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She nodded. “We can talk more when you get home.”
That was good enough for now. He hesitated. Should he tell her? He wanted to. This wasn’t ideal. If he had his choice, she’d be in his arms, but he couldn’t wait another minute. “One more thing… I love you.”
She sucked in a breath and her eyes widened. “Really? I, uh—”
“You don’t have to say anything back. I just wanted you to know, before I got off this call, that I love you and I’ll do whatever it takes for us to be together.” He clicked off the phone before she could respond.
All right, this was going to be okay.
Chapter Thirteen
Cameron paced the floor. Alex had texted when he’d landed at Andrews and given an ETA of ninety minutes. It had now been—Cameron checked her phone—eighty-eight minutes. Two minutes before he was officially late.
Her heart had been racing since she’d got his text. No, it had been racing since he’d told her he loved her. While he was halfway around the world. She’d wanted to say it back to him, had the words on the tip of her tongue, but something had stopped her. Besides him hanging up, that is.
It would be better to have this conversation in person. To be able to hold his hand and look into his eyes when she declared her love. It would be only the second time she’d ever done it, and this time, it was forever. She felt it deep down inside. She might have issues with Alex’s assignments, but those were her issues, not his.
Knock. Knock.
She flung the door open and threw herself into Alex’s arms. “You’re home.”
He dropped his bag and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her completely off her feet. His head lowered and he pressed his lips to hers. She kissed him back, pouring everything she felt into that embrace.
He finally pulled away, both of them breathing ragged, but he didn’t put her down. He carried her into the house, kicked the door closed behind him, and didn’t stop until he deposited her on the couch. “That was quite the welcome.”
“I missed you. And I’m so happy that you’re back.”
“Cameron, I—”
She held up her hand. She’d thought about this. She needed to say it, and he needed to hear it. She scanned the hall. Good, the girls were tucked away in Lizzie’s room, watching a video on her iPad. Nothing like bribing the girls to get a few minutes alone. “I want to apologize to you.”
“No, you—”
“Please. This is important for me to say.”
He sat back, mouth shut, but he didn’t let go of her hand. His thumb whispered over her knuckles, and the touch soothed her raw nerves.
“I was wrong to let fear dominate my life. There is so much I want to do, so much I want to see. I realized how much I could be missing out on if I can’t get past the fear and embrace the life, and the opportunities, in front of me.”
His face brightened but he didn’t say anything. Like he sensed that this was important. It was. This might be the most important conversation they’d had.
“I’m so sorry for how I reacted when you told me about your trip. I shouldn’t have put that extra pressure on you when you already had so much to worry about … including a daughter who wasn’t really sick.”
“Not sick?”
Mariana faking sick was just the most recent in a long line of tricks from the girls to shove her and Alex together. It was hard to be mad at them when they were right. “The girls continued their scheming, even after we started going out. They decided if Mariana was sick, then you wouldn’t go on your trip, and we would get back together.”
“That little stinker. We should find a way to channel their energy into something productive.”
Cameron smiled. “I think getting us together was productive, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“Okay. That’s done. Where were we?”
“I was thanking you for taking such good care of my daughter while I was gone. I know it was an imposition—"
She held up her hand as she remembered where the
