Along Came Trouble (Camelot 2)

Meanwhile, Jamie had been busy, settling into his new life with a speed that made Ellen’s head spin. With Carly’s permission, he’d already made an offer on a house on the edge of town. Ellen had seen the listing—it was a big place on a few acres, with a stone fence around the perimeter. Jamie said it would be easier to keep it secure than Nana’s house, and moving there would get him and Carly and the whole circus out of Ellen’s hair.

She would miss having Carly next door, but she had to admit, the news was a huge relief.

“I don’t know,” Ellen said. “I haven’t seen him.”

Not for lack of watching. She’d found herself looking for excuses to play with Henry near the windows or out in the front yard, but Caleb hadn’t been around for a few days. There was a new guy who wore a navy blazer and an earpiece, like a Secret Service wannabe. Ellen disliked him by default.

Henry didn’t seem to like him much either, and he wouldn’t stop talking about Caleb. Cabe’s phone. Cabe’s stories.

Cabe is?

I don’t know.

Cabe come now!

Sorry, buddy. I don’t think he’s coming.

Why?

“I need to find him,” Jamie said. “Carly and I were talking about the security situation, and we’re going to need extra help after Dora gets out of the hospital. I’m going to ask him to take over.”

“What about Breckenridge?”

“Screw Breckenridge.” He opened a dresser drawer and started emptying out the contents, miscellaneous extra clothing he’d left behind at her house over the years. “I’m the one who pays them, but they listen to the label more than they listen to me. Plus, I owe Caleb. He did a great job of handling all the crap I pulled last week, and then he got all of us to the hospital. Who knows what would’ve have happened to Carly and Dora without him?” Jamie threw all the clothes on top of the bag, which was never going to zip now. “He’s the man. I want him running the show. Do you think he could do my concerts and everything? He might have to expand. Anyway, I need to get him on board, and I had this idea that he—”

When he finally glanced over at her, she must not have been controlling her expression very well, because he abruptly stopped talking and dropped everything on the bed so he could pull her into a hug.

“Shoot, Ellen. I’m sorry. I’m a moron. I should be hanged for that. I forgot you guys were still … Want to talk about it?”

She looked over at Henry, who was sitting on the floor near the guest room doorway eating Doritos straight out of the bag and getting crumbs everywhere. His fingers and face were coated in powdery cheese. It was a horrible snack, but Jamie had brought it, and she hadn’t been able to hide it fast enough.

“You have to go back to the hospital,” she said.

Jamie sat on the bed and gave her shorts a tug, urging her down beside him. “Spill it. I think the Doritos are going to buy us ten minutes.”

Ellen glanced over at Henry. “Maybe five.”

“Talk fast.”

So she tried. She cast around for a beginning. “You know how you asked me if I was having totally awesome, totally meaningless sex with my bodyguard, and I said yes?” She pitched her voice low and hoped Henry wasn’t old enough to follow any of this.

“Uh-huh.”

“That was a lie.”

“Duh,” Jamie said.

“Duh?”

“Duh, as in, Duh, I knew that, Ellen.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“I know. I knew that, too.”

“You read minds now?”

“I read yours. It’s not that hard. Also, you’ve never had meaningless sex in your life.”