Page 72 of Hiding Hollywood

“Mom!”

His mom set her hand holding the dishrag on her hip. “You know,” she said with a sharp glance over her shoulder. “That bed turned out lucky for us. We conceived you there. You know what they say, practice makes perfect.”

“Ugh! Just stop.” He knocked away any mental image that tried to appear with that statement and walked quickly out the back door. Leave it to his mom to find a way to get his mind off Addie’s rejection.

Once he got to the station, his dad wasn’t much better.

“You better be careful with that girl.” His dad cut his eyes at him in a way that made him feel like he was seventeen and had his first condom in his back pocket. Awesome.

Cameron sat down at his desk. “Mom beat you to the embarrassment part of the programming. Right now, I don’t want to talk about Addie.” He didn’t have a single, damn idea what to do about her, anyway. “Let’s concentrate on work, okay.” He looked at the papers across his desk. Easier said than done. They all focused on the break-ins. Who had Addie thought was committing the crimes? The guy that had asked her to dinner? He didn’t want to consider any other man touching her. If she didn’t stay in Statem, that’s precisely what would happen. Another man would take his place. Another man would kiss her.

Would it be another fake jerk like Brian?

The paper he held crumpled in his hands.

“What are you going to do?”

He glanced up at his dad’s question. “Follow up on a few leads.” He would pay Dexter a visit. Wouldn’t hurt. He could drive out to Ms. Ruth’s house and make small talk. She did live way out in the country. Doing a routine check wouldn’t be that far out of the picture.

His dad sat a hip on the desk. “I meant about Addie.” He pointed at the wrinkled paper. “Besides destroy your work.”

“Nothing to do. She has her own life—”

“Could she make one here?”

“I thought so.” Cameron huffed, shaking his head. “I even offered for her to live with me. Thinking about it now, though, her job and mine might not mesh.”

“I don’t suppose we have anywhere that sells perfume here.”

Cameron set the stack of papers down in front of him, taking way too much time to line up the edges, pressing out the wrinkles. Stalling. Telling his dad the whole truth would betray Addie.

“Dad, you don’t even know what she does for a living. Really does for a living. Or how much she makes doing it. If I want to be Sheriff, I can’t be with her.” He wanted to find a way to make it work, but she didn’t even want to consider it. She had a gift. Her intelligence was something he loved about her. But breaking laws, stealing information, even if for a good cause, he couldn’t live with that under his roof for very long and still serve his hometown honestly.

Rubbing his chin, his dad stood up. “No, I don’t know what she does, but after she’s lived in my home the past two weeks, I know there isn’t a mean bone in that woman’s body. She’s generous. Caring. Sweet. I’m not looking forward to how your mom will be after she leaves. I think she wants to officially adopt her. One thing I do know is that I’ve learned to trust her. You’re closer to her than I am. You should try a little trust.”

“Her work isn’t safe.”

His dad stared down at him nodding. “We can’t always protect the people we love. All we can do is make a vow to die trying.” He walked out, leaving Cameron with a beast of a question staring him in the face. How did he handle his feelings for Addie? Because, even if he refused to formulate them into words, he’d fallen for her. Fallen hard.

21

Addie opened her laptop at a small desk in the corner of Cameron’s bedroom. She slipped on her glasses. The attack onSunflowermight last until morning. Some jobs looked easy but took days. Others appeared impossible, but with a few clicks, she was in and out with the information she needed. Either way, working in the bedroom would give her the chance to take short naps if necessary.

Her phone rang, and she noted Cameron’s number before answering. “Hey, there.”

“Hi,” he said, his voice sounding more businesslike than she wanted. But he’d asked her to move in and she’d declined. That had obviously pissed him off back at his parents’ house.

“Did you need something?” She stood and walked to the bathroom in Cameron’s, needing to move. She hated the sudden distance between them.

He sighed, and his voice lost a little of the gruffness from before. “Yes, actually. I want you to stop looking at the security cameras around town. I went out to Dexter’s house and his grandmother vouches for him. I don’t want you to get caught up with this if it goes bad.”

Addie laughed. She couldn’t help it. She had a drug lord’s system sitting on her computer in Cameron’s bedroom and he was worried about some small-town thefts sweeping her into danger.

“Addie, this isn’t funny.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Promise me you’ll stop.” After a beat of silence, he added, “All of it. I don’t think you understand the danger in this job or in your other job.”

---