Page 143 of Already At Risk
Especially when Cameron wore that cocky little smirk on his face, confidence shining through. Which did put me somewhat at ease. He wore an expression like he didn’t plan on anything bad happening—as though he could control the world.
“No one’s going to hear anything, Sunshine,” he said, reaffirming my thoughts. His voice was gentle now, just another thing that soothed me.
He stared at me for a long moment, his hands flexing like he also struggled with the urge to close the distance between us. Possibly like it was killing him not to. Eventually, he crossed both arms over his chest and inhaled deeply. A muttered curse slipped through his lips a moment later.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing.” He was looking at me like he didn’t know what to do about my existence. “It’s just my office is going to smell like you for the rest of the day, and it’s going to torture me.”
“I’m…sorry?”
A laugh fell out of his mouth, bright and colorful, changing his entire demeanor. “Never apologize for the way you affect other people by just being you, Natalie.”
My heart clenched, letting those words wrap around it and squeeze tight. The way Cameron managed to touch me while not even putting his hands on me blew me away every time. I gave him a shaky smile, and he returned it, allowing me a few seconds to sink into his warm, brown gaze before bringing me back to reality, sharp and swift.
“Korey wants me off your case.”
I jolted. “What?”
He nodded, calm as ever. “He doesn’t like that I’m spending time with Chloe, and he accused us of…having a relationship.”
“Having a relationship?” I echoed.
A muscle in Cameron’s jaw jumped. “His exact words were that I was ‘fucking his wife.’”
My jaw dropped. I’d known Korey would jump to conclusions, but he was usually more, I don’t know, underhanded in his accusations. Which told me he was clearly losing it—all that control he’d been trying to hold on to, it was slipping out of his grasp, and he was losing it.
“I denied it, of course,” Cameron said, dropping his voice. “I’m fucking hisex-wife.”
Of courseCam was madder about that distinction than anything else, and despite the circumstances, I found myself fighting a grin.
“But Korey wouldn’t stop pushing the matter. He wants me off the case.”
Off the case.
The words bounced around my brain, and I struggled to believe them.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever hated Korey more than I did at this moment.
“Oh my God.” I sank lower in my chair, feeling sick to my stomach.
I should have been more careful, should have told Cameron no all the times I’d given in and said yes, should have put more boundaries in place until after the case was over, especially where Chloe was involved.
But it was so hard to regret nights like the baseball game, where Chloe had gotten to experience something that she never really had with her own father. It was hard to regret her spending time with a man whom I was starting to hope might be a permanent figure in her life.
Now, though…
“He can’t do that, can he? Force you off thecase?”
Cameron shook his head, and a bit of relief slipped into my bloodstream.
“No, he can’t. And I don’t think he has any proof of anything because if he did, he would have said something yesterday. I know he’s calculating and manipulative, but he lost control during that meeting. And trust me, he has nothing.”
“Okay.” I nodded, taking all that information in and agreeing. It certainly didn’tsoundlike Korey was his usual self. This sounded more like the version of my ex when I’d told him we were getting divorced—the spiraling, accusatory version. “Good. That’s…good.”
Cameron mimicked me, also nodding. “It is. But I would bet he’s going to try to find proof now.”
My stomach sank again. Because I knew Cameron was right about that, too. “So, weshouldend things. At least until the case is over.”
