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“Oh my god, I don’t know what to say. It makes me so angry, but I’m so relieved as well. What a fucking rollercoaster.” She hadn’t been rejected. She’d never had a chance. Her art might still have value. She just couldn’t wrap her head around it. She couldn’t wait to tell Cam. And then it hit her. She couldn’t. The last five days came crashing down on her like a ton of bricks. Oh God, what had she done?
“Emilia?” Mia was waving her hand in front of Emilia’s face. “Earth to Emilia?”
“Sorry, Mia, what were you saying?”
“Nothing important. Go to Cameron.”
“Huh?” Her head was still whirling. “Why?”
“Apologize, jump him, tell him you love him. Not necessarily in that order.”
“Pfft.” She wanted to laugh it off, but her heart was pounding in her chest. Could it be true? Was she inlove?Could you just be in love and not know? She’d been waiting for the lightning strike, but had she just kind of slipped into love with Cam?
“Emilia,” Mia’s warning tone had Emilia meeting her cousin’s gaze. Her eyes were kind and sparkling with humor. “Just go.”
Jumping to her feet, Emilia scrambled to get her bag from the back of the chair. “Don’t have to tell me four times!” And Mia’s laughter followed her out the door.
* * *
Not exactly sure where he’d be, Emilia took a gamble and went straight to Cameron’s house, relieved when she saw his truck in the driveway. Taking a deep breath, she walked up the porch steps. These spur of the moment decisions were kind of her thing, but now that she was here, she was nervous. She wouldn’t blame him if he shut the door in her face. Or worse, didn’t open it at all. Gathering up her courage, she rang the doorbell. God, this was nerve-wracking. He opened the door, his brow wrinkled in irritation. The shock on his face when he saw her, the pleasure she saw in his eyes that she was there, made everything inside her settle. Seeing him standing there, tall, broad and gorgeous, Emilia felt her breath catch.
And there it was. The punch in the gut, but the good kind. The lightning strike. She loved him.
“Hi,” he said calmly, stepping out onto the porch.
“Hello. Umm, have you got a minute?”
“Just a minute?”
“Or ten, I guess, I have no idea how long apologies take. Do you mind if I come in?”
“To apologize? To me? I’m the one who should be apologizing. I was an insensitive ass.”
“No, Cam. Please, let’s go inside.”
As they moved through to the kitchen, Emilia began. “I wanted to tell you so many things,” tears welled up in her eyes, side-swiping her completely. “So much has happened, Cam. But first, I’m so sorry. I completely overreacted, which I suspected but didn’t know until I was just having lunch with Mia.”
Cam studied her face carefully. Returning his gaze as openly as she could, she almost squirmed under the scrutiny. She wanted to beg him to say something, to relieve this awful pressure that was building up in her chest, but she knew she had to be patient. Unable to hold his gaze any longer, she looked down at the floor.
“Emilia,” he said quietly. “Look at me.” The tone in his voice made her look up, straight into his gorgeous green eyes. He held her gaze for a long moment before speaking. “I love you.”
She gasped audibly. “Oh no!” The spell broken, she saw Cam physically retreat at her reaction and reached for him, wanting to bite her tongue. “Not ‘oh no’ oh no! But ‘oh no, I wanted to say it first’ oh no.”
“Huh?”
“Oh God, I’m fucking this up so badly.” She rubbed her face with both her hands, before moving around the bench to wrap her arms around his neck. Reaching up, she kissed him softly before pulling back so that she could look into his face. “What I mean to say is: I love you, too.”
“Really?” And her heart lifted at the relief in his voice and the grin that spread across his face. Any remaining doubts she might have had disappeared at the look in his eyes. She let out a squeal when he lifted her up and spun her around.
“Really, truly,” she laughed as he put her back on the ground. “I love you and I’m sorry. The reason I reacted the way I did to you offering me a job was—”
“—Was because you didn’t believe your art is amazing. Didn’t think I saw past that gorgeous face.” He kissed her soundly on the mouth, before letting her down gently so that her feet touched the ground. He didn’t let her go, though. His arms firmly around her waist, her arms wrapped around his neck, it was Emilia’s definition of happiness.
When he spoke, his voice was low and warm, sending tingles down her spine. “I really do love you.”
“I really do love you. I still can’t believe it.”
“When did you know?”
