47. The Question
The Question
Camila knew something was wrong when Chris turned off the highway.She looked up from her phone.Then out the passenger window.Then back at him.“Where are we going?”Chris kept his eyes on the road.“Somewhere.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It technically is.”
“Chris.”
“Camila.”She narrowed her eyes.He smiled.That smile immediately made her suspicious.She looked outside again.There wasn’t much to see.Open land.A narrow stretch of pavement.Fields disappearing beneath the late-afternoon sun.Very little traffic.
And—Camila sat straighter.“Oh, no.”Chris’s mouth twitched.She pointed through the windshield.“No.”
“What?”
“I know this road.”
“Congratulations.”
“Chris Walker.”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“If you’re making me drive again, I’m pregnant.”He glanced at her stomach.Very pregnant.“Excuses.”Her mouth dropped open.“Excuses?”
“Yep.”
“I am carrying your daughter.”
“I’m aware.”
“Inside my body.”
“Very aware.”
“And you think pregnancy is an excuse not to let you terrorize me with another driving lesson?”Chris looked offended.“I didn’t terrorize you.”
“You told me to take a corner at fifty.”
“Forty-five.”
“Fifty.”
“Forty-five.”
“I saw God.”
“You were fine.”
“I almost killed us.”
“You hit one cone.”
“I hit six.”
“Four.”
“Chris.”
“Five.”She stared.He grinned.“Fine. Six.”Camila folded her arms.“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Currently reconsidering.”Chris reached across the console and rested his hand on her thigh.Camila looked down at it.Then at him.Something was strange.He was joking.Smiling.
Being Chris.But his thumb kept moving against her jeans.Back and forth.Back and forth.
Nervous.Camila’s eyes narrowed.She’d learned to read him too.“What are you doing?”
“Driving.”
“No.”
“Pretty sure.”
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Former liar.”Chris laughed.“Can we retire that?”
“Never.”He turned onto the familiar stretch of empty road.Camila looked ahead.Months disappeared.Suddenly she could almost see them again.Chris Roman leaning against a car with that irritating smile.Camila insisting she could drive just as well as he could.Chris laughing at her.Look where you want the car to go.Brake before the turn.Eyes up.
And later—the badge.The real name.The truth.The moment Chris Roman had disappeared forever.Camila looked at him.Chris was staring ahead.His jaw tight.
She smiled slowly.“You’re nervous.”
“No.”
“You are.”
“I’m driving.”
“You’ve used that excuse already.”
“Still true.”
“Your jaw is doing the thing.”
“What thing?”
“The thing.”Chris glanced at her.“Very descriptive.”
“And you’re doing that with your thumb.”He immediately stopped moving it.Camila laughed.“Oh my God.”
“Stop analyzing me.”
“You taught me.”
“That was a mistake.”
“A huge one.”Chris turned off the road.Then stopped.Camila looked through the windshield.Nothing extravagant waited for her.No giant floral arch.No photographers.
No crowd.No family hiding nearby.No dramatic sign.Just the road.The fading Texas sun.
A car.A few of the same orange driving cones they’d used months ago placed near the pavement.And beside them—two cups of coffee.Camila stared.Then slowly turned toward him.“Chris.”He shut off the engine.“What?”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“Chris.”
“Come on.”He got out.Camila watched him walk around the front of the vehicle.Her heartbeat started climbing.“No.”Chris opened her door.“What?”She stared up at him.
“You’re being weird.”
“I’m always weird.”
“Not like this.”He offered his hand.Camila didn’t take it.Instead she stared at his face.
“Christopher Walker.”He sighed.“Camila Vargas.”
“What are we doing?”
“You’ll see.”She looked beyond him.Then back.Something fluttered violently inside her chest.“No.”Chris smiled.“You’ve said that a lot today.”
“Because I know you.”
“Apparently.”
“And something is happening.”
“Maybe.”Her eyes widened.“Chris.”
“Get out of the car, princess.”Her expression softened.Princess.The first time he’d called her that, she’d threatened to make him walk home.She took his hand.Chris helped her out.“Careful.”
“I know how to exit a vehicle.”
“You’re eight months pregnant.”
“You’re going to use that excuse now?”Chris stopped.Camila grinned.“Got you.”
“That’s different.”
“Of course it is.”He shut the door.Camila looked around again.The road was almost exactly as she remembered.Even the cones.She laughed.“You actually got cones.”
“Details matter.”
“Where did you get them?”
“Don’t ask questions.”Her eyebrow rose.“Legally.”
“Better.”Chris picked up one of the coffees.He handed it to her.Camila looked at the cup.Decaf.Of course.She smiled.“You remembered.”
“I remember everything.”She looked at him.He hadn’t meant that to sound romantic.
Which somehow made it more romantic.They walked toward the road.Slowly.
Chris adjusted his pace automatically to hers.Camila noticed that too.Everything was different now.The first time she’d been here, she’d thought Chris Roman was a criminal.
Dangerous.Secretive.Annoying.Gorgeous.She’d been falling in love with him while simultaneously trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with him.Now she knew.
Everything.Every scar.Every lie.Every truth.His real name.His real job.His nightmares.
His past.His ridiculous coffee order.The way he checked the locks before bed without realizing he was doing it.The way he talked to their daughter every night.The way he had started leaving his FBI badge beside her restaurant plans on the kitchen counter.Camila stopped beside one of the cones.
“You kept these?”Chris smiled.“Not literally the same ones.”
“Ruined.”
“Sorry.”She laughed.Then looked down the road.“This is where you taught me.”
“Attempted to teach you.”Camila glared.“I escaped a cartel because of that lesson.”
Chris immediately became serious.“Fair.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re still terrible.”
“Asshole.”
“Love you too.”Camila smiled.Then Chris walked toward her.The teasing slowly faded.
He took the coffee from her hand and set both cups on the hood of the car.Camila’s heartbeat changed.“Chris?”He took her hands.She looked down.His hands were shaking.
Barely.But they were.Her eyes snapped to his.“Oh my God.”
“What?”
“You’re shaking.”
“No, I’m not.”
“You are.”
“It’s cold.”
“It’s Texas.”
“Wind.”
“There is no wind.”
“Camila.”She started smiling.Then crying.Because suddenly she knew.Chris saw the realization hit her.“Don’t.”She covered her mouth.“You’re kidding.”
“Nope.”
“Chris.”His eyes were shining now too.“Don’t start crying yet.”
“I’m pregnant! I cry over cereal commercials!”
“I haven’t even done anything.”
“You brought me here!”
“I know.”
“And the cones.”
“I know.”
“And you’re shaking.”
“I am not.”
“You are!”
“Can we focus?”Camila laughed through her tears.“Yes.”Chris exhaled.Then looked at her.
Really looked.And for perhaps the first time since she’d known him—Special Agent Chris Walker seemed to have absolutely no idea what to say.Camila smiled.“You had a speech.”
“I had an excellent speech.”
“What happened?”
“You started crying.”
“So?”
“Now I can’t remember it.”She laughed.“FBI training failing you?”
“Apparently.”
“Need backup?”
“No.”He took a breath.Then another.“Okay.”Chris reached inside his jacket.
Camila immediately cried harder.“Jesus.”
“Camila.”
“Sorry.”
“Can I do this?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”She pressed her lips together.Chris looked down for a moment.
When he looked back up, everything playful was gone.
“Camila Vargas.”Her face crumpled.“You fell in love with a man who didn’t exist.”Camila stared at him.
“His name was fake.”Chris’s voice softened.
“His history was fake.”He glanced toward the road.
“The street racing was definitely fake.”She laughed through her tears.
“But somehow…”His eyes returned to hers.
“…you found the real one anyway.”Camila’s breath caught.
Chris reached up and touched her cheek.“You found Walker before I was ready to show him to you.”She covered his hand with hers.“You saw things I thought I was hiding.”His thumb brushed away a tear.“You knew something was wrong every time I lied.”Another tear.
“You kept asking me who I was.”Camila nodded.Chris swallowed.“And I couldn’t tell you.”
His voice broke slightly.“That’s the one thing I’ll regret for the rest of my life.”
“Chris—”
“But you stayed long enough to meet me.”Her eyes filled again.“The real me.”Chris smiled faintly.“The FBI agent.”Camila laughed.“The terrible driver.”
“Absolutely not.”
“The asshole.”
“Debatable.”
“The man who sleeps with no gun under his pillow now.”Chris smiled.
“The man who loves you.”Her laughter stopped.
“With everything I have.”Chris looked down at her stomach.
“And her.”Camila pressed her lips together.He placed his hand against the curve of her belly.Almost on cue—their daughter kicked.Chris laughed.
“Good timing, kid.”Camila covered his hand. “She’s a Walker.”
“Obviously.”He looked at Camila again.“I spent years becoming other people.”His voice lowered.
“Then I met you.”A pause.“And for the first time, I wanted my own life more than I wanted the next assignment.”Camila’s tears fell freely.
“I want mornings with you.”Chris smiled. “Even when you’re stealing my coffee.”
“It’s better when it’s yours.”
“I want your restaurant.”
“Our restaurant.”
“I want to watch you build it.”His hand remained against their daughter.“I want every doctor’s appointment.”Her throat tightened.“Every birthday.”Another tear.“Every first day of school.”“Chris.”
“Every Christmas morning.”She was openly crying now.“Every boring Tuesday.”Camila laughed.“Our favorite.”
“Exactly.”Then Chris slowly lowered himself.Camila’s hand flew over her mouth.He went down onto one knee.
“Chris.”He pulled out the ring.Camila stared.Beautiful.Elegant.Nothing ridiculous.Nothing chosen to impress anyone.Just something that looked like her.Chris held it between them.Camila laughed through her tears. “You’re actually doing this.”
“Trying.”
“You’re on one knee.”
“That’s traditionally how this works.”
“Shut up.”Chris smiled.Then his eyes became serious again.“Camila.”She looked at him.
“No Roman.”Her smile trembled.“No lies.”She nodded.“No disappearing.”Another nod.
“Just me.”Chris took a breath.“Chris Walker.”The man she’d spent months trying to find beneath everything else.The man she finally knew completely.Chris smiled.“Marry me.”
Camila stared at him.He waited.Five seconds.Ten.Chris’s confidence began disappearing.
“Camila?”She laughed.“Yes.”His entire face changed.“Yes?”
“Yes!”Chris stood so quickly she laughed.He caught himself.“Careful. Pregnant.”
“Now you remember?”
“Very much.”Camila threw her arms around his neck.“Yes.”Chris held her.“Thank God.”
She pulled back.“Were you worried?”
“You took twelve years to answer.”
“It was ten seconds.”
“Longest ten seconds of my life.”
“You’ve been shot.”
“Less stressful.”She laughed.Then looked at the ring still in his hand.“Are you planning to give me that?”
“Right.”Chris took her left hand.For once, his hands genuinely were shaking.Camila smiled.“Still cold?”
“Shut up.”He slid the ring onto her finger.Perfect.Camila stared at it.Then at him.“Chris.”
“Do you like it?”
“I love it.”
“Good.”
“You picked this?”
“Yes.”
“Alone?”His silence told her everything.Camila narrowed her eyes.“Who helped?”
“Sloan.”She gasped.“Sloan?”
“Apparently I was overthinking.”
“You?”
“Shocking.”
“What did she say?”Chris looked annoyed.“That if I asked one more question about diamond settings, she was going to shoot me.”Camila burst out laughing.“I love her.”
“I know.”She grabbed his face and kissed him.Chris wrapped his arms around her.
The kiss was nothing like their first one on this road.Back then, everything between them had been uncertain.Dangerous.Forbidden.She’d been kissing Chris Roman.
Or she’d thought she was.Tonight there was no Roman.No Mateo watching.
No FBI operation.No cartel.No one chasing them.Nothing hidden.When they separated, Chris rested his forehead against hers.“Mrs. Walker.”Camila’s eyes widened.“Oh.”He smiled.
“You like that?”
“Maybe.”
“Camila Walker.”She looked down at her ring.Then at him.“I really like that.”Chris kissed her again.Their daughter kicked between them.Camila laughed.“She’s doing it again.”Chris immediately placed his hand against her stomach.“Hey, kid.”Another kick.“She approves,” he said.“She wants food.”
“Also possible.”Chris bent and kissed Camila’s stomach.Then stood.She looked toward the empty road.“Do you realize what happened the last time we were here?”
“You discovered I was FBI.”
“You ruined my entire day.”
“Pretty sure you pulled a federal badge out of my dresser.”
“You shouldn’t have hidden it beneath your shirts.”
“You shouldn’t have searched my dresser.”
“I was dating a suspicious criminal.”
“Federal agent.”
“I didn’t know that!”Chris laughed.Camila looked at him.“So this road is where I found out Chris Roman wasn’t real.”
“Yeah.”
“And now it’s where Chris Walker asked me to marry him.”He smiled.“That was the idea.”
Camila’s expression softened.She stepped closer.“Good idea.”
“Rare, but they happen.”She kissed him.Then Chris reached for the passenger door.Camila stopped.“What?”She looked toward the driver’s side.Then at him.
Chris immediately understood.“No.”Her smile became wicked.“You brought me to the driving road.”
“For a proposal.”
“Still counts.”
“You’re eight months pregnant.”
“Excuses.”Chris stared.She held out her hand.“Keys.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Fiancé.”
“No.”
“Future husband.”
“No.”
“Father of my child.”
“Manipulation.”
“Special Agent Walker.”
“Still no.”Camila smiled sweetly.“Give me the keys.”Chris looked down the empty road.
Then at his very pregnant fiancée.Then toward the sky as though requesting federal assistance.“Fine.”Camila squealed.“Under one condition.”
“What?”
“I control the speed.”She took the keys.“Sure.”Chris narrowed his eyes.“That answer was too fast.”
“Get in, FBI.”
“Jesus Christ.”He walked toward the passenger side.Camila laughed.And a minute later, Chris Walker was gripping the door handle while his future wife pulled onto the same road where he’d once taught her how to drive.“Camila.”
“What?”
“Slow down.”
“I’m doing thirty-five!”
“There’s a turn.”
“I see it.”
“Brake before—”
“I KNOW!”Chris closed his eyes.Camila laughed.The diamond sparkled on her left hand as she held the steering wheel.Chris looked at it.Then at her.And suddenly—he didn’t care how badly she drove.Because the woman beside him knew exactly who he was.And she’d said yes anyway.