Page 16 of Lucky Star

Cameron drove up and into me a few more times in rapid succession, and then he joined me in bliss with a groan and a shout as I fell forward, settling my face in the crook of his neck to breathe him in.

In the warm afterglow of our lovemaking, he nudged me backward so that he could look at me. “I love you so much,” he whispered.

His declaration filled in a missing piece of my soul.

For the first time in my entire life, I felt like I belonged.

I felt whole.

When we drove home, sated and replete with our shared love, he held my hand, and I stole fleeting glances at him every so often, cementing the calm, happy look on his face into my memory forever. When I pulled into the garage, we sat in companionable silence, not yet ready to break the intimacy of the moment we’d shared at the beach. Not wanting reality to intrude.

Eventually, we climbed out of the car, and I retrieved my laptop and dry cleaning from the trunk before opening the door that led into my kitchen.

But instead of following me in, Cameron stood immobile on the passenger side of my Passat, watching me intently.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he responded with a bemused smirk and a shake of his head.

“Suit yourself.” I turned to walk through the door.

“Wait!” he called out, dashing around the car to pull me into his chest. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I just want you to know that.”

His words were sincere, but they filled me with a strong sense of foreboding. We hadn’t yet discussed him being cast in Broderick’s movie and what it meant for his career moving forward.

His life was about to change. Dramatically.

After the night we’d just shared, I had no doubt that Cameron loved me, but would he always feel the way he did at this moment? I worried that soon I’d be forced to compete with the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, and I’d be found wanting.

With these fears casting a pall over my mood, I silently prayed he would stay the same person I had fallen in love with, that he wouldn’t see what his life could be without me and choose a different path, one that would take him far away from me forever.

Pushing those dark thoughts away, I reached for his hand and smiled up at him, all the love I had for him shining in my eyes. “I know. Now let’s go to bed.”

I led him through the house and into my bedroom, my dog Duke following happily in our wake. I dropped my bag inside the door and hung my clothes in the closet before climbing under crisp cotton sheets. Cameron took off his clothes, and smiling, shook his head as if he still couldn’t believe his luck.

Once we were both under the covers, he pulled me up against him and wrapped his arm around my waist. As I held his bruised hand up to lay a kiss on it, Duke jumped onto the bed, walked in a circle three times, and settled down at our feet.

I closed my eyes with a happy sigh. Everything really was perfect.

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