Page 65 of Bachelor Cop Finally Caught? (Hot off the Press! 2)

Dan squirmed on the boat seat. “I’m sure you didn’t intentionally hurt her,” he muttered, remembering the shattered look in Lindsey’s eyes when she walked away from him.

“No. But that wasn’t an excuse. I knew better all along than to get involved with her and to let her start making plans for us.”

Dan nodded glumly. “Mistaking friendship for love usually does lead to heartache.”

“Especially when only one of the two is in love,” Cameron agreed. “And the other is operating under a delusion.”

“Whatever happened to Amber? Do you know?”

“Yeah. She moved out West, met someone else and got married. I’ve heard she’s happy. She deserves to be.”

Dan swallowed hard. Would he be as happy for Lindsey if she announced plans to marry someone else? He hoped he would—but he doubted it. “Is there a point to this story?” he asked, to get that disturbing image out of his mind.

“Sorry if I’m stepping over the line here, but I thought you could use someone to talk to. I know it helped me to talk to my friend Shane after Amber and I broke up.”

“I appreciate it, but—”

“You and Lindsey did get involved, didn’t you?”

Dan heaved a heavy sigh. “Yeah.”

“I thought so. Now you’re hating yourself for hurting her.”

Maybe Cameron really did understand. “Yeah. That pretty well sums it up.”

“Believe me, I know how you feel. You probably feel the same way I did about Amber. I was very fond of her—but I just couldn’t love her the way she wanted me to.”

Dan frowned. “Well, no, that’s not—”

“She was crazy about me—or at least, she thought she was. She started hinting about marriage and babies and growing old together—and I broke into a cold sweat. I guess you know that feeling.”

Actually, the thought of marrying Lindsey and having babies with her didn’t scare Dan at all. It was the possibility that she would change her mind just as he allowed himself to start believing in that future that terrified him.

Funny. He and Melanie had never talked about the future. Other than one significant episode, they’d never seriously discussed having a family. Maybe they’d both known subconsciously from the beginning that theirs was not a till-death-do-us-part commitment.

“I imagine Lindsey will get over you—eventually,” Cameron continued. “She’ll realize someday that it wasn’t her fault that you didn’t love her. She’s just not your type, that’s all. The same way Amber wasn’t my type.”

“Cam, you’ve got it backward.”

Cameron raised an eyebrow. “Surely you don’t expect me to believe Lindsey’s the one who changed her mind and dumped you.”

“Well, no.” At least, not yet, he added mentally.

“I didn’t think so. Lindsey’s not the love-’em-and-leave-’em type. She’s too centered and levelheaded—something I noticed almost as soon as I met her. Because she’s so petite and cute and ebullient, there’s a tendency to underestimate her. But she’s a woman who knows what she wants and doesn’t change her mind on a whim.”

“She’s still young.”

“Twenty-six? Hardly a child.”

Absorbed in his thoughts, Dan missed a strike. The fish weren’t biting worth a damn, and he’d missed the first bite he’d gotten.

“Don’t torment yourself, Dan,” Cameron advised kindly. “As you said, she’s still young. She’ll get over you eventually. Just as Amber got on with her life without me—though Amber probably doesn’t take things as hard as Lindsey does. Amber’s a little more flighty. She tends to romanticize everything—including me. She tried to believe I was someone I wasn’t. You can’t say the same about Lindsey. Not the way you two fuss and scrap over your jobs. She definitely knows your flaws, but she must have decided they didn’t overshadow your strengths.”

Okay, Dan knew Lindsey was all too familiar with his flaws. She’d called him a stubborn, pigheaded, uncooperative, dictatorial workaholic so many times he could clearly hear her voice saying those words in his head right then.

She didn’t romanticize him. But she’d decided she wanted him, anyway. And he’d driven her away.

Cameron reeled in his lure and cast toward a more promising-looking spot. “I was incredibly fortunate to find Serena after that fiasco with Amber. I really didn’t think I’d ever find anyone I could love like that. Amber was a fine woman, but she wasn’t the right one for me. I’m sure you feel pretty much the same way about Lindsey. You see? I know exactly how you feel. I hope that helps you.”

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