Chapter 32 Savannah
THIRTY-TWO
SAVANNAH
Christmas morning, I wake to the most delicious scene. Camden Snow, bare chested, in a pair of gray sweats, padding across my tiny apartment with a cup of coffee topped with whipped cream.
I smile as I reach for it, deliciously sore from last night and ready for more. “This might be the best Christmas morning ever.”
His expression goes from cocky to radiant.
It’s one of the things I love most about this man.
He doesn’t hide his emotions. He might not be an open book, and I have a lot to learn about him, but I always know how he feels.
If he’s upset, the anger or frustration are written on his face.
If he’s turned on, his facial expression isn’t my only hint.
But moments like this might be my favorite.
When he’s happy, he lets the emotion show.
It’s freeing, seeing him like this. It gives me permission to be happy too.
And yeah, I shouldn’t need permission, but I grew up in a house where a smile would be snuffed out quickly, so I hid any joyful emotions.
If I didn’t, the feelings would be bled from me in one way or another.
“This is unequivocally the best Christmas ever, baby girl, because I woke up beside you.” He settles on the bed beside me and leans in for a kiss.
Eyes falling shut, I smile against his mouth. “Merry Christmas.”
He pulls back, and with his blue eyes burning with passion, he pushes my hair behind my shoulder and drops a kiss to my neck. “Merry Christmas, beautiful.”
My stomach tightens in response to his attention. “Why are you looking at me like that?” I take my first sip of coffee, and when the flavor registers, I moan. “Oh, you found the cinnamon creamer.”
With a nod, he brushes another kiss to my shoulder.
“God,” I sigh. “You make it hard to think, let alone drink coffee.”
He pulls back. “We can’t have that.”
I huff into my mug, disappointment rising and dampening my joy a little.
A quiet laugh escapes him. “What?”
“Nothing, I just like it when you kiss me.”
“There’ll be plenty more of that when you’ve finished your coffee.” He tips his head toward my mug. “I’ve got to grab your present anyway.”
My heart stutters. “Present?”
“Don’t be coy, baby girl. You don’t play it well. You know damn well I got you a gift.”
When he stands, happiness pours out of me in an embarrassing squeal.
Face lit up, he drops to his knees in front of me.
The move is so startling I almost drop the coffee cup. “What are you doing?” I scramble around, setting the mug on the side table, ignoring the liquid that sloshes out of it.
He pulls a jewelry-size box out of his pocket and sets it on the bed in front of me.
I scramble back. “What is that?”
If the man proposes right now, I don’t know what I’ll do. I really like him. Might even love him a little. Not that I’m ready to dive into that emotion. But no matter how strong our connection, we can’t get engaged after only a month.
He chuckles. “Don’t you want your present?”
I inspect it, still keeping my distance. “That depends.”
Eyes dancing, he says, “Depends on what?”
“On what it is. It’s not like a forever type of thing, right?”
He frowns, dark blond brows furrowing. “A forever type of thing?”
I huff, my heart pounding. “Don’t be coy, Camden Snow,” I say, mimicking his earlier words. “You don’t play it well.”
He coughs out a laugh loud enough to wake the Donadios. Then he grasps me by the thighs and tugs me to the edge of the bed. I’m naked and wrapped in the sheets, but my breasts hang heavy between us. My pulse races as I stare into his eyes.
“Just open the box, Savannah,” he says, voice gruff, smile gone, and holds it up between us.
Head bent, I study it. My heart is in my throat, my hands trembling.
I hate myself for my next thought. Literally despise my very being, because in this moment, all I think is please let it be what I think it is.
Please let him be my forever. Looking into his blue eyes, so beautiful, waking up to him in my kitchen, loving him, would all be so easy.
It could be everything I’ve ever wanted.
Holding my breath, I take the small square box from his hand and search his face, looking for answers. “I really like you,” I muster.
His expression immediately softens and his lips spread into the softest of smiles. I think he’ll always be gentle with me. I think we’d be good to one another. And suddenly, it doesn’t feel so scary. Forever with him wouldn’t be so bad. It might just be perfect.
He cuffs my neck and hauls me against him. With his lips brushing mine, he whispers, “I really like you too, baby girl.” His kiss is warm, his touch soothing. “Now open your present.”
Butterflies fluttering in my stomach, I flip open the box.
When I’m met with a small bronze object, I choke on a laugh.
“A key.” There’s disappointment in my tone, but relief too.
Because yeah, now I know that I want him forever, but my initial reservation was appropriate.
Not yet. There’s no rush. He’s not going anywhere.
“To my house,” he says, eyes holding mine. “Our house.”
“Our house?” I repeat.
“Move in with me, baby girl.” He presses his forehead to mine.
“I hate waking up without you. If I had my way, you’d be at my side at all times, while at work, while traveling.
But that’s not realistic. This, though, could be.
Move in with me.” The confidence in his tone, along with the hint of desperation, like he doesn’t even know where the words came from, like they just spilled from his lips, has me nodding along and agreeing.
“Okay,” I say, breathless.
“Okay?” His eyes widen in surprise.
“Yeah, I’ll move in with you. Okay.”
He hauls himself up in one quick move and tackles me in the bed. We’re a mess of limbs and kisses, scrambling to get rid of his clothes and free my legs from the sheets. In a matter of seconds, he’s pushing into me with a rough thrust. “Fuck, baby girl, what are you doing to me?”
I shake my head, tears stinging my nose. His expression is filled with awe. With what I can only hope is the beginnings of love.
“Whatever it is,” I say, “it’s happening to me too.”
“Good. Stay with me,” he says as he buries himself deep inside me.
“I’m right here,” I promise, my hand going to his heart as my walls clench around him.
He fucks me slowly, his fingers entwined with mine between us, our eyes never leaving one another.
It might not have been a ring, but this feels a hell of a lot more like forever.