Page 45 of Nothing to Do

A hand slid onto her lower back, Zane’s. Yeah, she’d been kind of blocking out his proximity.

“You okay?” he asked, guiding her away from the couple still sparring.

“You have a beautiful house.”

“Thank you,” he said. “I haven’t been staying here. Zairn and Roxie were supposed to have it to themselves.”

Horrified, she tensed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. Roxie didn’t say anything. I didn’t expect—”

“No, that wasn’t aimed at you. With Roman’s bullshit, all plans have gone to crap… Everyone’s having dinner here tonight.”

“I heard. Roxie’s looking forward to it.”

“She’s a people person.”

They stopped at the stone wall surrounding the terrace. The water beyond was so awe-inspiring, the sky, the glorious light, she couldn’t take it all in. “You picked the perfect spot.”

“To talk?”

She smiled. “For your terrace.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s Cam Collier for you—baby, did you come here for a reason? Is there something you need?”

“Right, sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.”

“That’s why I came here,” she said, hoping he could read her contrition. “I came to apologize for yesterday and—Alessia doesn’t want to leave.”

“She doesn’t have to, I want both of you to stay.”

“I overreacted, or maybe I reacted in the right way, I just aimed that emotion at the wrong person. You can’t be responsible for another man’s actions. And I shouldn’t have unloaded my fear and anger on you—”

“Thea,” he said, sliding in closer, catching her hair in the breeze to tuck it behind her ear. “I’m exactly the person you should unload your emotions on.”

“You didn’t know your cousin was going to do that. It wasn’t your fault he—”

“Because your boyfriend is exactly the person you should share your feelings with. I want to know if you’re scared, if you’re angry, and I will always do everything in my power to right any wrongs.”

“Boyfriend?”

“You know how I feel about you,” he said, his hand skimming onto her waist to edge her closer. “I thought I blew the whole thing, but if you’re telling me there’s a chance.”

And the bounce of her diaphragm lightened so much that the cascade of hope became relief.

Her hands opened against him. “You still want to…?”

“I still want to,” he said, his palm continuing to her mid back to hold her against him.

“How do you know it’s not, that I’m not…” Her lips parted as he stooped. “All about the money.”

“Baby, if you forgive me…” he murmured. “I’ll sign it all over to you.”

“There’s nothing to forgive. I was out of line. You should be the one refusing to forgive me.”

“You’re forgiven,” he said. “Can I kiss you now?”

“Uh huh.”

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