His eyes strayed to Sage. “It’s impossible to know. So far they’ve been focused on discrediting you, but it’s always best to be careful. I also don’t want any of you walking out to your cars here or at the hotel unless there’s someone with you, either one of your sisters or one of my security team. Not until we straighten this out.”
Cami reminded herself these were precautions designed to prevent problems, not because of an immediate threat. But because of what Joel found at the house, it felt like a threat. She hated thinking she couldn’t trust anyone around her.
When she walked out of the meeting a while later, Vince waited in the hallway.
She felt a rush of pleasure at seeing him. “What are you doing here?”
“Blake called. He said I should be here when your meeting ended.” He pulled her under his shoulder and kissed her softly. “What’s going on?”
Cami caught Blake’s eye and mouthed a thank you to him. He smiled and turned his attention back to Lana. Cami sighed and met Vince’s brown eyes. “Can I come over to your place?”
A smile spread. “Of course. Let’s swing by the house and grab some of your stuff. You can stay the night.”
It sounded wonderful.
Since Cami had ridden to the hotel with Sage, she let Vince drive her home, and explained what was going on as they went. At her place she packed a quick bag and left her car keys with Jonquil so the garage door opener could be reset. “I’m going.” She held up the bag in explanation, not wanting to say too much aloud, though Joel said the bugs were all gone.
“See you tomorrow?” It would be Saturday, so they were pretty much taking a break for the weekend, though she had work to deal with on her laptop.
Vince slid an arm around Cami’s back, leading her to the door. “Monday morning.”
Jonquil winked before they headed out.
~*~
When they’d left her house, Cami hadn’t been certain about staying at Vince’s through Monday morning—it seemed like a huge step. They had a great time together though, sitting out on the patio, taking a long ramble in the woods with the dogs, and making more meals than had been prepared in the kitchen in a month’s time before. And when they made love, she was amazed the magic hadn’t been her imagination or a one-time thing.
Monday morning Vince dropped her back at her home instead of work because she hadn’t brought an appropriate work suit.
He kissed her just inside the doorway, taking his time with it. “Maybe you should move in with me,” he suggested.
“Can’t. Contract says I have to live in this house.” She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed about that stipulation with his tempting alternative. The weekend had been an idyll of sorts, not real life, and she knew moving in would change everything.
He groaned as she pulled away. “Don’t tell me I have to wait until next September.”
“Unless you want to marry her, that’s the deal.” Jonquil headed up the nearby stairs.
Cami could have sworn they had been talking too low for anyone to hear them, but apparently the baby of the group had ears like a dog.
“Oh, is that all?” Vince grabbed Cami’s chin and turned her face back, kissing her again.
“All?” Cami asked when she was allowed to talk again. “Isn’t it more than enough?”
“Plenty. I’m more than happy to get married. What do you say?” he asked between pressing kisses to her mouth and cheeks and chin.
“Whoa.” She pushed him away, ran those words back through her head to make sure she’d heard right. “You’re out of your mind. We’ve only been dating a few weeks.”
“Six, but who’s counting? And sometimes six years isn’t long enough to decide if someone is the right one for you, but this time, I’d say six weeks is plenty.” He leaned in for another kiss.
Though she wanted to slide back under his spell, she moved out of his reach. “You’re crazy.”
“About you.” His slid his hands onto her waist and pulled her close.
“And unoriginal.”
“But you love me anyway.”
She laughed, unable to help herself as she tucked her face into his neck, loving the smell of his aftershave, though there was still a rich field of stubble he hadn’t bothered to shave that morning. As for loving him, she wasn’t sure if what she felt was strong enough to marry on—it was too early to make that kind of commitment. Besides, she had more pressing things on her mind. Though she’d been putting it off, she decided to address one of those issues now. “So I have this favor to ask, and you can feel free to say no if you need more notice.”
“What’s that?” He brushed the hair back from her face, tucking it behind her ear, teasing the sensitive lobe as his finger followed the curve.
She shivered. She’d spent a long time the previous night lying awake, considering whether or not to ask, and now her heart raced as she wondered if it was a mistake. “I have a party in Chicago Thursday night. I wondered if you’d like to go with me. I kept my condo available. I know you might have to juggle your work and getting a plane ticket can be a pain, and it’s bound to cause more speculation, but—”
She stopped talking when he pressed his mouth to hers. “I’d love to go with you, Cami. Email me the flight information and I’ll make a reservation.”
“Okay. That’s great.” She nudged him away, feeling awkward though he’d made it easy—maybe because he’d made it easy. “Go to work. I can’t think when you’re kissing me.”
“Good.” But he pressed a quick peck to her forehead and turned away. Before he shut the door behind him, he glanced back. “I promise more finesse when I officially propose.”
Cami didn’t have a chance to respond before he was gone. She sucked in a breath, not sure how she felt about the fact that he was already thinking marriage.
Chapter 30
Joel hadn’t been kidding when he said he’d be spending a lot of time at the house. Though Cami had been at Vince’s for the weekend, she heard he’d hung around since dinnertime on Friday and had used Sage’s bathroom to clean up and shower. He even slept on the sofa in the great room while one of his security crew monitored the machines.
She was glad to have missed most of that.
Tuesday evening most of them were sitting around the house taking care of paperwork and making plans when Joel grinned—an odd expression for his face considering how seldom he did it. “Gotcha.” He pressed a few more keys, then gestured to Sage to come over and sit in his spot. “Someone just logged on to the system. I’m going to go see if I can find the person trying to download information. Stay here.” He pulled a handgun from the small of his back, cocked it to load a bullet in the chamber, and put it back in the holster before heading for the door.
Cami felt her stomach drop. Joel had a gun in her house? Was that necessary? A few seconds passed as she thought about it before she realized that of course he’d be armed. This was Joel, military to the max. He probably owned an arsenal. Maybe it should have made her feel better, safer, but somehow, it didn’t.
A long moment passed and Cami started to get anxious. She inched over to the front windows, peeking out of the corner through the curtain so no one outside would be able to see her. She saw Joel just through the trees, kneeling on the ground. He looked like he had someone restrained, but she couldn’t see who through the brush.
“Get away from there,” Sage hissed.
“He’s got someone.” Cami moved to the door and opened it a crack. “Joel, do you need me to call someone?”
He looked up at her, his face grim. “Call the sheriff’s office. And keep everyone inside.”
“What?” She looked behind her and saw everyone else watching her. “Stay here. He’s got the perp. I’ll see if he need anything else. Stay inside.”
No one else seemed interested in following her so Cami shut the door behind her and made her way across the grass. She pulled out her phone and dialed 911.
When she was told a deputy was o
n the way, she put away her phone.
“Get back inside, Cami. I don’t need you out here.” Joel sat between her and the person he was restraining. “If you come out, your sisters will be next. You’re a distraction. Go back inside.”
“Who is it?” After all of the stress and worry, she had to know who was behind everything.
“Go inside. There could be someone else out here too.”
Cami studied him for a moment then shook her head. “If there were, you would have incapacitated that person and be out looking for the second person already.”
He swore low under his breath. “Just go back inside. I’ll be in as soon as I give my statement to the deputy.”
There was the sound of sirens in the distance and Cami shifted, trying to see who was behind Joel.
“Go. Inside.” His brows V-ed over his eyes in anger.
“Even Cami wasn’t crazy enough to risk ticking Joel off. “Fine. I’ll see you there.”
Before she reached the front door, Rosemary opened it. “Who is it?”
“I don’t know. He was hiding the guy. He insisted we stay inside.”
Rosemary put her hand on her hip. “And you just turned around and came back inside like a good little girl?”
“Hey, you want to risk his wrath, that’s on you, but I don’t recommend it. Besides,” she looked over her shoulder as the sheriff’s office truck came to a stop, “Looks like he’s got backup, and going over there now will just put us in their way. Better to watch out the window and see who they haul off.”
“So we wuss out and let him have his way?”
“Yes. For a few minutes, anyway. Give him time to take care of things and they we can all gang up on him for answers.” It galled her to have to wait when the answers were in her front yard. A second sheriff’s truck pulled into the driveway. “Looks like they’re planning a party out there.”
“Too bad we’re not invited,” Rosemary said.
Delphi sat at the kitchen island while Rosemary prowled around like an agitated lion. She may have growled once or twice as well.
Cami stood at the window, watching the deputy show up, talk to the suspect and then pull out a set of handcuffs. She tapped her foot as she watched the man haul someone away. “It’s a woman.” Cami couldn’t believe it. She stared, trying to figure out who it was. She didn’t catch any of her face, though, and the deputy pushed her in front of him, so Cami couldn’t get a clear view.
“What do you mean it’s a woman?” Rosemary joined her at the window, pulling back the curtains. The deputy had already pushed her into the back seat of the truck. “I missed it.” She strained to get a better view of the woman until the truck pulled out, then she resumed pacing.
The second deputy stayed out talking to Joel for at least ten more minutes before taking off with a written statement. Joel toward the house, his mouth in a firm line.
“Here he comes.” Cami twitched the curtains back in place and moved to open the door before he reached the front porch.
“You’re so impatient,” he said as he passed her on his way through the door.
“That’s my middle name. So who was it? I couldn’t tell when they hauled her off.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared him down.
He was, predictably, unfazed. He waited until everyone stood around, watching him, before he answered. “It was Mrs. Grady.”
Cami felt like the breath had been knocked out of her. “No way. She would never do that to us.”
Everyone else had similar reactions, filling the air with cries of disbelief and anger.
“Why would she do that to us?” Sage asked after the initial burst of questions.
“Money, of course,” Delphi said, her arms crossed over her chest.
“But how could she? Does she know what she’s done?” Jonquil asked. “I trusted her.”
“I shared my cannoli recipe with her.” Rosemary said, incredulous. “I don’t share that with anyone.”
Everything Cami thought she knew about the woman fell apart. Why had she hurt them even after Cami had gone out of her way to help find Mr. Grady a kidney donor?
When everyone watched him, the hubbub quiet, Joel spoke again. “Someone offered her a whole lot of money to send the records off of the security system. She claims she doesn’t know who it is, but she needed the money, the medical bills were getting out of control. She apologized, for what it’s worth.” The disgust on his face said the apology wasn’t worth much to him.
“You ought to be able to trace the money, right?” Cami asked Joel.
“I’m sure going to try.” The determination in his eyes said failure was not an option.
Cami hoped with the information leak out of the way, this nightmare would come to an end.
Chapter 31
Though they’d seen each other again before their trip to Chicago, Vince didn’t bring up the issue of marriage. Cami’s thoughts seemed to zip between Mrs. Grady’s betrayal and his suggestion—which had been offered as casually as if he had been proposing they take a day-trip into Denver.
If Jonquil had heard Vince’s comment—Cami refused to think of it as a proposal—she hadn’t said anything about it, which suited Cami fine. It was bad enough the words kept popping back up into her mind; having it turn into a discussion topic among the sisters would be way too much.
The journey was uneventful but Cami found she enjoyed having Vince with her during the flight. It was nice to have interesting conversation and laughter handy, and despite not pulling out her laptop to work as she usually did on flights, she didn’t get antsy for something to do. Maybe, she thought, that was part of Vince’s charm.
After they settled into Cami’s condo, she checked her closet, but wasn’t happy with anything in it.
“Problems?” Vince asked, coming into the bedroom fifteen minutes after she’d disappeared into the closet.
“I know I have plenty of clothes, but nothing feels quite right for the party tonight.” She bit her lip, considered a demure peach dress with a flirty mid-calf skirt. “Would you mind terribly if I made a run to find something new?”
He turned her, pulling her into his arms. “Are you talking a four-hour shopping spree?”
“No way, I’ll leave that for Lana. A run to Ralph Lauren for a new dress, maybe pop into Nordstrom for shoes, and home again, an hour or so max. Well, plus travel time.”
He met her eyes and his lips quirked. “Will I have a chance to see you try on sexy dresses?”
She laughed. “Quite likely.”
He nuzzled her neck, raising goose bumps along her side. “Perhaps I should go along to give my opinion.”
“You want to go dress shopping with me?” No way was that reality. A guy like Vince didn’t sit quietly by while the woman shopped. She didn’t think the Y chromosome worked that way.
“Not for a full afternoon, no, but for an hour or so. And maybe while we’re out, we could get some of that famous Chicago pizza I’ve heard about.”
She grinned. “I see, it’s all about the pizza.”
“And seeing you in a sexy dress or three.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“How can I argue?” She pulled from his embrace and grabbed her purse. “Let’s go.”
Because her car was in Colorado now, they’d opted to walk, take the commuter train, or use taxis for the two-day visit. Since the station was close, they headed for the commuter train.
The run into Ralph Lauren was fairly quick and successful. She found something on the second try, a red silk sheath that ended above the knee. The neckline was more daring than her usual, but it fit her mood. She didn’t model it for Vince, opting to make it a surprise.
“I can’t believe you didn’t show it to me. That’s the only reason I came.” Vince complained as they walked into Nordstrom a few minutes later.
“Hush. It’ll be worth the suspense. I promise.” Cami patted him on the cheek and continued on to the shoe department. There was something about shoes and Nordstrom that she
could never separate.
In no time she seized a pair of Manolo Blahnik gold metallic strappy sandals with a two-inch heel to go with her new dress, then indulged herself with a Phillip Lim multi T-strap pump in black and maroon, and nearly had contortions trying to prevent herself from buying the cutest pair of Isola brown suede boots. She lost the fight, but didn’t care anymore when she handed Vince the bags as they left the shop.
When Vince grumbled that she’d only brought him to be a pack animal, she smiled and gave him a quick kiss. “I’m carrying the dress.”
“Which you haven’t let me catch so much as a glimpse of, thank-you-very-much. And what is it with you and shoes?”
“Sorry, I can’t help myself. I have a weakness for great footwear. I have just the thing for the boots, but I’ll have to find an outfit to go with the pumps.”
“Hold on.” He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and gave her an incredulous look. “You’re going to buy an outfit to match the shoes? Isn’t that backward?”
She laughed. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But no, not in this case. Lana will completely agree with me when she sees the shoes. It’s a good thing she has such tiny feet—or she might try to borrow them.”
“I had no idea you were such a slave to fashion. I thought you were just naturally put together.” Despite his comments, he wore a smile to match hers, and didn’t appear the least put out about his shoe burden. “Now, are we going to get pizza? I’m starving.”
“Almost there. You know, sometimes I think you have the appetite of a thirteen-year-old boy.”
He simply grinned.
Cami grinned back, hardly able to believe she’d found someone like Vince. Two months earlier she would have sworn guys like him didn’t exist. She wasn’t going to complain.
~*~
Vince’s eyes popped as Cami stepped into the living room where he’d been waiting for her. He set down the soda in his hand and turned off the baseball game, giving her his full attention.
Cami gave a little spin, pleased with his expression and felt like a sexy model. “Was it worth the wait?”
A Perfect Fit Page 17