Page 76 of My One and Only

“Great. I’ll meet you both outside.” She looked over his shoulder, presumably to make sure Fiona wasn’t there, then darted in and kissed him. He wanted to pull her close and deepen the kiss but knew he couldn’t. Not now, and not here. So he backed away before she could.

“See you outside,” he managed to say.

Jo nodded. “Five minutes.”

“You got it.”

When Cam finally led Fiona out of the house, Jo was leaning against the rental truck. When they appeared in the doorway, she pushed away and smiled at both of them. “Are my two favorite people ready to go?”

“I’m ready,” Fiona shouted as she raced to the truck and pulled open the door. She scrambled into her car seat and waited for Cam to buckle her in.

Jo smiled as she swung up into the driver’s seat and watched Cam and Fiona in the rearview mirror. As soon as Cam was finished checking the car seat straps, he closed the door and climbed into the front seat with her.

“You remember how to get to Fiona’s school?”he asked.

Jo nodded as she backed out of the driveway. “I do.”She wasn’t using her navigation app. Absorbing information quickly had to be essential for a bodyguard.

Once at the school, Cam jumped out to unbuckle Fiona, then gave her a hug and a kiss. “We’ll see you after school, sweetheart,” he said.

Fiona nodded. “See you then.” She leaned into Cam’s open door. “Bye, Ms.Jo,” she called.

“Bye, Fiona,” Jo responded with a smile. “Have fun in school today!”

They watched Fiona hurry over to two girls, and the three of them disappeared into the school together, chatting away. As soon as Fiona was out of sight, Jo asked, “Is it okay to leave now?”

“Of course,” Cam said, swiveling on the seat to study her. “Clearly, there was no tampering with the truck.”

“Didn’t see a thing, but I’ll check every time we use that truck. I’ve been checking before you and Fiona were awake.” She grinned at him. “I have no idea why I slept later than usual today.”

“I’ll try to make sure you sleep later than usual every day from now on,” Cam murmured, cupping her cheek in his palm.].

She leaned into him for a moment, then straightened. Swallowed. “We going to the office today?”

“Yeah, lots of work to do.” He reached over and brushed the back of his fingers over her cheek. Just that one small touch made him want her to pull the truck over so he could kiss her. But he drew a deep breath. Gave himself a minute to settle.

Finally Cam said, “I hope you know I’m not trying to protect Fiona from you. But I am concerned. If she gets too attached to you, she’s going to be really sad when you leave.” He slid his hand down to her arm, lingered for a moment, then let his hand drop away.

“I wish like hell you didn’t have to leave, but I know you do. And Fiona wouldn’t understand that.”

“I get it, Cam,” she said, glancing over at him, resignation and sadness filling her expression. “I don’t want to hurt Fiona, and the more attached to me she gets, the harder it’ll be when I leave. So don’t apologize. I understand.”

“I wish…” he began, then closed his mouth. Wishing wouldn’t fix anything.

“I do, too, Cam,” Jo said softly.

Neither of them spoke as she drove to his office. She parked the truck in Cam’s usual spot, and they both climbed out. He realized Jo had parked where she could watch the truck. She’d done the same thing yesterday, he remembered. “You expecting someone to mess with that truck?”he asked her.

“I hope not,” she said. “But I want to cover all the bases.” She smiled at him. “I’m gonna turn my desk around so I’m looking out the window. Then I can watch it all day.”

He tilted his head and studied her. “Are you really expecting another attack?”

She shrugged. “The first two didn’t work. They’ll try something else.”

“You have any ideas?”

“A few,” she said. “But we’re not talking about them until I check your office for bugs.”

“What the hell?” He stared at her, stunned. “You think someone would bug my office?”

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