Redeeming You (Before You #2)(45)

Completely exhausted and satisfied, she collapsed on top of him, running her fingers slowly through his tousled hair. He wrapped one arm around her tightly while his other hand stroked the bare skin of her thighs and back. She could stay like that all night or for days if he’d agree to it. Skin on skin, heartbeat next to heartbeat, their breath tangling together. Cam was her addiction. She just hoped she’d never have to give him up or at least not until they’d made a lifetime of memories.

When several minutes had passed, she pulled the sheet over the top of them.

“Tay, I need to go back to my bunk. It’s almost morning.” His hands moved slowly from the top of her head to her neck over and over again.

She clutched his arms. “No, I don’t want you to go.”

He laughed softly against her ear. “Trust me, baby, I don’t want to leave you either. I missed not having you in my bed tonight and even though I thought you might be mad at me, I still wanted to feel you in my arms. Having you in my bed lately has spoiled me. I like it a little too much.”

“I missed you when I went to bed too.” She clutched him harder. She didn’t want to hide their relationship from anybody anymore. She wanted to claim Cam as hers so she could openly fight for him instead of hiding in the shadows when she saw something she didn’t like.

“Hey,” he said. “What’s running through you head right now? I can practically see the wheels turning in your mind.”

She lifted her head to meet his eyes. “I don’t want to hide anymore. I don’t like feeling as though what we’re doing is wrong because it doesn’t feel that way to me.”

Kissing her gently, he framed his hands along the side of her face. “I agree.”

“So do we tell Alec in the morning?” She smiled, relief swarming through her body.

Cam blew out a long breath. “I want to. I really do…”

“Ah,” she said sarcastically. “I hear it.”

“What?” He looked puzzled and she fought the smile that threatened to make an appearance.

“A ‘but’.”

“Tay,” he said, drawing out her name.

“Cam,” she replied in the same tone.

“The tour ends in less than two weeks. I think we should wait. I don’t feel right about flaunting our relationship in Alec’s face.”

“So, in your mind, it’s better if we sneak around behind his back.”

“No, I didn't mean it that way. It’s just that . . .” he ran his fingers through his hair. “I want the last part of the tour to be about Chasing Ruin and not a million and one distractions that could upset the flow.”

“Right.” She rolled off of him onto her back staring at the bunk above her, fighting back more pointless tears.

“You don’t agree.” He turned his head to look at her.

Turning toward him, she shot him a casual smile trying to act completely unfazed because he was right. Her mind knew it, but she couldn’t stop herself from wanting to scream that Cam’s was hers to anyone who would listen. It was stupid. She could wait. She should wait and follow the plan.

“No, you’re right. The tour first and then we have plenty of time to figure out what we’re doing.”

He squeezed her hand. “There’s nothing to figure out. You’re my girl whether anybody knows or not. What other people think doesn’t change what’s in here.” He lifted her hand and placed it over his heart and she left it there for a few prolonged seconds enjoying the steady, strong beat of his heart. It made her believe that someday soon, things would work.

“Okay.” She exhaled, the tension flowing out of her body with her breath.

“The last stop of the tour is Seattle and we’ll deal with everything there.”

“Seattle,” she whispered. She’d been dreading that stop from the day she took this job, but maybe it would bring good things instead of dredging up the crap from her not so happy past, especially Miles. Seattle was big enough that she should never run into him, but based on Miles’s persistence in leaving voicemails and texts, she suspected he’d try to find her. Ten days and counting…

He kissed her hand and left her alone in her bunk. Was it bad that she missed him the minute he disappeared from her bunk?





CHAPTER SEVENTEEN




Cam rolled out of bed with Taylor. She slept curled up on her side, her long dark hair fanning the white pillowcase beneath her head. The blue streak had long since faded in the front of her hair and he kind of missed it. The vibrant blue matched her crazy deep sapphire blue eyes and outwardly flaunted her sassy wit that was uniquely hers. He pushed her hair from her face, twisting the end around his finger before letting it drop next to her collarbone. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever met, inside and out, and possibly his perfect match.

Five days until Seattle. Five days until he could stop hiding their relationship. It couldn’t come fast enough for him. Cam planned to talk to Alec after the final show and let him know how much Taylor meant to him, and after he did that, he planned to ask, or beg if necessary, Taylor to move in with him.

After sharing every moment he could with her over the past twenty-five days, he couldn’t imagine letting her go back to living with Alec. He wanted her in his life every day, not every other day or a couple times a week. Nothing would be better than waking up next to her every morning and seeing her beautiful, mischievous smile. He needed and wanted her like nothing else he’d ever experienced in his life. Not even, Bre. He felt a duty to Bre and he loved her in his own way, but those feelings paled in comparison to what he felt for Taylor. Now, he understood the difference between loving his friend and loving his woman.