Page 73 of Be Mine Forever

“Unc, that’s all you have to say?” Walsh asked.

“Walsh, I’ve watched my daughter set her own hopes and desires aside for years helping others and taking care of everyone else. It has been apparent to me for a long time that she has feelings for Cam. I, for one, just want to see her happy.” Unc looked over at Cam, giving him a lopsided smile. “And believe it or not, I trust him.”

Cam swallowed, humbled that one of the few men who’d seen his potential trusted him with his greatest prize—his beautiful daughter.

“Now, are you ready for this board meeting this afternoon? You’ve been out of the loop lately.” Unc raised imperious brows when Walsh shook his head. “Then I suggest you focus more on preparing for this meeting and less on Cam and Jo.”

“Yes, sir.” Walsh firmed his mouth into a line of grudging acceptance.

“And you.” Unc turned eyes the exact shade of moonlit silver as Jo’s in Cam’s direction. “I might trust you, but we still need to talk about this. Later.”

“Yes, sir.” Cam hid his unrepentant grin behind a sip of coffee.

Unc went up the back steps from the kitchen, leaving the room to Cam and Walsh.

“I asked you about this months ago,” Walsh said, his voice quiet and disappointed.

“I know.”

“And you brushed me off like I was crazy. Like I imagined something between the two of you at Christmas when all along—”

“No, not all along.” Cam shook his head, wishing his boxers had pockets to shove his hands into. “I mean, yes, I’ve had feelings for Jo for a long time. Even back in high school, but—”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Walsh disrupted his perfectly cut hair with a fitful hand. “You never gave any sign of that. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Think about the cock fest my life was in high school. You would have punched me in the face.”

“I still might.” Walsh didn’t smile and neither did he. They endured the tight silence between them for a few seconds before Cam spoke.

“I knew I wasn’t good enough for Jo then.” Cam huffed a helpless breath across his lips. “Who am I kidding? I’m still not good enough for her.”

“Well, in our minds, no one was ever good enough,” Walsh said. “I’m serious about you not hurting her.”

“Not as serious as I am. I’d walk away before I’d hurt her.”

“Don’t you think that would hurt her, too?” Walsh let out a heavy sigh. “Just don’t screw this up. You remember what we always told the guys she dated?”

“We always said, ‘You hurt her. We hurt you.’”

“Yeah, well, you hurt her, I hurt you.” Walsh paused, studying the floor before glancing back up at Cam. “Look, Jo was right. My happiness did cost you yours in a lot of ways.”

“Dude, Kerris and I would never have been happy anyway, even without you in the mix.”

“Yeah, but sometimes I still feel guilty over how things rolled out. I can’t let that guilt cloud my judgment about Jo, though.”

“Oh, so you’re judging me?” The irritation Cam had carefully checked ever since Walsh rushed in and started warning Jo off bucked a little.

“I’m not judging you. I’maskingyou not to hurt her.”

“I won’t.” Cam ran his hand over the back of his neck, not wanting to discuss this with Walsh. Not even a little bit. “I care about her.”

“I’m going to hold you to that, Cam. Not because I don’t love you like a brother. You know I do. And after all we’ve been through, for us to still have what we have is a testament to a once-in-a-lifetime kind of friendship. But Jo’s like a sister to me. I have to protect her.”

Cam nodded. “Are we done here? I have to meet Bash in an hour.”

“Yeah, please go put some clothes on.” Walsh gestured to the lean, well-muscled frame Cam knew the ladies liked. “No one wants to see all that.”

Cam laughed and walked over to the sink to dump the remnants of his coffee. The strangled sound Walsh made behind him drew a look over his shoulder.

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