by Lisa Shelby
“Well, anytime you need somebody to hold your hand during a clunky visit with the Holsteds, I’m your guy.”
“Thank you and damn straight you are.”
“Are what?”
“My guy, silly.” She leans over the center console and kisses me on the cheek.
“Damn straight is right!”
She sits back in her seat and watches the world go by as we drive from the airport into the city to meet the rest of our family at Alex’s hotel. She was able to get us all-access at her hotel to the rooftop deck that overlooks the Willamette River where the city’s Fourth of July fireworks display will take place in a few hours.
She’s quiet as we drive and still is when we pull into the parking garage. Once I park, I round the car to get her door. After three months together—not counting all the months before we became exclusive—she’s finally getting used to the fact that I will always open her door for her. It has been a struggle but one that I am happy to say has ended with me the victor.
She steps out of the car and is fixing her long, flowing summer dress while I shut the door. She adjusts the straps on her dress and says, “Ready when you are.”
“Not yet. There’s something I need to do first.”
“What’s that…” I cut her off with my mouth and push her back against the car. Her arms wrap around my neck, and I lean my body against hers. I need her to know she’s not alone, and she’s got me to lean on. She can pretend that not being close to her family isn’t a big deal. But it is.
Easing up on the pressure of our kiss, I eventually pull back and place a light kiss on the tip of her nose. “You are not clunky. You are perfect, and your parents don’t know what they’re missing.”
A shimmer of moisture starts to glisten in her eyes, and I need to remedy that shit real quick. I wipe my wet kiss off her nose, pull her off of the Rover, and give her a little pinch to her ass. She gives me the squeal I knew she would give me, smacks me on the arm, and gives me a warm smile. A smile that says she knows why I pinched that fine ass of hers, and she thanks me for it.
We spend the next couple of hours up on the roof with our friends and some of Alex’s co-workers and their friends and family. We don’t know any of them except for Alex’s friend, Olivia. We’ve only met Olivia’s boyfriend, Ronan, a couple of times. We know Olivia pretty well, and she’s a cool chick, but Ronan looks a little arrogant, and very important. Like he would know Hannah’s parents. He’s not really my kind of guy.
Somehow, we manage to snag one of the leather love seats, and we are not giving it up for anyone. Okay, we would give it up for Emily, because she’s pregnant, with twins no less, but she snagged a corner of the couch next to us with Ireland and Jonathan. The set-up they have up here is pretty amazing. It’s huge and fits the forty or so people here tonight well.
Cami has her glass of wine, and since I’m driving it’s just bottled water for me tonight. And that is just fine by me. Cami and I drink socially, but I haven’t had a need or reason to get drunk for months.
It doesn’t escape me that this is because of the beautiful woman sitting next to me.
A woman who is fiercely independent and strong. I know she says she doesn’t need a man to feel whole or complete, and as much as my ego may want her to feel that way about me, I love that she doesn’t. Because that means she doesn’t have to be with me. She wants to be with me. She simply wants someone she can turn to in those rare moments she needs to lean on someone else. Someone to count on. I hope this also means she isn’t as damaged as the rest of us and doesn’t have as many holes to fill. Holes that she can’t fill herself.
I, on the other hand, am not as strong as the tiny woman tucked under my arm. I do need her. She has somehow managed to fill all of my empty places. The ones I had been trying to fill with alcohol.
There isn’t a second of my day that I want to spend without her.
“Move in with me.”
It’s not a question. I am not asking her; I am telling her.
Her head whips around, and her eyes look like giant saucers. At the same time, there is a giant fucking smile slowly spreading across her gorgeous face. The face I want to see every morning when I wake up.
And because she, like me, knows how good we are together, the shock leaves her face and the sass that I love so much comes out to play in no time flat.
“Hmmm…move in with you? I don’t know, you’re really big.” She climbs into my lap and is ever-so-slowly dragging her fingers through my hair like we are the only two people on the damn roof. “You take up a lot of space and so do your things. I’m not sure there’s room for me and my shoes with all of your big things.” In a way that is so very subtle those around us may not notice, she is gently rubbing herself over my now, semi-hard dick, what I am hoping is one of those big things she is referring to.
“Baby, I’ll get rid of all my shit if that’s what you need. Besides, I’m building a new house, remember?”
“Are you really asking me to live with you, Liam Fanua?”
“Hmmm…was I not clear? Did I stutter?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure that’s what I heard you say but you know that I sometimes get stupefied by your rugged good looks so, ask me again. I want to be sure I heard you correctly.”
With the loudest voice I can muster, without yelling, but loud enough to get the attention of those around us, I clear my throat, and this time phrase my words in the form of a question.
I bring my hands to her face and make sure to give her a couple of seconds to recognize the sincerity in my eyes when I say, “Cameron Holsted, I don’t want to spend one day without you. Nothing would make me happier than to live with you and all of your sexy-ass shoes. What do you say? Wanna shack up, baby?”
Clearly, I said it loud enough this time because she leans forward and kisses me senseless.
I hear one of Alex’s co-workers standing behind us say to her friend, “Girl, she better say yes. Living with him would be like living with The Rock.”
“Hotter than The Rock. She could hang off those arms. If she doesn’t say yes, I’ll take him up on his offer.”
Cami giggles into our kiss and with our lips still touching, she whispers, “See, I told you that you were hotter than The Rock.”
“Is that a yes?!” Emily shouts from the couch.
Answering Emily’s question, she presses her forehead to mine and quietly says, “It’s a yes.”
It’s as though time has stopped, and the world around us has blurred as Cami and I stay connected and breathe each other in. In the distance, things sound muffled. I hear Mick yell, “Nice work, man!” and Jonathan’s confused question to his wife, “What the hell just happened?” But all of my attention is on the sinfully sweet woman in my arms.
Leave it to my new roommate to bring me back to reality.
“I am so decorating the hell out of your new house.”
“Baby, once it’s built you can do whatever you want to it. As long as you’re there, I don’t care about the rest.”
And cue fireworks!
“Yes! Yes! Yes! Liam, you feel so good! Harder!”
“You sure, baby?”
“Yes! Please!”
“My girl always gets what she wants. Hold on tight, baby!” I say, gripping her hips tighter, pulling her into me even harder than I was before.
The picture played out before me is one that men pay good money to see, and it’s all mine. Her weight is on her forearms while her perfect peaches-and-cream ass is lifted high in the air on full display for me. She’s gripping the sheets, and her hair is covering her face in a mess, and she wants it harder.
I fucking love this woman. The fact that this tiny, yet vivacious, woman who is the sweetest, funniest, kindest person I have ever met is such a vixen when our clothes come off, makes her all that much sexier. When it’s just the two of us, she is a God-damned animal. I have never been with anyone who wants me as much as I want her. I wasn’t sure that it was possible, but she pr
oves it is every time we make love.
Yes, even though she wants it hard, and she is the hottest jump in the sack I have ever had, there is love involved. We haven’t said it, but we both know it. It’s in the way she looks at me. I know she feels it, but I think she’s waiting for me to say it first. I don’t know why I haven’t said it yet. I think it’s because I want it to be right. I don’t want to do it right after I come. I don’t want her to think I’m saying it because of the sex.
Because it’s not the sex.
It’s so much more than sex.
Giving her what she wanted seems to have been just what she needed. She’s now pushed up from her forearms and is balancing on her hands and knees with her back arched. I know what this means. She’s close. I reach around and give her that cherry on top, and as soon as my finger comes in contact with her bundle of nerves, she screams incoherently, and I can feel her tighten around me.
“That’s it, baby. I’m there too. Come for me, Cami. I want to feel you come on my cock, baby. Give it to me.”
As if on command she tightens and contracts around me, and on her last scream of my name, I explode along with her. My release seems to go on and on as I continue to thrust inside her. With my final thrust, I feel her limbs go weak, and we both collapse in a pile on the bed that is more than a mess. We’ve practically shredded the sheets, and the pillows are all over the floor along with the comforter.
Yes, when we’re together, magic fucking happens.
I get up to throw the condom away, and when I turn back to join her, my eyes feast the masterpiece lying in the middle of the bed. Her breasts are still rising and falling with her breaths as she recovers from our little work out. Her pale skin is flushed. Her auburn hair is spread out in a tangle of waves all around her face, and she looks good and fucking pleased.
She looks happy.
I did that.
I made her feel that way.
“What are you doing?” she asks me as she rolls over on her side and props her head up with her hand.
“I just can’t get enough of you, little lady,” I say as I crawl onto the bed. I have to touch her. I can’t have her lying there naked with just-fucked hair and not touch her.
I lie on my side and prop myself up on one hand, mirroring her. My other hand traces the curves of her body.
“You can’t get enough of me, huh?”
“Nope.” No need to elaborate.
She watches my hand as my fingers trace the swell of her breast and make their way to her side and then over her hip.
“I could do this all day. Your skin is so damn soft, and I love to see you flushed after we make love. There is nothing more beautiful.”
I kiss her shoulder.
Completely engrossed in watching my hand on hers, she distractedly says, “I love to see your hands all over me. It’s hot, and if I’m being honest, just seeing your hands on my bare skin turns me on. Every. Single Time. I would let you do it all day and night if we could. Stupid jobs.”
I lie flat on my back and bring her with me so her head is resting on my shoulder, and she’s tucked in to my side.
“Well, soon enough we’ll get to do this every night.”
“Liam, we’re already together every night. We just won’t have to pack a bag and have sleepovers. My shoes and I can’t wait!”
“I can’t wait either and there will be plenty of room for your shoes, I promise.”
“Keep talking like that and we’re gonna have to do what we just did again. That kind of talk gets me all hot and bothered. Keep going,” she says as draws circles on my chest.
“Well, there will be plenty of room for shoes in the epic closet that they’ll get to live in.”
She gasps and pushes up to see my face. “How epic? Can I see the plans?”
“No, you cannot see the plans, it’s a surprise and to answer your first question… Epic. Very epic. Now stop interrupting me. There will be plenty of room for dogs and plenty of guest rooms. I hate that my parents can’t stay with me at the loft when they visit. This house will fix all of that, and there will still be room for a play room and room for kids.”
Her hand stops on my chest, and quietly she confesses. “Liam, I don’t want kids. You know that, right?”
“Nah, if you haven’t changed your mind, you will. I’m sure of it.”
“Not even big bad Liam Fanua will make me change my mind. Motherhood has just never been something I’ve craved. I don’t really think I would be any good at it.”
Her reply has made my body go cold. I know she said she didn’t need to be a mother months ago when we talked about what she was looking for in a man, but I figured that was something she was saying because she was single and was playing it cool about not having kids like her friends.
I don’t really know what to say.
“Hey, you still with me?” she says as she props her chin up on her fist and looks up at me from her spot on my chest.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry, I’m still with you.”
She reaches out to touch my face. I’m sure she can feel the sweat beading on my forehead. I feel like all the hope I had for my future with this woman is slipping through my fingers, and I’m not sure I know how to stop it.
“Liam, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you if I did. I thought we talked about this once before, and I thought you knew.” She sits up, pulling the sheet with her, and wraps it around her naked body. “If this is a deal breaker, please tell me now. I don’t want to lead you on only to take our relationship to another level and then have it fall apart because we aren’t on the same page.”
All I heard was deal breaker and the part about our relationship falling apart. Adrenaline pulses through my body, and I can feel myself panic.
I cannot lose this woman.
Yes, I have wanted to be a father for as long as I can remember, but I cannot lose her.
I refuse to lose her.
“Hey, it’s all good. Lie back down and put your arms around me, woman.”
She hasn’t moved. She’s still holding the sheet up to her chest, and she looks almost as panicked as I feel.
“Liam, it’s not all good. Are we on the same page?”
Hell no, we aren’t on the same page!
“I understand and respect your feelings, baby. Now, don’t leave me hanging and get back in my arms.”
She follows my instructions, but I can see the cautious concern on her face. She believes my confirmation about as much as I do. I do respect her feelings, but the thought of having children with her has crossed my mind multiple times in the last months. The idea of being with her for the long-term and not having children has nearly gutted me.
But I don’t think I can live without her.
Chapter 16
Cami
Liam: Daily Reminder…You did it! You took this house by the balls and you slayed it. I am so damn proud of you, little lady. I can’t wait to celebrate with you tonight. xo
“Cheers to us!” Gabe lifts his champagne flute up to mine, and both of our crystal glasses are shaking a wee bit as we clink them together.
“Cheers!” I exclaim back.
“Girl, can you believe we did it? Honey, you designed the hell out of this house.”
“No, I really can’t believe we did and that tonight we show our million-dollar baby to the world. Sweetheart, you are going to sell the hell out of this house!”
He puts his arm around my shoulders, turning me from our spot at the white, marble-topped island in the center of our elegant, yet country–inspired, kitchen so we’re looking at the plush living room designed in grays and whites.
“You mean multi-million-dollar baby, and from your lips to God’s ears. I sure hope those buyers that stopped by yesterday are as interested as they say they are.”
Not able to control myself, I turn to move the vase on one of the end tables one more centimeter like it’s going to make a bit of difference. My nerves are firing on all cylinders. Tonight, is the open house for
all of the industry insiders and VIPs or what they call Realtor Day. All of the realtors participating in this year’s festivities will tour the six homes on display and will vote for the Realtor's Choice Award.
I am not under the illusion we’re going to win, but I am excited knowing that all of my friends and family will be here as well as the judging committee. Not only is there an award up for grabs, but most importantly, tonight is a night to show what I’m worth to the design world and to get my name out there.
Back at the kitchen island, I straighten my stack of business cards again.
“Thanks again for reminding me to get new business cards printed, Gabe. You are such a lifesaver. What would I do without you?”
He waves me off and sends me a sassy, little glare over his shoulder from where he’s taking in the city scape from the back windows.
“Oh, I think you would do just fine without me now that you have that fine-ass Polynesian to go home to every night. I don’t even know why I’m friends with you. You got to be one of the cool kids in high school, and you get to swing off the arm of probably the most beautiful man I have ever seen up close and personal.”
My heels tap lightly on the light gray wood floor as I cross through the kitchen and eating area to Gabe at the big French doors that lead to the back patio. I link my arm with his and lean my head on his arm.
“First of all, stop with the cool kid thing. I wasn’t that cool, and high school doesn’t last forever, my friend. Second of all, I do agree with you. I am one lucky girl. I don’t know what I did to deserve to call that beautiful man mine, but I am not going to argue with whatever gods or goddesses out in the universe brought us together. I mean look at this outdoor living space. This is all him, Gabe. I was at a loss, and he stepped in and put this together.”
“And I know how hard that had to have been for you.”
My arm slips out of his and my fists go to my hips. “What exactly do you mean by that?”
