The Truth Within (Pelican Bay 3)

Except now Cam knew I was an artist on the side too.

And that I had a photographic memory.

Although I wasn’t sure he’d believed me about that part. I doubted he shared my mother’s opinion that it was just further proof that the devil was strong within me, but he probably thought I was exaggerating about it.

I let out a heavy breath as I considered how badly I’d fucked up in the span of a week. Not only was Walter in the hospital because of me, but now Cam knew several of the secrets in my box that were never again supposed to have seen the light of day.

“Nice work, Ford,” I grumbled to myself. “Why don’t you just hand the whole fucking box over to him?”

“What box?”

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of Cam’s voice. As it was, he had to shoot out his hands to stop me from running into him as I rounded the corner.

“Jesus Christ!” I shouted as I put my hand over my frantically beating heart. “You scared the crap out of me!”

How had I not heard his footsteps coming around the path? The pine trees that lined the footpath would have hidden him from view, but surely I should have heard him tromping through the snow.

“You didn’t answer the phone,” Cam said, his mouth pulling into a frown.

“Phone? What phone? I don’t have my phone. It died after being in the water—”

“The phone in the small animal building,” Cam interjected. “I called you five minutes ago to check on you.”

He sounded pissed but his hold on me was gentle.

“Oh, I was probably in one of the larger habitats… I didn’t hear it.”

Before he could respond, a large bundle of white came streaking around the corner. If Cam hadn’t been holding onto me, I surely would have fallen when Loki, Dallas’s huge, white wolf-hybrid, jumped on me. The normally quiet animal whined as he sniffed every part of my body he could reach.

“Hey buddy, what’s the matter?” I asked as I pulled free of Cam’s hold and took off my glove so I could pet Loki’s silky fur.

“He was worried about you,” I heard another voice say. Sawyer rounded the corner. The vet was smiling as he added, “With this one” – he motioned to Cam with a gloved finger – “practically pacing the barn for the last twenty minutes and then taking off like a bat out of hell when you didn’t answer the phone, this one” – Sawyer pointed to Loki – “has been a nervous wreck.”

I’d knelt down while Sawyer had been talking so I could comfort Loki. When I looked up at Cam, he had his arms crossed and looked like he’d just swallowed a bowl full of rocks. “You were worried about me?” I asked in surprise.

“Put your glove back on,” Cam said gruffly. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or worried, but I was afraid if I repeated my question, he’d remind me he was just doing his job.

I rose to my feet and started to pull my glove back on. “Hang on one second,” Sawyer said. He stepped forward into my space and picked up my hand before I even had a chance to ask what he was doing. “Just want to check your pulse,” he said as he held my wrist and watched his watch at the same time. I glanced from him to Cam, who looked even more pissed now. I wanted to remind him that he’d been the one to insist on coming with me to help out with the afternoon chores at the sanctuary, but I held my tongue. I always seemed to say the wrong thing to the man, so I was starting to think it was wiser to just not say anything at all.

My eyes shifted to Sawyer. He was a really good-looking man. I knew better than to let myself think that about any guy, but I’d finally given up on trying to stop noticing if a man was handsome. There were just some things I was tired of fighting out with the devil and I figured as long as no one noticed me looking at other guys, it would remain just a well-kept secret between me and the man downstairs.

I figured Sawyer was in his early thirties or so. I hadn’t really interacted much with the handsome vet, but I’d heard and seen him talking to the animals plenty and I always fell a little under his spell in the process because his voice was just so smooth and mesmerizing. He wasn’t quite as tall as Cam, but I knew he was well built because I’d seen him without his heavy winter parka often enough. His hair was dark but it was only in the past couple of weeks that I’d noticed that the roots were growing in at a much lighter color. I’d almost asked him about it before I’d realized that I needed to keep my distance.