Camden nudged Jake and motioned with his chin. “See?” he said even as he started jogging toward the man.
“Shit. On it.” Jake followed.
Behind them, Camden heard Cici ask, “What?” But he was too focused on his target to answer. This wouldn’t be the first time a Bash got compromised.
“Hey there, can you get me a Shirley Temple?” Camden said as he and Jake approached the man, standing between him and the house. He turned and Camden was close enough to confirm it—the asshole was wearing camera glasses. His eyes went round as he looked back and forth between Camden and Jake, then looked past them to Gina and Costello coming to join the party.
“We can do this easy or we can do this hard. Which is it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The guy took a step back.
“Easy is, you give me the glasses and your ID and I escort you out quietly to a waiting security vehicle. Maybe Mrs. Collins files trespassing charges, maybe not, but either way, you get questioned by me. Hard is—”
The idiot turned and bolted across the lawn toward the far wall behind the hedgerow.
Camden sighed. “Hard it is. Toby!” The dog’s attention immediately went to Camden, who gave him the signal to apprehend. The dog took off like a shot after the dude, who’d made it behind the hedge—a bit of a blessing, since it meant no one would have to see Toby at work.
Camden and Jake ran after the dog, who by then had taken down the man, judging by the guy’s shouts. Sure enough, Toby had a hold of the man’s leg as he still tried to crawl to the wall. Camden pulled Toby off him while Jake zip-tied his hands behind his back. He found his wallet and flipped through it. Two of Bette’s security guards came jogging up, embarrassment all over their faces.
Jake tore the guy’s glasses off. “Yeah, I thought that was you, Anderson.”
“You know him?” Camden asked.
“Paparazzi scum.”
Anderson pointed to his glasses even as the guards pulled him up. “That’s private property.”
“No,” Jake said, pointing to the ground. “Thisis private property. And these are mine now.” He slipped them on and Camden braced for the inevitable Elvis impression.
Gina sidled up to the guards and smiled. “I’d like to have a talk with him.” She pointed back toward the hidden guardhouse at the back of the property.
“I’ll come with you,” Camden said.
Gina held up a hand. “I’ve got this.”
“I can—”
She fixed him with her golden eyes. “No. I’vegotthis.” She held out her hand to Jake. “Glasses. Please.”
Eight
As the commotion in the back yard died down and Bette’s house filled with new guests either unaware of the breach or laughing it off once they heard Ron Anderson’s name, Elena successfully stayed in the kitchen for almost an hour, but Rachael wouldn’t let her keep hiding and neither would Bette.
“Are you sure everything is all right?” Elena asked Bette.
Bette waved her off. “It’s nothing. It happens. Usually, they ignore the law and send a drone over our heads. Ron Anderson just likes to be a pain-in-the-ass daredevil.”
But—”
“No, my dear,” she said as she led Elena to a room just off the patio full of women lounging on chairs and couches. “You’re new to town and I won’t have you hiding during my party. You need to mix and mingle. Make friends. Take advantage of the free babysitting.” Bette winked at her, then went off to see what her new bestie Tina was up to. The kids had been brought inside for obvious reasons.
Elena’s head swam from all the introductions. Or it could’ve been the Tequila Sour Camden pressed into her hands with a smile and a wink before he returned to the back terrace to talk to the guys. Or maybe, it was from the kiss that she still felt tingling on her lips like the last trace of a ghost pepper.
That kiss. The first brush of a man’s lips against hers since Antonio died, leaving her wanting so much more. And judging from the hungry look in Camden’s eyes and the unmistakable bulge he tried unsuccessfully to hide, he wanted a second helping as well.
“Really, Elena, I’d ask for the recipe but I’d never cook it.”
Elena blinked as she felt her cheeks redden. She’d completely lost track of the conversation going on around her, and now Cici Bennett had just…what? Insulted or complimented her spicy peanut Thai dip?
