Page 77 of The Fix
He’d figured. And when they investigated that company, it would lead to another one overseas. Eventually, they’d find themselves in some Bangladeshi rug store where the owner had been paid off to file paperwork. There’d be no trace of anyone who’d set up the operation now. “Did Detective Mauro say anything about the video camera in the room with Cyrus?”
“Just that there was a link to the feed on the guy’s phone. It was one of those prepaid ones, though, so not much else to access.”
Rex nodded. He knew he could assume any numbers that were in it were also from anonymous burner phones and had since been turned off.Oakland, California.Someone had hired a goon close enough to drive to the location. Why exactly they’d chosen that spot in the woods in Big Sur was a mystery. Maybe this unknown person or persons had a number of locations set up for just such a circumstance. The bars on the window indicated that it had a specific purpose, and that purpose didn’t have anything to do with communing with nature. “What now?” he murmured, mostly to himself.
“The boxes,” she said. “It feels like all we have.”
He turned and looked at her, his gaze moving over her pretty face. She was so beautiful to him. What was it about her features that set his heart on fire the way they did? Maybe if he could figure it out—quantify it the way he was usually so good at—he could gain control over it so he didn’t feel mostly flattened each time she turned his way.It feels like all we have.He moved his mind back to what she’d said about the boxes. He agreed it was all they had, but not only as it pertained to the case they were trying to work through together.Them.In general. And he didn’t like that. He could admit it, at least to himself. But how could they have more without someone—namely him—getting hurt?
Maybe it’s worth it.
Cami sighed. “I should go.”
He turned and met her eyes. There was something there—a question or a statement, he wasn’t sure. He wiped his hands on his jeans. He needed to get cleaned up and return some calls, and Cyrus would be waiting to be picked up at her father’s house. She’d had a long afternoon confronting the man who’d abandoned her eleven years before and had made it clear he was still the same selfish asshole. Maybe she’d expected it, but the confrontation had to have been emotionally taxing all the same.
They both stood at the same time, each letting out a small breathy chuckle when they almost collided. Again, their eyes met and she opened her mouth to say something, paused, and then closed it. She tipped her head to the side. “I might take the night off from box searching. It’s been a day.”
“I don’t blame you. You and Cyrus should do something fun.”
“Cyrus is staying at my dad’s tonight. They’re camping in the backyard. Roasting marshmallows. The whole bit.” She smiled, and he could see the emotion there. The gratitude.
“That’s nice. Your dad ... he’s really stepped up.”
She gave a small nod and then moved around the coffee table and headed for the door. When she got there, she paused again, seeming distracted. She’d greeted him with such intimacy, but now she was leaving on this strange, awkward note, and he wasn’t sure why.
He opened the door, and she walked through it, turning and giving him a smile that looked forced. “See you later.”
“Yeah . . . see you later.”
Cami turned and walked down the steps, then stopped in her tracks. Rex stared at her unmoving back and then cast his eyes to the horizon, where she seemed to be looking. But there was nothing there other than a thin band of gold where the sun was just beginning to descend.
As quickly as she’d stopped, she pivoted and marched back up the steps to stand in front of him. “I have something to say.”
Rex was rarely taken off guard, not anymore, but this woman seemed to have some special knack for doing just that. “All right,” he said warily.
She drew up her shoulders as she inhaled and then let out a gust of breath. “I appreciate you. I do. I’m grateful for the way you helped me when you could have easily justified turning away, and the way you continue to do so. I like the qualities that speaks of. You’re a good man and an honorable human being. You care for children you’ve never met, and you have an admirable sense of justice. You work hard and, as far as brains go, you’ve got an extraordinary one.”
She sucked in a sharp inhale as though she hadn’t taken a breath in the midst of all those words. He liked those words ... except that he didn’t know where they were going and was halfway bracing for abut.
“And so I hope what I say now doesn’t offend you in any way, but Rex, mostly I want you right now because you’re hot. I’m just attracted to you. Whether you came into my life as some hitchhiker on the road or a guy from my past who helped me with something that was a big damn deal, I find you sexy. Gorgeous. Appealing in every physical way, and that’s it. I’m sorry if that sounds inelegant, but it’s true. So, if you have some misguided idea that I only tried to kiss you in California because I feel grateful to you, I want to set the record straight and let you know that you’re dead wrong.”
He couldn’t help it—he laughed, a sound filled with both the amusement and the exhilaration of what she’d said. It was funny and kind of shocking, but also, the earnest expression on her face brought him more happiness than he could remember feeling in a long time. Maybe ever.
It’s always been you.
It made no sense. They’d barely known each other once upon a time, and yet he’d carried her with him all these years, a secret part of his heart that he hadn’t even shared with himself until she was standing in front of him once again, looking at him the way she was now.
“You don’t have to want me back,” she whispered, her voice so deeply vulnerable. And it slayed him that Cami, who had lost so much, who was once the most confident, most stunning girl in the world to him, was bravely showing him her beautifully tender heart. “But if you’re hesitating because you wonder about my intentions or because I didn’t see you when we were kids and you think that’s still the case, please don’t. I’m sorry I didn’t see you back then. I see you now. I can’t look away.”
An unbidden sound emerged from his throat, and he stepped toward her and took her face in his hands—the face that had once caused him only heartache and longing and now brought him such deep joy. He brought his lips to hers and she sighed, opening so he could explore the sweetness of her mouth.
Their tongues entwined, dueling slowly, the dance both new and somehow known. She felt so right in his arms, the feel of her, the taste, driving his need higher.
Cami nudged him backward, even while their mouths stayed fused together, and they stumbled, gripping each other, toward the bedroom.
Chapter Forty-Five
She’d never felt relief before when a man kissed her, but that was exactly what she experienced when Rex’s lips met hers. Relief and deep happiness, satisfaction, and the immediate response of her body. The influx of joy was so overwhelming that she didn’t have room to doubt the rightness of this. Of them. And as someone who’d feared physical touch for so long, it was a blessed balm that healed a part of her wounded soul.
