Date with Destiny

Grace gripped the phone harder and told a tiny lie. “I haven’t thought about the accident at all. I’m feeling…better.”

“That’s good. I’m pleased you’re taking it easy. Give me a call when you’re ready to come back to work.”

I’m ready now.

But she didn’t say it. Instead she ended the call and slipped the cell in her jeans pocket. Her plan to return to the B and B was forgotten when she turned on her heels and discovered Cameron standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, one shoulder propped against the doorjamb.

He looked her over in that slow, infuriating way she was accustomed to. “So, how did it go with Emily?”

She nodded and placed the visor back on her head. “Good. She’s a smart girl.”

“Yes, she is. Did she tell you about her home life?”

“A little. She told me about her mother and how her two half siblings now live with them and her grandmother.”

“Pat took the kids in when her daughter got locked up. Drugs,” he explained. “It’s been tough for the family. Emily and Dylan’s father disappeared years ago and they’ve lived with their grandmother most of their lives. The father of the two younger kids was killed a few months back. But now they have a chance to start fresh with a new home out near Burdon Creek.” He told her how the town had rallied to help the family purchase the small farm.

Grace thought about what he was doing for Emily’s family. She tried to think of one selfless thing she done the past year and came up with nothing.

No wonder he thinks I’m shallow. Not that I care one hoot what Cameron Jakowski thinks of me.

“It’s good of you to look out for them,” she said in a vague way she suspected sounded like some weak attempt to make conversation.

“Someone has to.”

Knight in shining armor. Hero cop. All-around good guy.

Not the guy for me.

Where did that come from? Grace crossed her arms and stared out of the window. Those mindless minutes on the beach the night before, that’s where.

She pulled on her good sense, determined to not think about his arms, his kisses, or anything else to do with the one person who’d managed to get under her skin and make her feel like she was the most self-absorbed woman on the planet. She’d never really cared what Erik thought of her. Or Dennis. Perhaps because she’d always held herself apart and avoided getting too close. But Cameron…he was different. He saw her. Every flaw.

“So, you said you had something to show me?” she asked.

“I did?”

“Mmm-hmm,” she replied and tried to dismiss the silly way her pulse raced. But he was hard to ignore in low-rise jeans and a pale blue T-shirt that showed the broadness of his chest and shoulders. And suddenly the air in the room grew hotter, thicker, like a tempting force had swept between them. She’d felt it before and always managed to ignore it. But today she couldn’t. He had good looks and charm in bucket loads.

“It’s nothing.”

She turned her head to glance at him. “Did you get me here under false pretenses?”

“Maybe.”

Warmth pushed through her blood. “And now that you have me here, what are your intentions?”

He laughed. “Ah, Grace, you are a confusing and beautiful contradiction.”

The compliment part didn’t help her determination to not be aware of him. “Then maybe I should leave and put you out of your misery.”

“What fun would that be?”

“Who needs fun?” she shot back and managed a tight smile.

“All work and no play, Grace? How’s that worked out for you so far?”

“Well enough,” she replied.

“Liar,” he said softly. “And if I come a little closer you’ll be shaking in those three-hundred-dollar shoes of yours.”

She drew in a breath. “You really do overstate your charm. If I’m shaking, it’s with disbelief that you’re so egotistical.”

He chuckled and perched his behind on the desk. “You know, Grace, I like you this way…fired up and ready for anything.”

Grace raised one brow. “Well, get used to it.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” he said and crossed his arms. “I also like the woman you were last night.”

Heat crept up her neck. “Well, don’t get too used to that.”

He laughed and then just as quickly looked serious. “So, tell me about the accident?” He’d heard that part of her conversation with Jennifer? Damn. Deny everything.

“It’s nothing.”

He shook his head. “I don’t believe you. I know there’s something wrong with you, Grace. I also know you’re too proud, or too stubborn, to say what it is because you think it will give me some kind of ridiculous advantage. Tell me,” he insisted as his brown-eyed gaze scanned her face. “What accident were you talking about just now?”

She drew in a breath and the truth felt heavy across her shoulders. Grace closed her eyes for a moment. Images jumbled in her head. Lights flashing, brakes screeching, metal crunching…it was over in a flash of a second. And then there had been an eerie quiet, followed by the sound of her own terrified breath.

And suddenly she wanted to tell him everything.

“I was in a crash,” she explained quietly, feeling raw and exposed and more alone than she’d ever dare admit. “I was in a car crash.”

Cameron responded quickly. “What? When?”

“A couple of months ago.”

“Were you hurt?”

She shrugged. Her scars were emotional, not physical. “I dislocated my shoulder and had a few cuts and abrasions. Nothing serious.”

Cameron’s gaze was unwavering. “It wasn’t just a fender bender, though, was it?”

“No.”

“It was a serious crash?”

She shuddered. “Yes.”

“And you haven’t told your family about it, have you?”

“No.”

He pushed himself off the table. “Why not?”

Grace’s throat tightened. She hadn’t spoken of the accident with anyone other than her boss and her therapist. Her work colleagues had stayed off the topic, even when she’d arrived at the office after taking a week off. They knew she didn’t do deep and meaningful discussions. They knew she didn’t want to talk about Richard’s death. “There was no point.”

He shook his head. “No point? They’re your family. You were hurt, Grace, don’t you think they had a right to know?”

The heaviness in her throat increased. “I wasn’t hurt badly,” she said in a defensive tone. Not like Richard. “It wasn’t worth making people worry.”

He frowned. “People? I’m not talking about random strangers, Grace,” he said and grabbed her hand. “I’m talking about your family. Your parents. Your brother and sisters.”

She tried to pull away put he held her firm. “You don’t understand. I can’t be like that. I can’t let out every emotion I have. I don’t have what it takes to…to…”

“To what?” he encouraged so gently the heat in her throat turned into an all-out burn. “To get close to someone?” he asked.

Grace nodded.

He urged her toward him and she jerked as her body pressed against his. “And yet,” he said as he curled one arm around her waist. “You feel close now.”

Her emotions heaved. “Please don’t…don’t tease me.”

“I’m not teasing,” he said so gently her insides contracted. “I promise. But it might help to talk about it.”

Grace didn’t want his help. She wanted to run back to the B & B. But she didn’t move. And instead, she spoke a truth she hadn’t shared with anyone. “Okay…here’s the truth. After the crash I had a…meltdown,” she admitted. “My boss made me come home. It wasn’t my choice. I wanted to work through it in New York. I didn’t want to come back here. I didn’t want sympathy or pity. I didn’t want to feel anything.”

He looked into her eyes. “Does feeling scare you that much, Grace?”

It scared her. It terrified her. If she let herself really feel then she would be exposed…vulnerable. Weak. “Yes.”

He touched her face. “Then I think you’re exactly where you need to be.”

In his arms? It was the one place she could never be. She shook her head and pulled away. “Promise me you won’t say anything. I don’t want my parents to—”

“I promise,” he said gently and dropped his arms. “For now.”

Chapter Four

Later that afternoon Cameron lingered by the table in his mother’s kitchen while she stacked plastic containers into two separate carry bags.

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