Redeeming You
Page 19
“You heard her. Now get the fuck out of here,” Cam murmured, his face only inches away from Miles. A few more words were exchanged, but she couldn’t hear them over the sound of her blood roaring through her veins. Cam pushed Miles backwards a few feet before security grabbed Miles by the arm, escorting him out of the room. Cam followed them out the door.
“What happened?” Evelyn grabbed Taylor’s hand, her face panicked.
“Huh?” Taylor said taking in Evelyn’s short brown hair and wide brown eyes.
“With Miles. What did he do?” Evelyn asked frowning.
“Why did you bring him here?” Taylor responded, pulling her hand out of Evelyn clasp.
“I thought I was doing you two a favor.”
“Why would you think that?” Taylor snapped.
“Miles wanted to apologize and he said that you guys were working through things. I just wanted to help. You know…give you a little push to let you know it was okay to forgive him for the Natalie thing if that’s what you wanted.”
Taylor nodded her understanding. How could Evelyn know? She always kept her at an arms’ length. “Natalie wasn’t the only reason I left. It was the thing that finally pushed me to accept that I needed to break up with him.”
“Taylor, I’m sorry. I really didn’t know.”
“I realize that.” Taylor waved her hand toward the party now in full swing. “I’m okay. Go have fun. I’m going to look for Cam and make sure nothing happened with Miles.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” She pasted on overly bright smile on her face. “Go have a drink. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
Evelyn hugged her. “I’m sorry,” she whispered before joining the party.
Taylor walked out of the green room before anyone could stop her. By the time she reached the end of the hall, she started running. She needed to get some air, maybe go back to the hotel. Hell, she didn’t know, but she couldn’t stay for one more minute. She had less than five minutes before she turned into a blubbering mess and it wouldn’t be pretty.
As she turned the corner, she saw Cam standing by the door. “Everything okay?” he asked grabbing her by her shoulders stopping her.
She bit her lower lip to hold back the sob threatening to escape her lungs. She was embarrassed by what Miles said about her in front of Cam and embarrassed that her so-called friend didn’t really know anything about her because she couldn’t handle the emotional aspect of having a real friendship. Miles was right. She was frigid and inadequate. Cam wouldn’t want to be with her much longer because she’d never be enough for anyone. Not when one little criticism sucked her back into a deep, dark, emotional, black hole.
“C’mere,” he said pulling Taylor into his arms, running his hand up and down her back in slow rhythmic strokes.
Blinking back her tears, she buried her face in his chest. Don’t fall apart. Don’t do it, she told herself over and over. This night was about Chasing Ruin and Cam, not her emotional wreckage.
“Did you know he was coming?”
She shook her head, still refusing to look him in the eyes.
“Tay, look at me.”
“No,” she whimpered.
He moved his hands down her arms until he held her hands in his.
She looked down at their intertwined hands and she saw his swollen and bloody knuckles. “What the hell?”
“I couldn’t let that asshole get away with saying that shit about the girl I love,” he said, his tone and face totally unrepentant. He wiped a tear from her cheek. “And then when I saw your face, you were so hurt, I lost it. I wanted to kill him.”
She put a hand over her mouth, shaking her head. “Wait a second. Can you rewind a minute?”
“What?” he asked cocking his head to the side.
“Did you just say you love me?” She whispered the words not entirely sure she heard him correctly.
“I know we haven’t been together for long and I didn’t want to say anything to scare you away, but I love you, Tay.”
Her eyes swam with tears again. “But why?”
He pushed her hair out of her eyes, then cupped her face. “There’s so much to love about you, I don’t know where to start. I love the way you bite your lip when you’re nervous. I love the way you change the color of your hair whenever you feel like it. I love that you need training wheels to take a shot of tequila—”
She burst out laughing. “For the record, I only used the training wheels on the first shot.”
“If you say so.” He pulled her tight against his body and brushed a kiss across her lips. “I love the way you shiver when I touch you.” One of his hands slipped under her shirt and as if on cue, she shivered. “See,” he whispered against her lips.
Lifting her legs around his waist, he pushed open the back door and the wind whipped her hair in front of her face. “I love the color of your eyes and the way you look at me as though you understand me even when I don’t understand myself.”
The driver opened the car door and Cam slid into the car still holding her.
“What I can’t take is not knowing whether you love me because what I feel for you is so big and unlike anything I’ve ever felt before that I’d hate to think I’m in this thing alone.”
It was everything she needed him to say and everything she had ever dreamed of him saying to her. It made her believe that she could actually have her happy ever after, something she hadn’t hoped for since her dad died.
“I love you, Cam Donovan. I don’t care where you’ve been or what you did in the past. I love you because I see you and you’re beautiful inside and out.” Squeezing her eyes shut, she wrapped her arms around his neck, their heartbeats blending together like music as she breathed him deep into her soul. “I just hope you can put up with me because I’m not an easy person to love.”
“Loving you isn’t hard.” Taylor opened her eyes as Cam’s long, talented fingers slid under her chin, tipping her face upward. His thumb brushed away the last of her tears and his unwavering blue-eyed gaze held her captive. “It’s the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”
EPILOGUE
Alec
Alec tapped his beer bottle against his leg as he watched Cam carry Taylor to one of the band’s chauffeured cars. Taylor looked happy for the first time since they were kids. That should make him happy, and it did. But if she found the path to happiness, it meant he was experiencing all the shit life had to offer truly alone for the first time. Cam had Taylor. Jax had Bre, and he’d never have anyone. Maybe that’s exactly what he deserved. The darkness in his soul destroyed anything good in his life. He was poison.
As Cam and Taylor’s car pulled away, Alec drained the last of his beer and tossed it in a nearby trashcan listening to it shatter against the metal container. At least he still had Chasing Ruin. He’d spend his life playing his drums until the numbness took over. That was the only time his mind felt free from the memories that festered inside of him.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to my family and their ability to keep their eye rolling to a minimum when they find me staring at a screen for hours on end. Thanks to Limitless Publishing for giving me the platform to share my stories. Finally, thanks to every reader who reads one of my books. Now, I can justify having conversations in my head and living vicariously through fictional characters.
About the Author
After spending years practicing law and running a real estate development company with her husband, Lisa decided to pursue her dream of becoming a writer and she must confess that inventing characters is so much more fun than writing contracts and legal briefs. A native of Colorado, she lives with her husband and three children in Denver. When she isn’t managing the chaos of raising three children and owning her own business, she can be found reading or writing a book or tinkering in her garden.
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