by Skylar Hill
“Planning on drinking a lot tonight?” Lydia asked with a grin.
“I’m planning on celebrating with all of you,” James said. “I couldn’t have done this without each and every one of you. I’m an incredibly lucky man to have friends like you. And I just wanted to thank you. This place,” he spread his arms wide. “It belongs to all of us. And I truly think we’re going to create something great together.”
“Hear, hear!” Aiden called out, raising his glass.
“To us!” Cam said, raising her own, her eyes meeting James and sending a frisson of heat down his spine.
“To us,” he agreed, clinking his glass with hers.
“Okay, enough with the mushiness,” Lydia burst in, her eyes shining too bright to be fully serious. “Let’s get this party on the road!”
Two hours later, the opening was in full swing. The factory floor was buzzing with people, and James had done grips-and-grins with pretty much every reporter from every independent alternative magazine and every local celebrity in Portland, it felt like. He also recognized some journalists from the bigger papers and a few magazine writers interested in doing articles about the studio. There had even been talk of an Inked cover in the future, which would be amazing. He’d caught up with friends he hadn’t seen in years, people who had come from as far as Italy and France to attend the opening. It was humbling.
And overwhelming. Wonderful. He was so damn grateful, he kept thinking as he made his way through the crowd. Grant was walking a group of guests through the tattoo design process, complete with realistic sketches of their faces as he went, to demonstrate his process. They were watching, enraptured, as he talked and sketched at the same time, barely looking at the paper.
“Sweetheart!” His mother was standing near the bar holding up one of the signature cocktails. “Did you have one of these?” she chirped. “They’re delicious!”
He laughed. “Exactly how many of those have you had, Mom?”
She waved him off, grinning. “I can celebrate my youngest’s amazing accomplishment,” she said. “Look at all these people! And look at this place. It’s so beautiful, James. You can feel how much you put into it, all of you. But I can especially feel your heart in this place.”
He was touched. And glad. It was what he wanted for Exile Ink… for people to feel the beating heart of this place, to understand it was a living, breathing thing, much like the clients—guests, he called them—they inked art onto.
“So,” his mother lowered her voice, looking over her shoulder carefully in such a deliberate manner he wondered if she really was tipsy. “Have you gotten the ring resized?”
He grinned. She clearly liked having a secret with him. It reminded him of the days when he was little, and she used to plan scavenger hunts for her boys. “I actually didn’t need to,” he said. “I compared it to the other ring she wears on that finger, and it’s the same size.”
“Well, imagine that,” she said. “It must be fate.”
He laughed. “Have you seen Cam yet tonight?”
“I did earlier,” she said. “I was happy to have a chance to tell her how glad I am that that horrible man didn’t go free. What a relief that must be for her. And she introduced me to her lovely sister. She’s a smart one, isn’t she? Reminds me of Aiden.”
“Evie’s great,” James agreed.
“And Cam’s going to join my cookbook club! Isn’t that wonderful? I’ll have so many more chances to show her all your baby pictures.”
“Oh, God, Mom,” James groaned. “Why do you do this to me?”
“Because I’m your mother, darling,” she said breezily, patting him on the cheek. “Now go, mingle with your adoring public instead of hanging on the side with your boring old mom. I’m going to find your brother and annoy him for awhile.”
“You could never be boring, Mom,” he said.
She smiled. “Charmer. Just like your father. Now shoo!’
She waved him off, and he walked back into the fray, trading nicety for nicety (and meaning every word), shaking hands, thanking people for coming. By the time he made it across the room, he’d lost sight of Cam. He scanned the crowd, looking for the flower in her hair, but couldn’t find her until he looked up.
She was standing at the top of the spiral staircase with Grant and Tasha. Smiling at the sight, he climbed up the stairs to join them.
“Jimmy-boy!” Grant said as he took his place next to Cam, leaning on the wrought iron railing as he gazed out on the factory floor below, the swaths of excited people, all here because of them, because of what they could create, because of what they had created.
It filled him with pride. And gratitude.
And just the barest flash of regret.
I wish you were here, Dad, he thought as he put his arm around Cam, pressing a kiss to her curls. But he knew he would be all right. And he knew that somehow, his father understood that his youngest son had finally achieved this dream.
“It’s a pretty great sight, isn’t it?” Tasha asked. “I mean, so many people showed up.”
“It’s because of Grant,” James joked. “He’s irresistible.”
“Damn right!” Grant called out cheerfully as Tasha and Cam laughed.
“It’s because of us,” James said seriously. “All of us.”
He looked out at Exile Ink, at this thriving hub of ink, art, love, and forever that he’d created for himself, and then he looked over to Cam and their friends, wondering how he’d gotten so lucky to share this gift with these three people; some of the best people he’d ever known.
He was finally home.
“We’re gonna be legendary,” he said, half to himself.
They would get there in no time.
Chapter Sixteen
Cam
ONE WEEK LATER
“Hey.”
Tasha knocked lightly on the upstairs office door, peeking her head in. Cam looked up from her seat behind the desk, suddenly realizing it was nearly nine o’clock.
“Grant and I are heading out for the night. I’ll see you tomorrow for the Women in Business breakfast, right?”
Cam nodded. Tasha had turned her onto the organization, and she was excited to start networking. “I’ll be there.”
“Awesome. That memorial piece you did today was beautiful, by the way.”
“It was all I could do not to cry on poor Marilyn,” Cam said, naming her client who’d had her do a robin piece earlier that day. Marilyn’s husband had been a birdwatcher, and she’d lost him a year ago today. It was an emotional session, but when she’d finished and the older woman saw the piece on her shoulder, a peaceful expression had suffused her face. “This is exactly what I needed today,” she told Cam, giving her a long hug in the lobby before leaving.
“She’s such a sweet lady… and I hope her little bird will help her heal,” Tasha said. “Anyway. Good night.”
“Night.”
After Tasha left, Cam turned back to her laptop. She’d finished with her last client earlier that afternoon, so she’d been working on the Exile Ink website and social media accounts for most of the night. She lost herself in uploading more photos from the opening and fiddling with their order on each artist’s portfolio. By the time she looked over at her phone for the time again, it was nearly eleven.
As if on cue, the lights from the main room downstairs, the ones that filtered through the glass block wall of the office, switched off. Cam got up, grabbed her phone and purse, and put her laptop away.
“James?” she called, heading out of the office and making her way down the stairs and towards the entrance. “Babe? Sorry, I lost track of time up in the office. Social media is going to be the death of me. Are you ready to head home?”
The lights in the entryway were still on and she turned in a circle, frowning, wondering if he’d gone to grab the car.
And then her eyes fell on the chalkboard wall and everything inside her turned over, just… flipped, like she’d suddenly done a dozen somersaults d
own a hill.
The words inside the wall frame had changed.
They didn’t read Welcome to Exile Ink anymore.
They read: Will you marry me?
Cam gasped and pressed her hands to her lips, her heart thumping.
“I know my handwriting isn’t as nice as yours,” he said, his voice a beautiful rumble behind her. “Especially in chalk. But I tried my best.”
She whirled around, her eyes filling with tears as soon as they met his own. He was smiling, and she beamed back at him, shaky, exuberant, and so, so desperately in love.
“Hi, honey,” he went on, and she bit her lip, not knowing what to do with this kind of happiness. It was almost like it was too much, like it was some sort of trick.
But it wasn’t. Because it was really happening. He was closing the space between them. And then he took her hands in his, bent down on one knee, and looked up at her.
“I love you so much,” he said, his thumb caressing her left ring finger. “I think I fell a little in love with you before I even saw you, Cam. When I saw your work, I felt changed.” His voice grew thick with emotion, and tears trickled down her cheeks.
“And then I saw you, then I talked to you, got to know the incredible woman you are and I just… I never knew this kind of love until you, honey. My dad, he told me about it, and I thought I got what he was saying, but I didn’t—not until I walked into that shop and saw you. And then it was like a veil had been pulled from my eyes, like everything was brighter and better. Like I could be even more myself with you by my side.”
He pressed a kiss to the backs of her hands, his fingers curling under hers. “I never want to go back to a life without you,” he said. “That would be like going back to a life of black and white after seeing color. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to raise children with you, create art with you, build a home with you. I want to die wrapped in your arms after a long and happy life, loving you.”
He reached into his pocket, pulling out a ring box and opening it, holding it out to her. The art-deco sapphire sparkled against the white velvet. “So, Camellia, will you marry me? Will you be my partner in all things, and my wife?”
She couldn’t stay looking down at him, and she found herself bending to her own knees, her thighs pressing against his as she threw her arms around him. The ring box clattered to the ground, unheeded by both of them as he pulled her close, letting out a huff of breath of joy and relief as their bodies touched.
“Yes,” she whispered in his ear, kissing his cheek, his jaw, and then his mouth. Messy, sweet, happy little kisses that she was going to give him for the rest of their lives.
“Yes!” she said again before he kissed her hard, lifting her up and then off her feet in one swift movement as he spun in a circle. She laughed and whirled in the air, dizzy, clutching him, incandescent with joy.
She felt like she was sparkling, like the sparks of a million fireworks were dancing around her.
“I love you more than anyone or anything I’ve ever known,” she told him. “I’m so damn glad you and Lydia are friends. This never would’ve happened if you hadn’t seen her tattoo.”
James beamed. “I was always going to find you,” he said, his voice confident. “I traveled around the world, and I think I was looking for you the whole time—I just didn’t realize it. Guess it’s true that home is where the heart is… or where it’s found. It’s where I found you.”
She smiled, her fingers threading through his as she drew him down to kiss her.
Her husband. She liked the sound of that.
“Oh God, your ring!” he said, stooping down to grab the box and dust it off. “Sorry. But I think it’s okay.” He plucked the ring out of the box. , The beautiful white gold sapphire with deco engravings along the band looked strangely dainty in his big hands as he slipped it onto her finger.
It fit perfectly, shining on her hand as if it belonged there.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered in awe, tracing over the wheat-sheaf engravings along the sides.
“My grandmother’s,” he explained.
“She of the infamous lasagna recipe?” Cam asked with a smile, cherishing the ring even more.
“The very one,” James said. “Gran would’ve liked you a lot. She was an independent lady. Always told me to find a woman who had a lot of brains.”
Cam looked back down at the ring, leaning into him as he drew her close. She loved that he’d given her a ring that had family history, an heirloom that had been passed down through the women of his blood. A treasure that she might pass down to her own daughter or son.
What a wonderful thought.
What a wonderful life.
“There’s just one more thing,” James added seriously. He took her hand and led her toward the chalkboard, where he fished out a piece of chalk from the container on the floor.
He scrawled something with a flourish on the board, and then pulled back so she could see.
J + C = 4Ever
“I promise I’ll find a tree to carve it on,” he said, with a teasing grin that made her love him so much she felt like she might burst. “But this will do for now.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “This will do for now.”
He wrapped one arm around her waist, his other hand cupping her cheek as he bent his head and kissed her.
“Forever,” he whispered as they pulled apart.
It was a vow. A promise. An oath.
She pressed her hand against his heart, where the redwoods lay.
“Forever.”
Fin
Can’t get enough of Exile Ink? JUST ONE WORD, the first book in a steamy trio about Aiden and Lydia, will be coming this summer from Skylar Hill. Sign up for Skylar’s newsletter here for an exclusive sneak peek!
While she plans James and Cam’s engagement party, Lydia’s path keeps crossing with Aiden’s. When a fire drives Lydia from her home and into the apartment right across the hall from Aiden’s, the two find they can no longer avoid talking about the passionate night they spent together over a year ago. But can these two stubborn souls finally lower their guard to let each other in?
Coming in May from Skylar Hill
All Worked Up (A Steamy Standalone)
Nothing is going Maddy’s way: she just lost her job, her landlord is a lecherous nightmare and three months ago, her boyfriend dumped her and the reason why haunts her:
Your libido is way too high for a girl.
Those words have been circling in her head ever since. Was he right? Was there something wrong with her?
When a job working on a new subscription box—full of toys for his and her pleasure— falls into Maddy’s lap, she thinks the universe is laughing at her. And when she gets a look at the sinfully handsome CEO of Purely Pleasure, she knows it.
Carter Daniels understands passion. The inventor and reluctant CEO has made his name—and his fortune—on creating some of the hottest toys on the market. When the delectable Maddy’s hired as the company’s new social media manager, Carter tells himself to stay away, no matter how much the spirited brunette tempts him.
But at the company retreat, Carter overhears a tipsy Maddy confessing her ex broke things off because of her high libido. Now Carter can think of nothing else.
Maddie’s sultry curves and quiet strength have got Carter all worked up…now it’s his turn to show her what it’s like with a man who can’t just keep up, but stay up.
About the Author
Skylar Hill writes steamy romance about once-in-a-lifetime love.
She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her very own lumberjack/soulmate. When she’s not writing, she’s hiking one of the trails around her beautiful city, or in a cafe, drinking chai lattes and eating way too many cinnamon rolls. She has several tattoos, but in places only her husband gets to see!
She is currently hard at work on her next steamy story.
For sneak peeks, bonus scenes, updates, giveaways and truly decadent hot cocoa recipes
, sign up for Skylar’s Newsletter here.
To Connect with Skylar:
@skylarwrites
skylarhillwrites
www.skylar-hill.com
Also by Skylar Hill
Steamy Standalones
For Keeps
All Worked Up (Coming in May)
The Exile Ink Series
James and Cam:
Something New (Book 1)
Something Right (Book 2)
Something Real (Book 3)
Aiden and Lydia:
Just One Night (A Prequel Short Story)
