"Phil has taken over for the evening," Joe informed her. "I know I said I couldn't make it, so if you want, I can go back home and we can set a date for another night?"
"Absolutely not," Camille stated firmly, taking his hand and pulling him inside. "I get to see you so little as is. Not nearly as much as one would expect to see her boyfriend." She paused and gave a little laugh. "Although, I daresay, not many girls have full-fledged detectives for boyfriends."
Joe grinned at her, pleased she had accepted his lifestyle so easily. Even Vanessa had had problems with his impromptu schedule at times. "We're just having spaghetti so one more person won't matter at all," Camille continued. "I was just getting ready to put it on. Would you like to wait in the living room or come into the kitchen and help?"
"I'll help," Joe agreed at once with her latter suggestion. He followed the luscious redhead through the house and into the kitchen , completely unaware the Lanes had a special guest who slipped outside quietly after they left the foyer.
"Dad, Joe's joining us for dinner after all," Camille told her father who was sitting at the kitchen table with half of a cup of coffee before him.
"Good," Judge Lane said, welcoming Joe with a smile.
"I hope you don't mind," Joe said. The misunderstanding he and Judge Lane had had when they first met was long gone but Joe was becoming attached to Camille and didn't want to risk antagonizing him again.
"Not at all," the judge replied. "But, I'm afraid, I won't be staying," he added with an apologetic look at his daughter. "I was just thinking about one of the cases on my docket and realized I need to see the DA."
"This late?" Joe asked curiously.
"It concerns the case I'm currently trying," Judge Lane explained. "And I don't want to have to delay the proceedings again."
"Problems?" Joe queried.
"One of the officers forgot he was scheduled for court this afternoon," Lane informed Joe with a frown. "An officer by the name of O'Neil. Anyway, he was almost an hour late in arriving and that was only one of the delays we have had so far in this trial."
"Try not to be too late," Camille instructed her father as he arose from his chair.
"I'll try," he promised, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before leaving via the back door.
Joe laughed. "It's weird how things work out," he said. "Last month who would ever have believed your dad would let me in the house let alone leave us together without a chaperone?"
"Don't be silly," Camille reprimanded him. "That was just a stupid misunderstanding before Dad even knew who you were." She opened a cabinet and removed a pot.
"How can I help?" inquired Joe.
Camille removed a bread pan from the cabinet and handed it to Joe. "Take this," she said. "The French bread is on the counter. If you will slice it, I'll make some garlic butter to put on it."
"Sure thing," Joe agreed, setting the pan on the counter and reaching for the French bread. "Where are the knives?"
"Second drawer on your right," she answered.
As the two prepared their meal, Joe told Camille about the case he and Frank were currently working on, going into more detail than he had on the phone earlier. "If this Dr. Reynolds was kidnapped because he was helping you, then Frank's stalker must be following him," Camille reasoned. "How else would he have known?"
"But we've been watching," Joe said, scowling. "And we haven't spotted anyone tailing us."
"Then someone you have told about Dr. Reynolds is either the stalker or has let it slip to the stalker," Camille asserted. "There's no other logical explanation for Reynolds' abduction if it is related like you believe."
Joe smiled and gave her a look of admiration. "You are really smart," he said. "What do you see in me?"
"What?" Camille gasped with a look of utter disbelief on her face. "What kind of question is that?"
Joe shrugged and blushed. "I'm not all that bright," he confessed. "Frank is really smart and all, but he's my brother and is pretty much stuck with having me around."
"That's the biggest load of baloney anyone has ever tried to feed me," Camille told him angrily. "Why do you have such a low opinion of yourself? You aren't stupid. Okay, you're no rocket scientist but then, how many people are?"
"Camille..." Joe tried to interrupt her at this point but she wasn't finished.
"I'm in two of your classes, remember?" she demanded and waited until Joe nodded before continuing. "And you are far from the class idiot in either of them. You're a great detective," she added. "How could you do what you do if you weren't smart?"
"Frank is..." Joe started but never got a chance to continue.
"Not always by your side," Camille took over his words. "You're every bit as smart as he is, just in a different way."
"I admit, I'm no dummy," Joe agreed, trying to conceal his pleasure at her defense of him. "I just meant that with brains like yours why settle for average? You could..."
Joe broke off in shock. Had she just slapped him? Oh yeah, he realized, his face was burning from the impact.
"Stop it right now," she hissed. "You are not average. You are a very, very special person who is not only kind but also athletic, great looking and, yes, intelligent!" she snapped. "And I will take out anyone, including you, who says otherwise."
Joe grinned and pulled her close to him. "How did I get so lucky?" he whispered, staring into her eyes briefly before capturing her lips with his own.