I’m looking about the space as she describes it. “That wouldn’t be difficult, Cami.”

Her eyes light up.

“Seriously, it would maybe take a weekend and a few hundred dollars. Where do you have your shoes now?”

She motions for me to follow her, turns out the light of the closet-bedroom, and leads me into her master, opening a small walk-in closet that would be too small for most women I know. She has all of her clothes hung, and about three dozen shoe boxes stacked under them.

“I just leave them all in the boxes so they aren’t just in a huge heap,” she says. “It works fine.”

I know exactly what I’m getting her for her birthday in a few weeks.

I simply nod and pull her in for a hug. “Let’s take a bath.”

“A bath?”

I nod and pull her shirt over her head, toss it aside, and reach for her bra. In a matter of seconds, I have her undressed and sitting at the side of the bed as I strip off my own clothes.

“Stay.”

“Still not a dog,” she says with a sigh, and watches, her eyes on my stomach, as I turn away and walk into her bathroom. She has a separate shower and tub. The tub is a big jetted tub, the perfect size for two.

I run the water, adjust the temperature, and walk out to find that she’s flopped onto her back, her feet still on the floor. Her eyes are closed. I wish I knew why she seems so down today.

“Did you fall asleep?” I ask before laying my lips against hers and kissing her sweetly.

“Mm-mm,” she says, and grins against my lips. There’s her pretty smile.

“Have I mentioned how much I love this dimple in your cheek?”

“You used to tease me about it when we were teenagers,” she says as I pull her to her feet.

“Did you ever stop to think that teasing you was my way of flirting with you?” I ask as I guide her into the bathtub. I sit behind her and tug her back against me, then wrap my arms around her stomach and simply hold on.

“Well, if you were trying to flirt, you were bad at it,” she says, and bats at the bubbles with her hand.

“I was a teenager. Of course I was bad at it.” I chuckle and kiss her neck, just under her ear. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m just quiet, Landon,” she says, and leans her head back on my shoulder, takes a deep breath, and relaxes against me. “There’s nothing wrong.”

“Will you tell me if that changes?”

“If you like,” she says.

“I want you to talk to me. I want you to tell me anything and everything.”

“You’ll get sick of hearing my voice,” she says, and looks up at me with a smile.

“Impossible.” I kiss her nose. “Your voice is the best part of my day.”

“My voice? Not my body, or my mouth?”

“Those are both impressive,” I reply, and tuck her arms under mine, hugging her around her shoulders now. “But it’s your voice that makes my day.”

“That could be the sweetest thing that anyone’s ever said to me,” she says.

“Oh, there’s more to come, sweetheart.”

Chapter 9

~Cami~

“What’s up with you?” Addie asks me as I walk into the office and close the door behind me. I stop and look over my shoulder, as if she might be talking to someone else. “Yes, you.”

“Well, I was going to balance our corporate checkbook,” I reply, and walk over to my desk. “And I need to write a check out to the newspaper for the ad we bought. I also need to balance the tills from last night.”

“Not that,” Addie says, and rolls her eyes. She sits in the chair by my desk and crosses her legs. “The other stuff.”

“What other stuff?”

“I noticed it at Riley’s party on Sunday,” she says, watching me closely. “When you get quiet¸ it’s because your brain is in overdrive.”

“It is?” I frown and sit back, thinking over the past four days. “I thought I just got quiet.”

“Yeah, because you’re thinking.” She smiles. “Spill it.”

“Well, this is new information,” I reply.

“Are you happy?”

“Yes.” I think about all of the time I get to spend with Landon. I love my house. I love my job. I even have a cat that’s beginning to tolerate me. “I have no complaints.”

“Okay, good. But something is bothering you.”

I frown and sigh. “So, things with Landon are good.”

“It looked like it, if the way he looks at you and can’t keep his hands off of you is any indication,” she replies with a wink. “But I can hear a big, fat but at the end of that sentence.”

“It’s a little but.”

“Okay, hit me with it.”

“But when’s the other shoe going to drop?” I ask, and sigh in relief. I didn’t even realize that I’d been agonizing over it, I just knew that there was something that was bothering me.

“The designer heel, or the steel-toed work boot?” she asks.

“I don’t have any shoes to drop,” I reply, spreading my hands wide. “He knows all about my past. It’s no secret.”

“And you think he has secrets?”

“I don’t know.” I stand and pace the large office that we all share. “Maybe. Probably not secrets per se, but there’s things that bother me.”

“Like?”

“Like the Navy,” I reply, spinning to look at her. “He loved the Navy. He loved to fly, to live all over the world, and now he has to settle for being here, and what if he gets tired of being here?”