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We locked eyes for a long, telling heartbeat. In that moment, something deep inside of me shifted. I knew he was right, even if an equal part of me wanted to deny it. “Fine. Then what?”
“Then, once I’m satisfied that everything is secure, I’ll reevaluate the plan based on the current threat level.”
He sounded so sure of himself, so professional. I wanted to trust him. I was trying to. But all the secrecy and words like ‘security’ and ‘threat level’ were throwing me off-balance. “Reevaluate the plan,” I echoed. “Sounds fantastic.”
That pretty much summed up the end of the conversation, other than Justin and my brother ironing out a few more details that, frankly, I zoned out on. I was a bit overwhelmed at that point.
I excused myself to grab Elizabeth when I heard her stirring in her room and took her to the potty. When we reemerged, Camden was ready to go home.
He leaned in to kiss us both goodbye. “You gonna be good here?” he asked softly, his blue eyes gentle as he took me in.
“Do I have a choice?”
“You always have a choice, but it would make me feel better if you went with this one.”
“Okay.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes, we’ll keep your overpriced bodyguard.” I smiled. “For now.”
“Justin will take good care of you, but call me if you need anything at all. Anytime.”
I nodded, though I knew I probably wouldn’t. I’d already taken too much of his time from his family. “If I didn’t already say it, thank you.”
“No need to thank me.” He brushed a hand down Elizabeth’s curls. “Love you both. Talk soon.”
He tipped his head toward Justin, who was talking quietly on his phone in the corner, silently giving him the go-ahead, then slipped out the door.
The finality of being left alone with Justin hit hard, especially once he hung up his call and turned to face me. I could tell he was going to ask me something, then thought better of it as he tucked his phone away. “You alright?”
“Not really.”
“I won’t let anything happen to either one of you.”
I took a breath, trying to let that comfort me. “Thanks, I guess.”
That made him crack a half smile, which did something to make the heaviness in my chest feel a tiny bit lighter. “Don’t mention it.” His eyes slid over to Elizabeth in my arms, and if I wasn’t mistaken, I caught a hint of softness there before he tucked it away to focus back on me. “So, what are your plans for the rest of the day?”
I wiggled Elizabeth on my hip. “Take her to daycare, then head into the studio. I have some work to catch up on before I teach this afternoon.”
“And you said you have some kind of security system already installed at your studio?”
“Yes.”
He nodded. “That’ll have to do for now.”
“For now?”
“I need to drive back to Houston to grab my stuff. I’ll follow you to make sure you make it to work safely, then I’ll be back by three, latest. To help our story, I’ll drop into the studio and pull you aside. You can act surprised and tell the girls our cover story, then we’ll head back here. Once I’m settled in, I’ll start on the security measures.”
If he could make it seem so easy, so could I. “Right. Okay.”
His phone rang and he glanced at it with a frown.
“You gonna answer that?”
“Nope.” He silenced the call, then tucked his phone away. “Let me know when you’re ready to go.”