Emily squeezed Camila closer, kissing the top of her head.
“Have you…have you told Jaime about this?” Emily gestured at the two of them, and Camila shook her head.
“No, I haven’t. It wouldn’t surprise me if he already knows—that boy of mine is very perceptive. But I didn’t want to get his hopes up before we had talked.”
“That makes sense.” Emily nodded. “I, um… Maybe we should wait a bit before we tell him, just to make sure things work out. Not that I think they won’t or that I’m trying to tell you how to parent your kid, but—”
“Emily, slow down.” Camila squeezed her hand. “I think you’re right. I think we should wait. Just for a little while.”
“Do you think he’ll be happy?”
“I think he’ll be over the moon. He’s already asked me why we aren’t married, you know.”
“Oh, he asked me that too. Think he was hinting at something?”
“Playing matchmaker, more like.”
Their food arrived, and they ate in comfortable silence. Emily was more relaxed with Camila than she had been in a long, long time.
“Do you, um, want to stay here tonight?” Emily asked a little later. They had streamed a movie but hadn’t watched much of it. They were stretched out on the couch, Camila dozing on Emily’s chest while Emily watched her breathe.
Camila cracked one eye open. “Are you propositioning me again?”
Emily brushed a strand of hair off of Camila’s face. “No, but you’re sleeping and your apartment is so far away.”
“It’s a five-minute drive, Emily.”
“But why leave when you could just stay here?”
“Mm, good point.” Camila opened both eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Come on.” She led Camila into her bedroom, and Emily dug through her drawers until she found a pair of pajamas that might fit her. “These are probably not what you’re used to, but—”
“They’re fine—they smell like you.”
Camila went to the bathroom to change. When she emerged wearing Emily’s pajamas and smelling like toothpaste, Emily was waiting for her. She pressed her back against the wall and kissed her long and hard, one hand tangled in her hair and the other around her waist.
“Mm, what was that for?”
“Just felt like it.” Emily shrugged, before slipping past Camila and into the bathroom.
Camila was standing at the foot of the bed when she came back out. “You can get in, you know.”
“I didn’t know if you had a side.”
“Not really,” Emily said. “It’s not like I share my bed a lot.”
They crawled under the covers and met in the middle of the bed. Emily pressed her forehead against Camila’s and closed her eyes.
“I can’t believe you’re here.” Emily said. She was stroking Camila’s hips while Camila traced the lines of Emily’s cheekbone.
“I can’t either.” Camila studied Emily’s face.
“I can’t believe you still want this after everything I put you through.”
“It was worth it.”
Camila looked doubtful, and Emily knew she still thought this might not last, was still convinced she didn’t deserve it.
Emily was going to prove her wrong.
Epilogue
Two years later…
“I am definitely glad to be out of that hot robe.”
Emily had just graduated with her master’s degree, and Camila had never been prouder. Her hands still ached from clapping, watching Emily accept her diploma, and there were still tracks on her cheeks from crying.
“And that dress shouldn’t be hidden,” Camila said, her gaze resting appreciatively on the deep V of Emily’s collar. She spoke softly so no one else could hear, and Emily chuckled.
They were driving back to the penthouse apartment in Camila’s town car to celebrate. Cassie, Maia, and Sarah sat in the backseat with Jaime. Her beautiful boy was seven years old now, and looked smart in the suit and tie that he had worn at Cassie and Maia’s wedding a few months earlier.
The closer they got to the building, the more Camila fidgeted, her stomach in knots at the prospect that they’d be celebrating something in addition to Emily’s graduation tonight.
“Are you okay?” Emily frowned at the look on Camila’s face and placed a hand on her thigh. “You look like you’re a million miles away.”
“I’m fine,” Camila said, but she had never had been very good at lying to Emily, and she was relieved when Maia intervened, drawing Emily into conversation.
When they arrived, Camila popped open a bottle of champagne and hoped Emily wouldn’t notice that her hand was shaking.
Camila had built a television empire but she was about to do something even more daunting and nerve-wracking, and if she didn’t do it soon, she might pass out.
The past two years had been the best years of her life with Emily brightening up even her darkest day, and Camila was happy every morning that she woke up with Emily in her arms. She had always wanted a big family for Jaime to grow up with, something she had never had, and with Emily, she had more than she ever dreamed of—Emily, Cassie, Maia, and Sarah all doted on her little boy and accepted Camila with open arms.
“You look like you’re gonna be sick.” Cassie appeared at her side. “Need me to distract her so you can get into position?”
“Okay.” Camila took a deep breath to calm her nerves, but her heart was about to pound out of her chest, and she downed the champagne in her glass and set it down. Cassie spun Emily around so that her back was to Camila.
Camila had dreamed about this moment a thousand times, and now that it was finally happening, time seemed to stop.
She had considered doing it behind closed doors in a private moment, but Emily’s family and friends were so important to her that she would want to share it with them.
And Camila wanted that too—they had become important to her as well these past couple of years, the large family that she and Jaime never thought they would have, and it was all because of the love of Camila’s life.
Off to the side, Jaime gave a thumbs-up signal, and Camila smiled because it was one of the many gestures he’d picked up from Emily. She reached for the black velvet box, opened it, and dropped to one knee.
“Emily?” Emily turned around, her eyes widening and her mouth falling open, and God, she was more beautiful than ever.
This was right. So right.
And even though they were surrounded by family and friends, it felt like just the two of them because, losing herself in Emily’s eyes, it felt like no one else was in the room.
“Emily,” Camila said, her voice surprisingly strong, considering how she was shaking. “You came into my life at eleven o’clock on a Tuesday morning, and I had no idea how you would turn everything upside down. You’ve changed my life, you amaze me every single day, and I can’t believe that, after everything I put you through, you wanted to give me a chance. I hope that you’re glad you did, and that I make you as happy as you make me.
“I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I can’t promise that it will be easy because I know how difficult I can make things, but I promise I will love you until my last breath, that I’ll do whatever I can to make every day special, to show you just how much I love you.
“Emily Walker, will you marry me?”
Camila had cried when Emily was on the NYU stage, but now tears were sliding down Emily’s face, and she dropped to her knees in front of Camila and hugged her so fiercely that Camila almost couldn’t breathe.
“Yes, yes, a thousand times yes,” Emily whispered in her ear, and then Camila was crying too as she slid the ring onto Emily’s finger.
When they stood up, they were swept into a giant hug while in the center Camila held onto Emily, now her fiancée, and knew that, no
matter what the future might throw at them, she would never let her go.
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About Rachael Sommers
Rachael Sommers was born and raised in the North-West of England, where she began writing at the age of thirteen, and has been unable to stop since. A biology graduate, she currently works in education and constantly dreams of travelling the world. In her spare time, she enjoys horse riding, board games, escape rooms and, of, course, reading.
CONNECT WITH RACHAEL SOMMERS
Website: www.rachaelsommers.com
E-Mail: [email protected]
Never Say Never
© 2021 by Rachael Sommers
ISBN (mobi): 978-3-96324-430-8
ISBN (ebook): 978-3-96324-431-5
Available in e-book and paperback formats.
Published by Ylva Publishing, legal entity of Ylva Verlag, e.Kfr.
Ylva Verlag, e.Kfr.
Owner: Astrid Ohletz
Am Kirschgarten 2
65830 Kriftel
Germany
www.ylva-publishing.com
First edition: 2021
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
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Credits
Edited by Michelle Aguilar, Alexa Bitsko, and Julie Klein
Cover Design and Print Layout by Streetlight Graphics
Never Say Never Page 25