Redeeming You (Before You #2)(62)



Her eyes swam with tears again. “But why?”

He pushed her hair out of her eyes, then cupped her face. “There’s so much to love about you, I don’t know where to start. I love the way you bite your lip when you’re nervous. I love the way you change the color of your hair whenever you feel like it. I love that you need training wheels to take a shot of tequila—”

She burst out laughing. “For the record, I only used the training wheels on the first shot.”

“If you say so.” He pulled her tight against his body and brushed a kiss across her lips. “I love the way you shiver when I touch you.” One of his hands slipped under her shirt and as if on cue, she shivered. “See,” he whispered against her lips.

Lifting her legs around his waist, he pushed open the back door and the wind whipped her hair in front of her face. “I love the color of your eyes and the way you look at me as though you understand me even when I don’t understand myself.”

The driver opened the car door and Cam slid into the car still holding her.

“What I can’t take is not knowing whether you love me because what I feel for you is so big and unlike anything I’ve ever felt before that I’d hate to think I’m in this thing alone.”

It was everything she needed him to say and everything she had ever dreamed of him saying to her. It made her believe that she could actually have her happy ever after, something she hadn’t hoped for since her dad died.

“I love you, Cam Donovan. I don’t care where you’ve been or what you did in the past. I love you because I see you and you’re beautiful inside and out.” Squeezing her eyes shut, she wrapped her arms around his neck, their heartbeats blending together like music as she breathed him deep into her soul. “I just hope you can put up with me because I’m not an easy person to love.”

“Loving you isn’t hard.” Taylor opened her eyes as Cam’s long, talented fingers slid under her chin, tipping her face upward. His thumb brushed away the last of her tears and his unwavering blue-eyed gaze held her captive. “It’s the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”





EPILOGUE



Alec

Alec tapped his beer bottle against his leg as he watched Cam carry Taylor to one of the band’s chauffeured cars. Taylor looked happy for the first time since they were kids. That should make him happy, and it did. But if she found the path to happiness, it meant he was experiencing all the shit life had to offer truly alone for the first time. Cam had Taylor. Jax had Bre, and he’d never have anyone. Maybe that’s exactly what he deserved. The darkness in his soul destroyed anything good in his life. He was poison.

As Cam and Taylor’s car pulled away, Alec drained the last of his beer and tossed it in a nearby trashcan listening to it shatter against the metal container. At least he still had Chasing Ruin. He’d spend his life playing his drums until the numbness took over. That was the only time his mind felt free from the memories that festered inside of him.





Acknowledgements


Thanks to my family and their ability to keep their eye rolling to a minimum when they find me staring at a screen for hours on end. Thanks to Limitless Publishing for giving me the platform to share my stories. Finally, thanks to every reader who reads one of my books. Now, I can justify having conversations in my head and living vicariously through fictional characters.





About the Author

After spending years practicing law and running a real estate development company with her husband, Lisa decided to pursue her dream of becoming a writer and she must confess that inventing characters is so much more fun than writing contracts and legal briefs. A native of Colorado, she lives with her husband and three children in Denver. When she isn't managing the chaos of raising three children and owning her own business, she can be found reading or writing a book or tinkering in her garden.

Lisa Cardiff's Books