Chapter 44 #2
I’d already gotten my hug, and if I wrapped my arms around her again, I was worried our new relationship would detract from the moment.
I didn’t know what she’d told her parents about me or if she was ready to introduce us.
We’d met at Noah’s engagement party, but I hadn’t been Natalie’s boyfriend then.
I hadn’t been the man who hoped to be in her and Chloe’s life for a long fucking time. Preferably forever.
It was a lot for her today. I knew it was a lot, and I didn’t want to add any more to it.
I was happy enough to step back and watch the joy on Natalie’s face, appreciate the spark in her eyes and the wonder in her voice, like she couldn’t believe she was finally free.
Gratitude and love radiated from her, and my heart filled to a brim I hadn’t even known existed.
I hadn’t realized I could feel any more for her than I already had, but God.
I loved everything about this woman. How the hell I’d managed not to tell her yet was beyond me.
Her eyes connected with mine, and for a moment, the world stopped spinning. Time slowed, and everything faded to a blur. And the only solid, sure thing in the world was her. Us.
“Thank you,” she mouthed, eyes shining.
I smiled at her, gave the littlest nod.
Her body shifted, almost like there was a gravitational pull yanking her toward me, even as her eyes flicked around, landing on my face and then around her family’s, unable to decide where she wanted to be. I didn’t want her to have to pick.
I jerked my head to the door and mouthed that I’d be outside. And because I didn’t want her to argue or feel bad, I turned and walked away before she could say anything, heading toward the courthouse doors.
Stepping out into the soggy August air, I released a sigh filled with pent-up energy and walked down the brick sidewalk, the reddish cobblestone uneven beneath my feet. But I only got a handful of strides away from the front door when I heard the heavy footsteps of someone following me.
I knew who it was before I even turned around. I could just sense it in the energy he brought with him wherever he went.
“Hey, asshole!” he called, accusations in his tone as I turned to find him charging toward me, and fuck if I wasn’t somewhat grateful for it. Because it meant I got to put my hand out to stop him, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and slamming his back against the side of the courthouse.
Shit, that felt good. I’d been waiting to do that for a long fucking time. Waiting to watch the alarm and uncertainty fly onto his face as he realized who the fuck he was actually dealing with here.
“Do not even think about it,” I growled before he could say a damn thing.
I leaned in, letting him know how unbelievably serious I was.
“You fucked up, Abrams. You lost them, and it’s no one’s fault but your own.
You never deserved them. Never. And if you even think about going after my girls one more time, I will fucking end you.
You think I haven’t been looking into you?
You think I don’t know about all the little things your architectural firm is doing?
” I raised a menacing brow. “Stay the fuck away from Natalie and Chloe, understood?”
Korey blinked, in shock.
“Understood?” I repeated.
I didn’t have time for this.
He nodded but then muttered, “Fuck you.”
I smirked. The only one fucking me was his ex-wife, and man, wasn’t that the best goddamn truth.
A click of heels sounded on the pavement, and I looked over my shoulder to see Natalie running out of the courthouse after us. Fuck.
Releasing Korey, I pushed him in the opposite direction of Natalie. “Get the hell out of here. Don’t even dare to look at her, Abrams.”
Korey glared for a moment, and then his gaze swung to the right, like he was going to directly defy me, so I took a threatening step forward. And that was all it took for him to spin on his heel in a huff and disappear down the street.
I turned back around just in time for Natalie to barrel into me, fueled by the momentum of the downward-sloping path and uneven Boston sidewalks.
She pushed me up against the courthouse’s brick wall, flattening her hands to my chest in an attempt to stop herself, practically knocking the wind out of me in the process.
But I didn’t mind. Not when her body was pressed against mine and I got to wrap my arms around her.
“What was that?” she breathed. “Is everything okay?”
I held her closer. “Everything is okay, Sunshine. He wanted to have some words. I made him do the listening instead.”
Natalie raised a brow, and a mix of emotions passed over her face, like she couldn’t decide if she was worried or turned on.
“Everything is fine,” I assured her. “You won, baby. We won.”
“We did,” she agreed, sounding awed by that fact. Her eyes roamed over me, taking me in.
“What are you doing out here?” I asked.
“What am I doing?” she repeated. A smile broke onto her face, pure and beautiful. She wound her hands up my front, hooking them together behind my neck. “What are you doing? Why did you leave?”
“Because this is your moment, Natalie.” I cupped her face. “With your family. I wanted to give you space.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want space.”
“I can see that,” I chuckled, considering she hadn’t stepped back, still anchored to my front while my back pressed against the courthouse wall. “You know, I can see why you like this position so much. It’s very nice.”
Her lips twitched, but she was still looking at me expectantly. So I added, “I promised you slow, so that’s what I’m trying to give you. I’m here for you, but I don’t have to meet your parents right this second if that’s too much all at one time.”
“It’s not too much.” She said it so quickly my heart skipped a little. “You said this is my moment. With my family. But Cameron, that’s you. This was our win for our family. And I think…I think you might actually be going too slow for me.”
Her eyes were round, getting bigger by the moment, like she was realizing just how true that was right as she was saying it.
“Yeah?”
My breath hitched, my joy bubbling out of me.
It was everything I’d ever wanted to hear. The best thing in the world.
She nodded, leaning into me as though her body could do the talking. No more barriers, she was saying. No more walls. Nothing between us.
“Well, thank you for telling me,” I murmured, struggling to contain my happiness. “I will have no problem speeding things up a bit.”
“That sounds nice.” She beamed, flooring me with her enthusiasm. “And I’d really like to introduce you to my parents, if you’re up for it. I’ve told them about you.”
“I’d love to meet your parents,” I said easily. “I’ve told my family about you, too.”
“Yeah?” She pressed her lips together, like that made her happy to think about.
“Yeah, of course.” I smoothed a hand up her back and then down, sneaking my fingers beneath the hem of her blazer and the blouse beneath so I could touch her bare skin. “My Pops wants us to keep him in the loop about a wedding date.”
Her irises bloomed, like greenery coming up to breathe in early spring, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of what I’d said or the skin-to-skin contact. So I stilled, backtracking on both.
“Did I swing too far in the other direction?”
Natalie came out of her shock and giggled. “No, actually.”
God, the pure elation that was radiating from her today was the best thing I’d ever seen.
“No?” I checked and then resumed the gentle way I was trailing my fingers along her lower back.
“No.” She smiled and cocked her head to the side, giving me a thoughtful look. Like she was trying to memorize me. This. “Hey, Cam?”
“Yeah, Sunshine?”
She pushed up onto her toes, as though she needed to be closer to me, like she was telling a secret. “I think I love you.”
I was wrong before.
This was the best thing I’d ever heard or seen.
This expression on Natalie’s face, right now, as she breathed those words.
Holy hell, my heart might not make it through today.
“Oh, Natalie baby.” I laughed because I couldn’t even begin to contain my relief at getting to say the next words aloud.
The ones I’d been thinking about for what felt like forever.
The ones I’d been holding my tongue so I wouldn’t say them aloud too soon.
“I know I love you. God, I love you so fucking much.”
An adorable, joyful sound spilled from Natalie’s lips, too, and I couldn’t help but drop my hands and scoop her off her feet, spinning us around so I pinned her back against the wall.
She hung on to me, arms still locked around my neck as she tipped her face to look at me.
I lowered my gaze, our foreheads touching, our breath mingling, and I was about to kiss her when she whispered, “I know I love you, too. I don’t know why I said that. ”
I shook my head. I knew she did. I knew it was just taking her longer to trust the truth and our reality. And whether she was ready to admit it or not had never affected the way I felt about her.
“It doesn’t matter either way,” I said honestly and then brushed my lips over hers, unable not to.
“I couldn’t get myself to stop falling deeper in love with you if I tried.
I just keep falling, and I can’t stop, Natalie.
You mean the world to me, and I just want to get this right.
I’m so goddamn determined to get this right. For you and for Chloe.”
“Cameron, you got it right,” she assured me and then mimicked me, kissing the corner of my mouth lightly and then nipping on my bottom lip.
“You always get it right. And I love you, okay? I feel it more and more every single day. I knew I was at risk of falling for you from the moment we met. That’s the truth, and that’s what I ran from that night.
But I don’t want to run from it anymore.
It’s still big and scary, but it’s also the most comforting thing in the world, the way I love you. The way you love me.”
“Oh my God, Natalie,” I groaned before kissing her hard. I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t know how to comprehend what she’d just said without bursting, so I did the only thing I could think of and kissed her the way I always wanted to from the moment I met her.
For me, the risk had been different.
I’d felt everything that was at stake that night, too. In the bar. But only because I knew she was moments from slipping through my fingers. I saw it in her gaze, saw the panic spreading across her face.
But then she showed up in my office, and I’d felt it so deep in my bones. Because I knew I’d do anything for her. Even if it meant risking everything I’d worked for. Because the biggest risk of all had always been what it was at the start: losing her.
Natalie whimpered my name against my lips, and I forced myself to pull back, knowing if I didn’t soon, I’d lose the ability to stop altogether.
“I love you,” I reiterated, brushing the tip of my nose against hers.
“So you said,” she laughed softly.
“And I’ll keep saying it.” Over and over again, until my lungs gave out. “Let’s go find your family before they find us, yeah?”
Natalie sighed, like she didn’t want this moment to end, and as much as I could appreciate that, I also knew we had the rest of our lives to talk about us. Because that was the sort of long haul I was in for.
I put her down, letting her feet flatten on the cobblestone before lacing our fingers together. Natalie led the charge this time, leading me back toward the doors of the courthouse, and I was more than happy to follow.
“After this, can we go find Chloe?” she asked over her shoulder. “Blake and Delaney said they’re at the park by our house. I want to tell her the good news.”
“Of course, we can.”
“Together?” she questioned, and my heart squeezed.
“I’d love that.” I gripped her hand tighter. “If you’re sure.”
Natalie whipped open the door to the courthouse with her other hand and then paused, making sure our eyes connected.
There was that same sizzling connection, the one I felt the first time I looked at her, but there was also something deeper now.
A knot in my chest that tightened with every movement she made, every word she said.
It tied us together in the most beautiful way.
“I’m so sure.”