Page 23 of My One and Only (Blackhawk Security #10)

C am’s heart clenched as he glanced over his shoulder at Fiona. “Of course you’re not in trouble,” he said, then he frowned. “Unless you’ve been stealing other kids’ lunch money and Ms. Christopher doesn’t know about it.”

“You’re so silly, Daddy,” Fiona said, giggling happily. “Ms. Jo stayed at the playground with me, and I played with Mina. Then Julie and Isobel came over, and we all played together.” She leaned toward him. “It was so much fun! Can I stay after school again and play on the playground?”

“I’ll figure out something,” Cam said. He hoped his mom would be able to stay after school with Fiona a day or two a week. Once things were back to normal, he’d ask her about that.

He glanced at Jo. ‘Back to normal’ meant Jo wouldn’t be in Ogden. She’d be protecting someone else, likely far away from Ogden. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. He didn’t want to think about that, about Jo far away from Ogden. Away from him.

He hadn’t been able to stop her from leaving when she left the first time -- he’d been unconscious. Beaten to a pulp at the park by the river. And if Don hadn’t found him? Hadn’t called the paramedics and stayed with him until they arrived? He’d be dead right now.

Which was why he’d taken Don on as a partner. The guy had saved his life. Making him a partner in PK construction when Don needed help was the least he could do.

Had he had second thoughts about that decision? Occasionally, on days like today when Don made a crude remark about Jo. But overall, Don did a good job.

As he drove, he heard Fiona chattering away to Jo -- about playing on the playground, about her friends Mina and Julie and Isobel. She went into a long, convoluted explanation of the game they’d been playing. Cam couldn’t follow it at all, but Jo was nodding as if she understood all the intricacies of the game.

Listening to Jo and Fiona talk, Cam realized he had a huge hole in his life -- he didn’t have a partner to share the work with him. To pay attention to some of the details of their lives. Someone to bounce ideas off of.

He hadn’t missed that until Jo moved in with him. Now he knew he’d miss her input when her job with him was over and she left Ogden. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and glanced at Jo out of the corner of his eye. He’d miss her -- not just the sexy fun they had together, but he’d miss her influence on Fiona. And that was something he’d never thought he’d embrace -- another woman in Fiona’s life.

When they reached the house, Fiona unbuckled the straps that held her in the car seat. She began to clamber over the console between the two front seats when Jo turned and gently urged her back onto the bench seat.

“You and your daddy need to stay in the car, Fiona,” she said, brushing a few wisps of hair away from her face. “I’m gonna check the house, then you can come in. Okay?”

Fiona frowned. “I wanna check the house with you,” she said, a distinct whine in her voice.

“Not this time,” Jo said gently. “Another time, okay?”

Cam saw Fiona’s lip quiver, and he knew his girl was veering dangerously close to a tantrum. So he said, “Why don’t you and I check the yard, Fee? Make sure everything’s in order there.”

Jo shot him a look that said, ‘keep your ass in the car’. But he ignored it as he swung out of the car and opened the back door for Fiona. “We’ll check the front yard first,” he said. “We’ll need to look behind all the bushes beneath the windows. Maybe someone’s cat or dog got away and they’re hiding next to the house.”

Fiona sucked in a breath. “Really, Daddy? Do you think so?”

“You never know,” Cam said. “All we can do is look.”

He met Jo’s eyes and mouthed ‘sorry’.

Jo smiled and said, “I think that’s a very good idea, Fiona. We wouldn’t want anyone’s cat or dog to be lost. You and your daddy check all those bushes really carefully, okay? That’ll save me a lot of time.”

“Yay!” Fiona said, jumping up and down. “We’ll check everywhere ,” she promised Jo. “We’ll look very hard.”

“I know you will,” Jo said, and she swiped her hand over Fiona’s head.

Cam’s heart clenched at the casual familiarity. He was glad that Jo got along so well with Fiona. Seemed to know exactly what to say to her.

So while Jo opened the front door of the house, sliding her right hand beneath her jacket where he knew she kept her gun, he and Fiona got onto the ground and looked behind all the bushes. Beneath them, too. By the time Jo emerged from the house, they were both on their feet, brushing the dirt from their hands and knees.

“Any missing dogs or cats?” Jo asked Fiona as she emerged from the house.

“No,” Fiona said, with a disappointed frown. “But maybe there’ll be one tomorrow.”

“You never know,” Jo said. “Will you and your daddy look again tomorrow for me? That saves me a lot of time.”

“Yes!” Fiona said, bouncing up and down. “I’ll be the official searcher for lost dogs and cats.”

“That’s a big job,” Jo said, crouching in front of her. “But you’re a very big girl, so I’m sure you can handle it. I’m so glad you’re going to help me.”

She stood up and looked over at Cam. Mouthed ‘thank you’ to him.

Something moved in Cam’s chest as Jo disappeared into the house. Jo was remarkably good with Fiona. She seemed to know exactly what to say to keep her happy and excited about helping. As Fiona hopped toward the front door, Jo reappeared in the doorway. Cam grabbed Jo’s hand. Pressed a kiss to her palm and leaned close.

“Thank you,” he murmured. He felt her shiver when his breath brushed over her neck. “For making Fiona feel included instead of pushed to the side.”

Jo studied him for a moment, then her shoulders relaxed. “Fiona’s a great kid. It’s so much better to let her think she’s helping than to tell her to be patient and let the adults handle things.”

“I can’t imagine you’ve ever said that to any child you were protecting,” Cam said.

Jo’s shoulders tensed. “I’ve never had a protection job where a child was involved. This is new territory for me.”

“Based on the way you’re dealing with Fiona, you’re acing the test.”

Red flooded Jo’s cheeks. “Thanks for that, Cam.” She swallowed. “Other than my brief visits to my brothers’, I’ve never really interacted with kids before.”

“Hard to believe, Jo,” Cam said, draping his arm over her shoulder and leading her toward the front door. Fiona had squirmed beneath the bushes, looking for those lost dogs and cats. “You’re a natural with Fiona.”

“She’s a charming child, which makes it really easy.” She turned to study him. “I apologize for everything I’ve said about the way you’re raising her. You’ve done a wonderful job.”

Cam shook his head. “You were right to chew me a new one for not making an effort to get her connected with other kids. Watching her with the three girls from her class was a revelation. And I’ll talk to my mom. See if, after things are back to normal, she’d be willing to wait at the playground when the weather gets nicer while Fiona plays with other kids. Or have a friend or two over after school once or twice a week.”

“Great idea. And I think Fiona would love that,” she said as she opened the front door and waved him inside. She held back, turned to scan the street one last time before she followed Cam into the house. Made sure the door was locked.

While Jo helped Fiona with her homework again, Cam made spaghetti sauce and boiled water for the pasta. While that was cooking, he made a salad. But every few minutes, he snuck a glance at Jo and Fiona. Normally, he loved spending time with Fiona in the evening -- reading some books, giving her a bath, tucking her into bed.

And he’d do the same tonight. He wouldn’t shove Fiona aside because he wanted to spend time with Jo. Fiona would always come first for him. Fiona and any other children he might have in the future.

And why the hell was he thinking about future children? After the disaster of his relationship with Ashley, he was done with marriage. He’d date, maybe even get involved with other women. But he wouldn’t marry any of them. He wouldn’t take the chance of ruining the life he had with Fiona. Letting a woman get between him and his daughter.

He glanced at Jo again, then turned to the stove to stir the sauce. He might want to make love with Jo more than he wanted anything else right now. But that was as far as he’d go. Jo had a job that wasn’t here in Chicago. Even if he’d wanted a future with Jo, that wasn’t going to happen. He couldn’t move, and neither could she.

Disappointment squeezed his heart, but there was nothing he could do about it.

As he watched Jo and Fiona, Jo bent close and murmured something to Fiona. His daughter grinned and clapped her hands. “Yes!” she said.

He wondered what Jo had said to her. She was so good with Fiona. His daughter had clicked with her right away, and he saw in Fiona’s expression how much she liked Jo.

After finishing dinner, Jo retreated to her room, murmuring something about writing a report. She was in there for a long time, then she emerged with an e-reader in her hand. Sat on one of the living room chairs while he cuddled with Fiona on the couch and read her three books.

Finally, he wrapped his arm around his daughter’s shoulder. “Ready for a bath and bed, Fee?”

Fiona nodded, chewing on a fingernail, but she didn’t look excited. Sighing, she went into her room, found a pair of pajamas, then headed for his bathroom, where she usually took her bath.

As he finished washing her hair and poured warm water over her head to rinse out the shampoo, Fiona looked over at him. “Daddy, are more bad people going to come tonight? Try to hurt us?”

Cam swiped his hand over her wet hair. Squeezed out the excess water, then lifted her out of the tub and wrapped her in a towel. “No, baby, no one’s going to come to our house tonight. The guy from last night is still in jail. The Chief of Police called me today and told me he’d stay in jail until his trial. So there’s no way he can come back here.”

Fiona frowned at him as he toweled her hair dry, then grabbed the hair dryer and finished drying it. “Are you sure?” she finally asked, gnawing at a cuticle on her left hand.

“I’m positive, sweetheart. He’s in jail, and he’s going to stay there.”

“What if he had a friend? Would that friend come here tonight to hurt us?”

“No way, baby. If that bad man had a friend, the friend would see that the bad man is still in jail. He wouldn’t want that to happen to him .”

“Are you sure , Daddy?”

He never wanted to lie to Fiona. And he couldn’t promise her that no one would try to hurt them again. “I can’t predict the future, baby. But I think we’re safe. Jo does a good job protecting us.”

Inside the towel he’d wrapped around her, Fiona shuddered. His little girl was really scared. He pulled her onto his lap and wrapped one arm around her. “Would you feel less scared if you slept in here with me tonight?” he asked.

Fiona’s face lit up. “Yes, Daddy! I wouldn’t be scared at all if I was sleeping with you.”

Cam saw the evening he’d planned with Jo vanishing like dew on a hot morning. “How about if I move you to my bed before I go to sleep tonight?”

Fiona shook her head, her damp ringlets flying wildly around her face. “No, Daddy! I wouldn’t be able to fall sleep in my own bed. I’d be too scared.”

“But you wouldn’t be scared if you were in my bed? And you’d be able to fall asleep?”

“Yes.” She nodded earnestly. “Just for tonight.”

Fiona knew the rules about sleeping in his bed -- if she had a nightmare, she could crawl into bed with him. Or if she were scared of something.

“Okay, baby. But just for tonight. I don’t think any bad people will come here tonight, but you can sleep in here with me. Just in case.”

“Thank you, Daddy,” she said, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. “I’ll fall right to sleep if I can sleep in your bed.”

“All right,” he said, pulling back the quilt, blanket and top sheet. “Climb in. And no fooling around. If you fool around, you’re going back to your own bed.”

“I won’t fool around,” she promised, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him.

“I know you won’t,” he said, pressing his face to her hair and inhaling her sweet baby scent. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Fiona smiled at him and snuggled into the pillow as he walked out of the room. He left the door cracked so he could check on her in fifteen minutes. Make sure she was asleep.

Jo was still reading on the couch, but when he emerged into the hall, she set the e-reader aside. “Is Fiona in bed?”

He dropped onto the couch beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “There’s good news and bad news,” he said. “Which do you want first?”

“The good news,” she said immediately.

Cam drew in a deep breath. “She’s not asleep yet, but she will be soon. And when she’s asleep, she sleeps really, really soundly.”

“Okay,” Jo said cautiously. “Then what’s the bad news?”

Cam reached for her hand and twined their fingers together. “She’s sleeping in my bed. The intruder last night really scared her, and she’s afraid he’ll come back. I told her he was in jail, but she’s afraid he has a friend who will try to hurt us.” He swallowed. “I couldn’t make her sleep in her own bed. She was clearly terrified.”

Jo squeezed his hand tight, then brought it to her mouth. Kissed the back of his hand. “Of course you had to let her sleep in your bed,” she said. “The police, the lights, the noise must have terrified her last night.” She sighed. “One of us should have realized that.”

“Yeah.” Cam untangled their fingers and brushed his hand over Jo’s head, letting her silky hair flow through his fingers. “I couldn’t say no. If sleeping in my bed makes her feel safe, that’s where she needs to sleep.” He shifted so he was facing her. “I’m sorry, Jo. I’d really been looking forward to tonight, and I’m sure you were, too. But we’re going to have to postpone our plans.”