“Deeper,” Camryn whines.
“I’m trying, love,” I say with a grunt.
There’s an anxious edge to her voice, and I press in further.
“I can’t find it.” Sweat is beading on my forehead and my arm is buried up to my elbow. I push in deeper, the need to please my woman outweighing my discomfort. Fuck. Still nothing. “I’m in as far as it’ll let me, love.”
“My hands are smaller. I’ll have to do it,” she says.
Pulling my arm free of the sofa, I stand up.
“Are you sure you lost your phone there?”
She shakes her head. “I was sitting on the couch, and that’s the last time I remember seeing it.”
Checking the hotel suite, I return a moment later with her phone in my hand. “It was on the bathroom counter.”
“Oh.”
“Are you okay? You seem really jumpy today.”
Her gaze drifts to the floor and she nods. “Fine.”
I smooth my hands over her shoulders, rubbing the tension I feel there.
I wonder if she realizes, like I do, that tomorrow marks the six-month deadline. Maybe that’s put her on edge, though I’m not sure why it would. We agreed to wait to marry, and I feel more confident than ever that it was the right thing to do.
We can take our time and plan something special where all of our family and friends can be included. When you know something is going to last a lifetime, there’s no sense in rushing it.
Before, I was in a hurry to get to the altar, to sign the papers and be done with it. But love has changed everything. It’s given me a fresh perspective, and now I see that all the money in the world won’t make my life any better than it is. As long as I have Camryn by my side, we’ll figure the rest out.
“Come here, love.”
She lays her head on my chest as I fold her into my arms.
“Tell me what’s bothering you,” I say.
She shakes her head. “It’s nothing, Sterling.” She wipes her eyes quickly with the back of her hand.
I’m not sure of the right words to say to ease her mind—hell, I’m not even sure what’s on her mind—so instead, I do the only thing I can think of.
I take her to bed and make love to her until all she can feel is me.
• • •
“Babe?” I say, my voice shaky. “What’s this?”
Our limousine has stopped in front of one of those tacky drive-through wedding chapels. The neon sign outside promises weddings in fifteen minutes or less.
The smile on Camryn’s face falls when she meets my confused expression.
“Surprise,” she says weakly.
Noah and Olivia sit stoically across from us, seeming afraid to move or breathe.
“I don’t understand,” I say. Now Camryn won’t even meet my eyes.
The limo driver opens the door and offers Camryn his hand. “Miss, we’re here.”
She tells him that we’ll need a minute, and he closes the door.
“Cami? What’s going on?”
She swallows and takes a deep breath. “This all seems rather foolish now, but I—”
“Noah, Olivia, would you mind giving us a bit of privacy?” I say.
They nod and exit the car, leaving Camryn and me alone. The faint scent of leather and the hum of the air-conditioner are our only companions.
“I love you, Sterling. I wasn’t going to let you throw away the chance at your inheritance. I know you thought that was the right thing to do, but I’m ready. And I think you are too.”
“So you brought me here . . . to get married?”
She nods.
Holy shit. I never saw that coming. Maybe I should have, given that we’re in Vegas, but when she said it was a quick getaway with friends for a bachelor/bachelorette weekend, I believed her.
Pushing my hands into my hair, it takes me a moment to know how to respond.
“Sterling . . . Say something,” Camryn pleads.
“I need a minute here, love.”
Camryn reaches out and squeezes my knee. I see the outfit she chose now with new eyes. The cream-colored lace top and black skirt is what she chose to get married in. Her lips are painted matte red, and her shiny black pumps elongate her legs, making her a little closer to my height.
I just can’t believe she planned this whole thing without telling me. We tell each other everything.
“Do Noah and Olivia know why we’re here?”
She nods.
My gut is churning, and I’m trying to push away the negative thoughts playing in my brain. She’d never marry me for the money. This is Cami.
“Sterling, you know I’d never push you to do something you weren’t ready for.”
She told me that she needed commitment, that she was looking for her lobster. And when I realize that I’ve been denying her simply because I was trying to prove a point, I feel pretty fucking selfish.
I lift her hand to my mouth and press a kiss to her palm.
“Baby, when I put that ring on your finger, I meant it. I want you today, tomorrow, and forever. If you’re sure about this, then let’s go get married.”
Camryn’s mouth breaks into a happy grin.
• • •
It was every bit as cliché and sappy as you can imagine, and we laughed and kissed and smiled through the whole thing. And now fifteen minutes later we’re back in the limo, the ink drying on our marriage certificate.
Camryn’s in my lap, her ass is in my hands, and her lipstick is staining my throat and the collar of my white shirt. But it’s fine. She’s mine and I’m hers, and I don’t mind her marking me.