“With me?” The look on his face and the sound of his voice said he didn’t expect her to want to live here with him, which was completely crazy.
“Of course with you, Cam. Who else would I live with?” A thrill ran down her spine at the mere idea of running away from her odious arranged marriage to a pampered, spoiled-rotten man she loathed and all the obligations she faced on Alpha-Prime. Leaving it all behind to stay here in what was surely paradise—dusty corners and all—with the man she’d fallen in love with was as perfect as a dream. Because she did love him.
Ria loved Cam with all her heart and soul.
She didn’t care they’d only known each other for a week or so. She didn’t care if they lived in this dusty cabin forever. She didn’t care if they never had two nickels to rub together, like she’d read about in her almanac, as long as they were together.
From the moment she’d spoken to him at the karaoke bar, she’d known he was unique, special and perfect. She’d never wanted anything as much as she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Cam.
Not only because of the time they’d spent together in bed, which had been utterly amazing. She genuinely liked him. She liked talking to him. She liked doing everything with him, from fishing to grocery shopping to playing pool while drinking beer in a biker bar. She liked being his biker babe.
She liked when he protected her from rowdy guys in biker bars. She liked when he stared at her as though she was the only girl on the planet after getting her nails painted. She liked that he chose the honorable path with regard to her coming arranged marriage, although she hoped she could get out of it.
Ria especially liked sitting with him watching a calm lake while they held hands and didn’t talk at all. She liked getting up early, sipping coffee and taking little road trips around the area of Alienn with him as he pointed out things in the scenery and the wonderful world of Earth.
The amazing and exciting days she’d spent with Cam made Ria realize she could not marry Dirt Bag FitzOsbern. She just couldn’t. But she was trapped.
There were only two ways out. One was abuse. Dirt Bag wouldn’t even look at her let alone touch her, romantically or otherwise. He considered her tainted with the formerly-rich-but-now-impoverished disease. Unless he became a wife-beating monster, Ria’s only way out of this coming wedding was the second option. Her mother had to break the marriage agreement with the FitzOsberns.
Ria moved closer to Cam. “If I didn’t have this arranged marriage hanging over my head, I’d bop you over the head and drag you into my life forever.”
One corner of his mouth turned up. “Is that so?”
“It is.”
“You wouldn’t have to bop me over the head, you know. I’d come willingly.”
“Good to know.” Ria didn’t trust herself not to tackle him to the bed surface and have her wicked way with him. He was trying to be honorable and she was trying to let him.
“So what would it take, do you think? Money?”
“To get me out of this arranged marriage?”
He nodded, staring at her as if he had a few less than honorable thoughts circling around in his head, too.
“Even if Dirt Bag wanted to call it off—I’m pretty sure he does—my mother has the final say. She is the only one with the power to veto or discard the agreement signed twenty-five years ago. Trust me. She wouldn’t do that in a million years.”
“I see.”
“What are you thinking? Do you have some sort of plan? Maybe it’s one I haven’t considered.”
“What if you get married to someone else before the ship comes back?”
Ria’s optimism died. A long, forlorn sigh escaped her lips. She’d thought of that. “My mother would have the option of dissolving any partnership so I could complete the terms of the arranged marriage.”
He drilled an intense gaze into her face and opened his mouth, but Ria knew exactly what he was thinking. “Not even if I carried another man’s child would the arrangement be called off.”
Cam’s lips flattened. “That’s really too bad.”
“Why?”
“Because I love you, too, Ria. I’d love to marry you. I’d love to live here with you. I’d love to have babies with you, as many as you want. And I’d love waking up to this view with you every single day for the rest of our lives.”
Chapter Fourteen
Cam waited for her to shoot him down and tell him she’d never marry a truck-stop grease monkey. But she didn’t. She smiled so hard, tears came down her cheeks.
