“According to my truck’s GPS.”
“Someone else could have stolen the truck.”
“And come here?I told Cam to use this place as a safe house.”
Lauren piped up from between them.“Then why are we scaling this fucking cliff?I’m a fan ofLord of the Ringsand all but screw this many-steps shit.I don’t want to live it.”
Chuckling improbably, Nic crested the last step onto the stone patio and held out a hand to Lauren, helping her the rest of the way up.“We came this way because we don’t know who’s with Cam.”He’d recognized Cam in the truck, met his dark eyes in the mirror and watched him don that fucking BoSox cap, but in the dark, he hadn’t been able to tell if the woman with him in a ski mask was Becca or Abby.
“Oh, I think we do,” Lauren said.
Nic whipped his head around from where Aidan was throwing a leg over the patio ledge to the big bay window of Eddie’s house perched above the patio at the top of the cliff.Backlit by the glow of house lights, Cam sat shirtless at the kitchen table.Abby stood close to his side, wrapping a bandage around his upper arm.
A low burn simmered in Nic’s gut.It kicked up to boiling when Abby leaned in, kissing Cam’s shoulder, then his neck, then his lips.
Cam lifted a hand, resting it on her waist.Maybe he was holding her back but he sure as fuck wasn’t pushing her away.
“This was the other reason he was perfect for the job,” Aidan said, knocking the sand off his shoes.
“Because he’s hot,” Lauren replied, and Nic shot her a deadly glare.
Aidan, thankfully, didn’t notice the exchange.“According to Jamie, he was a legend at BC in both the frat and sorority houses.”
“Really?”Lauren said, surprised.“He’s generally so by-the-rules at work.”
“Not outside of it.”
“So, what, you want him to fuck his way onto the crew too?”Nic barked at Aidan.
Aidan did notice that remark and the tone.“If he needs to, yes.Or he can just steal more of my chocolate for bribes.”
Rolling his eyes, Nic glanced again at the house.Cam had leaned away from Abby.She nodded at something he said, then with a tired smile and another lingering kiss to his shoulder, disappeared from view.A few seconds later, the lights a floor down where the bedrooms were clicked on and Abby moved around, getting ready for sleep.
Upstairs, Cam slid off the stool, walking back into the kitchen and lifting the phone receiver off the wall.Nic had his phone in his hand when it buzzed.
“Boston,” he answered, voice clipped, quiet.
“Where are you?”
“Back patio.”
Cam spun around, staring out the window.
Nic held up his phone, the light from the screen letting Cam know exactly where they were.“Get down here.Leave the spotlights off.”
“On my way.”
“We’re not going up?”Lauren asked.
“Not until we get a read on the situation,” Nic said, glancing to Aidan, who nodded.
They crossed the patio to the tiny writer’s cottage tucked into the hill at the corner of the property.Nic flipped the lights on and gestured to the desk for Lauren to set up.Dropping into the chair, she booted up her computer while Nic and Aidan pushed the other furniture to the outer walls, making room.
The space was meant as a retreat for one.Four was going to be tight.
Tighter than anticipated when Cam entered, puffed up and full of something Nic couldn’t read.Leaning back against a bookshelf, Nic held his tongue, not wanting to say something he’d regret one way or the other, especially in front of Aidan and Lauren.
Aidan rested on the arm of a chair and nodded at Cam’s arm.“You okay?”
