Chapter 11 #2
Honesty had never felt scarier than it did when I said, “Not sure it’s good for me though. What if I don’t get to keep you? Where does that leave me?”
We both knew where it would leave me: broken.
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” she said, softly. “You’re really worried about this?”
“Yeah, I am.” I kissed her shoulder. “It kind of hit me when I was making love to you. I don’t want this to end, Ry. But there’s no guarantee it won’t.”
“What happened to getting to know each other? Taking things slow?”
It was a valid question, but I’d moved way beyond that, without even realizing it.
“Here’s the thing… my heart has already claimed you. Apparently, it by-passed all that logical stuff my mind was on board with.”
I could tell she was nervous when she asked, “What are you saying, Cam?”
I knew there was no other way to describe it, so as crazy as it sounded to fall so fast, I told her the truth. “I’m in love with you.”
She closed her eyes when tears glided down her cheeks. She was silent so long, I was sure I’d made a huge mistake, but when she finally flashed me those baby blues everything I was feeling was reflected back to me.
Hugging me hard, she said, “No one’s ever said that to me before. And I’ve never felt this way before, so that must mean I’m in love with you too.”
I savoured those words before muttering, “How the hell did we get here?”
She laughed, slapping my chest when I rolled over on my back and thrust my hand into my hair, because I was seriously freaking out about this revelation.
I’d suspected it before, but seeing her in my bed solidified it, and now I had to figure out how to keep her.
Because letting her go was no longer an option.
“Christ, Ry, how do we make this work?”
“For now, we can take turns visiting each other on weekends, right? It’s a short flight.” She propped her chin on my chest, seemingly unfazed. “I won’t be back out on the road until next year, so that gives us plenty of time to settle into this.”
She made it sound so easy, but the thought of her being gone for months on end already had me missing her.
“Think about it,” she said. “Even if we lived together, we’d be apart for months while I was on tour.”
“That’s true.”
Being with a musician meant accepting that harsh reality, and other couples made it work so I was confident we could too. We’d just spend this time building a rock-solid foundation that felt unshakeable by the time she left.
“But that doesn’t really solve the bigger problem,” she said, sounding hesitant.
“I mean, if this relationship does go the distance. You want the whole marriage / kids thing, and given the way I already feel about you, I have no doubt I could get on board with that. But we can’t do that living in two different states, can we? ”
It felt like the most natural thing in the world for me to offer to upend my world for her. “When my term ends, I could move to Nashville.”
She caught her breath, gaping at me. “You can’t do that. Your life is here. You love it here.”
“Rylee, if we’re still together at the end of my term…” Which I prayed we would be. “It would be a no-brainer for me. I’d want to be where you are. I’d want us to start our lives together.”
I had three years left. Plenty of time to lock this beauty down.
She squealed, covering her face with her hands. “Oh my God, we could really make this work, couldn’t we?” She peeked at me from between her fingers, “But would you hate me if you had to leave everything behind?”
I chuckled as I pulled her hands away from her face.
“Baby, I’d be getting a hell of a lot more than I’d be giving up.
I love Nashville, and I happen to know the sheriff there is planning to retire soon.
So, I could run there. If not, there are other options, like chief, or deputy chief in a smaller area. Hell, I could even get into politics.”
I was lucky, in that my current position prepared me for a lot of future possibilities.
“I can’t believe we’re even talking about this.” She giggled. “But I love that we are.” She kissed me. “I love that we’re finding a way to make this work. That makes me so happy.” She frowned. “But you can’t be the one making all the sacrifices. That’s not fair.”
She was sweet and selfless, and that made me love her even more.
“Sweetheart, your career can’t be anywhere else. Mine can, so it only makes sense I’d come to you, when the time is right.”
I had no intention of resigning before the end of my term… unless the distance between us proved to be too much, and I got an opportunity in Nashville I couldn’t refuse. If I started putting feelers out now, I was confident by the time it came I’d have something lined up.
She was stroking my chest absently, turning me on all over again when she said, “I told you my career would have to be a priority for the next five to ten years, and that’s true.
But I know you’re not getting any younger…
” She giggled when I scowled at her. “So, if you wanted to do the whole marriage and babies thing as soon as you moved to Nashville, I’d be down with that. ”
She said it so casually, but to me it was everything. I rolled over, pinning her arms as I kissed her. “You do realize you’ve just made me the happiest man in the world, right?”
Her smile was blinding when she said, “Works both ways, Sheriff. My mind is blown that we’re even having this conversation right now, but mapping out a future with you feels so right.”
“I couldn’t agree more, baby.”