Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Cameron
We’d done all the little things she wanted to do over the past day and a half, and watching her have the kind of fun I suspected she never got to have as a kid, made me want to re-write her past and replace all of her bad memories with good ones.
Yeah, I was falling hard for this girl. And that’s what made leaving her feel like torture.
We’d made love half a dozen times and I still craved her every time she touched me.
That morning, over breakfast, she sang a song she’d been working on since the night she met me, and by the time she sang the final verse, I was hooked. Those words got stuck in my head, reminding me I wasn’t the only one invested in this crazy ride.
We were standing by my Tahoe, because she insisted on walking me down, determined to get a few more kisses in before I had to leave. But saying goodbye to her was proving to be harder than I thought. I had to get back to work, back to my life, but I wanted to take her with me.
“You sure you can’t sneak away for a few days?” I asked, kissing her neck. “You introduced me to your world. Let me introduce you to mine.”
She sighed, tipping her head back while I explored her lightly scented skin. There were cameras all around us, and cars pulling in and out of the visitor parking lot, but the only thing that mattered was the soft little sighs escaping her lips when I found the spot that made her sink into me.
“God, I’d love to go home with you.” She tore herself away from my wandering mouth, wrapping an arm around my neck and toying with my hair before she said, “But my week is packed. Studio time with Austin, interviews, a few song-writing sessions, a podcast, a couple of radio interviews—”
I kissed her. “You’re making me tired just listening to you.
I get it, you can’t escape your glamorous life just to get a little country with me.
” I was teasing her, but I seriously couldn’t wait to show her around my town, and treat her to all the simple things she’d probably missed out on, working so hard to support herself.
“Hey, I’ll have you know I’m as country as the next girl, Sheriff. I can bait a hook, load and shoot a gun—”
“I think I’m in love.” The shocked look on her face told me I’d taken the teasing a little too far, making our last moments together awkward. “Rylee—”
“You should probably go.” She opened my car door. “You’ve got a long drive ahead of you. Will you call me when you get home?”
I wanted to tell her I wasn’t trying to rush this, and even if I did suspect I could fall in love with her, if I wasn’t already, I didn’t expect her to feel the same way.
She’d been through hell and had to guard her heart.
I knew it could take months, if not longer, to hear those three little words slip past her lips.
“Of course I will.” I kissed her slowly, thoroughly, not wanting her to forget how good this felt.
She grabbed my jean jacket before I could get behind the wheel. “Let me see if I can free up a few days this weekend. Maybe I can fly in and—”
“Yes.” I grinned. “Do whatever it takes, baby. I can’t wait another month to see you.”
I knew there would be times we’d have to go at least that long without seeing each other, when she was out on tour. But until then, I wanted to cement this relationship with more nights like we’d already had.
She watched me slide into the driver’s seat and leaned in, kissing me again. “You make me want to say ‘screw everything’ and come home with you. You know that, don’t you?”
“Good. ‘Cause you make me want to say ‘screw everything’ and stay here with you.”
She giggled. “I’m afraid you’re becoming my addiction.”
“Hmm, I like the sound of that.” God help me, I couldn’t tear myself away from her lips. This was crazy. “And the feeling is so mutual.”
Her expression was serious when she said, “That’s the best part. That you feel the same way I do. That never happens for me. I mean, I never let myself get so invested—”
“Invest in me, sexy.” I winked before starting the engine. “I promise it’ll pay off in big rewards.”
I didn’t roll into my driveway until well after eleven and I thought about skipping the call, in case I woke her up, but as soon as I dropped my suitcase in the foyer, I was sinking down on my couch, dialing Rylee’s number.
I had to hear her voice.
As I suspected, she sounded sleepy. I wasn’t surprised, since she told me when she was at home, she usually fell asleep on the sofa, watching Netflix.
“Hey, you want me to let you get back to sleep, baby?”
“No.” She sounded more alert. “I was waiting to hear from you. I must have fallen asleep. How was your trip?”
“Good. Uneventful, just the way I like it.” I loved driving, especially long road trips, but this time, every mile between me and her felt like torture.
“I miss you already.” Her voice was soft and sweet, tugging at my heart.
“I miss you too, sweetheart.” I glanced up at the framed photos of family and friends on my mantle. Photos I’d added since my sister teased me about living in a soulless house with no personality. “Send me a picture of you.”
Her laugh was husky with sleep when she said, “We must have taken at least a dozen pictures together over the past few days. Why do you want another one?”
“I want to see you right before you fall asleep, all sexy and drowsy, to remind me how good it feels to have you fall asleep in my arms.”
Her sigh sounded a lot like satisfaction when she asked, “How did I get lucky enough to find you?”
“Funny, I was asking myself that same question all the way home.”
My phone pinged and I smiled at her photo. She was wearing a t-shirt she’d stolen from me. Her hair was sleep-tousled, her make-up was long gone, and she was so beautiful she took my breath away.
“This is going up on my mantle, my desk, my screensaver—”
She gasped. “Cam, don’t you dare! There are at least a dozen red carpet photos of me online, where I’m all dolled up. Use one of those.”
“No way.” I smiled, thinking how hot she’d look in a formal gown and heels, walking the red carpet.
And next time she did, I wanted to be the man on her arm.
Wolf-whistling when she took the stage or won an award, just because it might make her blush.
“I want the version of you no one else gets to see. The one that belongs to me.”
And that’s the way it felt, like she was mine. She already belonged to me.
“Mmmm, I love that there’s a version of me that belongs to you and only you. It’s true, you know. There’s this side of me that I’ve only shared with you, and I don’t know how the hell that happened so fast. But I love that it did.”
“I want all of you.” My voice was low and husky, my words unguarded, when I told her, “The broken. The fierce. The strong. The soft. I want to love that little girl that never got the love she needed.”
She sniffled. “Stop, you’re gonna make me cry. And I am not a crier.” She sniffled again. “Except with you I am, somehow.”
“I’m peeling back the layers of you, sweetheart. And I love everything I’m seeing.”
I was tossing that L-word around with more frequency, getting her used to hearing it, because I knew before long I’d be telling her, without a doubt, I was in love with her. And needed to find a way to have her in my life, full-time.
“That works both ways. If I had a vision board of my dream man, you’d represent every damn image on that board. All the power words. All the affirmations. All the feels.”
I laughed, trying to picture Rylee with a vision board, trying to attract her soul mate. That would never happen, because she’d believed, before she met me, she could do this life thing alone.
But I was determined to prove her wrong.
“What’s so funny?”
“You don’t seem like the vision board type, that’s all.”
“I’ll have you know I do have a career vision board. I even journal.”
“No shit. Huh, see that, I learned something new about you today.” I was still uncovering new things about her every day and I never wanted to stop learning about this beautiful enigma.
“Want to hear what I wrote about you in my journal?”
This should be good.
“Hell yeah, I want to hear it. You really think I’m gonna say no?” The fact that she was willing to trust me with her private thoughts just added another layer of trust that was quickly eclipsing anything I’d experienced before.
“Okay, hold on.” I heard some rustling before she said, “It’s right here. I was writing in it before I fell asleep.”
“Alright, baby. Let’s hear it.” I didn’t know why my heart was pounding so hard. Maybe because I wanted her words to reveal the same crazy-intense emotions I was feeling.
She cleared her throat and started reading in a poetic voice that sounded more like her songwriter’s voice than her speaking voice.
“Just one week ago I never could have imagined I’d meet a man who would turn my world upside down.
I didn’t think a guy like that existed. But he does.
And I found him. Now, what am I supposed to do with him?
Because he’s got me walking around in a lust-induced stupor, forgetting all about the things that mattered most to me before I met him.
I want to be with him. All. The. Time. And that’s crazy to even think about, because I don’t do clingy.
And I don’t like guys who do either. Except it doesn’t feel that way with him.
It just feels right. When he makes love to me, it feels right.
When I fall asleep in his arms, it feels right.
When he looks at me, like he’s been waiting for me just like I’ve been waiting for him, it feels right.
So, I still don’t know what I’m supposed to do with him. But I’ve got some wild ideas.”
“Girl.” My voice was rough with emotion when I said, “I don’t even know what to say to that, except, I do know what to do with you. Everything.”
She giggled. “I want you to do everything… to me, with me, for me. Because it might take a really, really long time for me to get my fill of you, Sheriff. So, I hope you haven’t got any plans for the foreseeable future.”
“Oh, I’ve got plans. And they all revolve around you.”