Page 69 of Hiding Hollywood

“But later?”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “Later.”

20

Twenty minutes later, Addie snuggled next to Cameron in the middle of his pickup truck as he drove back to his parents’ house to drop her off. Like two teenagers. Except they both had a paycheck and no curfew. Part of her was grateful that she’d not dated him as a teenager. He would have intimidated the crap out of her.

“I appreciate you not making me ride in the back of your patrol car.”

“It’d make it a little difficult to touch you.” He punctuated the statement by squeezing her thigh.

She leaned her head against his shoulder. “Can I still go to your place to work later?”

“Mom has a spare key. Let yourself in anytime. It will keep me from having to find time to feed Lacy if you can do that for me.”

They pulled down the long driveway to his parents’ house, Cameron’s Sheriff’s car still parked to the side next to his dad’s.

He turned off the truck and cut his eyes at her. “If my mom catches me kissing you, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

She kissed behind his ear, flicking her tongue along the spot she learned he liked last night.

“You don’t play fair,” he grumbled but didn’t pull away. His strong hands slid along her thighs. Why did he have to work?

“I never understood how to play fair. I play to win.” She kissed the other side. “By any means necessary.” She wanted to crawl into his lap, savor what was left of their little bubble together before reality came back.

“Dammit, Addie.” He caught her lips and swept her up into a kiss she wouldn’t forget in a long, really long, time. Like. For eternity. The guy had some serious moves.

A loud bang on the hood broke them apart.

Sheriff Dempsey motioned to Cameron before jogging to his own police car. “Why isn’t your radio on?” he shouted.

Cameron unbuckled and jumped out, checking the radio on his hip. “Crap,” he muttered. “It must have been turned down.”

Addie held onto the steering wheel before she tumbled face first into the dirt. “What’s going on?”

He reached back with a hand, helping her out of the truck.

“Williams County just called for back-up on a car chase of a suspected drug dealer headed into our county. Right now. Head toward the old Fire Tower Road.” Sheriff Dempsey slammed his door. Partway down the driveway, he gunned his engine, gravel and dirt flying.

Cameron sprinted to his car, Addie right behind him. “Be careful,” she said, the sentiment sounding pointless in the panic rippling inside.

He spun around and kissed her hard on the lips. “Please stay here until I get back.” He sat down in the car, starting it before he’d even closed his door. She jumped onto the porch as he wheeled through the front yard and accelerated out of sight.

Her heart pounded in her throat. Her tongue felt dry. Why hadn’t she realized he did real-life cop things beyond trying to catch a serial petty thief? Car chases could end in shootouts or wrecks. Life had been so quiet in Statem. He could get hurt. Killed.

All night he’d held her, both pretending that life didn’t exist outside of his house. The sunlight coming in through the windows early this morning had illuminated his tan skin as she traced the tattoo, committing it to memory this time. That was a lifetime ago.

She continued to stare down the driveway. The chase could be called off, and he’d come back. The uncertainty of what might happen rattled her deeper than anything else ever had.

Her smile came suddenly.

When had she fallen in love with the country boy? Her optimism bottomed out at the same moment. They had less than a week.

“Addie?” Mrs. Dempsey stepped down to stand beside her. “I guess you heard the guys had to head out.”

“I saw them leave.” She studied Mrs. Dempsey’s profile. “Are you worried?” She had a husband and son that could face life or death every day.

She watched the driveway with the same longing Addie felt. “More for Cameron. There’s a wife’s love that runs deep. Bone deep. If anything happened to Jimmy…” She trailed off and shook her head. Her eyes shifted to Addie. “Life would be hard. But that’s nothing compared to something happening to Cameron. A part of my soul would die if he did. I’m not sure there’s any recovery for that.”

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