by Debra
Now she was impressed. “You guys think of everything.”
He shrugged as he stopped in the middle of the room. “Usually.”
Something about that tone. She could pick up the nuance, which amazed her, since she missed all the subtleties of conversation at the office. “Meaning?”
He didn’t say anything for long minutes. Just stood there staring down at the tip of his shoe. “Nothing prepared me for you.”
Something spun around in her belly and she thought it might be fear mixed with a twinge of hope and a dose of excitement. “That sounds like a compliment.”
He turned to face her. “Not that many things throw me off stride.”
“Let me try now.” Before he could say no or reason through the arguments, she had her arms around his neck and her lips on his.
The kiss dragged her under right from the start. She heard roaring in her ears, and excitement bubbled in her chest. Touching him, holding him, being this close filled her with a lightness she couldn’t remember ever feeling before.
The throat clearing came a second before Holt’s dry voice. “Am I interrupting?”
Cam jumped and put his body in front of hers. Actually held out his arms so no part of her peeked through except her head, which she kept moving to get a better view.
“Maybe I don’t like Holt that much after all.” She was only half kidding.
“That’s what I was just thinking.” Cam didn’t sound amused at all.
* * *
HOLT COUGHED. IT was the worst fake cough Cam had ever heard. Didn’t help that Holt laughed while doing it.
Then he held up a hand. “Sorry.”
Somehow Cam doubted that. “Are you?”
Holt walked into the building. His shoes tapped against the floor and Cam wondered where that sound was five minutes ago. No one got the jump on him. He’d been trained not to let people sneak up on him. He’d failed that test in the past few minutes.
Further proof that being near Julia put him in a tailspin.
“Wanted to make sure you found the place and give you a status.” Holt nodded to Julia as he talked.
“On what?” she asked.
Holt’s mouth opened and closed again. Clearly the guy wasn’t sure how to relay the information without debriefing Julia in the process.
Cam almost laughed at that, since this was the woman who had heard evidence against him and still sided with him. She didn’t exactly cough up details in order to protect her own butt. She could be trusted, and he never thought that about anyone.
He could even admit it. “You can talk in front of her.”
“Whoa.” Holt made a face. “Really?”
Cam knew the reaction was about Cam’s own issues, but Julia took exception. “Do you want a reference?”
“I wasn’t... Never mind.” Holt checked his watch. “The guy is following Shane.”
“What are we talking about?” Julia sat down hard on the edge of the table. The confusion on her face came through in her voice.
“There’s been a car shadowing you and Cam,” Holt explained. “Shane managed a pretty stealthy switch and now the car is following him instead of you, but the driver doesn’t know that.”
An impressive maneuver and one Cam was grateful for. He’d picked up the tail early but didn’t let his concern show. An emergency code to Holt took care of the problem, which explained why they worked in groups. Swinging some of these switches alone would be tough.
“Is it the police?” She did not seem even a little upset about the idea of tricking the police.
“Nah, it’s a guy named Ray Miner.” Holt slipped a piece of paper out of his back pants pocket. “Connor and Joel have been working on this.”
Cam took the sheet and stared at the coded message. “Of course they are.”
“This Ray is a mercenary type. Retired military who’s had trouble in and out with drugs. He showed up on Calapan almost a year ago and now his bank accounts are flush.”
“That’s stupid.” She looked back and forth between them. “Doesn’t it make it easier to prove his guilt, if he is guilty of something?”
Holt shook his head. “They’re hidden accounts. He’s not an amateur and Joel had to dig to find them.”
And that was the part that worried Cam. Kreider had ego issues. Cam didn’t know what Ray had other than a uniform that didn’t belong to him and some skills. “Ray is our fake police chief.”
“Yeah, he clearly doesn’t like you.” Holt’s voice grew more serious as he talked. “He’s been passing your photo around town, suggesting you’re dangerous.”
Julia linked her fingers together. Within a few seconds her knuckles turned white. “You think he killed Rudy?”
“Probably but he’s not the leader type. Someone else is running this.” Before Cam could ask, Holt filled in the rest of the details. “Kreider has gone missing. He was smart enough to remove the tracker I put on his car.”
That did it.
“You’re leaving in the morning.” Cam stared at Julia but refused to debate this point. She’d stayed too long and he didn’t trust Sandy. Cam wanted her back in Seattle in a hotel. The idea of her rolling around in crisp sheets did appeal to him. “First ferry. We get you to Seattle. If that’s not safe enough, we put you on a plane to Maryland.”
“Why?”
“The home office is there. The Annapolis group can watch over you. No one will think to look for you there.” The more he thought about it, the more he liked the plan.
“One flaw.” She held up a finger. “I’ve never been there and know no one there.”
“That’s what the team is for.” Connor would watch over her. The women would take her in. Sure, he’d have to fight off all kinds of matchmaking attempts, but no one would be shooting at her, and that was worth it to Cam.
“You don’t think that would be a little odd?” She looked as if she was fighting a laugh. “You dump me on these people and then stay here?”
“This is what we do.” They rescued people and kept them safe. That was exactly what this would be.
“I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.”
She was missing the point, so Cam tried again. “This is not about comfort. It’s about safety.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “I knew you were going to say that.”
This was not the time for this argument, but Cam was fine to have it. He took a step toward her, but Holt blocked his path. “Can I talk with you for a second?”
That sounded like a request, but it wasn’t. Cam wanted to say no, but Holt would just threaten to kick his ass, and nothing good could come out of that situation to calm Julia’s nerves.
Holt didn’t even wait for an answer. He opened the door and stepped out on a solid plank on the deck. Cam closed the door behind him and joined his friend and team leader. And waited. A lecture would hit any second now. Cam could feel it.
“I like her,” Holt said.
That was not where Cam had expected the conversation to go. But he was wary because Holt could easily be luring him in. “Okay.”
Holt had both hands on his hips. “Anything you want to tell me?”
There it was. The circle around to the private stuff. Cam pretended he didn’t get it and went right to the work angle. “We need to look into people in addition to Kreider. He has the connections, but I can’t believe others would follow him. He’s not the kind of guy who can command men for long.” Cam wrote a list in his head. “There’s this guy named Sandy—”
“No.” Holt actually made a weird sound that came out kind of like a growl. “About Julia.”
Yeah, this was The Talk. Cam braced for the rest of it. “She’s pretty tough.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Bright, smart, confident. Doesn’t scare easily.” He could go on but thought he’d said enough. Too much and Holt would shift this conversation into a place Cam didn’t want it to go.
Holt’s eyebrow lifted. “Pretty.”
He said i
t, but Cam was not about to disagree. “True.”
“Look, I’ve watched this whole scenario play out before. You’re not the first Corcoran Team member to lose his head over a woman.”
Cam knew all about the Annapolis office and how they got paired off one by one. Found amazing women and surrendered their bachelorhoods. He and Shane and Holt had joked about never drinking the water back at the Annapolis office because there had to be something in it that made reasonable men fall stupid in love. They’d also promised they would not fall into the same trap.
The danger and the missions didn’t really allow for a home life. Cam wasn’t quite sure why the Annapolis office didn’t see it. Not that the women weren’t great. They were. Every woman matched up well with one of the members. But the point was anything could happen. Cam didn’t see a reason to take the risk when there were plenty of women out there who were fine with a no-strings relationship.
They were confirmed bachelors and Cam wasn’t ready to let that go. “That’s not happening.”
Holt smiled. “She’s hot. Like, way hot.”
That was the kind of smile, as if he was mentally conjuring up Julia’s face, that made Cam homicidal. “Holt, get to the point. Now.”
“You know what happens next, right? You fall, hard and fast.” Holt leaned in and his voice dropped lower. “You get tied up and ripped apart.”
Cam had watched Joel suffer and squirm. He’d loved Hope and feared for her safety. The combination had him spinning in circles and miserable until he won her back.
Cam did not want a piece of that misery. “I’m not involved with Julia in that way.”
“You looked pretty involved with your hand up her shirt.”
Did that happen? Cam just remembered his palm hitting bare skin and his mind imploding. “You’re spying on me now?”
“I was going to walk up to the place sooner, but you were in midkiss. And not to question your skills, but it’s not as if you noticed me.” Holt held up a hand. “Which brings me to my point.”
Cam beat him to the punch because hearing the accusation just might lead to a punch being thrown. “I’m not going to blow the job. I have never messed up a mission or put anything before the team.”
“When it comes down to a choice between her or the assignment, you need to think about what you’re going to choose.” Holt wasn’t whispering now. His deep voice carried on the still night.
“She’s the assignment.” The words rang hollow in Cam’s ears. He couldn’t sell the argument, because not one part of him believed it.
“That’s just it, Cam. She’s not. You dragged her into this.” Holt’s shoulders fell as he blew out a breath. “You made her a target when you ran into her yard and brought her into this mess.”
The anger simmering inside Cam spilled over. He knew he was responsible. Knew and hated it, and having it thrown in his face didn’t make the situation better. “Don’t you think I know that? If I could go back and replay that and keep her safe from the beginning, I would.”
“I know.”
“But being shot at messed up my thinking.” And once he’d had her he couldn’t bring himself to store her. He wanted her by his side. He said this was to watch over her, but there were moments when he knew that wasn’t true.
“Then give some thought to how this is going to end.”
Cam got lost in the vagueness of that one. “The job or with Julia?”
“See, the fact that you’re asking that question proves my point.” Holt took off down the stairs. If he was worried about his footing, he didn’t show it. He stopped one step from the water. “And because I’m your friend and a good leader, I put a condom in the bag.”
“What?”
Holt smiled. “You’re welcome.”
The idea of being free to touch Julia... Cam couldn’t even let his mind go there. “You’re sending mixed messages here.”
“I know.” Holt didn’t bother turning around this time. He just waved a hand over his shoulder and kept walking. “I’m just waiting to see which one you’re smart enough to follow.”
The longer he stood there, the more Cam questioned the answer.
Chapter Nine
Julia opened the duffel bag hoping to find chips, maybe some candy. She shoved some T-shirts aside and something that looked like a bomb. She had no idea what that was about. Mixing food with ammunition should be illegal. With her luck she’d eat the wrong thing.
A bit more shifting and she hit more goodies. The packet on top of a new pair of sneakers was not food. Not even close.
She picked the condom up between two fingers and held it, not sure what to do next. Instead of being excited or even grateful, she felt anger filling her. But throwing a fit was not her style.
This was some sort of go-to bag Holt had delivered for an assignment, and it came with birth control. Shirts, bombs and condoms. It was like some bizarre college pack.
The choices made her wonder exactly how Cam operated on a job. A guy who kept his pants zipped and his mind on the operation wouldn’t need condoms. Could be she’d fallen for a pretty face with a sexy line.
The door opened and Cam stepped back in with the push of cool wind behind him. He shook his head and drops of water fell from his hair. When he looked up at her, he froze.
She continued to hold the condom. “This is interesting.”
With a small shake of his head, he unstuck himself from the floor and came over to her. Crouched down even with where she kneeled. “That’s Holt’s idea of being helpful.”
Cam made it sound so innocent. “He’s your birth-control pusher?”
“He knows I’m attracted to you.” Cam took the condom and slipped it into his front pants pocket. “He also gave me a lecture about keeping my mind on the job, so it’s not clear what he wants me to do. Not that he gets a say.”
Do... She’d been asking herself the same questions ever since that first kiss. Kept it private as she turned her options over in her mind. Knowing Holt and Cam were out there talking about her just felt wrong. “I’m trying to figure out if I should be embarrassed.”
“No one was engaging in locker room talk or anything like that. Believe it or not, the condom is a new addition to the go bag. I’m trying to remember if Holt ever tried to help me out like that.” He smiled. “I promise.”
The twisting in her stomach started to loosen. Maybe she’d jumped to conclusions. Not trusting was a knee-jerk reaction for her. The doubting had become so ingrained it qualified as her go-to response. But, really, any person would wonder with those supplies.
Her father used to make a promise and then break it. She’d learned early on not to take anyone’s word or operate on blind faith. Yet she’d done exactly that since meeting Cam. She didn’t understand her reaction or how her attraction guided her when it came to him.
“I assumed that...” She flipped her hand around as she tried to find the right thing to say. It would be too easy to offend and she really didn’t want to do that.
“Julia, it’s okay.” He reached over and slid his fingers through hers. “I get it.”
“I guess it seemed like...” She groaned when the words refused to come. “Forget it.”
“You have been hit with a lot of evidence that suggests I’m a liar and a jerk. Every time, you’ve assessed the facts with a cool head instead of jumping to conclusions.” He caressed one of her fingers, then another. “You’ve listened even when it would have been easier for you to write me off.”
The touch of his hand felt so good that she almost lost her train of thought. Almost. “And I’ve sided with you every time.”
He shot her a smile. “I like that about you.”
That sexy look had her insides melting. She didn’t know how all the people he rescued withstood that. He turned on that grin, and the blood rushed from her brain. His effect on her senses had her breath coming out in pants.
“You don’t seem so bad,” she joked. And by that she meant he went to her head faster t
han any man she’d ever met.
“As for the condom, Holt’s gestures, while well meaning, sometimes misfire.” Cam sucked in air through his teeth, making a hissing sound. “He can be socially awkward.”
Julia heard the respect and friendship behind the sound. “Does he know you say things like that about him?”
“I tell him almost daily.”
The thought of the guys sitting around ribbing each other made her smile. “I thought maybe sex was part of the job.”
Cam’s eyes widened. “What?”
“You know, that you guys have a bet about who can score first. That you get together and plan strategy.” She shrugged. “You hear about stuff like that. Usually when something goes very wrong or some poor woman finds out the hard way, but I see it here and there.”
His frown didn’t ease, but the touch of his hand against hers stayed gentle. “What kind of men do you know?”
She was starting to wonder that herself. “The usual twentysomethings. Guys I worked with. Went to school with. Friends of friends and setups. Randoms on the internet.”
“That list makes me happy I’m thirty-three and not in the middle of the dating scene.” He stood and drew her up beside him. “Come here.”
She didn’t say anything. She was too busy holding her breath when his hands landed on the small of her back and pulled her close.
“I am not married, engaged or involved,” he said.
“That’s probably a good thing in light of the things I’ve been thinking about you.”
“I’m not— Wait, really?”
It was a nonstop action film in her head. She saw him and her, and there was nothing neutral about it. “Yeah.”
He nodded. “Okay, well, you may as well listen to the entire list, then.”
She took a big inhale and let it out slowly. “I’m ready.”
“I have never, and I mean never, ever, had sex on an assignment. I do not go looking for bed partners from vulnerable people or people in danger.” He shifted his legs until they straddled hers. “In fact, my attraction to you is a pretty big problem.”
She tried to swallow but she forgot how. “Because?”
