“So, what do you think?” he asks while taking a seat at the wood conference table. He just told me all about how he’d had it custom-made from a local craftsman.
I sit beside him while I try to take in a whirlwind of emotions. There’s too many to decipher, but I try. “I feel like you’re living in a parallel universe.” I smile to give some levity to a heavy topic. “Seven years, Jami. In a lifetime, that doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s clearly been enough to accomplish all of this.”
My gaze travels around the room, lingering on the Seattle photography hanging on the walls and the strange-but-beautiful sculptures placed around the room. Everything feels so expensive—and so unlike the man I know beneath the suit.
“I said the same about you too. You’re running your own business, working toward that management position at the saloon, and raising an amazing kid.” He leans toward me, nudging his arm against mine. “But it’s no parallel universe. Maybe it was, but the moment I saw you again, those lines shifted.”
I look back at him, hating that all my fears, doubts, and insecurities are setting in at a moment when I should be on my highest of highs. “Does that mean we’re at a crossroads? Already?”
Jami’s smile reaches straight into my chest and wraps around my heart like a warm hug. “If we are then I’m jumping on your train.”
Laughing lightly, I shake my head and lean into him. “That’s crazy talk if you mean what I think you mean. You can’t possibly want to give up all of this.” I gesture toward the view with a sweeping hand motion.
He slips his hand into mine, his expression adopting the worry he must sense from me. “I don’t have to give up anything, but things will need to change. My plan is to slowly transition to working remotely from Camp Bexley most of the time. Jared will run the office, and I’ll continue doing what I do.”
Everything he’s saying sounds like the perfect answer to my dreams, but how can he be okay with such a huge change? “Is that really what you want? Or is that what you think I want?”
Jami’s brows pinch together. “I think that’s what we both want, isn’t it?”
I open and close my mouth, afraid to give him an answer that will sway his decision. “Jami, I can’t be the reason you’re making this decision. This has to be for you.”
He nods. “Fair enough, but there’s something you should understand.” His gaze turns toward the window for a second before he opens his mouth to speak again. “Ever since I was a little boy, I dreamed of growing up at the camp and running it with my brothers. The older I got, those dreams only got bigger. And the dream somehow began to map out in my mind. It was all so vivid, even after Tyson died, I couldn’t give up on what I’d always believed in. But that dream only made sense if you were in it.”
My chest swells, and tears blur my eyes. “You’re so cheesy, Bexley.”
He chuckles and wraps his arm around my shoulders then kisses my cheek. “But I’m yours.”
“And I’m yours, but…” I lean into him, all my insecurities replaced with the reality of what our future might look like. “We’ll have to work on that temper of yours first. That fight between you and Trevor scared me.”
He bows his head. “I apologized for that, Vi. You have my word. I’ll never do that again.”
I groan, wishing I could believe him. “There’s just so much history between all of us. I don’t want there to be a hostile relationship between you and Trevor around Brayden. Trust me, he’ll see right through it.”
“You’re right, and I agree. But Vi, you have to believe me when I tell you that Trevor and I will be fine.”
I squint at him, feeling like he’s completely lost his mind. “How can you be so sure?”
Jami winces like there’s something he knows that I don’t. Then he turns his whole body to face me. “I might have paid Trevor a visit before leaving on Monday morning.”
His words feel like a tsunami crashing over my head. I didn’t see that coming. “You what?” I shriek.
He holds up his hands in defense. “Please hear me out before you get mad. I felt so awful about what happened the night before, and I knew how much that upset you. Everything you said about Brayden was right, so I wanted to fix it.”
I groan and drop my head into my hands. “Jami, you need to stop trying to fix everything.” Sitting up straight again, I meet his gaze. “Please tell me you didn’t break his nose again.”
Despite the intensity of our conversation, he smiles. “No, but I thought maybe he’d try to break mine at first.”
A glimmer of hope sparks in my chest. “At first?”
Jami shrugs. “We talked it out. Kind of. Let’s just say, I wasn’t the only one who felt guilty for what went down that night.”
The way he’s speaking tells me there’s much more to their conversation than he’s letting on, but maybe that should stay between the two of them. Either way, I’ve never felt so much relief in my life. In the back of my mind, I’d wondered how the hell I would juggle the animosity that formed from our past and extended to our current scenario.
“Thank you for telling me.”
“I’ve never hidden anything from you before. I’m not going to start now.” He cups my chin and blasts me with his golden gaze. “I love you, Vi. I loved you then, I love you now and every moment in between. The fact that I get to finally show you is all I’ve ever wanted.”
My smile quivers from the emotion building in my chest, and I press my lips to his. “I love you, too, Jami. I’m so glad you came back to me.”
He shakes his head and leans me back so I’m lying on the hand-crafted wood table. “Oh, Vi. I never left you.”
Just when I think the moment can’t get any better, Jami’s kiss obliterates any kiss that came before it. His firm mouth navigates mine like a man on a mission. His tongue slips between my lips, and a groan escapes his mouth. But his kiss isn’t the only thing that thrills me.
He’s got one hand wrapped securely around my waist while the other rises up my thigh. He slips it beneath my skirt until his fingers find where I ache for him the most.
I giggle, fully aware of the surrounding glass walls. “Shouldn’t we go back to your place for this?”
He shakes his head while rubbing the cloth over my clit with his thumb. “We’re alone here. The doors are locked. Cameras are off. I was kind of hoping we could hang out here for a bit. After all, I paid far too much money for a table I’ve barely used.” He moves my panties aside and slips a finger deep inside me.
My eyes flutter shut as I give into the sensations below my waist. He knows just how to touch me and tease me to make me go completely crazy for him. I don’t even care that he begins to strip me bare right there on the table. Or when he removes his pink tie and drapes it around my neck like it’s a necklace. I’m just going to trust that these windows are made of tinted glass.
“Beautiful,” he tells me as he draws circles around my nipples with his tongue. “So fucking beautiful.” His mouth slides down my stomach, past my navel, not stopping until he’s hovering above my center. “Do you remember the first time I licked you here?” He flicks his tongue so quickly that I barely feel it lash against me.