“I wanted you when I first saw you. Beautiful, sexy, and all wrapped up in a suit that made me want to strip you down and fuck you on the boardroom table. But you were just getting out of the relationship with that fucking Roger.”
“Ryan.”
“Whatever. Then we had that blasted drunk kiss.”
“That was the day I left him. Not right that minute, but in my mind. My heart said, why are you with this guy when you could have… When I could have had what you gave me in that kiss.”
Cameron sighed, tucking a curl behind her ear and fingering the rim of her water bottle. She tried gazing at the woodland paradise she’d selected to teach him a lesson. But like any other obstacle, he’d flown over it and won. He tilted her hand up to his lips. The soft green and gold flames banked into embers. Drawing her back to him.
“I didn’t know what was between us.”
His head picked up, reminding her of the squirrel’s alert playing.
“I knew something was wrong with my relationship with Ryan. But I couldn’t put my finger on it. Until you kissed me. It should have been a light kiss between two co-workers at an office party. One and done.”
He kissed her finger, sucking the tip into his mouth. He’d done the same thing that night. Did he even remember?
“Then you took me in your arms, and I didn’t even remember having a man. Ryan was right outside the door, but at that moment, no other man existed. Your kiss tore the veil off everything that was wrong with Ryan and me. You took me in your arms and kissed me like no other woman existed for you, either. Ripped my shirt open. Damn near tore it off.”
Blake’s hand squeezed hers, and he looked up from under his eyelashes. “I didn’t hurt you, did I? I wondered if I’d assaulted you. We didn’t have sex, but I didn’t know if I hurt you. That’s part of the reason I held back. I couldn’t remember what I’d done, but I knew how I’d felt. I wanted to win you. Take you. Keep you. Make you mine. Force you to see what we could have.” He dropped her hands and wiped his fingers over his face. “I was so ashamed of how I’d behaved. I thought the best thing I could do was go on and hope one day you’d forgive me.”
“There was nothing to forgive. I don’t know what someone passed around at the party, but it made a couple of other people pass out. None so dramatically as you did. One minute you were my caveman, barbarian lover, and the next, you were snoring and slobbering on my breast.”
Blake buried his face in his hands, but that didn’t stop his ears from turning red. He lifted his head and spotted her grin before she could swipe it away.
“It’s not funny. The most embarrassing night of my life, and it cost us two years.”
“It didn’t feel right to pursue anything when I’d only just left Ryan. So, when you acted like it never happened. I thought maybe it meant nothing to you.”
“It meanteverything. But I didn’t want to scare you off. I could either keep you and stay silent or speak up and lose you forever. One of the few times I took the coward’s way.”
“So, what do we do now?”
Blake pressed his lips together, flattening out any hint of a smile. “What the hell do you mean? We finish this vacation. We return to Seattle with you on my arm—and in my bed.”
He continued when she started shaking her head. Shutting down any disagreement. “I want you in my office. But if you want to do the S.T.E.M. foundation, we can sit down and discuss it. But everything else is non-negotiable.”
Cameron snatched her hands out of his and rolled her eyes. “Blake, that’s not how relationships work. We have to take our time. See if we fit in each other’s lives—and how.”
“We love each other, that’s how.”
Seconds ticked by as time taunted her open mouth. “We never said that to each other.”
Blake pushed the table out of the way and knelt beside her chair. “Maybe today is the day we start.” His hands cupped the sides of her face as he squeezed between her knees. “Today, I say: I love the way you challenge me, love how you help me grow. You make me a better boss, a more patient man, agentle-man. You smooth out my rough edges and bring sanity to my crazy. I love you. You’re smart, beautiful, and funny. When you smile, the dead parts of my heart breathe again.”
His thumb wiped the sides of her eyes, catching the drops that had formed there. “When I was a young man, I took a chance on a stunning teacher. Laid my feelings on the floor, and she danced right over them. I told myself I’d never take a chance like that again. But here I am. And here you are, making me brave. Can you be brave? Can you tell me you love me, too? Because I’ve seen it every day this week. Be brave, my beautiful lady.”
For a moment, her mouth didn’t work. It acted like a door, sealing the words in a heart so full of emotion it couldn’t beat. Blake’s shoulders slumped, and the pain in his eyes opened the door. Freeing the words to flow between them.
“I love you, Blake Scott. Love every one of your silly, quirky ways. I’m sorry that she broke your heart. But I’m happy that you saved some of it for me. I’m glad to be your anchor when you’re flying away with one of your crazy ideas.”
Her breath shuddered, and her words slowed. “But I’m scared of sinking you.” Cameron’s hand shook, but she had to get it all out. Every piece, if they were going to make it. “You like challenges, and I don’t want to be another puzzle that you figure out, play with for a bit, then put away and forget about.”
“Never.” His arms wrapped around her, the sturdy solid fingers pressing insistently against her back. As he repeated the word on her lips. “Never. And if I ever seem like I’m zoning out and forgetting about you. Give me a hard kick in the shins and remind me how damn lucky I am to have you.”
“I will. You know I will.” Her agreement was all she got out before he drew every other word, assent, and thought from her mind with a kiss that sealed better than vows. She’d brought him to the cabin to teach him a lesson. Gambled with their hearts, and in the end, they both won the only game worth winning.
Love.