Page 20 of Billionaire Wolf Needs a Chef

"Because I'm a selfish bastard," he said and walked out the door, leaving me standing there, his parting gift the ghost of his thumb stroking my knuckles. A whisper of what could've been.

I followed him out onto the street, where a storm raged in full force. Rain lashed down, soaking us within seconds, and the wind howled, blowing us sideways with almost hurricane force. Cameron uttered something, but it was lost in the wind. He tightened his grip around my shoulder, pulling me closer as we hurried toward the hotel.

By the time we reached the lobby, we were both drenched and shivering. The power outage had affected the hotel as well, leaving the lobby dimly lit by emergency lights.

"Looks like we're stuck here for a while," Cameron said, his voice low.

"Guess so," I replied, glancing around. "At least we're out of the rain."

We made our way to the elevator, which was thankfully operational on backup power, and rode up to our floor in silence. The tension from earlier had returned, magnified by the close quarters and the lingering warmth of his hand in mine.

When we reached our rooms, Cameron paused outside my door, his expression unreadable. "Will you be okay?"

I nodded, though my heart was pounding. "Yeah. You?"

"I'm fine," he said, his voice gruff.

We stood there for a moment, neither of us willing to be the one to break the peace. Finally, I opened my door and stepped inside, turning back to look at him. "Goodnight, Cameron."

"Goodnight, Ivy," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

I closed the door behind me, leaning against it as I caught my breath. My mind was a whirlwind of emotions, confusion, longing, frustration, and something deeper I couldn't quite name.

I changed into dry clothes and wrapped a blanket around myself, sinking into the armchair by the window. The storm raged on outside, lightning streaking across the sky and thunder rumbling in the distance. It felt like the universe itself was mirroring the chaos inside me. I couldn't stop thinking about Cameron, the way he'd held my hand, the way his voice had softened, the way he'd looked at me in the dim light of the lobby.

Was this just a fleeting moment of vulnerability, or was there something more between us? I didn't know, and that uncertainty was driving me insane.

A soft knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts. My heart leapt into my throat, and I hesitated for a moment before crossing the room and opening the door.

Cameron stood there, his hair still damp from the rain, his suit jacket slung over one arm. He looked not only disheveled, but vulnerable, and it threw me off balance.

"Cameron?" I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

He didn't say anything at first, just stared at me with an intensity that made my knees weak. Then, in one swift motion, he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Idream_about you." His voice cracked. "Your laugh. The way you bite your lip when you're concentrating. The fuckingcherry scentof your shampoo." He raked a hand through his hair, wild-eyed. "Do you have any idea howpatheticthat is? A grown man, brought to his knees byyou. And I don't know what to do about it."

His admission caught me off guard, and I could only stare at him, my mind racing. "Cameron, I—"

Before I could finish, he closed the distance between us, his hands cupping my face as he kissed me with a desperation that took my breath away. It wasn't like the kiss from last night, this was deeper, more urgent, as if he'd been holding back a part of himself and finally let it go.

I melted into him, my hands gripping the front of his shirt as I kissed him back with everything I had. All the conflictedemotions and fear, it all faded away, replaced by a clarity that felt almost overwhelming. This was real. This was happening.

When he finally pulled back, we were both breathless, our foreheads resting against each other as we tried to steady ourselves.

"Ivy," he whispered, his voice trembling. "I don't know what this means, but I can't pretend it isn't there anymore."

I reached up, brushing a strand of hair from his face. "Me neither."

He hesitated, his eyes searching mine. "This complicates everything. What if we fuck everything up?"

"I know," I said softly, my heart pounding. "But maybe we could figure it out together."

He stepped back, running a hand through his hair as he paced the small room. "I've spent my entire life building walls, Ivy. Keeping people at arm's length. And you just waltz in and tear them down without even trying."

"I didn't mean to," I said, my voice trembling. "I'm just me."

He stopped pacing, his gaze locking onto mine. "That's the problem. You're you. And that's more than I've ever allowed myself to want."

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