Page 78 of Be Mine Forever

First came theI.

Jo’s heart raced from zero to a hundred.

Then the wordLOVE.

The hope swelling up inside could only escape as a gasp through her lips.

He took his time writing the last word, slowing the motions of his fingers until she wasn’t sure he’d ever finish those three letters.

YOU

Jo gripped Cam’s shoulder, afraid her weak knees would buckle. The force of those words etched onto her chest with his love almost made her stumble. She opened her eyes, and it was what she saw in his face that shook her. Even if he hadn’t just written it there over her heart, she would have known from that look alone.

“I love you, Jo.” Cam’s voice dropped to a reverent whisper, and you would have thought he was in a church instead of standing in front of a naked woman. “I’ve been running from that for a long time.”

“Cam—”

“Baby, let me get this out.” He looked down at the words scrawled across her chest and gulped. “I didn’t want to love you.”

Jo tried not to hurt when he said it.

“Let me explain.” He reassured her with a look, with a finger drawing a heart over hers. “You are the best thing that ever happened to me, but I’m afraid I’ll be the worst thing for you. There are still things I haven’t told you.”

His eyes bore holes in the tarp under their feet.

“Dark things that I wish you’d never have to know, but one day I’ll have to tell you.”

He looked back up at her.

“If I hurt you, Jo, it will drive me out of my mind. Sometimes I already feel like I’m losing it. While I’m in my right mind, here with you, I am going to do something really selfish. I’m going to ask you not to give up on me. Sometimes I run, and if I think I’m a danger to you, I know I’ll run. Don’t give up on me.”

“I won’t.” Tears made her voice shake. “I promise.”

“I grew up in hell, and I’ve lived my whole life…not quite sure. You are the safest place I’ve ever known.”

Jo couldn’t take any more. She had spent half her life searching for the edges of this love, but she couldn’t ever find where it began or where it ended. This love was everywhere. She pressed a finger over his mouth, knowing she would explode if she didn’t expel these words running over from her heart.

“I have waited so long.” She had to stop because emotion strangled the words in her throat. The tears blurred his face in front of her. He grabbed her hands so she couldn’t cover her face. She couldn’t hide any of it from him. She didn’t have to anymore.

“I have waited so long for you to love me back.” The tears coursed down her face freely, smearing into the blue paint around her neck.

“No more waiting,” Cam whispered, standing and pressing his lips to hers, kissing her with tender ferocity.

Jo pressed into him. He laughed against her lips, pulling away to wipe the tears from her face with his thumbs. He reached into his back pocket for his phone.

“Let me capture this.” He aimed his phone at her, a tender smile on his face. “I have a feeling we are about to ruin all my hard work.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Jo scooped up a handful of bubbles, blowing them in the air like a child. That’s how light her heart felt. How free. She still maintained the same grueling schedule at the foundation. Still carried the weight of so many children’s futures on her shoulders. Still felt saddled with people’s impossibly high expectations, but here? With Cam? The moments she spent with him seemed insulated from all the burdens beyond the bliss waiting here for her every day.

Cam leaned against the doorjamb, arms folded over his chest. Affection softened the rugged beauty of his face. She blew him an air kiss, laughing when he grimaced but rolled his eyes and caught it. He stuffed the imaginary kiss into the pocket of his jeans before coming to sit on the edge of the tub.

“Hey, you.” He leaned down, brushing his lips over hers. “Feeling better?”

It had been a hard day. Two of the couples committed to adopting had reneged. One couple had just filed for divorce; the other had been trying to have a baby the old-fashioned way for a long time and had just found out they were pregnant. Jo was happy for them, but that left her with just a few weeks to find replacements. With some members of the board holding on to their reservations, the last thing she needed now was to lose parents.

“How could I not be better?” Jo leaned back, resting her neck against the bath pillow, stretching her arms above her head. “A bath waiting at home for me. I smell a delicious steak dinner, if I’m not mistaken. My beautiful man can’t take his eyes off me.”

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