Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
My core heated at his movements, even as I fought the alcohol in my system. But he didn’t push me to have sex. He didn’t even have the heat in his eyes that I was used to. He just tugged the covers back and eased me under them.
“Camden?”
“Shh,” he said, pressing a kiss to my lips. “Let me take care of you.”
He pulled the covers over my shoulders. Then he slipped into the bed from the other side, cradling me against him.
“I thought you’d want to have sex,” I whispered into the silence of the darkened room.
“I do.” He pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “But my job is to take care of you first and myself second.”
“It is?”
“Yes,” he assured me. “Now, get some rest. If you’re lucky, I’ll fuck you in the morning.”
I shivered at the words and sank back against him, releasing the final bits of tension in my body. It felt great, having him pressed up against me, his body cocooning me as I drifted off.
“Katherine,” he breathed, placing another kiss at my shoulder.
“Mmm?”
“I love you. You know I love you, right?”
I turned over to look into those bottomless, dark eyes. And there it was… that look that I hadn’t been able to explain for so long. It was… love. He loved me.
My heart expanded. And I nodded. “I love you, too.”
He drew me in close to him. “I love to hear you say that.”
“I love you,” I repeated. “You know what?”
He shook his head. “What, love?”
“This was my birthday wish.”
His smile was wide at the revelation. Then he kissed my full lips, and everything in the world felt inexplicably right.
30
Katherine
“Seriously, you cannot lose another pound between now and the gala on Saturday,” Alexandre complained.
“I didn’t!” I insisted. “My weight went up this week.”
And it had—by three pounds. I was sure that it was muscle, but it could have been the alcohol and bread. Or any number of things, stress included.
“Well, we have to take this in again. And if you lose anything else, you’re SOL, baby girl.”
“It’s fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “I’m not doing anything differently. And I can’t exercise this week because it’s Fashion Week.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled. “Let’s get you out of this.”
He helped me out of the dress, which I had no idea how it was going to be brought in again, but I’d leave that to the designer. I only had twenty minutes to get across town to the Cunningham Couture runway. I had a front row ticket and intended to be seen by everyone present.
I quickly changed back into the charcoal high-waisted skirt and tight white blouse I’d chosen for the event with black tights and heeled booties. My black leather jacket went on last and then dashed out to the Mercedes to make it to my event. With barely a minute to spare, I waltzed into the event as if I owned the place and had done it all on purpose. To my surprise, Harmony was already seated with an empty chair next to her. My empty chair. Well, that was a change from last year.
“Hey, Harm,” I said, setting my Hermès bag down and taking the only empty seat.
“Oh, hey, Katherine,” she said with a half-smile before her eyes darted back to the front.
“I thought you’d be backstage since you’re working for your mother and all.”
“I should be,” she said tightly. “We’re not showing any of my designs, and Mother thought it’d be better for me to be seen in the crowd. That it would look better.”
She probably wasn’t wrong. Though I could see the anxiety warring on Harmony’s face.
“Well, you can’t change it. So, don’t let the cameras see you worrying about it. You’ll have your day.”
Harmony shot me a skeptical look. “Was that a backhanded compliment?”
“There was nothing backhanded about it,” I said, settling back into my seat. “That was sincere.”
Harmony assessed me. “You’ve… changed.”
“Have I?”
“No,” she said finally. “Maybe not. Maybe you’re the same Katherine after all.”
I stared back at her without a fraction of a question in my expression. I knew her well enough to know she’d explain.
“You’ve always only ever cared about your own. You and Camden are both that way. Loyal to a fault. But only to your own people. No matter how small that circle is.” Harmony tilted her head. “I think maybe… the circle has just grown, and somehow, I’ve ended up inside of it.”
She was right. My circle had always been small and very tight-knit. I liked it that way. But things had changed. Penn getting married had changed much. Falling in love with Camden had changed everything else. My crew wasn’t the same, and my husband was somehow my… protector.
“Old grudges don’t seem to matter much anymore,” I said.
“I never thought you’d get over him.”
“Who?” I whispered even though I knew.