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“You can’t rain on Camille’s parade, sir,” Fernsby said, quoting the old song. “But there’s no reason we can’t fly home now and wait for her call there. That way, it won’t take you so long to get to her.”
Dane jumped up from his desk to throw his arms around Fernsby. “My dear man, you’re a lifesaver.”
Fernsby stepped back, brushing away the wrinkles Dane had left in his bespoke suit. “I’ve taken the liberty of informing your pilot,” he said, nose in the air.
Dane would have hugged him again if Fernsby hadn’t already been walking away.
“I knew there was a reason I kept you around all these years,” Dane called after him.
Without turning, Fernsby raised his hand. Was that the man’s middle finger? Then he looked again, and no, there were all his fingers, waving. Dane must have imagined it.
* * *
The jet was flying over the Rockies when Cammie called. And if Dane had ever doubted he had a heart, he knew it now, because it was just about ready to burst out of his chest.
Her voice was like a caress over every single nerve in his body. “It’s a done deal,” she said. Joy and triumph infused her voice. And maybe a bit of wonder too. She flew off into a soliloquy, her words almost merging together. “This place is perfect. It’s got practically a mile of private beach. There’s room for a baseball diamond. A volleyball court on the beach. Basketball, tennis, pickleball, just about anything you could think of, Dane. I walked the perimeter back by the trees and counted at least a dozen trailheads. There’s even a trail up to a gorgeous waterfall. You’re going to love it. I’ve already got contractors and inspectors en route, and as soon as we’re done, I can come back to England.”
She told him the price she’d negotiated, and Dane whistled. “You are brilliant.”
He heard her smile all the way over the mountains. “I detailed for the developers all the work we’d have to put into tearing down existing structures, getting new construction permits instead of renovation permits, yadda, yadda. And suggested that perhaps we should look for something else that already had the structures we needed and necessitated only the barest minimum of modification.” Then she laughed. “They had no idea how desperate I was to grab it before it was gone.”
So excited for her, he blurted, “Damn it, you’re freaking amazing, and I love you.”
After a three-second silence, she laughed it off. “You always say that when I make the perfect deal.”
All right. She didn’t want to hear it now. But she would soon. Very soon. “Congratulations. Only you could have made this deal. You didn’t need my assistance at all.”
She whispered, “Thank you.”
Then, before he could blurt out everything he felt, because it simply couldn’t be done over the phone, he told her, “We’re on our way back, but I’ll have the pilot divert us to Tahoe.” He looked at his watch. “I should be there in a couple of hours.”
“You’re going to love it,” she told him.
“I already do.” She was talking about the property, but he meant so much more.
He’d fallen for her on a golf course. And he’d never recovered.
It had just taken him a long, long time to admit he never wanted to recover.
* * *
Dane had followed the sun home to her, arriving at the Tahoe airport by midafternoon. Fernsby took T. Rex to the hotel along with the bags, while Dane drove out to the site.
It was just as Cammie had said. Perfect. The property sloped down to the beach on the lake and far back up into the mountains. The sun was bright, the May day warm, the peaks still snow-covered. Tahoe had been blessed with a good snow year, and there was still skiing on the highest slopes.
The buildings were old, a seventies-style that didn’t fit the beauty of the land. Cammie was right, as was Daniel, that demolishing the existing structures and building a new resort that fit the landscape and the needs of its guests was the only way to go. The cracked and weedy parking lot was full of work trucks with a variety of logos, from contractors to demolition experts to inspectors. When he rounded one of the building’s crumbling cornerstones, he saw her.
Cammie wore a tailored suit that hugged her curves and made his mouth water. Not because it was sexy or revealing, but because it was her.
He’d never salivated over her. He hadn’t let himself, because they’d had their rules. But now they’d broken every single one. His body knew it, his brain knew it, and so did his heart. His every cell wanted her. Not just in lust, but in need.
He needed her in his bed, in his life, in his heart. Forever.
