Blair's head came up and she was about to make a vehement denial when she saw Cam's face, and the angry retort died on her tongue. Secret Service Agent Cameron Roberts, twice commended for bravery by the President of the United States, stood looking at her with worry and uncertainty in her eyes. She looked vulnerable and defenseless and Blair wanted to hold her and never let go.

"You don't have to explain. It's none of my busi..."

"Yes. It is." Cam stepped closer, forgetting where they were or who might come out through the kitchen behind them. Urgently, she added, "There's no one else. No one..."

Blair placed her fingers lightly on Cam's lips. "Stop. It's okay."

Then she kissed her security chief, swiftly but with intent, and pulled away. "I'm going for a run. Come with me."

"All right," Cam said, following her into the house, hoping that Blair really did believe her, because the wounded look in Blair's blue eyes had made her own heart bleed.

******

After the run, Blair showered, dressed and spent a few hours shopping on Ghirardelli Square. Davis and Foster accompanied her while Cam met with Mac to review the flight arrangements and pilot dossiers for the evenings departure. She and Cam hadnt mentioned the mornings phone call again, and Blair didnt plan to. Cam had said it wasnt a lover, and even if it had been, the two of them certainly werent at a point in their relationship where she could object-as much as she wanted to.

Later in the afternoon, she read a book out on the deck, napping on and off in a lounge chair. Marcea returned in time for a late lunch, for which, to Blair's delight, Cam unexpectedly joined them. The three of them talked of art, and of old friends of Marcea's whom Cam knew from childhood, and of Blair's plans for a new project. It was the kind of easy, casual conversation that friends and lovers might have and not something she was used to sharing. It was exhilarating and by the time they were ready to leave for the airport, Blair finally was able to put the disquieting effects of Cams mysterious call out of her mind.

The chartered Gulfstream II turbojet seated sixteen when fully occupied and was large enough to allow the team to spread out slightly for the cross-continental flight. As was customary, the Secret Service agents boarded last and took the seats forward in the cabin, allowing Blair, already seated in a small separate area at the rear, some privacy.

Blair looked up from her book as the last passenger boarded and moved slowly down the aisle, stopping occasionally to murmur something to one of the agents along the way. She enjoyed watching the dark-haired, handsome woman approachenjoyed the way her suit fit her so well it looked ordinary, when Blair knew it was custom cut and tailored, and she enjoyed the intense focus on her face as her grey eyes scanned every inch of the interior, and she especially enjoyed the flicker of a smile that softened the concentration on Cams face when their eyes met.

The security chief settled beside her just as the aircraft began to taxi down the runway of the small airport just outside San Francisco. The seats were roomy in the luxury craft, but the length of their thighs touched and their shoulders pressed lightly together nevertheless.

"Good book?" Cam asked as she buckled in.

"Mmm", Blair nodded, closing it on one finger to mark her place. "Funny, sexy, and well put together."

"Sounds like a winning combination."

Blair brushed her fingers lightly over the top of the agent's hand where it rested on her trousered thigh. "I think so."

"Be good," Cam whispered, suppressing a grin. "Im working."

"Oh, really?" Blair raised an eyebrow, then laughed. "All rightIll give you a reprieve. But only for the rest of the flight. Then I intend to tease you as much as I like."

"Ill look forward to it".

Blair eased the seat back and rested her hand on Cams forearm, below the sightline of the agents in the front of the plane if they happened to turn around.

"Any pressing plans for the rest of the week?" Cam inquired. "We haven't had an itinerary review since we've been here, and I want to get everyone back to routine. It's better after what happened."

"Nothing special," Blair replied. "Since were going to be traveling again soon, I want to work. I'm hoping to have a full show this fall, and as of right now, I don't have enough canvases completed to do that." She sighed. "Theres always the chance that something will come through from the West Wing that I need to doI havent heard anything for a few days and thats never a good sign."

"I get a full briefing in the morning", Cam reminded her. "We can go over the weeks itinerary after that."

"Fine."

"Ill be out of town for a day or so", Cam said quietly.

Blair stiffened, automatically withdrawing her hand from Cams arm. "Oh?"

"If everything is quiet, Ill leave tomorrow night. Mac will have the detail."

Blair opened her book again. "Im sure he can handle it."

Cam didnt reply, because she didnt have any explanation that she could share, and half-truths would only make things worse. They were both quiet on the rest of the flightBlair reading and Cam sleeping on and off. Despite the silence, however, they leaned close together, their bodies still touchingtheir connection not completely broken.

Chapter Fourteen

The jet taxied to a stop on the runway at Teterboro airport in New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, and the team prepared to disembark. Cam walked to the front of the plane and stood at the top of the stairway that had been rolled across the tarmac to the open door. She pressed a finger to the receiver in her ear and listened to the report of a local agent in the first of two black Suburbans that approached along an access road toward the terminal. Satisfied, she turned to the agent behind her.

"Two minutes. Lets proceed inside".

Stark passed her and then Blair was beside her.

"Ready?" Cam asked her.

"Yes."

As soon as Blair stepped onto the tarmac with Cam and Stark flanking her, a horde of reporters, apparently having hidden around the corner of the building, appeared out of the darkness with video cameras and microphones at the ready. Harsh halogen lights flashed on, striking her in the face and blinding her. For a moment Blair was disoriented-and afraid.

"Ms. Powell, can you comment on the photograph in the New York Post?"

"Who was the person with you?"

"Where was it taken?"

"Can you confirm that you were with a lover?"

"Who?"

"name"

"Ms. Powell... Ms. Powell... Ms. Powell..."

Voices accosted her from every direction.

As soon as the barrage began, Cam and Stark quickly began shepherding her toward the small single story terminal while the other agents clambered down the stairs and converged on her as well. Mac double-timed to get in front of the group while Hernandez, along with Felicia Davis, closed in behind. The entire team formed a human wedge with Blair in the center, and the reporters scurried to get out of the way of the fast moving wall of bodies.

Nevertheless, their shouted questions followed them through the door and into the private VIP portion of the terminal.

"What are they talking about?" Blair whispered harshly to Cam as soon as the double doors closed behind them. She hated to be manhandled, even when it was for her own good, and in that moment, Cam was the nearest target for her anger. "Why didnt you know about them?"

"Whatever it is, it must have hit the wires after we were in the air, Cam muttered, lifting her wrist and barking questions into her microphone. After a moment of issuing instructions, she added, "Whoever is monitoring the news services in DC either didn't pick it up, or didn't think we needed to know about it."

Can was aggravated, because intelligence was critical for her to be able to anticipate and ward off problems. Had she known that a bevy of reporters would be waiting at the gate, she would have arranged for the transport to drive out onto the runway so that Blair would not have to walk to the terminal. "I'm sorry about this. I didnt have an advance team on the groundI should have."

"No", Blair shook her head, already calmer now that the unexpected assault had stopped. "Its not your fault. Let's just collect our luggage and get out of here before they find their way in."

"Dont worry", Cam said forbiddingly, her temper close to boiling. It was not only her responsibility to project Blair physically, but also to see that she was not ambushed by intrusive media hounds. She would have been angry if any of her protectees had been left open to such an affront, but the fact that it was her lover who had been subjected to the intrusive onslaught made it even worse. "They wont bother you again."

At that moment, Mac approached, a folded newspaper under his arm and a grim look on his face.

"What have you got?" Cam asked sharply. To her surprise, Mac blushed.

"Uh" He lifted the folded newspaper in his hand and glanced from Cam to Blair and then quickly away. "You might want to look at this in car."

"Let me see it," Blair said, extending her hand. "It's not going to get any better if I wait."

Wordlessly, he handed it to her. The Secret Service agents standing around averted their eyes but did not move from the protective circle they had formed, shielding her from the rest of the terminal.

Cam watched Blair's face as she opened the newspaper and quickly scanned the front page. She couldn't detect the slightest change in Blair's expression. When Blair silently folded the newspaper again and put it and the book she had been carrying under her arm, Cam said abruptly, «Okay, then. Let's get out of here."