Page 31 of Secrets of the Dragon's Heart

“Some, but we’ve still got a long way to go,” Zach said. “Thank you for breakfast. You should have let us clean up, you cooked.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was no big deal, and you two are a little bit busy,” she said, smiling at Zach. “You can cook next time.”

“That’s a deal,” Zach said. “I’m quite talented with a barbeque grill; we’ll do dinner sometime.”

“I’m going to work a bit longer on this while you’re getting ready, then I need to hit the shower myself,” Cameron said, getting to his feet and pulling her into his arms. It’s going to be a busy day. Let’s take a walk on the beach before we go to Max’s. I want some time alone with you.”

“That’s sweet, Cameron,” she said, giving him a quick kiss. “But do you really think we should?”

“No one will miss us if we steal a few minutes to ourselves,” he said, his eyes full of warmth. “And there’s something really important that I want to talk to you about alone.”

“Hey, no fair. You know I can’t resist a secret,” she said, giving him a dirty look. “You just said that so I’d agree to go with you.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” he said, grinning at her. “You’ll just have to come with me to find out.”

There was a little chuckle behind them, and she turned to look over at Zach. “You stay out of this,” she said, but she was smiling at him. “He might have won this round, but I’ll get even.”

Zach studied her for a second. “I don’t doubt that for a second,” he said. “You’re an amazing woman, Kennedy, and my brother is lucky to have you. I’m really happy for you two.”

“Thank you. I’m glad you and Cameron worked out your differences. Having you on our side makes all the difference,” she said. “Now I think I’ll go take that shower.”

“I’m going to hang out for a while longer, then go find a place to crash for a couple of hours,” Zach said. “I’ll see you down at the beach later.”

When she came out of the bedroom a little later, Zach and the books were gone, Cameron was stretched out on the couch, sound asleep, and she thought about just letting him sleep. But a second later, he stirred and opened his eyes. A smile spread across his face, he sat up and then patted the space next to him on the couch.

“You look beautiful today, but then again, you look beautiful every day,” he said, putting his arm around her. “I like waking up and having the first thing I see is your face.”

“Are you buttering me up for a reason?” she asked, feeling a blush warming her cheeks. “Not that I don’t like the compliments, I just…”

He silenced her with a kiss that made it clear what he was thinking, then pulled away from her. “You drive me crazy, but we don’t have time for that right now. I need a shower, and then we’re going for that walk.”

While Cameron was in the shower, she logged onto the internet using the code Max had given her, her heart beginning to pound when she saw the response to her press release. They were going to have an audience later that day, a much bigger one than she’d anticipated, and hoped that Max and the rest of the staff were prepared. She might have found a way to explain the picture, but it would bring a lot more attention to the island in the process.

Cameron came out of the bedroom a few minutes later. “I think we’d better skip that walk on the beach and go find Max right away,” she said. “The island is going to be overrun with people. My press release seems to have generated a lotof attention. Walter is having a fit, making statements anywhere he can that what he saw was real. If this doesn’t work…”

“It’s going to work,” Cameron said, pulling her to her feet, and then into his arms. “And Max already knows about the press release. He called Harrison yesterday and he got here this morning with a bunch of his men. The island is as safe as it can be.”

She buried her face in his chest, inhaling the clean scent of soap and his own unique scent. A wave of comfort washed over her, and she let out a long sigh. “I can’t stop thinking that this is all my fault,” she said. “We wouldn’t have to do all this if Walter hadn’t followed me to the island.”

“You can’t blame yourself. You couldn’t have known he was here. Max didn’t even know,” Cameron said. “I don’t want to hear another word about whose fault this is. You came up with a solution, which is way more important. Besides, something good has already come out of this. I found you, and I wouldn’t change that for anything in the world.”

“You’re right, I know you are,” she said, taking a deep breath and letting it out again. “Let’s go take that walk, I think I could use some quiet time before this all begins.”

CHAPTER 19

***CAMERON***

Cameron helped Kennedy down the ladder from the cabin's porch, then took her hand and led her down to the beach, hoping they could find some privacy. The sand was deserted when they stepped out of the trees, but further down by the marina, he could see a lot of activity and at least ten boats bobbing out in the water. Leading Kennedy the other way, he gave himself a few minutes to let the sound of the waves and the fresh salty breeze relax him.

“Marie and I had a long talk while you were sleeping last night,” he said. “She brought up some interesting things about the clan that I didn’t know, and it got me to thinking about us.”

Kennedy looked over at him, her face full of apprehension. “Don’t tell me that you’ve changed your mind,” she said. “I thought your brother coming here was a good thing.”

“It was, I couldn’t be happier that he’s here,” he said, then pulled her closer. “I haven’t changed my mind, but she and I did talk about us. In fact, that’s all we talked about. She was pretty blunt about the fact that science wasn’t going to helpme. She thinks history is the key to not only us being together but Zach taking over the clan instead of me.”

“That’s why all those books suddenly appeared this morning,” Kennedy said, shaking her head. “I don’t know why you were being so secretive about it.”

“I had to figure out a few things before I shared all of this with you,” he said. “I wanted to make sure that we could find what we needed because this is going to be a big decision for you, and I know how much you like to be informed.”

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