Jill Shalvis - Instant Attraction

No regrets. She’d promised Cam no regrets.

She came to her bedroom and stopped short at the sight of the black duffel bag on the floor that wasn’t hers. She might have panicked except for one fact. She recognized that duffel bag. Her head whipped toward the bed.

Someone had beaten her to it.

Cam.

He rolled over and opened his eyes. “Goldilocks.”

“Actually,” she said, nerves making her voice weak as she came into the room and kicked off her shoes, “that appears to be your name now.”

With a small smile, he sat up, fluffed her pillows, and leaned back against the headboard.

He wasn’t wearing a shirt.

She wondered what else he wasn’t wearing.

He looked as exhausted as she felt, but he held out a hand, which she took, allowing him to pull her closer until she was sitting on the edge of the mattress looking at him, running her fingers over the tattoo on his biceps, helplessly smiling at him. “What are you doing here? How did you get here?”

“Scott Winston owed me. His brother’s a pilot and flew me down here in his Lear.”

“Wish you would have picked me up on my way down.” Her heart was pounding, pounding so hard she was surprised he couldn’t hear it.

“I’d have picked you up on the moon if you’d answered any of my calls.”

“My cell ran out of battery, and I left my cord at the cabin somewhere, I think.”

“Ah.” Eyes never leaving her, he nodded. “That explains that. I want to tell you something.”

“Okay.”

“I have this habit of quitting.”

“Cam-”

“No, listen. Boarding was never tough, it was easy, so damn easy. Until it wasn’t. And then I just walked away. Relationships got tough, and I walked away. Mentally, physically, whichever. The truth is, I walked away from Serena long before she cheated.”

“I…” She shook her head. “I don’t know what to say.”

“I know. Believe me, I wouldn’t know either.” He looked a little worse for wear. He hadn’t shaved, there were dark circles under his eyes, and his mouth, that beautiful mouth, was grim. “But I met this woman. She’d been through hell but didn’t let that stop her. Nothing could make her quit.” He drew a deep breath, looking into her eyes, his so clear and green. “It made me want to be a better man. I don’t want to quit you, Katie.” He scooted over in the bed, tugging her under the covers with him. He was naked, and went to work making her the same. “You came looking for an adventure, but you turned out to be mine. The boarding, the skiing, the whatever…” He was un-buttoning her shirt. “They’re all things that I loved to do, so it was easy to hide behind the wild, free-spirit label. And yet, I never put myself out there, not once. Not like you did.” He smiled at her, a heartbreakingly real smile, and nudged her shirt off her shoulders, his hands slipping down her fluttering belly to her jeans. “You, Katie, are the bravest spirit I ever met. You gave me something to dream about again, you made me whole. Lift up.” When she arched her hips, he tugged her jeans off.

Her heart felt full to bursting as he pulled her in close against that glorious, warm, hard body. He nuzzled at her throat and unhooked her bra, tossing it aside. Her panties went next, and then, finally, she was naked too. “And without you,” he said, “it all means nothing.” His hands slid down her back, pressing the core of her up against a most impressive erection. “Nothing at all.”

When she opened her mouth, he put his finger on her lips. “I hurt you.” He looked tortured at the thought. “When you would never, ever hurt me. I hurt you, and I’d do anything to change that, but I can’t. That’s one thing I learned the hard way, you can’t change the past.” He drew a breath. “But I can change myself, and I can learn from my mistakes. My biggest mistake was letting you go home without telling you how I feel about you. I love you, Katie.”

“Oh, Cam.” Her heart felt like it was going to burst. “I love you, too. But what do we do with that?”

“I know you want to head out on your next adventure. But I also know you fell for Wishful. Riley asked Stone if he could cut his hours in half so he could stay home and be a full-time dad. Oh, and Serena looks like she has it together, but she keeps her accounting in a shoebox beneath her counter. And Harley? She keeps her books in an office that looks like a cyclone hit it.”

She could scarcely breathe. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that Wishful needs you, Katie.”

“You mean…run my own business?”

“I mean whatever you want. Run a business, work for us…keep traveling if that’s what you choose. I’m a good guide in case you haven’t heard.”

“You’d really come with me?”

“Anywhere. Whatever’s in your heart. Which hopefully includes me.”

In answer, she let out a sound that might have been a laugh or a sob, she wasn’t quite sure. Oh, God. He was real, this was real, and she knew. Her next adventure wasn’t a place but a person. “What I want is you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Can’t tell you how glad I am to hear it.” Cam rolled her to her back and cupped her face, giving her one of his no longer quite-so-rare smiles, the one that warmed her from the inside out. He made himself at home between her thighs; then he slid inside her, making her gasp and clutch at him. “God, I love you.” He kissed her as he began to move within her. “Love me back.”

If she’d been standing, his vulnerable smile would have brought her to her knees. But she wasn’t standing. She was surrounded by him, and there was nothing better. “I do.” She slid her fingers into his hair. “I always will.”

With a groan, he rocked his hips, thrusting deep.

“Is your client’s plane still available?” she managed to ask.

“I think so.” He rocked again, and they both gasped. “Why?”

“Because I want you to take me home figuratively.” Her eyes drifted shut with his next achingly perfect thrust. She was so full to bursting she could hardly stand it. “After you take me home in the literal sense, of course…”