Jules Bennett – From Best Friend to Bride (страница 2)

Cameron eased back, resting his firm hands on her shoulders. “You okay? You seem tense.”

Really? Because she’d pretty much melted into his embrace. The cop in him always managed to pick up every little detail around him, yet the man in him was totally oblivious to the vibes she sent out. It would be so much easier if he just magically knew how she felt and took that giant first step so she didn’t have to. The passive-aggressive thing was never her style, but in this instance she really wished he’d just read her mind.

“I’m fine,” she assured him, offering a grin. “Just a lot on my mind lately.”

Wasn’t that an understatement?

His dark brows drew together as those signature bright blue St. John eyes studied her. “What can I do to help?”

Oh, if he only knew. One day.

“Nothing.” She reached up, patted his stubbled jaw and stepped back to avoid further temptation. “Go rest so you can head out and save Stonerock from all the bad guys.”

The muscle in his jaw jumped. “I’m working on it.”

“I hope you’re careful,” she added, always worried she’d get a phone call from one of his brothers or his parents telling her the worst. Because Cameron would put his life on the line for anybody. He just wouldn’t put his heart on the line.

He laughed. “Yes, Mom, I’m careful.”

Swatting him on his hard pec, Megan narrowed her eyes. “I have to ask. You make me worry.”

“Nothing to worry about,” he assured her, with a friendly kiss on her forehead. “I’m good at my job.”

“You’re so humble, too.”

With a shrug, he pulled his keys from his pocket. “Eli and Nora’s baby is being christened tomorrow. You’re still planning on coming, right?”

“Are you going to make it?”

Cameron nodded and headed toward the back door. He always came and went via her back door. He never knocked, just used a key when it was locked and made himself at home.

“I’ll make it,” he told her, his hand resting on the antique knob. “I may even have time to run home and nap and shower for the occasion.”

“How about I pick you up?” she offered.

He lived in her neighborhood, and they tended to ride together when they went anywhere. They were pretty much like an old married couple, you know, just without the sex and shared living quarters.

“Be there at nine.” His finger tapped on the doorknob. “Lock up behind me.”

Rolling her eyes, she gave him a mock salute as he left. The worry was definitely a two-way street.

Now that she was alone with her thoughts, she had to face the unknowns that circled around in her mind. This job offer had come out of nowhere.

Was it a sign that she needed to move on? She’d been in Stonerock nearly her entire life; she was still single and had nothing holding her back.

Except Cameron.

After scrubbing her sink and table, Megan was still no closer to making a decision. She loved being a therapist at the local counseling center; she loved her patients and truly felt as if she was making an impact in their lives.

The new job would be in Memphis, nearly two hours away. The new facility would offer her a chance at helping more people, even taking charity cases, which would allow her to comfort and guide people she never could’ve reached otherwise.

How could she say no?

As she sank onto the chair at her kitchen table, she thought of her brother. He was an adult, but he’d never been able to take care of himself. The questionable decisions he made kept snowballing into more bad decisions—each one seemingly worse than the last. He always counted on her as a crutch to fall back on. What would happen to him if she left? Would he finally man up and take control of his life? See just how dependent he’d become and actually want to change?

More to the point: What would happen with Cameron? Before she made the decision, she would have to seriously consider gathering up the courage to tell him the secret she kept in the pit of her soul.

This job was a catalyst for pushing her in that direction. She needed to move on one way or another...though she’d rather move on with him. Either way, she’d know if years of wanting and dreaming had been for naught.

She’d wanted a relationship with him since they’d graduated high school, but the timing to reveal her feelings had never been right. Between her parents’ deaths, his deployment and Megan always putting her life on hold to help her brother, she just had never found an opening.

Cameron was the only solid foundation in her life. What happened if she told him how much she loved him and it ruined their friendship? Could she take that risk?

He’d told her he’d never consider being in a committed relationship. He’d shared the story of the night his partner had died and how he’d had to witness the widow’s complete breakdown. Cam had told her he’d never put anyone through that.

Still, she had to let him know how she felt. She couldn’t go through life playing the what-if game forever, and he deserved to know. By not giving him a chance to make a decision, she could be missing out on the best thing that had ever happened to her.

Megan folded her arms across the table and rested her head on them. She really had no choice...not if she wanted to live her life without regrets.

Some risks were worth taking. She knew without a doubt if Cameron wanted to take things beyond friendship, the joy would be totally worth the bundle of nerves that had taken up residence in her stomach.

* * *

Cameron had managed about a three-hour nap before the christening. He’d also showered and shaved for the occasion. His mother would be so proud.

He’d just finished adjusting his navy tie when his front door opened and closed. Heels clicked on the hardwood floor, growing louder as Megan approached the hallway. He assumed the visitor was Megan, unless one of his brothers had opted to don stilettos today.

He knew of Megan’s love for breakneck shoes when she wasn’t wearing her cowgirl boots. Didn’t matter to him if she was barefoot. Cameron had fought his attraction to Megan for a few years now. At first he’d thought the temptation would go away. No such luck. Being a cop’s wife, even in a small town, wasn’t something he’d put on anyone he cared about. He couldn’t handle knowing he’d put the worry and stress of being a cop’s wife on Megan, so he pulled up every bit of his self-control to block his true feelings.

Unfortunately, Cameron had never wanted to avoid his best friend as much as he did right this moment. Dread filled his stomach as he recalled the things he’d witnessed last night while monitoring the drugstore parking lot. The events that had unfolded on his watch put a whole new spin on this case...and quite possibly his relationship with Megan. No, not quite possibly. Without a doubt the new developments would shatter their perfect bond.

Her brother had gotten involved with the wrong crowd—a crowd Cameron was about to take down.

She deserved to be happy, deserved to live free from her brother’s illegal activities, and Cameron would do anything and everything to keep Megan safe.

Although he was torn about whether or not she should find out, he was obligated to his job first, which meant he had to keep every bit of this operation to himself. She would be hurt and angry when she discovered what her brother was doing, and even more so when she realized Cameron had hidden the truth from her.

“You wearing pants?” she called out.

With a chuckle, Cameron shoved his wallet and phone into his back pocket. “Pants are a requirement?”

When he stepped into the hall, he stopped short. Damn. Megan had always been beautiful, and she always presented herself as classy and polished for work, but this morning she looked even more amazing than usual. There went that twist to his heart, the one that confirmed she was the most perfect woman for him. But he couldn’t let her in, wouldn’t subject her to his chaotic schedule, his stress from the job. Because if he was stressed, he knew she’d want to take some on herself to relieve him of any burden. He’d signed up for this career...Megan hadn’t.

With her fitted red dress, a slim black belt accentuating her small waist and rounded hips and her dark hair down around her shoulders, she stole his breath—something that rarely happened with any woman. Always Megan. Everything was always centered around Megan. She was special.

Which was why he shouldn’t be looking at her as if she were a woman he’d met at a bar and wanted to bring home for the night. Not that he remembered what that was like. He hadn’t been in a bar for personal recreation in so long, never mind bringing a woman back to his bed.

Megan deserved to be treasured, to be loved and come first in any man’s life. Unfortunately he could only offer two of the three.

Cameron had always figured one of his brothers would scoop Megan up, and the thought had crippled him each time the image crept through his mind. Thankfully, both Eli and Drake had found the loves of their lives. Cameron was thrilled for them, but love wasn’t for all the St. John boys. Cameron barely had time to catch any sleep, let alone devote to a relationship.

“Should I go back home and change?” she asked, raising a brow with a smirk on her face. “You’re staring at me.”