Shane’s head shot up. “I don’t care.”
“What kind of answer is that?” Not the one she’d expected and not reasonable under the circumstances. At least not to her.
“What’s his name?” Shane asked, refusing to back down.
She tried a different approach. One even he couldn’t argue with, in theory. “Let me talk with him and—”
“It’s better not to tip him off, since we’re going to see him tomorrow.”
Apparently he could argue just fine. What a surprise. “Because you say so?”
“Yes.”
Cam groaned as he stood up. “On that note, I should head out.” He looked at Shane. “I need to talk with you for a second.”
* * *
SHANE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED refusing to go out on the porch. He sensed some sort of man-to-man talk coming and wanted to avoid it. “What’s up?”
Cam leaned against the porch post and stared out into the darkness beyond. “You’re blowing this.”
“What are you talking about?” But Shane knew. He and Cam had talked about Makena before. All those years of thinking he hid his attraction proved wrong. Cam knew. He insisted they all knew, even Holt.
But wanting her and being right for her were two different things. Shane could not seem to get Cam to understand that.
“Nope.” Cam shook his head as he glanced at his shoes. “You can’t sell that level of denial. It’s not believable.”
He would never let this go, no matter how much Shane wanted that to happen. “You should go home and get some sleep and—”
Cam pushed away from the post. “Do you really think her working for the site is irresponsible?”
He loved her for it. That was what shook Shane so hard. How much everything she did resonated with him and how devastating it would be to lose her for good. “It’s dangerous.”
“So you’ve said. Repeatedly, which is annoying, by the way.”
Maybe he needed to find a new word, because that one wasn’t convincing anyone of anything. “Go ahead. Make your point.”
“You care about her, and it’s coloring everything you say and do.”
Shane had figured that out long ago. “She’s Holt’s sister and we need—”
Cam groaned. “Stop.”
“I’m not the marrying kind. Not anymore.” He’d tried it once and it suffocated him. They had grown apart almost as soon as they walked down the aisle. Disappointment and hurt feelings led to a nasty divorce when it should have been easy. Shane remembered every soul-crushing moment. Remembered every vow he’d made not to travel down that road again.
“Who is talking marriage?” Cam didn’t use the word idiot, but it hovered in the background.
“You think we could just fool around?” The idea sounded so good in Shane’s head until he thought about the aftermath and how uncomfortable parties and every other group meeting could get.
“Maybe you should be asking her that, not me.” Cam blew out a long breath. “Look, I know your marriage was a disaster.”
“No worse than a few of my father’s.” Shane thought about the weddings...all four of them. His father didn’t take much seriously, including marriage. He fooled around, lied, got laid off and basically ruined everything he touched. Shane fought hard not to become the man who had raised him, but the worry lingered out there.
“You’re not him,” Cam said, as if he’d heard the worry running through Shane’s mind. “I know how this feels. You lose control and someone starts to matter more than anything else in your life. You make mistakes and bumble your way through them. I’ve been there.”
Shane thought back to those early days in Cam’s relationship with Julia. Cam, one of the most competent men on the planet, had turned into a complete mess. Shane didn’t want any part of that. “Just because you and every other member of the team have paired off doesn’t mean I intend to.”
“She’s not going to wait for you forever.”
“She should be dating. Other guys, I mean.” It hurt to say the words. He got them out over the sharp pain in his gut. Just the idea of her with someone else ripped him to shreds. He half expected to see blood on the floor. “I have to be careful how I deal with her.”
“You could start with being supportive.”
Shane closed his eyes. Just for a second to try to regain perspective and wipe the memory of that stupid kiss from his mind. “I don’t want her working there.”
“How do you think she feels about you walking into danger every day?”
Shane refused to think about that, because his job wasn’t up for debate. He could handle it. He’d been trained.