Reclaim - Aly Martinez Page 0,79
huh” and “Yes, sir.” Meanwhile, Camden did a whole lot of standing with his hand in his pocket, looking like a GQ model. This meant I did a whole lot of staring and willing my nipples to stop tingling.
Eventually, Jonathan lowered the phone, slapped it into Camden’s hand, and then marched from the room.
Barney Fife stood there for a minute, nervously staring at a glowering Camden before finally thinking better of his life choices and racing out of the room.
Another laugh bubbled from my throat.
“Something funny?” Camden asked, turning his gaze on me in a way that both felt like a caress and a curse.
I hadn’t been with a man in five years, so it was safe to say it was the verbal caress portion of that question that stole my voice. I shook my head.
“Good. Let’s get you out of here, Cujo.”
Cujo?
Holy shit, had cranky Camden just made a joke?
I didn’t have time to ask for clarification before he swept an arm out for me to leave the room first. Ever the gentleman.
When we got to the front, Jonathan was swirling around behind the counter, slamming shit, and mumbling curses under his breath. It only took about ten minutes for him to practically hurl a stack of papers and a small plastic bag of the stuff I’d had in my pockets at Camden. “There. Now, get her the fuck out of my station.”
“And the rest of her belongings?” He looked at me. “I was told by a witness at the scene you took her purse from the vehicle.”
Joe. The only witness was Joe.
Jonathan grinned like a serpent in the garden of Eden. “You mean the evidence? Not happening. And go ahead. Call whatever the fuck judge you want, but you won’t be getting that purse back until after a trial.”
Camden held his icy stare. “Being the upstanding officer you are, I’m sure you’ll see to it that you stay away from my client until we can resolve this matter. Given your history with her family and all.”
Jonathan narrowed his eyes. “And what about my history with your family, Camden? You forget about that?”
“Of course not. Why else would I be here?” He grinned, rapped his knuckles on the counter, and nodded. “Have a good evening, Officer Caskey.” With that, Camden turned, gently rested his hand on my back, and guided me out of the police station.
And because I was so mature, I didn’t even flip off Jonathan as we left.
Just kidding. I totally did that.
“Nora!” Joe called when we got outside. He jogged over and drew me into a tight hug.
“Ow,” I croaked.
“Easy, Joe,” Camden rumbled. “She’s spent all day in restraints.”
Joe immediately set me away. “Jesus, honey, are you okay?”
“I’m not entirely sure yet.” I glanced down at my wrinkled gray-and-pink-striped shirt I’d paired with black cropped skinny jeans and ballet flats that morning. “I need a shower, STAT.”
Joe shook his head. “Come on. Let’s get you home.” He extended a hand toward Camden. “I really appreciate you making the trip down.”
The two men shook hands.
“Anytime. I’m glad you called. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to take Nora home myself. We can meet back up first thing in the morning and discuss our next step.”
My stomach dipped. It had been five years since I’d seen him, and while I wasn’t positive gorgeous, powerful, cranky, attorney, Camden Cole was still the same kid who’d sat at the edge of the creek playing Slapjack with me or even the man who’d made love to me for hours on end, I was just excited to be able to see my friend again—mercurial as he currently seemed.
“Works for me,” I said. “I’m exhausted and would really like to be lucid for the castrate-Caskey plan.”
Joe chuckled. “All right. Take her home. You sure I can’t convince you to stay in my guest room tonight? Even braving Misty’s turkey bacon pie for breakfast has to be better than the Clovert Inn.”
I scoffed. “He’s not staying in that dump.”
Camden didn’t even look at me as he replied, “Thanks, Joe. But I’ve already booked the room.”
Curling my lip, I tilted my head back and semi-repeated, “You aren’t staying at the Clovert Inn. Cam, I have plenty of space at my place.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed, but that was his only response. “Nice seeing you again, Joe.”
After a quick round of hugs and handshakes, we all climbed in our respective cars. Well, I climbed into Camden’s black SUV because my Honda was in impound.
“Nice car,” I