Chapter 29 #2
He pulls back, breathless and rests his forehead against mine. “I love you, Brie.”
My body goes still. My heart pounds so hard it feels like it’s trying to break out of my ribcage. I know he feels it too, right there against his chest pads.
This is the line I swore I’d never let blur, the rule I told myself I’d never cross but look at where we are. I can barely breathe. Is he sure about this?
As if sensing my doubts he clarifies, “This isn’t for the big screens, babe. It’s from my heart.”
That’s all I needed to know. Something inside me breaks open. I believe him and I feel the same way too. Maybe not as much as he does but enough to want to explore further and see where this leads us, the fake marriage be damned.
I don’t even know when I started falling. Maybe the first night he let me see the vulnerable side of him. Maybe it was the first time we made love.
“I—” The words clog in my throat. I bury my face against his shoulder instead, too scared to say it out loud. I guess he doesn’t need me to because his arms cinch tighter, like he already knows.
Around us, the celebration is on another level now as the fans scream his name, but I don’t see the star everyone else sees.
I see the man who just wrestled with his demons and won. I see the man who has embraced a new beginning, even though it’s not familiar territory.
He loves me, and maybe the future will test that. But right now? That love is enough to carry me through anything.
Cameron’s tongue is down my throat when we enter our apartment. His hands are all over me, tempting me with a good time.
We decided that I would stop paying rent to Nelly Kane and see what will happen if I just ghost on the payments.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I jolt from the feeling. I grab it out of my pocket because my butt feels numb.
“Don’t. Answer. It,” he says between kisses.
“I. Wasn’t. Planning. To.”
I fall onto the couch and my phone won’t stop buzzing.
He grabs it, looks at the screen and says, “Mrs. Randolph.”
I shoot up as if she’s in the room with us because she might as well be. I fix my shirt and my hair, grabbing my phone.
“It’s not like her to call so late, so it must be an emergency. Give me a second.”
He nods, heading for the balcony.
“Hi, Mrs. Randolph. To what do I––”
“That little snake! Why haven’t you been answering your phone, Mrs. Gray?
Do you have any idea what Miss Little Sunshine has been up to lately?
” She doesn’t wait for me to respond. “I bet you do! I found the footage of Miranda sabotaging your work and doing much worse, such as tampering with files. She is swearing up and down that you are not actually married and are a fraud to the public. But she must be held accountable for her horrible actions, so I just fired her!”
“You fired her?” I echo.
“I fired her because she has been extremely unprofessional, trying to knock you off your feet, Mrs. Gray. This company will not handle it. You will take over her position until it is filled. Do you understand?”
I watch Cameron smoke a cigarette outside. His eyes are on me as he breathes it in.
“Yes. Yes, I understand, Mrs. Randolph. Thank you.”
“And Mrs. Gray, you need to squash these rumors and bring me that marriage certificate as soon as possible.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good.”
She ends the call, and I exhale, turning the screen off my phone.
Cameron still his eyes on me, so I drop my jeans. He smokes as he watches me. I walk seductively towards him. And when I reach him, I pluck the cigarette from his fingers and smash it.
He watches me.
“Why do you smoke these?” I ask, holding up the butt. “They’re disgusting.”
He grabs the cigarette from my hand and says, “This…was my father’s favorite weapon.”
I wince. “Wha––what do you mean?”
He takes off his shirt and points at the most predominant scar on his chest. “The other ones have faded with age.”
I look into his eyes, trying to read between the lines, but there’s nothing to read. He’s telling me the truth, so I grab his shoulders. “Your father used to do this to you?”
He nods.
I pull him into a hug. “I’m so sorry, Cam.”
He kisses the top of my head.
I pull back. “What else did he do to you?”
I watch as his walls start to build around him, so I touch his hand and say, “Hey. I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me.”
“He was there tonight.”
My jaw clenches, remembering what Cameron looked like on the ice when he stood frozen in place.
“I saw the moment you noticed him.”
Cameron brushes my hair behind my ear. “You notice too much.”
“I’m assuming it was Jack and Miranda because Mrs. Randolph called to tell me she’s fired.”
“Fired?” he questions.
I nod just as surprised as he is. “Fired.”
“Work should be less stressful then,” he states.
I shrug. “I have to take over her job, so I don’t know if it will be, but anyway.”
“Yeah,” he exhales. “Pretty sure Jack invited my dad to the game to rattle me, but it didn’t work.”
“Why does Jack have such a problem with you?”
He tenses, and I wonder if I crossed a line.
“I don’t want to get into it––”
“Okay. I’m sorry.”
He shakes his head. “No, I don’t want to, but I will.” He watches me for a moment and then looks at the cigarette in his hand. “I beat Jack so bad he ended up in the hospital.”
He places the cigarette between his lips, and it takes every ounce of me to not pull it out. He lights it up, taking a drag.
When he breathes out, he adds, “That’s why I needed this fake marriage to work. I was shit out of luck and then you came to my doorstep like a good luck charm and turned around my fucking life.”
I watch him take another drag. “You make me sound special.”
He puts out the cigarette and says, “Because you are. It might’ve started in a weird way, but I want this. I want you.”
“Look at you unleashing everything in…” I look at the invisible watch on my wrist. “Two minutes.”
He grabs me then, wrapping his big arms around me. I love knowing he can’t keep his hands off me.
I murmur, “What a man does when he––”
He quiets me with a kiss. “When he knows what he wants,” he whispers.
“So, do you want to make it official?” I ask.
He smirks.
I tease, “Mrs. Randolph is begging for an original marriage certificate. Miranda may have told her that this was all a lie to save her ass.”
He smiles. “She’s fired, isn’t she?”
I kiss him. “I. Need. A. Marriage. Certificate. Before. I’m. Fired. Too.”
That last word has his teeth dragging my bottom lip. Then he releases it and asks, “Are you asking me to marry you?”
I lick my lips and say, “I’ll get on my knees.”
He grabs my shoulder, shaking his head. “I’ll get on my knee.” He bends down on one knee. The heat of his breath against my center makes me moan. He bites the hockey jersey I’m wearing with dilated pupils.
“I love you, Brie Sparks. I’m so fucking happy you didn’t kick me out after the seven days were up.”
I cover my mouth, laughing.
“To the world, we’re already married, but I need to know if you’d like to spend the rest of your life with me? I may not be the perfect man, but you make me better.”
I nod, smiling. “Yes.”
He pulls me closer to him. “Good. Now take these off.
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