by Palmer Jones
Ms. Iris came bustling in from the kitchen.
“One of our first customers of the day.” She wiped down an already pristine counter, her gray hair pinned up, the same way it had been since Cameron could remember. “Not used to seeing you in here so early, Cameron. Day off?”
“Yes, ma’am.” It wasn’t a scheduled off day, but his dad had offered. “Can we get two smoothies and two waters?”
Ms. Iris arched her eyebrow in his direction, setting her hand on a wide hip. Point taken.
“Addie, I’d like you to meet Ms. Iris. This is her diner.”
Ms. Iris beamed a warm smile at Addie. “Nice to meet you now that Cameron remembered his manners. You’re the young lady staying with his parents.”
“Yes.” Addie fidgeted on the stool. He set his hand over her knee to calm down the bouncing.
“I’d be disappointed to not have met you sooner, but Cameron’s mom is an excellent cook, so I understand.” Ms. Iris winked at Cameron. What was that for?
“And now you have to introduce me.” Becky’s sudden appearance behind him forced him to drop his hand from Addie’s knee and swivel around on the stool. Becky shot him a devilish grin. “Please don’t stop touching her on my account. I’ve already heard all the gossip. If only half of that is true, a simple hand on the knee is as PG as it comes.”
“Gossip?” Cameron crossed his arms. “Please, do tell.”
“Ruth O’Brady told Ms. Iris at the grocery store that you were seeing a glamorous woman and planning sinful trips.” Becky lowered her voice to a mock whisper. “With hot tubs. And she told Ms. Peggy that her grandson might give you a run for your money.” Becky waved her hand in the air like she shooed away a fly. “Ms. Peggy and I both knew that was a crock.” She reached out and poked her finger in Cameron’s cheek, right on top of a dimple she’d pointed out the same way since fourth grade. “Nobody is cuter than Deputy Dimples.”
“Shut up, Becky.”
“Mr. Hugh came in and mentioned that he’d seen the two of you arguing…”
Addie rested her forehead in her hands on the counter. “Great.”
Cameron patted her back. “Don’t worry. Someone is bound to do something stupid soon, and you will be old news.”
“You went for a run in the rain, Cameron. I think you’re still at the top of the list for dumb moves.” Becky angled her body, blocking him as she spoke to Addie. “By the way, I’m Becky. Gossip aside, we’ve all been dying to meet you.”
“Who’s ‘we’?”
“Not now, Becky.”
She ignored Cameron’s warning. “Cameron’s friends. He does have a few despite the grouchy attitude. Even if the rumors aren’t true, anyone that could snag Cameron’s attention is worth meeting.”
“It’s only work,” he ground out between his teeth. She better not mention Jennifer to Addie.
Becky’s smile grew, her eyes locked on Cameron. “Funny. It looks like a lot of play and no work.”
Addie blushed under her already flushed cheeks. Becky never changed. He set a hand on her knee again and gave her an easy squeeze.
“Don’t you have some work to do of your own.”
“I am working.”
“I don’t think you’re earning much of a tip from me.”
“I might when I slip you one of my orange cranberry muffins I baked this morning.”
He raised his eyebrows and nodded his head. “Yes, please.” Becky might be a pain in the butt half the time, but her baking skills were amazing.
She lifted her shoulder. “We’ll see.” The door jingled.
A man walked in. His shoulders and arms barely fit in the button-up shirt he wore. Fake muscles. Could lift weights in a gym but not much use in agility. Or a fight.
“Man, oh, man. The fates have given you and your boys some competition. Y’all aren’t the cutest guys to ever set foot in Statem anymore.”
Addie glanced over her shoulder. She snapped her head back, her eyes wide. Her voice mixed with a little disbelief and a substantial amount of worry. “That’s Brian.”
14
“Excuse me,” Brian said in that deep rumble she knew too well. It was his ‘strong voice’ he thought made him sound more authoritative. He once said, “You know, in case I get cast to be in an action movie and a bomb is about to explode.”
Becky’s sky blue eyes shifted between her and Brian before she straightened her shoulders and plastered a lethal, female smile on her face. Despite her petite frame, Becky looked ready for war.
“Do we like Brian?” she whispered like they were best friends. At least she might have a female ally.
“Ex-boyfriend,” Addie replied. “As of yesterday.”
“And a major piece of crap,” Cameron added.
Becky nodded once and strode toward the door. Cameron mumbled something, but his posture remained stick straight, partway blocking Addie from Brian’s view. Addie was happy to take refuge behind him as long as possible.
Brian shot Becky a toothpaste commercial ready grin. “Hi.”
“You can take a seat, sugar,” Becky said with a slightly deeper Southern accent than before. She wiped her hands on the towel hanging from the back pocket of her jeans. “I’ll be with you in a moment.”
Disgust flickered over Brian’s face as he glanced around the diner. “No, thank you. I need directions. I have an address, but my GPS keeps taking me in circles.”
Addie watched the interaction in the reflection from the mirror behind the counter. Cameron’s lips twitched, but the humor didn’t reach his eyes. Cold. Focused. Controlled. Opposite from the heat in his kiss. Addie didn’t want the two men to meet. It was like two sides of her personality on a slow collision course.
She might not survive the explosion.
“Let me see that address, sugar.” Becky took his phone from him.
Ms. Iris swung through the back door with a tray holding two smoothies and two glasses of water. She set them down and eyed the new customer. “Here you go, Cameron.”
Cameron shifted forward to grab his water, and Addie followed his movement still hiding behind his broad shoulders that blocked her view of Brian. She twisted in her seat and grabbed the water. She sucked it down, quenching her thirst and wishing she could disappear at the bottom of the glass.
“Can I help you?” Ms. Iris met Becky at the door.
Cameron rose from his seat, placing a hand on Addie’s shoulder. His lips brushed her temple. “Are you okay?”
Addie kept her head down but cut her eyes to the side. Brian glanced around the diner, his eyes skimming right past her. How did he not recognize her? She’d been with him for almost three years.
Cameron shifted closer to her. “You need to speak to him, Addie.”
“I don’t want to.” She took a deep breath. “I told you, I broke up with him the last time we talked. I don’t want that life anymore.”
The coldness in his eyes disappeared. His lips parted. “You don’t?”
“No.” What else did she need to tell him? “I’m done with him,” she said, brushing her fingers along the side of his cheek.
“You’re in luck. Cameron,” Ms. Iris called. Cameron didn’t look away from Addie until the last moment before he took a step away from her.
Like facing a firing squad, she shifted in her chair to watch him walk to meet Brian. The difference between them was immediate. Lean and deadly versus big and bulky. Brian didn’t even give Addie a second glance.
She looked at the mirror. She’d transformed back into the girl from college. Her hair, darker from the rain, in a ponytail, no makeup. Her face flushed from her run.
“I’m Brian Wellston. I’m here to see Addison Johnson. She’s staying with a family named Dempsey. Seems there was a misunderstanding about my car.”
Cameron didn’t shake his hand but crossed his arms over his chest, still facing away from Addie. “That misunderstanding ended with her in jail, and now she has a court date in another week to face a serious charge.
”
Brian rolled his shoulders. “Man, mistakes happen you know. If you’ve ever met Addie, you’d realize that she doesn’t always understand how the world works. Flighty, you know. That’s why I’m here. To take care of her.”
Becky’s cute facade fell as she took a slow step away from Cameron.
A moment later, Ms. Iris did the same thing. “Now, Cameron, no need getting like that. It’s a good thing that this is an easy resolution.” She fluttered her hands in Addie’s direction. That was her cue.
She rose, her thighs screaming after that hard run. She glued her eyes to Brian. One. Two. Three. Four. Five—
“Addie?” Brian stepped in her direction. “I didn’t recognize you. They’ve been treating you that bad?” He straightened to his full height, still an inch shy of Cameron although much wider. “I’ll make sure the judge hears about this.”
“I’m fine, Brian. I went for a run with Cameron this morning.”
“They’re making you run?”
She held her plastic smile in place. “I wanted to run. I do exercise on my own.” Not that he’d ever noticed what she did.
“Oh.” Brian shoved his hands in his pockets. “We need to talk, but I’ll let you get cleaned up. You look like you need a shower.”
She motioned to a far table. “I’m fine for right now. We can talk here.”
Another look of disgust passed over his features, and he swallowed. “How about I take you back to get your things? After you’ve had a chance to”—he waved his hand at her—“you know, get back to the old Addie, we can go out and get something nice to eat.”
This was the old Addie. Or the new Addie. Who knew at this point.
Cameron shifted near Becky, whispering something before Becky handed him a set of keys from her pocket. He held open the diner door. “You can follow us to where she’s staying.”
“I’ll drive Addie,” Brian announced, standing as tall as possible. Probably to intimidate Cameron. The drive would give her the time she needed to break-up with him. Again. Since he apparently had trouble remembering.
He popped her on her backside. “Hurry along, sweet cheeks, I’ve missed seeing my girlfriend.”
Cameron took a step, fists balled tight, but Becky stepped in front of him, both hands smacking against his chest.
Addie saw it. Cameron’s murderous expression. Not only cold and unfeeling, but dangerous, too. No muscle in the world would defend Brian against him if he lost control.
The thought of him defending her shouldn’t excite her. But it did.
“Addie’s with me. You can meet us there.” Cameron’s low, authoritative voice sent a shiver through her.
He’d claimed her as his. Despite what he’d said on the bridge, he wanted her for his own. God, she wished there was a way to make that happen.
Brian smirked and cracked his knuckles. Great, now wasn’t the time for Brian to grow a protective streak. Addie pushed them apart. She patted Brian’s shoulder. “Cameron is the Chief Deputy that got me out of jail and an old friend of Trevor’s. Please follow us to the house, and we’ll talk there.” She rushed out the door. What did Becky’s car look like? A large hand caught her elbow. She jerked in response. She wasn’t going with Brian.
“Becky’s car is this way.” Cameron didn’t drop her arm from his firm grip until he opened the passenger door to a little, ice blue two-door coupe. He closed the door and jogged around to the other side.
“I think you made Brian mad.” She glanced in the side mirror. Brian stood there, staring after them before climbing in his rented black Mercedes.
“I don’t give a shit.” His jaw tightened. He started the car and pulled out onto the street.
“Cameron, I’m sorry. I don’t know what kind of trouble he’ll cause. He’s always seen me as his personal doll. Almost like a possession. It’s never really bothered me one way or another before now.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for.” He tightened his hands on the steering wheel. “Just know I won’t walk away the next time he lays a hand on you.”
Brian tailed them to Cameron’s parents’ house as Cameron drove thirty-five the whole way.
Before Cameron even took the keys out of the ignition, Brian had opened her door. “Don’t worry, I’ll get us a nice, large hotel suite to wait this out. It’s ridiculous that you have to endure this treatment. I would have come sooner had I known. That brother of yours sure doesn’t know how to treat his sister. He said you were being cared for better than I could.”
Sheriff Dempsey walked out onto the porch, his calm demeanor the opposite of Cameron’s seriously pissed-off vibes.
“Ms. Iris called to let me know we have company?” Sheriff Dempsey sauntered down the stairs, the star of his badge glinting in the sunlight breaking through the rain clouds. “And that my supervision might be necessary.”
Addie straightened and faced the fact that this unpleasantness was due to her. “This is Brian Wellston.”
“The owner of the stolen vehicle,” Sheriff Dempsey said.
Brian grinned as if he were proud of that title. “That’s me. I’ve come to collect Addie. We’ll be back for her court date.”
“I don’t think so, son. She doesn’t seem to want to go with you.”
Cameron stepped up next to his father. She could see him being Sheriff one day. Taking over. Running the town.
Brian puffed out his chest. “I don’t see why not. She’s my girlfriend.”
“She’s my responsibility.” Cameron’s quiet words sounded more like a challenge than a statement of fact.
“It’s not like she’s going to run away.” Brian shrugged and looked around the front yard. “She shouldn’t be expected to stay here. I mean, this isn’t exactly the lifestyle she’s used to.” He looked at Cameron. “That I gave her.”
Cameron didn’t flinch. “She either stays here or she goes back to jail.”
Addie tightened her lips. Sheriff Dempsey raised his eyebrows but remained quiet.
“Are you threatening her?” Brian stepped up on the porch, coming toe-to-toe with Cameron. “Because we can settle this any way you’d like.”
Cameron’s tense body shifted, but his face remained neutral this time. “I’m saying the terms of her release from the Cook County jail that your dumb ass put her in was a release into the custody of the Sheriff’s department here in Statem. Custody. She stays here or in the local jail. Either way, she’s not leaving with you.”
He’d lied. He’d told a bald-faced lie. The tips of his ears turned red, but other than that, he didn’t blink. Sheriff Dempsey stared at his son. Addie had read the release papers. She was in their custody, but only as taking responsibility for ensuring she’d return for her court date, but she didn’t have to stay at their house. Mrs. Dempsey had even said she could’ve stayed at the bed and breakfast had there been an availability. Where she spent the two weeks was never outlined. She’d gone along with his plan to stay with his parents because that’s what Trevor had wanted for her. To have someone watching out.
“Is this true?” Brian stepped off the porch and grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her around to face him, a little harder than necessary. “You have to stay with these people?” His fingers dug into her skin. He’d only been this furious a few times in their relationship. She’d always flirted him out of his mood. But she didn’t have it in her anymore.
“Yes. I have to stay with them, or I end up back in jail.”
“This is the most backward thing I’ve ever heard of. I’ll get the lawyer to fix this. Go get changed, and we’ll find you a nicer place than this to spend the next week.”
“Brian, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I’m fine here with the Dempseys. I don’t even know why you care. I already told you we should see other people.” The manic look on his face worried her. He didn’t care about her, that had been clear in their relationship, so what was it? He’d always tried to control her, and she supposed he thought he had, although she’d gone
along with it for her own reasons.
His fingers tightened.
Any lingering friendship-type feelings she’d had for him vanished with the pain and uncharacteristic aggression.
“You don’t get to make the decision, Addie. We talked about this. I’ll tell you what’s best for you.” He pulled her a fraction closer, pinpricks of pain shot through her shoulders and for the first time, a small amount of fear crept through her veins. “Go get in something worthy of being my girlfriend so we can get out of here.”
A whimper escaped her lips as his fingers tightened further. She’d held it in as long as possible.
From behind her, Cameron’s hands clamped over Brian’s wrists.
“Let go.” Cameron’s voice sounded as nonchalant as he might say a command to Lacy. His body brushed up against her back. She leaned into him. Into his strength and safety, wishing she could curl into his chest and let him take her anywhere else. She’d never been scared of Brian. He’d never shown this much emotion before. At least not before now.
Brian snarled. “I don’t think you know who you’re up against.”
“I’m up against someone I can arrest for assault if you leave so much as a bruise on Addie.” His hands flexed on Brian’s wrists. The pain eased up although Brian still held her. “You can let go on your own or I will gladly break your wrists.”
“Ha, you and who—” Brian screamed as Cameron twisted his hands. Brian dropped to his knees with a shout of pain.
“Stop!” Addie pulled at Cameron’s arms. He released Brian.
“Asshole.” Brian rubbed his wrists. “You almost broke both my arms!”
“You didn’t let go.” Cameron turned his back on Brian. He reached up and pulled the neck of her spandex exercise shirt over her shoulder, threads popping. If it weren’t for the savage gleam in his eyes, she might have slapped his hand away for ruining her shirt. But she let him investigate.
“Get your hands off my girlfriend.”
Cameron’s eyes fixated on her shoulder. The dull throb confirmed that Brian had left a mark where he’d squeezed her.
