Page 7 of Flawless

“Yeah, we probably shouldn’t have done that. Don’t you have a PR team or publicist who’ll go crazy when they see that?”

My publicist was Avery McCall, the wife of country music legend, Ty McCall, who I’d opened for on tour last year. And I was pretty sure she’d be thrilled if I was romantically linked to someone like Cam. He was just the kind of guy country music fans loved their artists partnered with, but I was more concerned about how a relationship with me could hurt his career.

“Country music fans, and my publicist, would love it if they thought we were a thing. You fit the bill to a tee.”

“Excuse me?” he asked, rolling up his sandwich wrapper and tossing it into the receptacle behind me.

“You know we’re judged on the company we keep. And if fans thought my boyfriend was this big, strong, sexy lawman…” I winked. “Pretty sure they’d give me their stamp of approval. Especially the female ones.”

He blushed a little, which made me smile, before he dipped his head, breaking eye contact. “You’re crazy, girl.”

My phone buzzed as it had been all night, given we’d had to cancel the show. I groaned as I scanned the messages. “Ugh, looks like my ex crawled out of the woodwork after he saw that photo of us together.”

“Your ex?”

“Yeah, he was my bass guitar player. We dated for about a year, but when it was obvious it wasn’t going anywhere, I cut him loose and he found another band.”

“Was it serious?”

I laughed, patting his chest. “Honey, I don’t get serious with anyone. That’s not my thing.”

“Why?”

He seemed to love that question, and for reasons I couldn’t decipher, I gave him answers I wouldn’t have given anyone else.

“Because I don’t like to get too close to anyone. I mean, I have friends, like your sister. My music family. And that’s good enough for me.”

“Because of your upbringing.” Apparently, he didn’t need to ask the question because he already had the answer. “After meeting your mama, I can understand that.”

“Eden tells me your folks are the best. Salt of the Earth.” And I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t a little jealous.

“Yeah, they’re good people. We got lucky. And given what I see every day, I never take them or the childhood we had for granted, I can promise you that.”

I loved that he realized how lucky he was, not many people did. “It’s getting late. Mama’s probably asleep by now, so we can head out after I peek in to check on her and let the nurses know I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Sounds good.” He collected my garbage and tossed it before reaching for my hand. “Let me walk in with you.”

A warmth spread through me as I let myself imagine what it would be like to have a man like Cam in my life, for real. I didn’t need anyone to take care of me. Never had. But knowing someone like him wanted to, would be a game changer for me. It would introduce me to a sense of safety and security I’d never known before. But I was just letting my imagination run away with me. He’d be returning to his real life in a few days and I’d resume mine.

“The ex-boyfriend,” he said, his voice sounding gruff as he laced his fingers through mine. “He doesn’t give you a hard time, does he?”

“Nah, he just pops up whenever he sees a pic of me with someone else and thinks I’m moving on.”

“You post a lot of pictures with other guys?” His voice was light, teasing, but the look in his eyes was intense, and I could tell he was invested in the answer.

I stepped in front of him, knowing it was time for one of my famous candid moments, where I laid it all on the line.

Hooking my arms around his neck, I let my eyes linger on his when I said, “Yeah, in this business, we do a lot of events, shows, interviews, you name it. So, I do post pics with a lot of other guys, and you’ll see them, if you follow me.”

“Good to know.” He tried to step out of my arms, but I held on, forcing him to look me in the eye when I said, “But I can honestly tell you none of them have ever made me feel like this.”

His gaze drifted to my lips, his hands on my hips, when he asked, “Like what?”

“You’re not feeling it too?”

“I am, but I want to hear you say it.”

I rested my hand on his chest, and felt the steady beat of his heart. He wasn’t nervous. His heart wasn’t racing. He was calm, confident, and sure. Exactly what I needed. “You’re the yin energy to my yang, Sheriff.”