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Cameron stared, listening to the nonchalant tone of her story but very aware of what she wasn’t saying, and watching the way the sunlight coming through the window had caught the fire in her hair. So she was as fierce in life as she was in bed.
“Then mission accomplished,” he said, and saw a flash of her relief in her eyes as she nodded.
“You’ll have to trust me on this case,” Rusty said.
He nodded. “I’m good at following orders.”
Rusty glanced at the time. “I have to get to the hotel now. My family is bound to have seen the chopper bringing me in. They know I’m renting a car. I don’t want them worrying before I even show up.” She leaned across the sofa, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him hard. “Damn, but I hate goodbyes. I need some time to settle in and check out some stuff. I’ll keep you abreast as I do what I need to do, then let’s meet somewhere in Jubilee as if by accident. We need to establish a history so no one thinks it’s strange when we start seeing the sights together.”
“I’d be more than happy to repeat what just happened in my front yard,” Cameron said.
Rusty grinned. “At least keep it within the limits of propriety.”
“Yes, ma’am. Duly noted.”
“Not ‘ma’am.’ Darling or sweetheart or just Rusty will suffice. I’ll tell Aunt Pat and Liz I want to see the sights and talk them into taking me to lunch somewhere. I’ll let you know where we’ll be, then you show up and play the surprise to the hilt. Our story can be our truth, that we met in the Hyatt Regency in Herndon, Virginia, when you were shipping out, and then we lost touch when we went our separate ways. And just so you know, I consider your sudden appearance back in my life as the gift it is.”
“I won’t have to fake that,” Cameron said. “I’m already there. I’ll walk you back to the car.”
“I need to say goodbye to Ghost. I don’t want him to forget me.”
“No worries about that. You’re officially in his database.”
Rusty knelt beside Ghost and gently stroked the top of his head. “Goodbye, you big beautiful thing.”
Ghost whined and licked her fingers, then watched intently as they walked out.
Cameron had his arm around her all the way to the car. The silence between them was heavy with unspoken promises and the reluctance to let go of something they’d just regained.
Her hand was on the door handle when she turned and buried her face against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
“I don’t want to let you go,” he said.
Rusty looked up. “And I don’t want to leave.”
He sighed. “Sometimes being responsible sucks eggs.”
Her eyes wrinkled at the corners as she smiled.
“Can I quote you on that?”
He slid his hands beneath her hair, tilted her head up enough to meet the kiss coming at her, and the world fell away. He might have laid her down in the leaves right then and there but for the assignment they’d been given. What was between them came second to the evil hiding in the town below, and that was what stopped him.
Cameron cupped her face again.
“You have to promise me something.”
“If I can,” Rusty said.
“Don’t walk out on me like I did you. I can’t lose touch with you again.”
Rusty laid her hand over the steady thump of his heart.
“I promise.”
The look that passed between them was enough for Cameron to finally let her go, then he stood watching until she drove out of sight before going back inside.
***
