Page 24 of Freeing Camila

Reluctantly, she shook her head. It was getting late, and she had an early shift the next day at the bakery.

Though the guys, particularly Eggs, made a half-hearted attempt to prolong the evening, they eventually gave in to her wishes. Having waved goodbye to Melli, she exited, with Wade trailing close behind.

“Where’s your car?” he asked.

Cammie hesitated. “Um . . . I don’t have one. I walked here.” Wade’s head whipped around, his eyes wide with a mixture of surprise and displeasure. Before he could lecture her, she held up her hand. “I know what you’re going to say. It’s not safe.”

“It’s not,” he grumbled, the words barely audible above the muted sounds of the band still playing inside the bar.

“But I’m protected,” she admitted. Following her rescue, Baker and the SEALs spent time providing her with extensive firearms training to ensure she was comfortable and capable of obtaining her concealed carry permit. She was always carrying, vowing to never be caught unaware again. “And you do realize I can see my apartment from here, right?” she teased, a smirk playing on her lips.

“Be that as it may?”

“Come on,” she said, looping her arm around his. “You can walk me home if it will ease your mind.”

Muttering something that was impossible to understand, he nonetheless set off walking her home. A full block was covered in silence as they walked side by side, before he finally broke the quiet, asking, “Define protected.”

CHAPTER10

Once again,the nightmares kept Jeeves from getting a full night’s sleep. He was up and out of bed before the sun rose. As he took his usual early morning run, his mind was filled with the images that haunted him throughout the night. His dreams were full of the usual shit from Colombia. However, this time, the terrifying nightmares were punctuated and broken up by disturbing visions of Cammie and the firearm she had confessed to carrying at all times.

He had absolutely no issue with a woman employing whatever methods necessary to ensure her own safety. He commended her willingness to learn. What bothered him wasn’t just the new skill itself, but the underlying implication that she needed it to feel secure, a fact that filled him with unease.

Despite Baker’s latest report that her father had dispatched men to the Hawaiian base where the SEALs who rescued her were stationed in a search for her, he had assured them that her assumed identity remained secure. The knowledge that her father had dispatched men to hunt her down worried him. Hence the unsettled night.

The woman was getting under his skin faster than he could build walls to keep her out—andfuck him, he wasn’t sure he wanted to. She slipped into his thoughts when he wasn’t looking, curled up in the corners of his mind like she belonged there.

There was something about her that stirred parts of him he thought had gone quiet. She challenged him without even trying, met his sharp edges with a softness that didn’t bend, didn’t break. Every glance, every accidental brush of her hand, sank deeper than he cared to admit. Since Colombia, he’d spent years mastering distance, wearing detachment like armor, but she was unraveling him with nothing more than a smile and the sound of his name on her lips. And the terrifying truth? He wasn’t just letting her in. He was holding the door open.

Having finished his run and showered, he made a light breakfast for himself, thinking about the day ahead. That’s when he remembered his promise.

Fuck me.

Today was the day he was going to help Cammie check off some of the items on her bucket list. It had been a good idea from his teammates; a clever plan to remain near her, to be there for her. Didn’t make him feel any less lousy though. It felt disingenuous?as if he was helping her under false pretenses. Which, in a way, he was, even if he did like spending time with her.

Once again, the usual gnawing guilt was present, but this time it had a different quality, a distinct variation on the familiar theme. His knowledge of her life extended beyond her awareness, creating that profound burden of guilt within him. He possessed a far more intimate understanding of her past?secrets that she probably never intended him to know?than she had ever suspected. His conscience was burdened, a heavy weight that he could not easily ignore. The gravity of the situation settled over him like a shroud, making him acutely aware of every past mistake as he reflected deeply on his course of actions going forward.

He could remain her friend, assisting her in checking off her bucket list items while ensuring her safety and well-being. Or he could pull away. Maintain a safe distance from her. Watch over her from afar.

The latter thought had his stomach twisting into a tight, painful knot. He was already too close. Within him burned an intense and undeniable desire to get even closer. Especially after holding her close during that dance.

That dance.

He couldn’t stop replaying the way she’d felt in his arms, how her body moved with his like they’d been made to fit. Every brush of her curves against him was subtle but charged—her hips swaying in time with his, the soft press of her tits against his torso sent a slow burn through his veins. He could still feel the faint, unmistakable brush of her nipples through the thin fabric of her sweater—a delicate, unintentional touch that had sent a shock of heat straight through him. The absence of a bra caused the blood to surge in his dick, making him acutely aware of the scant layers of fabric that lay between them.

As he’d danced with her, the rest of the world had faded into a soft blur—just background noise to the rhythm of her body pressed close to his. Her hand in his felt like it belonged there, like it had always belonged there, and every step they took pulled him deeper into something he wasn’t sure he could name. Her scent had wrapped around him, warm and dizzying, and the curve of her smile when she looked up at him made his chest ache in the best kind of way. In that moment, with her in his arms and time slowing to a hush, he hadn’t wanted the song to end.

He hadn’t expected the dance to stay with him, but days later, he could still feel her—like the memory had settled into his bones. It had all felt too intimate for something as simple as a dance. And yet, it hadn’t felt simple at all. It had felt like the start of something he wasn’t sure he was ready for—but couldn’t bring himself to walk away from.

Hence his dilemma now. Aware that the deceit he employed when initially befriending her would ultimately lead to a catastrophic exposure of his lies, heshouldchoose to walk away now before any trust he built could be destroyed.

But he couldn’t do that, and it wasn’t just because of his job. Sure, Flint had assigned him to her case, but his responsibility to her went beyond that now.

He knew the sound of her laughter—the kind that bubbled up from somewhere deep inside her, light and carefree, yet filled with a warmth that wrapped around him like a blanket.

He knew the way the gold hues in her eyes danced when she smiled, how they caught the light, almost like they were reflecting the fire she carried inside—wild, untamed, but beautiful in a way that left him breathless.

He knew what she felt like in his arms, too. As if they were made to fit together perfectly, each piece complementing the other seamlessly. It was an intimacy that went beyond just holding her; it was the feeling of beingwithher, of being the one she trusted to keep her close. Every movement, every subtle shift in her body against his, was burned into his memory, like it was meant to be there forever.

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