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She turned in his arms. “You’re afraid of heights.”
“Not afraid. I just don’t like them.”
“Right. Not afraid at all.” She nudged him away from the railing and walked them to the chairs with the champagne. “I don’t think the bubbles will do well with your stomach, but maybe it’s worth a shot?”
“Sure.” With a little distance between him and the sheer drop to inevitable death, he managed to pull in half a breath. “Don’t let me ruin the experience.”
“You aren’t.” She poured them both a glass and passed his over. Trish gave him a surprisingly sweet smile. “You booked yourself a ride on one of the tallest Ferris wheels in the world for me—even though you’re not a fan of heights.”
“I didn’t want you to miss this opportunity.” Though he’d bring her back to London sometime in the future when they didn’t have work taking up so much time. She had such a unique view on so many things, and Cameron wanted to explore the city and see it through her perspective.
Preferably on the ground level.
She leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his mouth. “Thank you.”
He almost reached for her then and there, to hell with any potential audience, but Cameron didn’t want her to miss a second of this ride. He nudged her back toward the railing. “You’re going to miss the magic.”
“There’s absolutely no chance of that.” She kissed him again, longer this time, but finally rose and went to lean against the railing.
He watched her watch the city, and something irreversible shifted in his chest. This woman was nothing like he’d pictured for himself in the rare times when he imagined a future where work wasn’t his one true love. She was fanciful and stubborn and sunny despite her shadows.
Trish was magic.
Fuck me, I love her.
His world rose and fell with that realization, turning to ash at his feet and rearranging itself into something entirely new. Oblivious to the turmoil going on inside Cameron, Trish took a sip of her champagne and hummed in what could only be described as pure happiness.
He wanted her to look at him the way she looked at London. To feel about him the way she felt about fucking Ferris wheels. He wanted to be her magic.
Cameron couldn’t tell her.
Every time they talked about the future, she got a little wild around the eyes. It couldn’t be clearer, despite her saying she was willing to give them a shot, that she had no intention of landing with him permanently.
He didn’t know how to fix that. People weren’t computers. Problems didn’t have a guaranteed solution if he just looked hard enough. Trish felt that every plan of hers ended badly. It stood to reason that, no matter how much she enjoyed him, how much she liked him, she would view being with him as settling because he had never been part of her plan.
There was a solution here. There had to be. Cameron wasn’t romantic enough to believe in soul mates or destiny, but he and Trish fit. That sort of thing didn’t happen often enough in life to throw it away just because it wasn’t part of the plan.
He just needed her to see that, too.
The lights of the city played across her body as the Ferris wheel went round, a slow slide that he ached to re-create with his mouth. If he couldn’t tell her how he felt, he’d damn well show her. There was plenty they did right. He just needed her to admit that it was right and wasn’t yet another of what she considered her life’s failures.
Cameron had never had to be convincing before. He usually just powered through any obstacles that life threw in his path.
But for Trish, he’d do whatever it took.
Trish could barely keep from bouncing as they made their way through the hotel lobby and up to their room. “That was amazing, Cameron. Seriously. Beyond amazing.”
“It was enchanting,” he said as he unlocked their door and stepped aside to let her through.
“I know you’re making fun of me, but it was.” She shrugged out of her jacket and tossed it onto the couch, still riding high.
No one understood her love of Ferris wheels, though Aaron indulged her as only older brothers were able to do. Her sister and their parents mostly rolled their eyes every time she demanded another ride or announced she was going to the fair. It was just another way Trish was a little peculiar, a little too square for the round-shaped hole they expected her to fit into.
Cameron had done more than indulge her. He’d planned a special event solely to give her a private Ferris wheel ride, despite the fact that he was clearly afraid of heights.
No one had ever done anything like that for her before. Not at the expense of their own comfort.
