Chapter 19

"Yes."

"Good because this is non-refundable."

"I bet I could get a pretty penny if I pawned it," I tease as I stare at the most beautiful ring I've ever seen.

His knuckle gently turns my head to look into his eyes and in them, I see a love I never thought I would know until this man came into my life.

"I love you, Cameron."

"I love you." Our lips overlap, and our foreheads meet. "It's gorgeous. Why a yellow diamond?"

He slides it onto my finger. "It's the closest color to your eyes. Even when you're asleep, it will remind me of your eyes. How vibrant and full of life you are."

"In a state full of boat excursions, I'm glad you stepped on mine, and that you were an ass. If you were nice and followed directions, I may have never seen you again."

We rise, and I thread my fingers through his hair.

"And I would have been miserable for the rest of my life."

After making sure his employees are clear that they can tell no one, the employees offer their congratulations, and we drink the champagne once we dock.

Orlando pulls Winslow into a tight embrace, slaps his back, and says, "Take care of her. She's the only mom I've ever known."

I was only eighteen years old when I became Orlando's Big Sister in a program for orphaned children. Orlando was ten, and ten years have passed. He has an apartment, a car, and our love for the ocean will keep us together.

"You're important to her, which means you're important to me. You'll still be by her side every day." Winslow glances at me. "You don't have to work anymore, but I assume you want to."

I drape myself over him. "Yes, but Orlando needs to get his captain's license so he can still make money while we're on our honeymoon."

Orlando grabs me from Winslow's grasp and squeezes me until I think I may pop. Kissing Orlando's cheek, I look into his eyes. "I love you, O. I'm not the only one getting a family… you are too."

"Thanks, Cam. I'll leave you all to… celebrate." He grabs his backpack, leaving us alone.

"It's important to me to tell my family that I've found the person who makes me happy before anyone else finds out." He presses a firm kiss to my lips.

"Can we call them now?"

Winslow calls his parents, siblings, and best friends and organizes a dinner tomorrow night. Then he calls Margie, and she says, "Hot damn. So proud of you, Winslow. Sometimes, it's hard to make the leap, and you did it."

I can't help but think the only person I'm close to is Orlando. That I'm finally going to have a family, and I have a feeling Margie will play a key role in our life.

When it's just us, we go underneath to the cabin for a naked celebration.

"I can't believe I get to sink inside you every day for the rest of my life."

With mischief in my eyes and on my brain, I say, "Promise me."

"Promise."

"No, promise me there will always be foreplay."

"What if I want to fuck you against my office window, but we only have ten minutes before a meeting."

"In that instance, I'll forego the foreplay."

He leads me to the small bedroom on the boat and undresses me slowly, laying me back on the mattress. His knees spread my legs apart before he licks through my slick folds, sucking my nerves. Then Winslow asks me to play with my clit so he can watch my ring shine while he brings me to orgasm. And for the first time, we make love while saying I love you over and over.

"Cameron." His mom's bright blue eyes are filled with joy. She doesn't seem to think I'm a gold digger. I imagine she knows I turned down the million and then weeks later, I lost the ten million. "It's a pleasure to meet you in person."

"It all happened so fast. I'm sure you're skeptical."

"Nonsense. When you know… you know. His father told me on our first date that he was going to marry me," she says with a smile, clearly reminiscing.

"Did you believe him?"

"It felt good for someone to be so taken with me. Winslow is a lot like his dad."

"Do you know about our first and second encounters?" I ask. It was definitely not love at first sight. Lust… for sure.

Winslow sneaks up behind me, snaking his arms around my waist and kissing my neck. "Mom knows everything, but I'm sure Cameron will keep me on my toes, like you do for Dad."

His sister Waverly chimes in, "I can't wait to see the proposal on tape." She looks at her fiancé Benson. "It's being shown tonight, right?"

"Must-see TV. She loses ten million but gains a billionaire." Benson puts his arm around Waverly.

With his hand on my back, Winslow clears his throat and states, "Just so all of you know, Cameron signed a pre-nup at her request."

"I have my own business that I love, and I don't care anything about money except to have enough to pay my bills," I clarify, needing his family to understand that I love him, not his money.

"Aww!" Wells and Warner snag a barstool in the kitchen. "Just like Mom and Dad."

Mr. Worthington says, "Nice to meet you, young lady. Welcome to the family. And Wells, I like having money; I just didn't want to run the family business. I much prefer creating advertising campaigns. And you mother loves what she does."

"Mom is a floral designer," Waverly says, full of pride.

I look around the large living room, and every arrangement is stunning.

"Will you do the flowers for our wedding?" I ask.

She hooks her arm through mine, and we end up on the patio overlooking a garden of hydrangeas, currently shaded from the sun, and a bed of wildflowers. "Would you like to have the wedding here in the gardens? Or do you want a church wedding?"

It's beautiful and clearly, they make plenty of money on their own. A maze of boxwood bushes surrounded by a stone walkway has an opening that would be perfect for a floral arch.

"This garden would be perfect. I don't have a large guest list. I'd like for it to be just his family and our real friends. Winslow and I haven't discussed details except that he wants to get married sooner than later."

She claps her hands together. "That sounds like my Winslow. He's short on patience but long on love and business sense. Even as a kid, he would open his presents and rewrap them because he had to know."

His mom has prepared a beautiful meal, and the tablescapes belong in Coastal Love magazine.

"Did you do this all yourself?" I ask his mom.

She laughs. "Yes, I love flowers, decorating, and hosting. What I don't do is clean. I have to draw the line somewhere. When you do what you love, it doesn't seem like a job or chore."

She calls the family to dinner, and it stuns me how normal they are. Like every other family. There are arguments over politics. Laughs over his brothers' stories. Praises for their mom's cooking and at the end, Waverly asks if she can audition to sing at the wedding.

"You don't have to audition. Winslow raves about your talent, and I'm positive he would want you to sing."

She beams—it's obvious Winslow is her favorite.

The entire family files into the living room, as Warner turns on the television to the last segment of the show.

As I turn down the million dollars one more time, Benson says, "I still don't get why you turned down the money."

I smirk. "I didn't want the money. I prided myself on doing things myself and didn't want anything from the grumpy billionaire who was suing me. Well, that's a lie. I already wanted the man."

Waverly pats her hands against her heart. "Swoon."

Winslow sits on the arm of the chair as he fondles my hair and bends down to kiss me.

The host says, "She's flipping the coin. She either gets ten million dollars, or she loses it all."

Winslow looks devastated that I lost the money, and I appear disappointed although my words don't match. I wouldn't change my decision because I'm happy either way; money doesn't make me happy; people do.

But watching him propose to me opens the gates, and I cry the happiest tears.

The anchorwoman looks to her counterpart. "She may have lost millions, but she received something far rarer—the billionaire's proposal."

A collective ahhh fills the room, and I lay my head against my fiancé's arm.

Winslow's brothers and Benson hit his shoulder, teasing him. We have dessert, and then I go to the bathroom to give myself a few minutes to gather my emotions. I pull out my phone and scroll through social media to see how many people are calling me a gold digger. Winslow's personal verified account has a still picture of him down on one knee. Most of the comments are nice.

Congratulations.

She's hot.

Beautiful couple.

But there are a few derogatory remarks.

She's blue collar.

Seriously? A fisherwoman?

I type in the comments. Thank you for loving the ocean as much as I do.

I come out to find the family whispering, and Winslow's eyes are locked down. They're all looking at their phones as mine dings with a notification from Orlando, a link, and a message.

Orlando: Not trying to rain on your parade but wanted you to see it so you and Winslow could talk.

I watch the video. It's a girl on his lap, time and date stamped when he was in Chicago. I look up to see his whole family staring at me.

"Cameron, it's not what it looks like," Winslow says, hesitantly walking towards me.

Warner and Wells join in, nodding vigorously. "We were there. He's innocent."

His mom's face falls.

Waverly squeezes Benson's hands. "Tell her he wasn't cheating."

"If she knows him at all, then she knows he would never cheat."

So much has happened in a short amount of time, and I wonder if I've overlooked some red flags. "I need a moment." Winslow reaches for my hand, and an electrical current shoots through me. We have so much chemistry, but is that what this is? I shake his hand off and hold mine, gesturing to stop. My feet drag me to the patio and as I push through the heavy doors, the stifling humidity nearly suffocates me.

I stop there, thinking, Will I have to deal with other women throwing themselves at him?And can I deal with it?

I hear footsteps and feel his presence behind me. My arms are folded over my waist. "Can we talk?"

I nod.

"It's important to me that you believe me."

"I do, but is this what life will be? Constant worrying of cheating. I mean you're you. Tall with a body that could set the ocean ablaze and have more money than can be spent."

He embraces me from the back, and I melt into him. We watch the sunset with his arms around me. After a few silent moments, he turns me around and gazes deeply into my butterscotch eyes.

"I've never cheated, and I certainly won't cheat on the person who I want to spend every day with. The woman I want to bear my children. The woman I want to go on grand adventures with, and the woman who fills every corner of my heart. I love you, Cameron Darling."

"I love you."

"I just called the legal department and amended the pre-nup. If I cheat on you, which I would never, you get fifty percent of everything I have."

"Why are you willing to risk it all for me?"

"Because it's not a risk at all. I will never cheat, and I will give you all of me."

We spend time in a tight embrace, and he kisses the top of my head. "Do you still want to marry me?"

"Yes, but I don't want the pre-nup changed. I trust you."

He traces my lips with his fingers. "Let's go inside. The family is probably worried."

I sink against his side with our arms around each other, and we go back into the living room.

"We're good. Cameron trusts me."

His mom sighs in relief, and Benson asks, "What was it about Cameron that made you know she was the one?"

"I realized I needed someone who was willing to risk it all. Someone who will challenge me and take risks with me. A woman who makes me laugh. Cameron is all of those things but most of all, she loves with all her heart, and she unwittingly has wormed her way inside of mine. There are so many reasons why I love her."

His family nods. He told me yesterday that as much as they loved Phoebe, they understand that she had many fears, and Winslow gave up things he loved for her, and that's okay. That was their love, and this is ours.

Wells interrupts, "It doesn't hurt that she's scorching hot."

Winslow rolls his eyes. "Why is Pamela the only one who can rein you in?"

"Nobody controls Wells Worthing… ton." His words die as Pamela walks into the room in a short skirt and a pair of red stilettos.

The end.