Chapter 36
Ellie
“Wow. Vancouver Island is so beautiful,” I say as I gaze out the passenger window of our rental car.
Camden is driving along the outskirts of Victoria in the direction of Shawnigan Lake, where Blomdahl and Bella are getting married this weekend.
“It’s stunning, right?” he says. “Every time I come here, the scenery blows me away.”
He speeds down the highway while I stare at the lush evergreen forest around us and the mountains in the distance.
I close my eyes and breathe in the crisp air of the mountains.
“Hungry?” Camden asks. He opens the center console and digs out my favorite brand of organic fruit bars and a bag of sweet potato chips.
My stomach growls instantly. “How’d you know I’d be craving this?”
“I’ve seen you pack those snacks with you when you go to work,” he says. “I wasn’t sure if they sold them here in Canada, so I brought a bunch in case you got hungry.”
My heart tumbles around in my chest. Not only is this man insanely good in bed, but he’s thoughtful enough to notice what my favorite snacks are and pack them for me.
I flash what I’m sure is a ridiculously goofy grin. I can’t help it though. Everything about Camden makes me swoon.
I think back to all the generous things he’s done for his parents. How he bought his dad his dream car. How he took care of his mom’s mortgage and spoils her with trips every year.
He’s a literal dream guy: rich, hot, generous, and kind. And I’m lucky enough to be married to him.
The thought halts in my brain the second it forms.
Fake married. This isn’t real. And in less than a year, it will all be over.
I’ll be single and able to date someone else and get married for real.
I can’t ignore the way my stomach twists at the thought.
This marriage with Camden feels real. It feels more real than my relationship with my ex ever did.
Because he’s rocking your world in the bedroom. You blurred the lines between being just friends and something more.
That uneasy feeling settles deeper in my tummy. I should have seen this coming. I should have known that the second I asked Camden to be my sex tutor, I’d start to catch feelings.
“Here we are,” he says, pulling me out of my thoughts.
He drives up a steep, narrow road to a sprawling, modern cabin-style home. He pulls into the driveway in front of a five-car garage and kills the engine.
My eyes bulge out of my head at how huge it is.
He winks at me. “Wait until you see the inside.”
When I walk through the front door, I gasp.
“No way…” I murmur as I gaze around the massive open-concept space. I take in the floor-to-ceiling windows on the far side of the house that offer a stunning view of sapphire-blue Shawnigan Lake and the tree-covered mountains surrounding it.
“Holy shit.”
Camden chuckles. “I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you swear.”
“I can’t help it. This place is insane.” I open the sliding glass door and step onto the balcony and gaze out at the water, which is the color of sapphires. “This view is unreal.”
“Yo, Connors! You sneaky little shit.”
We both turn around when we hear Xander hollering from across the house. He and Sophie walk in with their suitcases.
“You got here first so you could steal the best bedroom, didn’t you?” Xander jokes.
Camden grins. “You know it.”
Xander tosses his Bashers baseball cap at Camden, but Camden catches it easily.
“You’ve got goalie reflexes. You’ve been hanging out with Blomdahl too much,” Xander says.
I greet Xander and Sophie with a hug.
“Don’t worry. This house has seven master suites. All the couples will get a kickass room,” Camden says.
“Where did you find this place? It’s incredible,” Sophie says as she gazes out the window at the lake.
“It belongs to the family of one of my college teammates,” Camden says. “They own a bunch of luxury rental properties, and this is one of their places. When I found out that Bella and Blomdahl were getting married here, I reached out to them to see if I could rent the place.”
He walks into the massive chef’s kitchen, decked out with top-of-the-line stainless steel appliances.
He opens the fridge and pumps his fist. “They left us some goodies.”
He pulls out a twelve-pack of beer and two bottles of sparkling wine.
“We’re gonna need more than that this weekend,” Xander says. “And Blomdahl’s gonna want Scotch.
“We’ll head to the liquor store once everyone’s here,” Camden says. He holds up the bottle of wine. “Can I pour you a glass, ladies?”
Sophie and I say yes. He pours us two flutes of wine, hands them to us, then tosses Xander a can of beer.
We sip our drinks on the balcony overlooking the lake and wait for the other couples to arrive. It’s not long before Del and Ingrid, Theo and Maya, Sam and Dakota, and Ryker and Madeline join us.
When Blomdahl and Bella walk in, everyone cheers.
“The future Mr. and Mrs. Blomdahl have arrived!” Xander hollers.
We all greet them and pour them drinks.
“Sorry we don’t have any Scotch,” Camden says to Blomdahl.
Blomdahl pulls out a flask from his pocket. “No worries. I always come prepared.”
Everyone chuckles. We all hold up our drinks and toast.
“I just wanna thank you guys for coming a few days before our wedding to celebrate,” Blomdahl says to the group. “I know we don’t get a lot of time off and you all have families and friends that you need to make time for, so it means a lot that you’d spend these next few days with us.”
Xander claps him on the shoulder. “Of course, man. We wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
Everyone nods along.
Blomdahl juts his chin at Camden. “And a huge thanks to you, Connors, for getting us this sweet-ass place. Holy shit, this is nice.”
Camden grins and raises his beer at Blomdahl.
When we finish our drinks, the guys make a plan to drive into town to the nearest liquor store. I join the ladies as they get ready to head to the grocery store to buy food for the next few days.
Right as I’m grabbing my bag, my phone rings. When I see it’s my mom calling, I answer.
“Hey, Mom. What’s up?”
“Sweetheart! Guess where your dad and I are right now?”
“No clue. Where?”
“Victoria!”
I grin. “Really?”
“Yes! We decided to skip Olympic National Park since we’ve already visited there and take the ferry to British Columbia,” she says. “You’re in Shawnigan Lake for the next few days with Camden, right?”
“Yeah, we’re here for his teammate’s wedding.”
“Oh, perfect! We were wondering if you two had time to meet us for lunch tomorrow? I know you’re probably busy with your friends, but do you think you could swing it? We’d love to see you, sweetheart. And our new son-in-law! We haven’t seen Camden since he was a kid.”
I tell my mom to hang on a sec and turn to Camden.
“Hey, what’s the plan for tomorrow?” I ask.
“Just chilling at the house. The guys and I will probably do a workout in the morning in the gym downstairs, but that’s the only thing we’ve got going on.”
“My parents are in Victoria and want to have lunch with us tomorrow. Would you be up for that?”
He grins. “Yeah, sure.”
I tell my mom that we can meet her for lunch and that I’ll call her again in the morning to choose a place to meet.
When I hang up, Bella grabs my hand.
“Hey, how would you feel about stopping at this cute boutique I saw on the drive here?” she asks. “It’s not far from the grocery store.”
“Yeah, that sounds fun.”
A minute later, my phone buzzes with a notification. I tap the screen and see that Camden has just deposited four thousand dollars into our joint bank account.
My mouth falls open in shock. When I look up at him, he’s sporting the smuggest grin.
I walk up to him. “Why did you just send me four thousand dollars?”
“I overheard Bella saying you guys are going shopping later. I wanted you to have enough money to buy what you want.”
I bite back a smile, a giddy feeling swooping through me. “Camden, that’s an insane amount of money to spend. I don’t need that much.”
His grin turns teasing. “You never know. Some stores can be really expensive.”
“I have my own money.”
“I know you do.”
I open my mouth to say more, but he just kisses me.
The second his lips are on mine, I’m dizzy. God, this guy. He kisses like a demon, and it drives me wild.
“Baby. You’re my wife. Let me spoil you,” he murmurs against my mouth.
My face and chest are hot under his fiery gaze. I know he’s doing this just for show. Because when we decided to get married, we agreed that we’d have to be openly affectionate with each other so that everyone would buy us as a married couple.
But this moment feels real. The way he’s looking at me, the way he touches me, how hard he kisses me…it all feels so real.
In this moment, I let myself ride the high of that feeling. I let myself believe that this is real.
“You have no idea how much it turns me on to spend money on you,” he says. His voice is a low growl, soft enough that only I can hear him.
My stomach flips. He’s not saying this to put on a show for his friends and teammates. He’s saying this only for me.
Maybe just maybe, he wants this to be real too.
My chest flutters with hope as I gaze up at him. “You really mean that?”
“Hell yes I do,” he rasps.
He kisses me again, and I leave with the rest of the ladies, high on the feeling that in this moment, my marriage to Camden feels real.