Page 13 of Secrets of the Dragon's Heart

“You didn’t answer my question. You said I messedeverything up,” Cameron said, his voice full of suspicion. “What does that mean?”

“I was talking about our friendship. It was going fine until you kissed me and said all those things,” she said, scrambling for the right words. “It changed everything, and I wasn’t ready for that.”

“So, you didn’t mean it about the vacation romance?” Cameron asked, his voice full of disappointment. “I thought…never mind…it was stupid.”

“No, not really…you were right, I’m really not that kind of girl,” she said, then let out a long sigh. “I just didn’t like you making choices for me. I didn’t even like that guy, but you were being such a…”

“Jerk, yeah, I know,” he said, his voice full of regret. “I wasn’t lying to you last night, I don’t ever act like that. I’m not exactly good with women; I’m not really the dating type, and I spend most of my time in my lab.”

“Someone told me last night that the island does weird things to people,” she said. “Let’s blame the island and try to forget about it.”

Cameron studied her for a second. “Don’t tell me you believe that garbage,” he said, suddenly annoyed. “That’s all just a bunch of superstition and rumor. I thought you were smarter than that.”

“Hey, I was just trying to give you a break,” she said, wishing she hadn’t said anything. “It was just something someone said to me, okay?”

“Sorry, I guess I’m a little sensitive about it,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I know there’s a perfectly good explanation for everything that’s happened on the island, and I’m going to find it before I leave.”

“What do you mean everything that’s happened?” she asked. “I just thought the island made people fall in love. Is there more? I mean, I guess I never thought about how ithappened, I just assumed…well, I don’t know.”

“I shouldn’t be talking about this,” Cameron said, shaking his head. “I don’t want to encourage Max or make the rumors worse, not that you would say anything. At least, I don’t think you would.”

“Come on, Cameron, just a few details, I’m not a gossip,” she said, trying to hide her excitement, sure that she might still be able to salvage something from her trip to the island. “I heard it only happens to Max’s friends. Is that true? Are you sure it hasn’t happened to other people? Has anyone tried to find out?”

As soon as the last question was out of her mouth she knew that she’d gone too far and shut up, but the damage had already been done. “You sure are asking a lot of questions,” Cameron said, studying her again. “I really can’t talk about it.”

“Sorry. I get carried away sometimes, forget I even asked,” she said, frantically searching for a way to change the conversation. “I’m thinking about making the hike up to the cliffs on the other side of the island tomorrow. I need to ask Matt a couple more questions, so maybe I should get going.”

“That’s a difficult hike,” Cameron said. “I hope you’re taking someone with you.”

“I’ve been hiking my entire life, I don’t need a buddy,” she said. “Besides, the island isn’t that big, how much trouble could I get in?”

“Kennedy, you can’t go on a hike like that alone,” he said. “There are lots of things that could go wrong. It would be foolish, and I’m not going to let you do it.”

“Do I have to remind you that you’re not the boss of me?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. “If I want to go on a hike alone, I’m going on a hike alone.”

Cameron let out an exasperated sigh, “Then I’m goingwith you,” he said. “And don’t say no, I’ll just follow you the entire way if you do.”

She was both annoyed and touched that he was worried about her, then a little panicked at spending that much time alone with him. “You don’t have to do that, I’ll be fine,” she said. “I’m sure you have work you need to do.”

“It can wait,” Cameron said with a shrug. “I wouldn’t be able to concentrate anyway, knowing that you were out here alone.”

It was her turn to sigh, this time at the wave of warmth that enveloped her when she looked up into his eyes. “I told you this was a bad idea,” she finally said. “But you aren’t going to listen, are you?”

“Guess not,” Cameron said. “What time do we leave?”

“Eight a.m. and bring a lunch; we’ll be gone all day,” she said, giving up the battle. “We can meet here. It’s a long hike, so I’ll understand if you change your mind.”

“I won’t,” he said. “See you in the morning.”

She watched him walk away wondering when she’d lost control of her investigation, how it had come to this, and how she was going to resist Cameron if he pushed her. But she knew the answer, she wouldn’t be able to and that scared her more than anything, more than her career imploding again, more than losing her job. The man was dangerous and could break her heart in a second if she let him in, and she wasn’t about to let that happen. She’d just gotten over Cliff and his treachery.

CHAPTER 9

***CAMERON***

For the second day in a row, Cameron grabbed his lunch from the village and took it over to the clubhouse, hoping that work would distract him from the confusing thoughts in his head. He’d been over and over his conversation with Kennedy and concluded that something wasn’t right. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was bothering him, but the feeling wouldn’t go away.

Max was coming out of the door when he stepped onto the porch, took one look at him and paused, waiting until he reached him. “I was going to ask how your hike was this morning,” he said. “But I can see from your face that it didn’t go well.”

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