Page 84 of Fool Me Once

Once we’re both in the car, I pull my phone out and scroll till I find a contact I saved a while back. I hit the Call button, and it rings a few times before a sweet, kind voice answers.

“Hello?”

I inhale, smiling even though she can’t see me. “Hi, Cameran. It’s Gemma Jones calling.”

I glance nervously at Smith, and he gives me a reassuring nod.

“If you’re still open to it … I’d love to get together sometime soon and chat. I think the two of us … we could do some pretty great things.”

“I wondered how long it would take for you to call.” She pauses for abeat. “And then I knew you’d call when you were ready. So, what do you say, Gemma? Let’s meet up next week and get this ball rolling. We have shit to do.”

I chuckle at her response, grinning like a fool and nodding my head like crazy. “That sounds perfect. I’ll be in touch.”

“Have a great day, Gemma. I can’t wait to have you on my team.”

“Me too,” I chirp and end the call.

If I hadn’t had the man sitting beside me through this entire thing, that phone call likely would have never happened because I would never have met Cameran in the first place.

It’s our job to want to heal, but sometimes, it takes a loved one to remind us that we have the strength to do so.

Smith Sawyer isn’t my strength. Smith Sawyer reminded me that I have the strength.

With Storm on a leash in front of us, Gemma and I walk down the sidewalk on the street we grew up on.

We came last night to spend a few days here. Since Silas, Saylor, and Gemma’s brother, William, are all home visiting for the weekend, it was the perfect time for us to come here too. Which worked out because even though I was going to propose to her at our house in Portland, I had known that wasn’t the perfect spot to do it. The right place was here, where I’d first seen her when we were kids.

She’s going to start working with Trent Kade’s wife, Cameran, soon. She’s in a great headspace, and she’s healthy and happy. Finally, it feels right.

“Later, we should go into town and try the new bakery Annie Easton opened,” she says, growing more excited. “I haven’t seen her since high school. She put pictures of the baked goods she made on Facebook, and they looksogood.”

“We’ll have to go check it out.” I grin, loving how excited she’s getting about baked goods. “Maybe our families will want to go too.”

Her steps slow, and she raises a brow. “They could. Or … we could go alone, and after, we could go find some abandoned road.” She moves her hand to my shirt, making tiny circles with her fingertip. “Maybe the one where I told you I loved you and you—”

“That’s a bad memory. How about we go with … the place we parked and I made you lie on your back on the hood of my truck while I licked your pussy?” I wink. “The wildlife sure got a show that night.”

My cock hardens the slightest bit as I imagine her on the edge of that hood, her legs parted wide, eager and ready for me to bury my tongue inside of her.

“They have a lot of desserts with whipped toppings, you know.” Shelicks her lips slowly. “But, sure … if you want the whole damn fam to tag along, we can probably just—”

I grab her hand, stopping her, and grip her chin playfully. “I didn’t realize licking frosting off of your body was on the table, babe. Fuck our family. I’m ready to eat.”

“Shh … you can’t talk like that in front of Stormy.” She giggles, starting to walk once I release her. “You know what else I would love to do? I want to go down to Rogers Point and look for some sea glass. I was talking to my mom last night, and she said that when she walked down there the other day, there was a ton of turquoise glass. Smooth and all.”

“I want someone to talk about me the way you talk about sea glass,” I tease her, earning me a little glare. “I’m jokin’. I’m jokin’. Yes, sea-glass hunting sounds great, babe.”

“That’s what I thought,” she says, grinning happily, clearly happy with my response.

We’re almost in front of her house when I glance over and find her frowning down at the sidewalk.

Pointing, she narrows her eyes. “Why is there anXmarked here? That’s never been there before.”

Instructing Storm to sit, I move behind her. He watches us carefully, yet somehow, it’s like he knows what I’m about to do because he sits as still as I’ve ever seen him.

“Hmm, that is weird, isn’t it?” Digging the ring out of my pocket, I sink to one knee. “Hey, look at this,” I say only because I want her to spin to face me.

When she whirls around and finds me on one knee right next to theX, her hands fly to her mouth.

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