She stilled, but her heart didn’t. He wore the usual dark sunglasses, but she could still see the fatigue all over him. Tousled hair, longer than she was used to seeing on him. At least a week’s worth of beard on his jaw. His expression fierce and intense, like he was still on a mission.
“Cam,” she whispered. She tried to look half as graceful as he while moving toward him, but instead she probably looked like an elephant fighting its way through a lake made of peanut butter.
He closed the distance between them faster than she took a few steps. Dropping the shovel she’d been holding, she launched herself at him. His arms caught her and lifted her off her feet. She was already wrapping herself around him when he murmured her name in a reverent rumble.
“You’re home,” she murmured, pressing her jaw to his unshaved, rough one.
“Yeah.” He buried his face in her hair, tightening his grip on her. “Missed you, Piper. Missed you so fucking much.” Angling his head, he sought her mouth with his.
There was a whole lot in that kiss. Love, affection, relief, hunger—and she’d never been so glad to see anyone in her life. Pulling back, she looked him over for obvious injuries and thankfully didn’t see any. “I made you all dirty.”
In spite of his clear exhaustion, he gave her a wolf grin and leaned in, for her ears only. “I’ll be returning the favor as soon as I get you alone.”
“Hey,” Gavin called. “You kids going to help, or are you going to make out all day?”
Winnie, also there “supervising” the cleanup, patted her now rounded belly. “The Spicy Bean says get your asses to work!”
Piper very reluctantly started to pull free, but Cam tightened his grip, brushed a kiss to her temple, and then put his mouth to her ear. “Just remember, you’ve got a date later.”
THE NEXT MORNING, Piper woke up slowly, a smile on her face. She was alone in the bed, no doubt because Cam was off swimming or rowing, or something equally nutty. She knew he’d come back eventually, and knowing him and his endless source of energy, he’d talk her into some additional cardio right in this bed.
Not that he’d have to do much to convince her. Smiling at the thought, she looked at the time and found something propped up against the clock.
A beautiful brand-new leather journal, along with a stack of stickers and three different packs of pens and a bunch of pencils.
Her inner office-supply ho quivered and she fell in love all over again.
“I hope the look on your face means you think I’m so amazing that you’re going to make breakfast.” Cam stood in the doorway in running gear, looking damp with exertion and smiling like he’d had fun—freak.
As for the breakfast comment, he was teasing, and they both knew it. If they were eating with the whole gang, Gavin did most of the cooking. If it was just herself and Cam, well, he took up the slack there because he honestly enjoyed it. The only part she enjoyed was the eating.
“Sure,” she said, enjoying the view. “I’ll do the cooking.” She gave him a “come here” crook of her finger as she sat up, letting the sheet fall away from her.
Cam’s gaze heated but he didn’t move. “Babe, I’m all sweaty.”
“Isn’t that the point of exercise?”
He laughed. “Yes, but you hate both exercise and sweating.”
“Not all kinds.” She loved the way his voice sounded when he was at ease. A little lower, a little warmer, a lot sexier. Grabbing him by the front of his shirt, she tugged. He fell over her, but only because he let himself. As she’d learned, when Cam didn’t want to budge, he didn’t budge.
Except with her. He’d do anything for her, and she was never, ever going to get over the marvel of that. He’d changed since he’d come to Wildstone. In the beginning, he’d been grieving, guarded, and temporary. Very temporary.
And that had worked for her. But she no longer needed or wanted that. Even when she was an unlovable mess, he looked at her in a way that stole her breath every time.
He was her person.
He hadn’t stopped missing Rowan and he never would, but he didn’t let it hold him back, and in turn she’d been able to do the same. When she was with him, she felt like she could do anything.
He braced his weight above her with one arm, touching her face with his free hand. “What are you thinking about?”
“That I didn’t think anything could still surprise me, but you do. I can’t wait to see what comes next.”
He grinned. “It’s going to be you, babe. You’re going to come next.”
She laughed and shook her head, but he dipped his to kiss her softly, the laughter gone. “You still surprise me too,” he murmured, voice husky the way it got when he was particularly moved. “Every day you show me more about love and life than I thought possible. I don’t know what comes next either, but I can’t wait for it. I think the next sixty or seventy years should be enough time to see, don’t you?”
Her breath caught. “Maybe eighty . . .”
“Yeah. I like the way you think.”
Epilogue
Two years later
Piper and Winnie stood back from their creation and took a long look at their work.
“Man, we’re good,” Winnie said.
“We are,” Piper agreed.
“Arf, arf, arf!” This came from Chance, the eight-week-old puppy Piper had rescued last week after a work call at the local SPCA. The manager had fallen and broken her leg.
Piper had fallen too. She’d fallen in love with the tiny little puppy in a crate at the front desk giving her the biggest, saddest eyes she’d ever seen. She’d gone back three days in a row just to hold the puppy, until finally the lady who’d broken her leg gently asked Piper if she’d ever considered a dog.
She hadn’t until that very moment. She scooped up the puppy and kissed the top of his fuzzy head.
“Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma,” garbled the adorable one-and-a-half-year-old in the baby carrier strapped to Winnie’s chest.
“Aw,” Piper said, bending in to kiss the top of her niece’s fuzzy head as well. “And you’re right, Ro. It’s definitely time for a food break.”
“Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma!” This was accompanied by wild arm waving and a smile.
Baby Rowanne, “Ro” for short, had come into the world much like her daddy had lived in it: wild and carefree. And she loved to talk. None of them could actually understand a word, but they all pretended they did.
“You heard that, right?” Piper said. “She’s telling us it’s lunchtime. In fact, she quite clearly said she’s starving and that we are working too hard.”
“Arf, arf!” Chance said, chiming in.
Winnie laughed. “You know what? I think you’re both right.”
Together they stepped back from the marina house to admire what they’d done. A year ago, Emmitt had asked Cam to become an equal partner in the marina, and to sweeten the pot, he’d offered his house to Cam and Piper.
He’d then up and married Margaret and moved in with her.
Gavin ran both the B&B and the marina, and had a few part-time workers for help when he needed it. Winnie was one of them. And when Cam wasn’t at the DEA office or on a mission, he and Piper had been renovating the house. He’d been called out a month ago, and to try to fill the time, Piper had wanted to surprise him.