by Donna Fasano
The woman waved again.
“He’s not my—”
Both Rex and Cameron nodded a greeting.
Julia let her protest drift off with a sigh.
“As I was saying, Rex and I, we’re up from Tennessee to visit kin, and it happens that jus’ outside of Cumberland Falls, we stop to take some pictures and run across this fellow.”
The woman churned her straw up and down through the crushed ice of her drink.
The cold, crunching sound grated on Julia’s nerves almost as much as the delay in the story. Still, she had to hear the woman out. If she had run into another man with an Irish accent at Cumberland Falls, it could well be Shaughnessy. She couldn’t let her agitation keep her from that kind of information.
“And this other fellow—” Julia prompted.
“Now, he was the friendly type. If you know what I mean.” She nudged Julia and giggled. “I struck up a conversation with him on account of that’s jus’ the kind of big-hearted gal I am.”
Julia pretended to join in her laughter.
“And I was glad I did it, too. That accent gave me fits! What a charmer. Had the most darlin’ redheaded kid with him, too.”
Devin. Julia jerked her head up, trying to catch Cameron’s eye so she could signal him to come over and hear this. “Did you notice what kind of car they were in?”
“A dark green four-wheel drive jobbie with Ohio plates—I noticed on account of—well, you know, them four-wheel drives ain’t cheap, and a gal takes note of a thing like that.”
“Did they mention how long they had been in the area or how long they intended to stay? Just curious.” She tossed in the afterthought in hope of disguising the interrogation and passing it off as a bad case of nosiness.
“We didn’t talk about that.” She rolled her straw between her thumb and forefinger.
“I don’t suppose he told you where they were staying?”
“Nope. I just figured they’d be camping in the park, but he didn’t say as much.”
“Didn’t the fellow, or his kid, say anything?”
“The fellow said plenty. Plenty of nothin’—but it sure sounded pretty.” Her thin shoulders rose and fell in a huge sigh. “Said he was cornin’ into some money and headin’ south soon, wanted my number so’s he could call. Got the impression that menfolks from that part of the world really took after us southern belle types, you know what I mean?”
“Well, I—” This was going nowhere fast. The woman had clearly encountered Shaughnessy and Devin at Cumberland Falls, proving Cameron’s hunch right. Julia doubted she’d learn anything more from the enamored blonde.
“Of course, I don’t mean your man, honey,” the woman quickly corrected. “That is, I thought he might go for my type, which is why I said hello to him.”
Julia offered a watery smile and wondered how to gracefully escape.
“But don’t you worry about your husband, honey. I figured out real quick he wasn’t no truck-stop Romeo.” The blonde gave Julia’s elbow a pinch.
If she had thought it would get her out of the conversation, Julia would have confessed that she and Cameron were not married. But she thought it might just prolong her agony if it renewed the blonde’s interest in the handsome Irishman.
“You got a good one there, you do, honey.” The woman slurped up a long draw of her soda, then smacked her strawberry-colored lips. “Hang on to him with both hands and a leash if you have to.”
Julia tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “I hardly think that will be necessary”
“Oh, me neither, doll. I mean, I saw the way he looked at you when he pointed you out. A man looks at his wife like that, he ain’t goin’ nowhere.”
“Looks at me?” Julia stilled. “How?”
She pivoted to confront the talkative stranger, but the woman had moved on to the chip aisle, her glossy lips moving as she read the nutritional statistics on the back of a bag of pork rinds.
After getting her fondest wish and finding herself spared any more yammering, Julia felt tempted to follow the woman and demand to know more. How did Cameron look at her? What did she mean that Cameron wasn’t going anywhere? Did this absolute stranger know something, see something, that Julia’s own confusion and clashing feelings blocked her from seeing? She took one step toward the pork-rind-absorbed lady, but a hand on her shoulder held her back.
“Listen, Julia, I’ve just heard something very interesting,” Cameron whispered against her temple.
The movement of his lips against her skin made her freeze. She wondered if she turned around right now if she would see “how he looked at her.” She also wondered if she could live with the consequences of such knowledge.
If she saw nothing, it would wound her to the quick, and she would still have to spend the next night and day in the company of this man. If she saw any encouraging emotion shining back at her, it would thrill her to her being, and yet she would still have to say good-bye to him once Shaughnessy was caught. Since she knew Cameron was closer to Shaughnessy now than he ever had been since she’d handed Devin over to the man, she decided she could not risk so much on the observations of a “big-hearted gal” with an overly active appreciation of men.
She drew in the aroma of the roasting frankfurters, held it as long as she could, and used her repulsion to mask any emotion that might show on her face. When she turned, it was with her arms crossed. “And I have a little news flash for you, O’Dea. Did you know that according to a certain woman I just met, we’re married?”
“A certain woman?” He stroked his chin with one curved finger. “You wouldn’t happen to be meaning Imogene, would you? A lovely lass with the enormous…”
He cupped his hands to form a set of parentheses in the air.
Julia’s eyes grew wide.
“…hair,” he concluded with a knowing grin.
She rolled her eyes. “That’s the one.”
~*~
Was it his imagination or did he see jealousy flit through Julia’s expression? He reached out to sweep the long spirals of black hair off her shoulder, savoring the sensation of the stray curls winding around his knuckles. “And you say the lass thinks we’re joined in wedded bliss?”
“I wonder where she got a crazy idea like that?” She might as well have pointed directly at him.
“I don’t know.” He smoothed his hand down her upper arm and glanced at the blonde who had flirted so outrageously with him. “She looks like a lass with a pretty healthy imagination.”
“Okay, I’ll give you that.” She shifted to the right so that her face filled his line of vision. “But even if she did make it all up, you didn’t have to let her keep believing it.”
“You’re right, I didn’t have to.” But maybe I wanted to, he thought, kneading her arm with his fingertips, gazing at her temper-flushed face and intense blue eyes. Maybe it just felt too good to pretend for only a moment that he belonged to someone—and that someone was Julia.
He glanced over his shoulder, unable to keep his gaze on her too long for fear of revealing too much. “Listen, Julia, I didn’t lie to Imogene, but I didn’t dissuade her, either. That’s the truth. At first it was easier to let her think I was married to you than to fend off her enthusiasm for my accent.”
“I can understand that.”
“Then, after she started talking about another man with a year-a-pin accent, I felt I had to guard any information I could about us.”
She stepped close enough to make her faintest whisper heard. “It’s Shaughnessy, isn’t it?”
“I think it is, yes.” He scored his fingers through his hair. “And if there is any chance that he is in this area and could run into that lass again—”
“You didn’t want her ranting about the gorgeous countryman of his she ran into,” Julia concluded, nodding to show her approval.
Gorgeous? Did Julia really think of him that way? He pursed his lips to tease her about the description, then thought better of it. Embarrassment would only c
ause her to backpedal, and he didn’t want to listen to her deny it or turn it into a joke.
“Yes, it did appear that once the lass thought me married, her interest waned to the point of making me feel almost invisible.”
“You? Invisible to a female predatory type?” She shook her head. “That’ll be the day.”
“Don’t go on, sweet Julia, you’re making me blush.”
“And your false modesty is making me queasy,” she shot back. “Or maybe the smell of the greasy food is to blame.”
“Has to be the food.” He placed his hand on her back to get her moving so they could get back into the RV again.
“Because there is nothing false about your modesty?” she asked, teasing.
“Because,” he leaned in so close to her ear that the sides of their faces touched briefly. He could actually see the skin on the back of her neck draw into goosebumps as he pressed in, just a little bit closer still, and whispered in slow, distinct words what he knew would keep that tingle humming on her skin long enough to allow him to get some work done. “Because the last thing I would ever claim to be is modest, sweet Julia. I know what I’m doing and I know I do it better than most. So let’s get to it.”
~*~
“Why don’t you want me to drive this last stretch?” Julia called out from the open side door as she waited for her companion to show his face again.
He’d been on the phone for twenty minutes, and Julia was growing exceedingly restless. She understood his not wanting to talk about something as consequential as finding Devin and Shaughnessy while trying to steer an RV. What she could not understand was his steadfast refusal to let her drive while he made the necessary contacts with local officials.
She surveyed the parking lot reserved for trucks and RVs of a certain size with its steady stream of comings and goings. The air shimmered from gasoline vapors and engine exhaust, which both gave off a staunch smell. She saw happy campers and busy truckers, but no sign of the green-eyed Irishman.
“You can’t hide from me for very long, O’Dea. I know where you live.” She pounded the side of Norman’s sturdy vehicle for emphasis.
Finally, Cameron rounded the bumper, his phone pressed to his ear.
“Aren’t you off that phone yet?” She groaned and looked heavenward.
He crimped his brow down and fine lines fanned out from his eyes, narrowed in concentration.
He was gorgeous. Imogene couldn’t have been the only woman in his life to think so. In fact, Julia admitted, the cheery blonde hadn’t even been the only woman today to find Cameron compellingly attractive. Julia found him so every day.
She swallowed hard and let go of the once-fresh fabric of her blouse, now wrinkled by the dampness of her palm. This was silly, she thought, to have to stand here and wait—and watch Cameron—when she could be making good use of her skills and time. “Just let me drive, Cameron, and you can sit in the passenger seat and talk to your heart’s content.”
He mouthed an unnecessarily exaggerated “No” in answer to her query
She harumphed at his refusal. Knowing they were so close to the kidnapper and knowing that her feelings for Cameron would have to go unresolved until Devin was safe and Shaughnessy captured made her all the more anxious to get underway. “Please,” she mouthed back at him.
He shook his head so hard a lock of golden hair fell over one eye.
“Oh, c’mon.” Still sitting on the floor of the RV on the edge of the open door, she waved away his cynical expression. “I can do it. What makes you think I can’t do it?”
“Uh-huh,” he said into the phone. “That’s right.”
“Just give me the keys.” From her seat it was easy to thrust out her hand at just the right level to motion for him to fork over the keys. “You can trust me.”
“I said no.” He brushed aside her eager, grasping fingers. “No, not you, Officer. I have a rather rowdy troublemaker on my hands here.” He placed one boot on the riser alongside Julia’s feet on the edge of the RV and leaned in, keeping his raised knee bent between them but also bringing his face so close she could see every nuance of his expression. “What’s that? Why, no, I don’t think I’ll need to make use of your jail, but I won’t rule it out.”
She stuck her tongue out at him.
He arched an eyebrow in response, making the haphazard strand of hair fall farther and snag on his dark eyelashes. “Actually, now that I consider it, Officer, placing her in your custody might just be the safest thing I can do for her.”
She gave a huff of a ‘ha’ and reached out and up to flick the wayward lock of hair tumbling out of his eye for him. She meant it as a kind peace offering and because it made him look even more adorable and ruggedly handsome and that had to be stopped, but he moved just as she raised her hand and she struck the bridge of his nose instead.
“It might be the safest thing I can do for myself as well,” he added, rubbing between his eyes with the back of his hand.
“Sorry,” she whispered. She tugged at the collar of her T- shirt, adding in a mutter she wasn’t quite sure if she intended for him to hear or not, “Maybe I can kiss it and make it better.”
Cameron looked up sharply. “On second thought, Officer, she’s such a desperate and unpredictable sort that I’d best keep her under my watchful eye at all times. But I thank you for the asking.” He held his hand up to keep her from further comment while he finished his conversation.
“Oh, wait!” Julia leaped down at last, her feet hitting the asphalt of the parking lot and jarring her whole body as she rushed to say, “I just remembered that your gal-pal Imogene said that Shaughnessy was driving a blue four-wheel drive something-or-another. ”
“Yes,” he said. “That should be adequate coverage.”
She waved both hands in the air. “Tell him about the four- wheel drive. Dark blue.”
‘Yes, I have notified the parks department and state police, but since he’s taken the child across state lines, I also had to contact the FBI.”
“The FBI?” Julia echoed in hushed awe. She wet her lips and gazed up at Cameron. “They need to know about the four-wheel drive, too.”
Cameron put his finger to her lips to quiet her.
She contemplated biting his finger, but then decided against it. She’d already whacked him across the nose. That was more than enough violence for her taste.
“Thank you, Officer.” He nodded. “I’ll be very careful. Thank you.”
“Why didn’t you tell him about the four-wheel drive vehicle?” She planted her hands on her hips as he put his phone away. “Honestly, Cameron, were you so busy tuning out my request to drive that you didn’t hear anything else I said?”
“I do recall hearing something about a kiss to make it better.” He inched forward.
“Talk about selective hearing,” Julia muttered. “What about the dark blue—"
“Green.”
“What?”
“The vehicle—’tis green.”
A tiny gasp filled her throat as she flattened her palm to her chest. “That’s right. She did say green. But how did you know?”
“I’ve known what Michael was driving since before we left this morning. Make, model, license plate number—and how much he paid for the rental.”
“But—why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Because, sweet Julia—” He touched his finger to the tip of her nose. “—you are not the officer on the case.”
“But I could have been watching for it as we drove. I might have spotted it and broken the case wide open. I—”
He cut her off with a step forward first. Not imposing himself, but more positioning himself so that she had to tilt her head back, look him in the eyes and listen – as well as she could listen with this man so near she could feel him breathing – when he smiled and said, “You no longer have to be the one who saves the day, who rushes to the rescue, who shoulders all the responsibilities, who ‘cracks the case wide open.’ Isn’t that right, Julia?”<
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He couldn’t get close enough to her to make her agree to that. She started to fold her arms and finding no space between them or it, put her hands on her hips. “I bet there are a lot of other things you’ve been keeping from me as well, aren’t there?”
“Nothing that you need to know, Julia.” The powerful mix of gentleness and hard brook-no-donnybrooks way he said made it hard for her not to believe him. He raised his head to look around them a moment, then fixed those eyes on her again. “I wouldn’t withhold anything from you if I thought you really needed it.”
“Except the keys to the RV,” she mumbled, brattiness being the only thing standing between her and the impossible desire to crumple into a helpless tower of goo at the very sight and sound of the man. She strode to the passenger door and dropped into her seat, thankful this little excursion, and the emotional roller coaster Cameron O’Dea inspired in her heart, would soon be over.
Chapter 11
Dupont Lodge,” Julia murmured as the RV rolled past a sign pointing the way to the main lodging in the park. “Hey, isn’t that where I get off?”
“That’s where I said we could get you a room if you insisted,” He guided the massive vehicle along a low, sloping curve.
“Should I have leaped out the window or something?” She twisted around to look longingly back at the road literally not traveled. “I mean, I don’t want to inconvenience you by making you stop, or even slow down, just so I can get to my room.”
The terse clip of her remark plucked at Cameron’s taut nerves. He was so close to nabbing Michael that he could all but smell it. He didn’t have the time or the patience to trade quips even with Julia, and her increasingly testy attitude only cranked up the vise-like pressure of his stress. “Much as I would have loved to have sent you sailing right out on your…”
She straightened up tall in the seat, shifted her sexy backside in the seat, almost daring him to use the word.
