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Cameron’s eyes sharpened immediately, his chest expanding on a deep breath, and he unfolded his big body out of the chair and leaned on the deck railing with both hands.
I left the suitcase on the yard and walked up the single step until I was within arm’s reach of him.
My eyes watered dangerously before either of us said a single word.
When he tightened his jaw, the first tear spilled over. I didn’t wipe it away, because I wanted him to see every single one—visible proof of how I felt about him, something so big that my body literally couldn’t hold it inside. I wanted to spill it everywhere, messy and wonderful and imperfect.
He swallowed as he watched that tear fall, pulling his phone out and glancing at the screen. “So you meant this?”
I exhaled slowly. “Yes.”
If I looked, I knew what I’d see.
I’m on my way home.
“I’d never ask you to give up your life, Ivy,” he said fiercely.
“I know. And I’m not giving up anything. I’m choosing the life that I want.” I closed the remaining distance between us and carefully set my hands on the broad expanse of his chest. Underneath my palm and the solid heat of his skin and muscle and bone, his heart hammered wildly. “I’ve never had a person before,” I whispered. “Someone who’s mine. That I get to love and take care of. And God, you’ll probably regret it because I don’t even know if I’m good at having one, but you’re it, Cameron Wilder.”
I gripped his shirt tight in my fists and sighed when he curled his hands around my waist and set his forehead against mine. I tilted my chin so I could see his face, his eyes searing with the same thing that made my blood sing.
Love.
I love you, I love you, I love you, I thought.
“I’m never going to be easy,” I told him. “I’m bossy, and I’ll hog the covers, and I’ll never be a good cook, and I’ll probably scare half the locals before the next month is out. I’ll mess up sometimes,” I said, my voice trembling. “I’ll work too much, and you’ll have to tell me to stop. You’ll go crazy when I start moving all my shit into your house, especially because you haven’t even asked me yet. Because if you haven’t figured it out, I am relentless when I know what I want.”
Before I could say anything else, Cameron slanted his mouth over mine in a fearsome kiss. His arms anchored me to his chest, wrapped firmly around my shoulders, and the sound he made—wrenched deep from his chest—warmed every inch of my heart, because all those sounds were mine now.
He broke off the kiss and panted against my mouth for a moment.
“You are mine, Ivy,” he rasped. “All the little moments and the big ones, they’re ours. I’m yours as much as you’re mine, and I don’t want any kind of life if you’re not in it.” His mouth brushed mine again, full of longing and aching sweetness. I’d get a million kisses like that from him. “I’ve known that I loved you all week, and I planned to tell you that today. Of course, you had to steal my thunder.”
I laughed against his mouth. “Sorry.”
He sucked at my bottom lip, then the top. “Liar,” he whispered.
Cameron wrapped me in his arms again, and we stayed like that for a while underneath the sweet sun and the tall trees, and I was safe and loved.
Even better than that, so was he.
I didn’t know exactly what my future looked like—a year down the road, or five or ten. But standing there in Cameron’s embrace, I knew he’d be by my side.
Pulling away from where I was tucked against the warm expanse of his chest, I looked up into his face and smiled, with teeth and everything. He ducked down and kissed me again, sweet and slow, his hands roaming my back.
When the kiss ended, my stomach emitted a disgruntled rumbling. Cameron laughed, the sound echoing through the trees.
“Let me guess, you haven’t eaten yet today?” he asked.
I peeked up at him through my lashes. “No. Do you think your mom has any muffins at the house?”
Cameron grinned, his eyes tracing my face, full of love and adoration. “That’s really why you came back, isn’t it?”
I pushed up on the balls of my feet and kissed him quickly. “You’re a close second, Wilder.”
He hooked his arm around my shoulder and ushered me toward the house after he picked up my suitcase with ease. “You know what? I think I can live with that.”
Chapter 33
