then what?”
“Just a meeting. After all, I am his employee. Business details, Fin said.” Cameron walked over to his bag and got out the SIG he had hidden there. He tucked it into the back of his jeans. He hoped he wouldn’t need it, but this close to getting Sophia out, he wasn’t taking any chances.
“Do I come, too?”
“No. You’re supposed to stay here. They’re going to bring up a tray with some breakfast. Eat as much as you can.”
“Okay.” Sophia looked as hesitant about this plan as Cameron felt. He walked over to her and pulled her into his arms.
“Just hang in there a few more hours,” he whispered into her ear. “Let me go act normal with Smith and I’ll be back in a bit. Then we’ll get you out of here.”
Sophia reached up her hands to frame his face. “Be careful.” She stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him.
Cameron stepped back after a few moments even though he wanted nothing more than to stay there in her embrace. “I will. Stay here in the room. Get the tray when it’s delivered, bu
t otherwise keep the door locked.”
Sophia nodded and Cameron turned and walked out the door.
Fin was still waiting, as promised. They silently walked together to Smith’s office.
Unlike yesterday, Cameron could tell Smith’s office door was already open from down the hall. As they got closer, Cam could hear Smith talking—and laughing—with another man. Cameron walked into the office, Fin following right behind, but staying by the door. He obviously was still not in Smith’s good graces.
“Cam, come in,” Smith said good-naturedly.
Thompson Smith, when playing the role of DS-13 leader, looked polished and friendly, not at all like the butler Cameron had mistook him for yesterday. Having seen him play both roles, Cameron could understand how he had eluded law enforcement for years. But no matter which role he played, Smith’s eyes were still cold and hard.
The eyes of a killer.
“Good morning, Mr. Smith. Fin said you wanted to meet with me about some business.”
“Yes, yes.” Smith nodded. “A few very important details. First, this is my associate Mr. McNeil. He came up this morning to discuss some business, also. Fred, this is Cam Cameron, about whom we were talking earlier.”
Talking about him could be good or bad, Cam knew. He also noticed no details were provided by either men as to what type of “associate” McNeil was. But McNeil stuck out his hand for shaking, so Cameron assumed it was good. “Nice to meet you.”
Cam shook the hand and responded, “You, too, man.” McNeil faded over to the side of the room and propped himself up against the wall, obviously to get out of the way of whatever business Mr. Smith had with Cameron.
“I trust you had a good time at the party last night?” Smith asked.
Cameron tensed for just a moment then forced himself to relax. Had he been wrong and Smith did know about them breaking into the office? If so, he’d have to think of a way to play this off quick. His best bet was probably to pretend to be the bad boy—wanting to have sex in the boss’s office.
Disrespectful, sure. But better than announcing he was a federal agent.
“Yeah. Lots of fun. Plenty of trouble to get into,” Cameron told him, providing what he hoped was a charming grin. Charming was hard to pull off when all you wanted to do was arrest the bastard sitting across from you and see that he rot in jail for the next 150 years or so.
