The Truth Within (Pelican Bay 3)

Though, technically, I was still on the clock, since I’d only brought Ford home with me to keep him from doing something stupid that I would have just had to deal with at some point in the near future.

Liar.

It was all I could do not to roll my eyes at my inner voice.

When Ford didn’t answer, I sighed and started to stand. “Never mind I said that,” I said.

My body instinctively reacted when Ford’s hand shot out to grab mine where it was resting on the edge of the table. My right hand automatically went to my gun and Ford sucked in a breath.

“Sorry,” I said when I saw his wide eyes. “Force of habit.”

Okay, so is it even possible for things to get more awkward between us?

“No, I, um, shouldn’t have reached for you like that,” Ford responded, stumbling over his own words a bit. “I just… I’m not trying to get rid of you,” he blurted.

He seemed so stressed that I felt sorry for him and sat back down. “Tell you what, Ford,” I said as I put both my hands on the table so he could see them. “Let’s just… let’s start over, okay?” I offered. “We’re just two people having a cup of coffee. We’ve never met before. I don’t know you from Adam and all you know is that I’m the new guy in town. As far as you’re concerned, I’ve got a wife and a passel of kids, if that makes it easier for you.”

Ford hesitated, then nodded. “Okay, I’d like that. But I don’t…” When his words came to a stop and he dropped his eyes, I laughed.

“Right, you need coffee.” I started to stand. So did Ford. But he wasn’t laughing or smiling… instead, he looked… disappointed.

But about what?

Ford slowly put his hand out. “I can get it,” he said.

I nodded and motioned to the coffee pot, still lost in thought about the look he’d given me when I’d finished his sentence for him about needing coffee. “Sugar’s in the cabinet above the coffee maker and there’s milk in the fridge.”

He turned away, then paused. His back was to me. “Cam?”

My name.

He’d said my fucking name.

Finally!

“Yeah?”

“Can you maybe not have a wife and kids?” he asked. My stomach dropped out but he didn’t wait for my answer. Holy shit, was that what he’d been about to say when I’d interrupted him? No… no, I was overthinking. But butterflies still danced in my belly as I watched Ford move easily around my kitchen as he prepared his coffee.

Get a grip, Cam. He’s off limits.

Yeah, I was going to need to go with my inner voice on that one. Even if Ford had been the kind of guy who just wanted a quick fuck, or a few, there were just too many other things standing in the way. The age difference, my position in the community, the fact that I’d taken over that position from one of his relatives… fuck, the list was practically endless.

He milled around my kitchen for a minute, then returned with his coffee mug. There was a moment of awkward silence that I realized would turn into much more than just a moment if I didn’t get the ball rolling. I remembered his original question about whether I was renting the house or not.

“I bought the place,” I said as I motioned to the room. “Sight unseen,” I added.

Ford smiled. “Why? Just why?” he asked. He lifted his mug and took a sip of coffee, then let out a little chuckle. “Mrs. Birdy must have been doing cartwheels when you told her you were buying the place. She’s been trying to sell it for years.”

I laughed as I considered the portly little woman with the wire-rimmed glasses and too-snug business suits doing cartwheels in my front yard.

“I got a great deal on it. I have a friend I went to the police academy with who lives a couple of hours from here so he agreed to come and do a video chat with me so I could see the ‘actual’ place, not just the real estate agent’s pictures. So I guess in that sense, I did see it. I just didn’t get to…”

When I seemed to struggle with how to phrase the rest of the sentence, Ford said, “Feel it?”

I smiled and bobbed my head. “Exactly.”

“But why make the move from Detroit in the first place? A big city like that has to have more to offer than a little town like… this.”

“How did you know I’m from Detroit?” I asked.

Ford dropped his eyes. I was really starting to hate when he did that. Not only were his eyes gorgeous, but they said volumes that his mouth didn’t.

“Word gets around,” he murmured. “Small town, you know?”

“Yeah,” I responded as I eyed him. The fact that I was from Detroit wasn’t a huge secret, but I was hoping the reason I’d left Detroit hadn’t actually somehow gotten out. I hadn’t done anything wrong, of course, but people had a way of believing what they wanted to, not the truth. “Just needed a change of scenery,” I said. “Detroit is probably one of the best cities to teach you how to be a good cop, but after twenty years, it can take down the best of them,” I hedged.