CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Heavy snow clumps landed on the windshield.
Camden flipped the wipers on.
He hadn’t lived through a snowy December in years.
He drove Amelia’s car up the winding mountain road toward the rental cabin.
Since she was out of danger, Camden didn’t have to be by her side morning, noon, and night.
He’d missed being around her as they tried to live their normal day-to-day lives.
Work left her distracted, and Camden was more or less on vacation, occasionally checking in with Liam and running odd jobs for Titan’s US headquarters.
This was the weekend they would figure everything out.
Not knowing how it would fall out made him twitchy.
He loved her. That was a simple fact.
Their lives were on separate continents.
Unfortunately, that was another simple fact.
He didn’t know what to do about things he couldn’t change.
Uncertainty cranked the tension in his chest, and his grip tightened on the steering wheel as though holding tightly to something would hold everything else together.
“There it is.” Amelia pointed at the driveway.
“Home sweet home for the next three days.”
Home could be anywhere.
It could exist even if they weren’t together.
But that really didn’t feel right.
The thought of life without her—a life filled with middle-of-the-night phone calls like the ones that had brought them together, separate time zones, untold days apart—made the most fundamental part of him long for Amelia even as she sat inches away.
He’d never committed himself to a woman before.
He didn’t avoid commitment, but there simply had not been a woman or a reason that made him want to.
He finally had one. Amelia was his everything.
The thought of time apart was terrifying.
Camden parked in front of the small cabin.
It was so far from life in Abu Dhabi that he couldn’t think straight.
Fat snowflakes fell in the cloudy afternoon light.
Forecasters were calling for three to four inches of snow, just enough to turn the woods into a winter wonderland.
“We’ll go in first, have a look around,” he said.
“Then I’ll get our bags.”
Energy radiated from Amelia.
She was excited. Snow had turned her a little bit giddy.
Very cute.
“I love the snow.” She opened the door and stepped into the fresh powder.
“It’s one of my favorite things.”
That was another thing she would lose in the Middle East. What did he have to offer this woman?
No snow. Remote work—and that was if she would be interested in running the business side of Events and Occasions while Veronica handled the in-person responsibilities.
Or he could move. Titan US was always a possibility.
Jared had made it clear that Camden would have a job no matter where he wanted to report.
Leaving his teammates wasn’t ideal, but they would understand.
The decision was all Amelia’s.
He would do whatever it took to stay together.
She ducked her head back inside the car.
“Are you getting out?”
“Yeah.”
Snow crunched under his boots.
He met her in front of the car, and Camden used the electronic code to open the front door.
The interior of the cabin matched the pictures online.
“This is nice.”
“It is,” she breathed.
The cabin was warm. The host had left a few lights on.
The space wasn’t big, but they didn’t need much.
Firewood was stacked next to the fireplace.
A giant welcome basket perched on a table, containing gourmet snacks, wine, apple cider, and a bag of roasted coffee beans.
Amelia slipped her coat off and hung it on a wall peg.
Camden inspected the cabin for problems.
“Any boogeymen?” she asked.
“Nope.” But a large bed and a steam shower grabbed his attention.
He reached for her hand.
“The bags can wait.”
“Actually…” She pushed onto her tiptoes then rolled back onto her heels.
“I want to show you something.”
“Does it involve you getting undressed?”
Amelia rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide her smile.
“No.”
“Then maybe it can wait.”
Still wearing all her clothes, she pulled folded papers out of her purse and walked toward the large couch facing the fireplace.
“Will you make us a fire?”
His interest was piqued.
Camden shucked his jacket and tossed it on the back of a chair.
“What’s that?” He eyed her hands but moved past and kneeled in front of the fireplace.
Logs were already positioned inside, and he opened the flue.
The host had even packed fire starter at the base of the logs in a way that passed his quick inspection.
All Camden had to do was strike one of the long matches.
He ignited the fire starter, watched the kindling catch, and, when he was sure the logs would light, repositioned the fireplace doors.
Amelia still had that same beaming energy from the car, but as he studied her, he saw more bubbling under the surface.
A hint of nerves showed themselves as her fingers danced around the edges of the papers.
What he’d thought was simple excitement for a weekend away in the snow was showing itself to be something more.
“What’s up?” he asked.
She unfolded the papers and smoothed them over the coffee table.
Camden sat next to her.
It was a legal document.
Large bold print read: Agreement of Purchase and Sale of Business Assets.
Anticipation paused his heartbeat.
Camden scanned the document.
He turned to look at her.
“Veronica wants to buy your company?”
Eyes wide and cheeks flushed, Amelia bit her bottom lip.
She reshuffled the papers so the last page was on top.
“Veronica did buy my company.”
The signatures were there, the notarized stamp, yesterday’s date.
His heart crawled into his throat.
He hadn’t known that was a possibility.
He never imagined she could just sell.
“I wanted to talk to you about this, but I needed to make the decision for myself.” She licked her bottom lip and looked at him, totally aware that she’d made a leap into the unknown and was still waiting to see if she would crash or fly.
“Without you feeling like you had to say something one way or another.”
“You sold your business?”
Surprise—shock, really—rocked him.
Her business had been a safety net.
It had been a foundation for her and Hailey to fall back on, no matter what life had in store for them.
Life had given them so much—too much.
That was why Amelia had built that company from the ground up.
For her to walk away from it—it wasn’t just a decision.
It was a declaration, a rebirth.
Amelia nodded. “I sold my business.”
“We’re celebrating?”
He wanted to confirm.
She could sell her business, be relieved, and still be unhappy—but she was beaming.
God, she was glowing.
This wasn’t loss. This was freedom.
Amelia nodded again and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Yes.” Her lips brushed his.
“Right here on the couch, with the fire roaring. Lots of celebrating.”
This woman .
His lips found hers.
Everything he’d wanted to talk to her about—the future, the options—they all disappeared.
He pulled away from her long enough to strip her shirt overhead.
Camden buried his face between her breasts as he unfastened her bra.
Amelia arched into his kisses.
She moaned as his tongue slid up her neck.
The heat from the fireplace reached them.
It was just warm enough that they didn’t shiver as their clothes piled next to the couch.
Amelia straddled him and rubbed against his thick length.
This could be— would be —the rest of his life.
He loved her—no questions there.
And what they had wasn’t just passion.
It was a promise. Every touch, every kiss, every breath they shared was a vow, silent but unshakable.
He’d spent years running into the unknown, but for the first time in his life, he wasn’t searching for something.
He had already found it.
Her .
This was a whole new understanding of the way the world worked.
They didn’t have to date and see if things would work out.
Without question, he understood that they would.
Amelia was it for him.
He would spend the rest of his life making sure she believed he was it for her.
She raised her hips and angled over his cock.
Camden gripped her waist and flexed his fingers into her waist as she sank onto him.
His thickness pressed deep.
She surrounded him with an intensity he couldn’t fathom.
Her hair fell over her shoulders.
Her eyelids pressed closed.
Amelia’s chin tipped up with his full length seated inside her.
His molars ground. Remaining still took all his strength.
Her eyes opened. Camden’s hands roamed up her back and down to her ass and squeezed.
He lifted her up and pulled her back again.
Amelia’s lips parted and gave him a panting, gasping, needy breath that removed the last of his control.
He flexed and thrusted.
Her tits bounced. Her eyes shut.
The spiraling clench of her body and her greedy moan of need were intoxicating.
“Cam—”
He rolled into her until she collapsed against his chest. Amelia gasped in his arms. Camden held her in place and carefully turned them until he was on top.
The fire crackled. Amelia was loose and languid in his arms. Their mouths connected.
His tongue swept against hers.
He could stay there for hours, gently moving in and out of her, pulling the last of her pulsing tremors.
He kissed her temple and brushed his lips against her cheek.
“I love you.”
Amelia tightened her arms around him.
“Forever and ever.”
“Without a doubt.”
She kissed him, intensifying the fire between them.
He could see their future and saw she could too.
Her hips rose, urging him again.
Camden flexed into her.
“Fuck, baby.”
She moaned for more.
He slid in and out. Amelia arched.
She writhed. Once again, her core gripped him, tightening around his cock.
He gave her hard thrusts, deeper and faster until her begging cries drove him to the brink.
Amelia came apart. The waves of her orgasm rolled through him like a honeyed hurricane.
Camden came with her, spasming as she rocked against him, thrusting until he lost the world around himself.
Their galloping breaths slowed.
Lying with her by the fire like this was everything he’d always needed.
Every impulsive leap into the unknown had simply been him looking for her.
Now that he’d found her, everything inside him settled.
“I want you to come home with me.”
Amelia touched his cheek and lazily ran her fingers into his hair.
He wanted to offer her all the stability she could ever dream of.
“Be with me. Stay with me forever.”
The words came out rough and raw, as though they’d been buried deep inside a part of him he didn’t know existed.
He hadn’t said marriage.
He didn’t have a ring—yet.
But he was asking so much more than that: to be his always and forever.
Her dreamy smile touched his soul, and without a doubt, Camden could see their life together.
It would be unscripted and unbelievable, a wild ride that would continue on the roller coaster course that had started with a single phone call.
The future was unpredictably, extraordinarily theirs, and he wouldn’t want it any other way.