“I’m sorry, Ford,” Cam said. “I shouldn’t have jumped to the conclusion that it was you—”
“You don’t owe me any apologies, Cam,” I said. “If I hadn’t waited so long—”
“Seems to me that neither of you boys are at fault here,” Doc Cleary interrupted. “So quit the I’m sorrys and kiss and make up already,” he said. “Go on, we’ll wait,” he added as he waved at us. Several of the council members smiled.
Cam chuckled. I, for one, didn’t need any more encouragement. I pulled him down to me for another searing kiss. I whispered another apology against his lips.
“Me too,” he breathed.
When we separated, Doc Cleary added, “Art has already been fired and we will be reaching out to your uncle to inform him that he’ll be sued for defamation if he continues to spread lies about our new sheriff. We’ve encouraged Sheriff Wells to have his lawyer reach out to your uncle as well… the more the merrier as they say, right?”
“Right,” I said with a grin.
“Okay, now that that’s settled, you two get on out of here. I have a few things I’d like to say to some of my fellow council members. Sheriff Wells, keep us posted on how it goes with that boy. If you need any recommendations to be named as his temporary guardian, you let me know. We may be a small town, but we’re pretty good at being heard when we want to be.”
“Yes, sir,” Cam said as he tugged me from the room. I clung to his hand when we walked past the reception desk because I didn’t want to risk him dropping it. As soon as we were in the hallway and out of sight, he shoved me up against the wall and kissed me hard.
“I’m so sorry I doubted you.”
I kissed him to silence him. “Don’t make me call Doc Cleary out here to tell him you’re going against orders,” I warned.
Cam grinned. “Yes, sir,” he said. He kissed me softly. “Is this okay?”
“What?” I asked.
He motioned to a couple of people at the end of the hall who were watching us. They disappeared as soon as we looked at them.
“No,” I said. Cam’s face fell and I quickly added, “We need to find more people. We scared those ones off.”
Cam laughed and wrapped his arms around me. “Done,” he said.
I pulled back and forced myself to focus on the reality that not all was perfect between us… yet. “I need to tell you some stuff about Jimmy. I should have told you sooner but I was afraid of what it would mean with my family and then when I finally got up the nerve to tell you the other night, Riley showed up. That’s not an excuse—”
“Do you want to tell me as me or as the sheriff?” he asked.
I hadn’t even considered the distinction. But the fact that he did and that he didn’t seem angry gave me hope.
“As the sheriff,” I said. “And then as you later.”
He nodded and kissed me. “Okay, let’s go to the station.” He took my hand in his. When we reached the parking lot he said, “Where’s your car?”
“Oh, um, about that… I’ll pay the ticket. I don’t expect any special treatment.”
Cam looked at me with an arched brow. “What does that mean? What did you do?”
When I told him it was double-parked in front of his office, Cam smiled and then reached for his phone. I figured he was talking to Sally-Ann but it was a brief conversation and I couldn’t figure out what her end of the whole thing was. But Cam was grinning from ear to ear when he hung up. He began leading me to his SUV.
“What?” I asked.
“Did you forget something in your car, baby?” he finally asked.
“No, I—” I began patting down my pockets for my wallet and phone and…
“Oh shit, I left the keys in it,” I said. “Because I left it running.” I shook my head. “What did she say? Did someone actually steal my car?”
“In Pelican Bay?” Cam said with a laugh. “No offense, sweetheart, but you could leave your car running in Times Square and I doubt anyone would steal that hunk of junk.”
“So it’s still there?” I asked hopefully.
“No.”
“Cam,” I said in frustration. He tugged me against him, then maneuvered me back against his SUV. His mouth fluttered over mine.
“She must really like you,” Cam said.
“Who?” I asked, because I’d completely forgotten what we’d been talking about.
“Sally-Ann.”
“Oh, right. Why do you say that?”
“Because she moved your car for you.”
“She did?” I asked. “That was so sweet of her.”
“Yeah, it really was. Only one problem.”
“What? Oh no, she didn’t have to walk too far back to the station, did she?”
Cam laughed and shook his head. “No, not far.”
“What? Why are you laughing?”