“And it worked. I met Cici.”
Camden’s stomach plummeted to his toes. “And you met Cici.”
Elena lifted her head from his chest. “Who you really don’t want me being friends with. That’s what you wanted to talk about, isn’t it?”
Shit. Dammit. Here we go. Camden considered his options again. He didn’t want to play games, so he just came out with it. “The lady does a lot of good work. She’s a good person to know in this town. Any other time, I’d cheer your friendship on.”
“But not right now. Why?” Elena cocked her head to the side and studied him.
Tread carefully. “Because I’m working security for them. They’re already in the spotlight, but they’re about to go supernova with Roger’s upcoming announcement and fundraiser. That attracts the wrong people sometimes. Perfect example was the Bash. I don’t want you caught up in the middle.”Even though you already are, he desperately wanted to tell her. He hated how she’d stiffened in his arms at his words.
Elena pressed her lips together in the straight line Camden had come to dread. He waited for her to argue with him. Instead, she said something worse. “It…might be a little too late for that.”
Fuck. “What makes you say that?” Would she tell him about her lunch now? Did he want her to?
“Well, Cici came to Brant and Phillips today and asked me out to lunch to make up for the scene at the party. She was embarrassed, Camden. What was I supposed to say?” Color rose up her neck and spread across her face, not the embarrassed blush from earlier but one that signaled she was getting upset.
Camden put his hand up. “Hey, I’m not judging or getting mad here. You’re the kind of person Cici would want for a friend. Someone who’s warm and understanding. I’m not surprised she’s seeking you out.”I just wish she wouldn’t, he thought.
Elena relaxed again. She placed her hand on his chest at the top of his shirt. The tip of her finger touched his bare skin just under the hollow of his throat and he fought back shivers. “That’s just it. She must know a ton of women she could confide in, but she’s choosing me.”
That put Camden on high-alert. “Confide in?” He covered her hand with his and wrapped his fingers around hers. “Elena, I’m in a tight spot here. There are a lot of things I can’t tell you.”
Elena’s lips pressed into a straight line again. “She’s in trouble, I think, and she doesn’t know who to trust, who to confide in. Maybe that’s why she’s seeking me out. So let me help her by helping you.”
Her eyes shown so brightly with the idea of it that Camden blurted out, “I can’t let you do that. I can’t let you get in the middle of this. I have to protect you and Tina.”I can’t fail.Not this time. The long-ago memories roared back like a visceral gut punch.
Elena laid her hand on his cheek. “Camden?” Her eyes had gone round and alert. “Where’d you go? I didn’t mean to touch a nerve.”
He laid his hand over hers. “Nowhere good, baby.”
She narrowed her eyes. “But you don’t want to talk about that, do you?”
Camden blew out a breath. “Not…yet.”
Elena looked away and he hated the sudden distance. More so because he’d caused it.
But when she looked back he saw new determination in her eyes. “So, who protectsyou, while you’re being all tough?” She broke into a smile that melted his heart. “Please let me help you. Cici wants to talk to me. She almost told me something before this Lawrence guy came along today. I think it might have been what’s bothering her.”
Shit. That was probably the worst thing she could have said. Now Camden had to weigh his job against his woman’s safety.Fuck. “She told you something, or shealmosttold you something?”
“Almost. She said she has regrets, mistakes she’s made. I think she’s worried that they’ll come out on the campaign trail. But I can’t imagine what she could’ve done.”
So, it is something from her past, Camden thought,not something recent that she might be hiding. But what could it be? “That’s the word she used? Regrets?”
Elena nodded. “That’s when Lawrence showed up, so she never finished telling me what had her worried.”
Damn. He could ask Elena to set up another lunch date, or even better, invite Cici over to her apartment so they’d have privacy. He could set up a wire—
Camden stopped mid-thought, hating the way his training tried to take over, to see Elena as a resource instead of a loved one. And here he went projecting that on to Gina earlier.I’m an asshole.
So which would it be—the former SEAL with a job to do, or the lover and protector he wanted to be—who would win? Why did it have to be an either/or? Why did he always have to choose?
The last time he’d chosen the SEAL, he’d lost everything.
So, he’d just find another way.
Camden stroked Elena’s hair. “I don’t need you getting involved, babe. Besides, it’s not your problem. You’ve got enough to worry about. You don’t need some woman dumping on you.”
