For a second, I close my eyes, let myself believe this could be normal. Her, the kittens, this apartment filled with something that feels like home.
But normal isn’t in the cards for us.
“They definitely missed you.” I set my keys on the catchall table by the door. “Shadow hasn’t been eating well.”
Maybe I should give them space, let them reunite in peace.
Yet, here I am, rooted like an idiot, watching her hair tumble forward, her dress catching the low light, the curve of her spine when she bends. It’s not desire that freezes me this time; it’s the knowing I’m still too far gone.
Fuck.
Raking a hand through my hair, I trek toward the window to distract myself with the city view. But her familiar coos wreck me a little more with every word.
God, help me. I should take her home. Be the man who honors herfather’sboundaries. Yeah, right. That version of me died the second she said she missed us.
Cami joins me, our gazes fixed on the city spread out like a glittering ocean.
Behind us, Stripe bats at Shadow’s tail, their tiny chirps filling the quiet.
“Nice view.” She clears her throat. “What happened to the penthouse?”
“Still on the market,” I reply, eyes on her reflection in the glass.
She pivots, stepping between me and the window, her hand finding my chest, palm warm through the fabric. Even in those sky-high heels, she has to tilt her chin to look at me, city light spilling around her like it’s reaching, too.
“I guess fate says no for us in the real world. First, me losing the bubble phone, and now…” She exhales, shaking her head. “My dad being your business partner. We both know he won’t approve.”
I nod once. “Guess not.”
Tears slide down her cheeks, and I cup her face, my thumbs brushing them away. “Don’t cry.” I manage the words, but they tremble on the way out.
“Knox…this can’t be the end of us.” Her eyes explore mine, desperate, certain. “Not when you love me.” Her breath trembles. “And not when I love you.”
“You love me?” My breath stutters, just stops, before my heart slams back to life. I’ve wanted to hear those words for weeks, hell, maybe longer.
“Yes.” She nods, tears still shining. “I’m madly in love with you. I wanted to tell you when I got on that plane, but the bubble phone had no signal. I planned to call as soon as I got settled, and then…” She swallows hard. “That’s when I realized it was gone. I should’ve told you before I left Crystal Cove.”
“It’s okay, baby.” My hand slides into her hair. “Hearing you say it now, after what happened at the gala…it means so freaking much.”
Pulling her closer, every wall I built on the drive over, every intention to keep this contained, shatters like glass.
Her breath catches right before my mouth crashes into hers, and when it does, it’s like coming home.
Mont’s warning—I’m sure you understand my daughter is off-limits—vanishes from my mind.
All that exists is her grinding against me, all heat, hunger, like her body’s calling all the shots.
She gasps when I grab a handful of her ass, pull her into the thick, aching line of my cock. Moaning into my mouth, her hips roll with need. And fuck, it’s still not enough.
Nothing ever is with this woman.
“Tell me what you want, baby.”
“You. Right here. Right now.”
I walk her backward until her spine meets the rain-soaked window, tinted so no one can see us.
Cami gasps again, eyes wide, lips parted, dress clinging to her thighs.
