Page 118 of State of Grace (First Family 2)

“So do I.” As she bit her lip and gazed up at him, Cameron was tempted to call in sick for the first time in his professional career. But with the Tappen case at a standstill and Sam trying to get away for a couple of badly needed weeks off for the holidays, he couldn’t do that. “I’ll take a few days off after Christmas. We can go somewhere to rest and relax.”

Her dark eyes glittered with excitement. “That’d be great.”

“Where should we go?”

“Out to the mountains where we can snuggle in front of a fireplace while it snows outside.”

“I’ll see what I can do to make that happen.”

“Is this real, Cam? Are we really together now?”

“It’s as real as it gets, and we’re absolutely together.”

“I still can’t believe that you wanted me this way and never said anything.”

“We were both with other people. The time wasn’t right.”

“And it’s right now?”

He smoothed the dark hair back from her face. “Nothing has ever felt more right to me than being with you, but I don’t want to rush you into something you might not be ready for.”

She thought about that for a second before she replied. “I’ve been with Ezra my entire adult life, and all that time, I was trying to make it work with him because I thought I had to do that. I thought that constant struggle to make our relationship work the way it was supposed to was normal, but I know now that nothing about it was normal. It was over between us long before the night he hurt me. I think everyone in my life knew that but me—and him. My mom and sister are so glad it’s over between us—and they were before he took my mom and nephews hostage.”

“I’m so sorry you went through all that, sweetheart.”

“I’m not.”

He tipped his head. “No?”

“Nope. If I hadn’t gone through what I did with him, I might not realize that this, with you, is something very special.”

Even though he didn’t have time, Cameron put his arms around her and held her close. “It’s very special, which is why I want to be careful with you. Things are crazy for you, and the last thing I want to do is make anything worse.”

She pulled back so she could look into his eyes. “Don’t you see, Cameron? You’re what’s making everything better.”

He needed to leave her, but how could he do anything other than kiss her after she said that to him? For the longest time, he’d suspected it could be this way between them, but with Gigi in a long-term relationship, he’d allowed himself to get involved with Jaycee.

He could see now that’d been a huge mistake—for more reasons than just the fact that she was obviously unstable if she’d do what she did the night before. But it had also been unfair to both of them when his heart was yearning for someone else.

Gigi broke the kiss and smiled up at him. “You need to go to work.”

Cameron glanced at the time on his watch and winced. “Would you mind if I borrowed your car and your shower? I don’t have time to go home and change.” He’d be going to work in jeans and a Henley for the first time ever, which would set tongues to wagging, but he couldn’t be bothered to care what anyone else thought. Not when he was finally with the woman he’d wanted from the first time he ever laid eyes on her.

“Yes, you can borrow my car and my shower, and if you want to leave Jeffrey here, I’ll ask my sister to bring me some food for him.”

“Jeez, you’ve got me forgetting all about my poor son.”

“I’ll take good care of him today.” She ran a hand over his chest. “Mr. Pressed and Polished is going to start a scandal showing up in the pit wearing a Henley and jeans.”

“It’ll be worth it for fifteen more minutes with you.”

When Sam woke up, she thought for a second that she’d dreamed the call from Gonzo. But when she checked her phone and found that he’d called at eleven forty-five, she knew she hadn’t dreamed it. Nick was already up and gone, so she called him on the BlackBerry.

The call rang multiple times. He was probably in the morning security briefing, his most dreaded meeting of the day, the one he called “the little shop of horrors.”

When his voice mail answered, she got to hear the message he’d recorded for her for the first time.

“Hi, babe. I can’t take your call right now, but there’s nothing I’d rather be doing than talking to you, so leave me a message, and I’ll call you back as soon as I can.”

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