Chapter Eight

CAM

Routine is the mother of alarms, but when I open my eyes Saturday morning, the clock on the bedside table tells me it's half past eight. I haven't slept this late since I was a kid. Even exhausted from work, I always wake up before five.

The reason for my extra sleep is still curled up in front of me. She must've turned during the night because she's facing me now. Still tucked under my arm, though. Her long auburn hair is fanned out behind her on the pillow, tempting me to reach up and run my fingers through it. But that'd wake her, and right now, I just want to take her in. Her soft face. The full lips I couldn't get enough of. So warm and sweet and sexy, like every other part of her.

How any man could look at her and not see the most beautiful woman in the world is a fucking mystery. Knowing that some of them treated her like she was anything less than perfect makes fury roll in my gut. Maybe Tony has names of her exes, wants to join me for a trip out to Vancouver, where we can swap hitting the heavy bag for some assholes instead.

"You're staring," she says in a sleepy voice as her eyelids flutter open. "Was I snoring?"

"Rumbling louder than an old carburetor." I pull her against me when she groans. "I'm teasing. You were sleeping like an angel."

"Then why were you just lying there and staring?"

"Enjoying the view."

"Bedhead and pillowcase wrinkles do it for you, huh?"

"You got me." I wink as if it's nothing more than joking around. But it's the truth. I was already hooked, well on my way to being hers. Now I know I am.

"Close your eyes," she says, wiggling backward, out of my arms. "I know you saw all of me last night, but that was a whole make-Isabel-feel-good thing. I told you I wouldn't have expectations and I don't. That includes not expecting you to continue telling me I'm beautiful or sexy. Especially in the daylight."

My stomach balls into a knot. "I meant every word I said last night."

Her lips part, but before any words come out, there's a knock at the front door.

"Shit. Totally forgot I told my dad I'd meet him for breakfast this morning." I throw back my side of the sheet and push up from the bed, letting Isabel look her fill of my naked body, including my cock jutting out, tall and hard.

Pink floods her cheeks as she tries—and fails—not to stare.

Good. I take myself in hand, dragging my fist up from root to tip. "This isn't average morning wood. This is from waking up next to you, Isabel. Doesn't matter what time of day it is, or whether the lights are dim or it's full-on daylight, I think you're beautiful and sexy, and I want you."

"Cam, I…" Biting her lip, she wraps the sheet around her curvy body before getting out of bed. "I can stick to my promise of not having expectations, but I can't do casual with you. I still want the white picket fence someday, and I'll never find it if I keep playing in your yard."

Another knock echoes through the house, followed by my dad's, "You okay in there?" and the sound of my spare key turning the deadbolt.

Wide-eyed, Isabel hurries out of my room, her startled gasp overlapping a gruff cough from my dad.

"Apologies," he says, averting his eyes as Isabel continues on to the spare room, closing its door behind her. His attention snaps to me next. "Sorry, son. When you didn't show at the diner, didn't answer your phone or the door… well, you know."

"Yeah, I do." When you've lost someone you love to a freak accident, you have a tendency to worry about anything out of the ordinary. "Breakfast slipped my mind. Give me a minute to wash up and we can still go if you want."

Dad chuckles, nodding at the closed door Isabel's hiding behind. "Guess she got flustered and thought that was the bathroom? I can step outside while you get ready. Don't want to embarrass the young lady more than I already have."

"Actually, that's her room," I say, rubbing my hand over my hair. "Isabel's staying with me."

"Isabel?" Dad's eyebrows rise over wide eyes. "Tony's little sister?"

"The one and only."

Unlike a lot of parents, mine never judged, even when I gave them good reason to. So, when my dad says, "Do you think that's a good idea?" while pointing at Isabel's door, I know it's a big deal.

"She just moved back to town, doesn't have an apartment yet, and it's not safe for her to live at her dad's house. I have an empty room. Makes sense for her to use it."

"I wasn't talking about letting your best friend's little sister stay in your spare room, but you know that. Based on the expression on your face, you think I'm right about the activity I was referencing."

"It's not what you think." I blow out a breath. "It's not what she thinks, either."

"Well, if she's half as confused as I am, and you seem to be, it's probably best for you to skip our breakfast and go talk to her."

The spare room door opens and Isabel steps out, chin held high, dressed in her clothes from yesterday. "I'm going to swing by dad's and pick up a few things if the coast is clear. I'll see you later."

"I'll move the car so you can get yours out of Cam's garage," Dad says, following her out.

I bite my tongue, but I know what's coming. And it does. The moment my dad steps inside the house again.

"Isabel's driving the Bronco." A big old smile stretches across his face. "How long have you been in love with her, and when do you plan to tell her with words?"

"Today. But not with words. With a fence. Feel like hitting the building center with me?"

"Let's go," Dad says, clapping me on the shoulder. "But if I can give you a word of advice—say the words. As soon as you can, and as often as you can."

CAM

It's mid-afternoon by the time Isabel turns into the driveway. The garage door is open, but she doesn't pull in. She stops immediately, parking on the asphalt and hopping out of the Bronco. Standing in front of it, she stares at the front yard where I set up short, white plastic garden fencing around the perimeter.

"Is this a joke?" she asks when I join her. Her eyebrows are drawn together and her lips are curved in a direction that says she doesn't think it's funny.

"No, baby. It's a promise." Wrapping my arms around her, I pull her tight against me. "Best I could do with limited time, but the lumber for a real fence is in the garage."

She blinks up at me, lips parted, her eyes full of unspoken questions. Hopes and dreams and so much emotion.

"I want to build the white picket fence with you. I want it to be our yard, to play in together for the rest of our lives. Just the two of us, or if you still want those kids from your scrapbook, I would be fucking honored to be their father. I'm still scared shitless of losing you one day, but the thought of a life without you being part of every minute and every memory because I didn't take the risk… that's a hell of a lot scarier." Time to take my dad's advice. "I love you, Isabel. I am head-over-heels in love with you."

"Cam," she whispers, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I'm scared."

"I'll never hurt you, Iz. I promise. I know you probably think this is too fast, but I know what I want. I want you. I want this, us. Come home to me, baby. Every day, for the rest of your life."

"I love you," she says, throwing her arms around my neck and burrowing against my chest. "You've always been my home."

"I have something else for you. Well, for us, since I want us to use it together."

She pulls back and smiles up at me, her eyebrows wiggling, then shooting up her forehead when I release her to jog back to the garage. "Am I supposed to follow you? Is it another old truck? Where the Ford are we going to put them all?"

I shake my head while walking toward her, grinning like a kid at Christmas. Only, I'm happier than that. Because of her. "A little smaller than a truck, but with the space to be as big as we can dream," I say, handing her the scrapbook. Blank inside, except for one picture of us from when we were kids.

"Oh, Cam…" Fresh tears well in her eyes when she opens it. Smiling, she runs her fingertips over the photo. "I remember this day."

"I thought it was a good beginning."

"It's perfect," she says, pulling my head down for a kiss.

And it is. Just like the rest of our story will be.