Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 128980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 645(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 645(@200wpm)___ 516(@250wpm)___ 430(@300wpm)
Then I realize.
I’m kneeling.
Her chest expands sharply above me, her hand coming to her mouth.
“Marry me.” I’ve no idea where that came from, and by the look on Cami’s face, neither does she.
“Jake?” She says my name as a question, like I might be someone else in disguise.
“Marry me.” The demand just tumbles right out again, my hand lifting and taking hers. Deep down, I know I shouldn’t be doing this. I shouldn’t be asking her to make a lifetime commitment to a man who is pretty much deceiving her. Keeping her in the dark. But I can’t take it back now, and more than that, I don’t want to. I’m a desperate man, willing to do anything to reinforce how much she means to me. So when I share the horrors of my past with her, I stand the best chance of keeping her. It’s tactical, I realize that, but my devotion to her is all I have. It’s the only weapon I possess that can win me this battle.
Her round eyes look like they could explode with tears. And then they do, with little notice and not a hint of whether they’re happy or sad tears. “What are you talking about?”
“Me and you,” I begin, a little panicked by her reaction. I tug her down until she’s kneeling with me, perseverance running through my body like quicksilver. “I want you to be mine, Camille. Wholly. I don’t know how else to express that.”
She drops her eyes a little, but not so much that I can’t see them darting with uncertainty. I swear, if you were to stick a knife through my heart, I wouldn’t feel a thing. Doesn’t she want me? Has this been some exciting game, some way to defy her father? All kinds of stupid thoughts plague my mind as I wait for her to say something, my senses being questioned. I’m not alone in this. I can’t be.
“Yes.”
I barely hear the word, my screaming mind too loud. “What did you say?”
She looks at me. Her expression now is clear and certain. “I said yes.”
“Yes?” I need clarification. I need to know I’m not hearing things.
“Yes,” she affirms, nodding as she does. “Yes.” Tears start to trickle from her eyes, forming a river down her cheeks. “Yes. I don’t know how else to say it.” She drops to her haunches, as if exhausted by the whole emotional episode. She shrugs, cute and on a half-smile. “Yes, I’ll marry you. Right now if I could. I can’t begin to imagine my life without you in it.” She winces, as do I. It fucking hurts. Like hell. “I don’t need anyone else.” She goes on. “Just you. So yes, I will marry you.”
My internal organs all turn to mush and when I try to express my gratitude, I only manage a pathetic whimper. My arse drops to my heels, too, and I swallow repeatedly, forcing the lump down my throat. I’m feeling a bit emotional. How the fuck does she do this to me?
“You’ve taken everything manly in me and pulverized it.” It’s the stupidest thing to say, but with a lack of anything else coming to me, I just mumble on like an idiot. “I flat-refused this job when Lucinda first e-mailed me the details. I looked at your picture and laughed at my laptop.” I bumble on, and she smiles knowingly. “I pride myself on being impenetrable. I don’t like myself, Cami, but that bit I loved. No one got close. I wouldn’t let them. But you…” I trail off, dropping my gaze to her lap and exhaling on a shaky breath. “You changed all that.” I meet her eyes again. I’m still at a loss for how, when, why, and where. “You calm me, regardless of the fact that you’ve actually made my life the most chaotic it’s ever been. You’ve found me, despite the fact that I never wanted to be found.” I grab her hands and squeeze, desperate for her to understand the depth of impact she’s had on me. She looks stunned but calm. “You’re the missing piece I wasn’t looking for, angel. And now I’m scared of being incomplete again. I’m so scared of being without you.”
She sags before me, her lips trembling. “I said yes.” She hiccups over her words, her throat pulsating from her gulps. “And I kind of knew all of that.” Her voice breaks and her breath stutters, her eyes dropping, like she’s ashamed of crying.
She shouldn’t be. I’m a hot mess.
I grab her shoulders and haul her into me, clinging to her like my life depends on it. Scarily, I realize now that it does. No Cami, no me.
I just hold her, our bodies a mess of tangled limbs on the kitchen floor, my hands working constant strokes over her head as she sobs into my chest. “You’re not to be ignored, Miss Logan,” I say into her hair, kissing the back of her head.