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Leo approached and put his hands on her shoulders. His green eyes were solemn. “I don’t know if I ever thanked you properly for telling me where Amelia was that day.”
“The day you proposed?”
“The day I got her back,” he replied. His hands squeezed her shoulders. “Thank you.”
“How could I say no to those eyes, hmm?” She grinned at him. “You looked so pathetic. Like a puppy who’d just gotten kicked.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he laughed. “I wasn’t that bad.”
She leaned in and hugged him tight, then pulled away. “The way Amelia talked about you after she got back from the retreat, I knew there was more to you than met the eye, and I knew you’d be great together.”
He swallowed thickly, nodding. “Thanks, Camilla.”
She had the impression her words meant a lot to him, and she smiled. She shouldn’t be worried about her own life’s problems; those would get sorted out eventually. She was here to celebrate her friend’s wedding to a truly great man.
Leo gave her a sharp nod, then turned for the door. Camilla took a deep, cleansing breath and squared her shoulders in preparation to follow.
She froze when he said, “Why do you have an air mattress?”
“Oh, I, um… It’s for…a friend.”
He spun around, frowning. “What?”
“Okay, it’s for me.” She grimaced. “My landlord didn’t renew my lease, and with the rental market the way it is… I didn’t have time to buy an air mattress earlier and I remembered when I went to grab the flowers from Scarlett’s place, so I ducked into the hardware store. I meant to drop it at the bakery before coming here, but…”
Leo frowned, eyes narrowing for a moment before growing wide. “Are you sleeping at the bakery?”
“It’s temporary,” Camilla rushed to explain. “And it’s fine, really. I’ll shower at the gym, and there’s enough room at the office to fit the air mattress, so it’s no big deal. I’ll be finding a new rental as soon as possible, Leo, so—why are you looking at me like that?”
“Come with me.” He grabbed her wrist and tugged her forward.
“Leo! Stop! You just got married! You should be dancing with Amelia! Or greeting your guests.”
“Amelia’s primping before our grand entrance, and all our guests are drinking and nibbling happily in the bar. I don’t need to be anywhere.”
“Still. Don’t worry about me. Go do…wedding things! I need to go up to Amelia’s suite and make sure she has everything—”
“Amelia’s fine. She has this event figured out down to the minute, with the spreadsheets to prove it. She’s sending me a warning text exactly five minutes before I need to be by her side for our entrance.”
“Leo, let go of me.” She tried to sound stern, but he was utterly immune.
He marched her down the hallways of the hotel, from the kitchen all the way to the cocktail lounge. There, he stopped in front of the knot of groomsmen who laughed and chattered boisterously. Leo cleared his throat.
His four groomsmen—Marlon, Cormac, Archer, and Emory—looked up at him.
“Leo!” Archer exclaimed, smiling wide.
Leo gave him a short nod, then turned to his brother. “Marlon. This is Camilla.”
Marlon was a great beast of a man, with thick, coarse hair and a full beard. His features were strong, his brow low over beautiful, deep-set hazel eyes, his jaw strong and square. If Camilla were honest, she’d admit that he was a little bit scary and a little bit thrilling.
He arched a brow and said nothing, his eyes flicking over to Camilla and back to Leo again.
Leo nodded once, like that was all the communication required. He reached into his pocket as he spoke. “Camilla will be taking my old room.” He pulled out a set of keys from his pocket, clipped off his car fob, and slapped the set into Camilla’s hand. “She’s moving in with you, starting tonight.”
* * *
