Take her mind off of it. Easier said than done.
How the hell was she supposed to do that? First her car. A brand new car. That one pissed her off more than anything.
Then the snake. That was nasty. That one made her want to puke right on the carpet in her office. But she talked herself down while she guzzled water. Talked herself into anger again, because anger she could control better than fear.
Now she was going to try to relax, at least at the moment. She picked up her bottle of water and walked upstairs while Ian swept up the broken glass in her kitchen. Shouldn’t she take care of it herself? Yeah, she should, but she was still too shaken. He was probably right. She needed to walk away from it.
After grabbing a change of clothes, she decided a bath was the only way she was going to relax enough. Ian would be occupied downstairs. He’d have no clue at all. She had time.
Thirty minutes later, she came back downstairs in yoga pants, a long shirt, and flip-flops. He wanted her to relax, and she needed to be comfortable for that.
The bath had done wonders. If she let a few tears fall, she was able to hide it well. The steam and water wiped them away after she’d slid under and soaked her face and head, trying to wash away the night too.
Most of it. Not the kisses. And not the touches. Those could stay. Those she could hold onto for the night.
She heard two voices and figured she was going to meet Ian’s father. Oh well, guess it went well with the appearance they were trying to maintain.
“Hello,” she said, walking into her kitchen.
Was seeing Ian standing there with a drill in his hand supposed to make butterflies flutter in her stomach? Not just flutter but swarm around like a cyclone. Twisting and turning and getting her all worked up again. Different this time. Better this time. She could handle this kind of bodily response.
He turned sharply, his father following, then smiled at her. “I’m Cam. Cameron Mason,” she said, walking forward, offering her hand.
“Calvin Price. Nice to meet you.”
“We’re just about done here,” Ian said, looking her over. Her hair was still damp but piled on her head, her face scrubbed clean of any makeup. She wasn’t looking her best, but at this point, she didn’t care. She wasn’t supposed to be trying to turn him on.
It had been a battle to not do her hair and makeup, but she reminded herself that they were behind closed doors now. No reason to put the front on for anyone.
She grabbed another bottle of water and then went into her office. She’d make use of the time trying to look at David Arrow’s files some more. See if she could find anything about his girlfriend or her family there. She’d looked them all over already, preparing for her meeting next week, but it wouldn’t hurt to look again.
***
“She’s a looker.”
Ian turned to see his father’s smirk. “Yes, she is.”
“Kind of an unconventional meeting, don’t you think?”
He didn’t keep a lot of secrets from his parents. He didn’t often tell them when he’d been on a few dates either, but there was no way to avoid this. “Whatever works, right?”
His father nodded. “Just watch yourself. You don’t need someone trying to analyze your every move or motive,” his father said, laughing. He’d explained Cam’s profession, not wanting to feel like he was hiding everything. “Heaven help you. Your mother has done that to me her whole life and she isn’t trained to do more than teaching a bunch of snot-nosed middle-schoolers.”
Leave it to his father to joke about something while trying to be serious at the same time.
Yeah, Ian was aware that Cam was probably still trying to analyze him, but she wasn’t too obvious about it. That was probably worse, now that he thought about it.
He and his father finished up, then he made the dreaded walk to find Cam.
Dreaded because he’d noticed right away that she hadn’t just changed and tried to watch TV or read a book. But she’d stripped naked and lain in that large claw foot tub upstairs in her bathroom. The one he got a quick glimpse of when he walked around her house the other night and then again tonight.
It didn’t matter that he heard the water running and knew right away it wasn’t a quick shower, but a bath. He was happy she was relaxing. Too bad it wasn’t relaxing him in the least.
He knocked on the open doors to her office and walked in. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine,” she said. He could see that. Could see the bath helped her. “Did your father leave?”
“He did. Told me you were a looker.”
She laughed. “He can say that with the way I look right now?”
“He can and he did. He’d be right too.” He sat down across from her. “Doing work isn’t going to relax you though.”
“You’re right. I was just trying to occupy my mind.” She hit a few keys and then got up from behind her desk. “If you have a minute, would you sit in the living room with me?”
He should say no. He should go on his way. He should stop and buy some beer and put the game on. Anything to get his mind off the fact that she was scrubbed clean and standing in front of him chewing on her bottom lip looking more nervous than she was probably trying to let him see.
He didn’t do any of those things. “Sure.”
Once they were in her living room, she sat on the couch next to him. Not in a chair. Not at the other end of the couch. But right next to him, putting one foot under her thigh, then laying her head on his shoulder.
“Cam?” he asked. “Are you okay?”
“Can you just hold me for a minute? No one needs to know, right?”
“No,” he said pulling her in. “No one needs to know you let your guard down. Your secret is safe.”
He didn’t feel safe though. Not with her in his arms. Not with her scent assaulting all of his senses. Not with the way he was feeling the blood rushing through his veins.
This was about her though. Not him.
She took a deep breath, then another. “I’m so confused. I’m never confused, but I can’t figure this out. I can’t put my finger on a consistent threat or motive.”
“Let the police do that. You can help. We expect that. But let us do our job.”
“And your job isn’t to hold me right now, I know.” She pushed back. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” he said, reaching for her again.
“Will you kiss me again?”
He stilled.
He shouldn’t.
He should push her back and move away.
He didn’t though. He pulled her closer and he laid his lips on hers. Not quick like before. Not soft either.
This was hard. This was hot. And he was losing part of himself that he told himself not to.
“Don’t stop just yet,” she whispered. “I need to take my mind off of tonight.”
That was just as good as cold water being dumped on him.
He jumped up fast. “Don’t confuse this assignment for something that you get to use.”
She looked stricken. Hurt. Remorseful.
The tears coming into her eyes made him feel like shit. But damn it all, he wasn’t going to be used either.
“I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just...never mind. You’re right. That was completely wrong of me. Totally unprofessional too. My apologies.”
She stood up and tried to compose herself, but it wasn’t looking like she was successful with her eyes still glistening with moisture.
“That was harsh of me,” he said. “You’ve had a rough night.”
“I have, but that’s no excuse to ask you to do that. We’re supposed to be pretending to be in a relationship to the outside world. It’s just the two of us now. There’s no reason to pretend. I can’t expect you to comfort me. You’ve had a long day too. I’m sure you want to go home now.”
He was being dismissed. He knew. There wasn’t much more he could do. The princess of the castle gave an order and as her soldier, he was bound to follow.
“Lock up and set your alarm. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” he said, then walked out the door wondering how the hell this got so complicated.