“Good idea,” I told the security officer. “I’m still going in there with Mitch.”
He was about to argue, but it was already too late. Mitch snatched the key from his hand and unlocked the door.
Emily had her back to the door and spun to face us when it opened. She was waving a gun between Mitch and me. “What are you doing here?” She didn’t give him a chance to answer. “Never mind. I already know why you’re here. You came to see your slut. You’re a fool.”
“I am a fool,” Mitch admitted. “How did I not realize it was you emailing me? No one knows me better than you. You’ve always been the one for me.”
Emily’s arm dropped some as she regarded Mitch. “No one ever loved you the way I do.”
“I know,” he soothed. “Why don’t you give me the gun? I don’t want you to go back to prison. I’m lost without you. Come on, Em.”
She looked like she was about to hand him the gun when her eyes narrowed. “You wanted to marry her, to cheat on me with this whore.”
“He didn’t think he could have you.” Cami’s voice drew Emily’s attention away from Mitch.
Emily’s voice caught on a sob. “He never even visited me in prison. When I was released, he got a restraining order against me. Me! Do you have any idea how much that hurt me? I’ll bet it was because of you.”
Since Cami hadn’t met Mitch until years after he’d gotten the restraining order against his ex-wife, her argument made no sense. The bitch was a few French fries short of a value meal. Even if the police showed up, we were still in a dangerous situation.
“I haven’t known Cami that long.” As Mitch spoke, he edged closer to Cami.
Emily’s eyes darted to him before returning to Cami. “So, there’ve been other sluts. Is that what you’re telling me, Mitch? Maybe I should kill them, too.”
When Emily raised the gun to aim it at Cami, I leaped forward to try to stop her. At the same time, Mitch pushed Cami out of the way. I expected to hear the deafening boom of a gunshot in close quarters. Instead, all I heard was the clicking of the gun over and over again as Emily screamed.
“You’re ruining everything! I hate her! I hate her!”
As I pinned Emily to the ground, Mitch grabbed the gun just in case it went off. From the looks of it, the gun wasn’t loaded.
It was Cami who said what I was thinking. “What the actual fuck?”
Chapter 69
Cami
Three hours later, I was at the police station with Xander and Mitch. If someone had told me Mitch would come to my rescue, I’d have laughed. He’d never struck me as the heroic type, but he had pushed me out of the way when he thought Emily was going to shoot me. The most unbelievable part of my evening was Emily’s convoluted scheme.
“I just can’t believe she thought she could talk me into overdosing on her medication.” I’d said that several times because it was what shocked me most.
“She’s a nut job,” was Xander’s response. He’d called her crazy using much more original phrases, but it seemed he was running out of ideas.
“I’m sorry about all of this.” It was the first time Mitch had spoken, other than to answer questions from the police. Most of the evening, he’d just sat two chairs away from Xander with his head in his hands. “When she was emailing me, I honestly thought it was you. That’s why I got so angry when you said there was nothing between us. It’s why I went public with the emails.”
“It was still a dick move,” Xander told him. “You claimed to want Cami back, but you had no problem dragging her name through the mud. She lost patients because of you. Don’t you realize how important her career is to her?”
There was a big part of me that wanted to stop the confrontation between Xander and Mitch. It still made me anxious but not as much as it used to. I was making progress. “No, he doesn’t realize how important it is to me, do you, Mitch?”
Mitch shook his head. “I figured you’d find other ways to work with kids that better suited our life together. You seemed happy with me. When we were together, there was no drama. I thought you’d be happy when you realized you didn’t have to work.”
“I told you I wasn’t going to give up what I do,” I reminded him. “You just thought that since I gave in on other matters, this would be the same.”
Mitch let out a tired sigh. “Yeah, I figured you’d come around.”
“Because you’re an asshole,” Xander spat out. “It’s great that you were willing to risk taking a bullet for Cami, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re a total dick.”
Mitch’s eyes narrowed. “It’s easy for you to sit here with a holier than thou attitude when you haven’t had to deal with how her career affects you. Don’t tell me you aren’t going to be pushing her to quit so she can travel with you. How long do you think your relationship will last when you’re away for months?”
I rolled my eyes and snorted. “Of course, it’s going to be hard. I’m going to miss Xander, and he’s going to miss me. Don’t even think about telling me he’ll cheat on me. I know Xander, and that’s not going to happen.”
Xander took over. “It’s going to suck balls being away from the woman I love, and I’m going to beg her to fly out to see me every chance she gets. Hell, I’m going to fly back here every chance I get. Neither of us would ever consider asking the other to give up what they love.”
I leaned into Xander’s side and smiled. “You are the perfect boyfriend.”
He grinned and kissed the top of my head. “That’s why we're perfect for each other.”
Epilogue
Cami
Six months later
It was just after two in the morning when Xander found me sitting in his kitchen.
“What are you doing up so late, babe?”
I looked over and allowed my gaze to move along his body. He’d only slipped on a pair of shorts before leaving the bedroom. It was a view I always enjoyed. “Would you believe me if I told you I’m waiting for a sexy rock star to come and seduce me in the kitchen?”
Xander chuckled and took a seat across from me. “I’m more than happy to make that wish come true. First, tell me why you looked so serious when I walked in. What’s bothering you? Did something happen at work?”
I smiled because I loved that Xander was so in touch with my moods. I had a lot on my mind. None of it bad, but I’d been trying to decide the best time and place to bring it up with Xander. “I was just thinking about us.”
“Uh-oh. This can’t be good.” He didn’t sound too worried, probably because the arrogant rocker knew how much I loved him. Neither of us had any reason to feel insecure about where we stood as a couple.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know that I’m crazy about you,” I told him.
He grinned. “I only pretend because I like hearing you say the words. Tell me how crazy you are about me.”
“Only after you earn it,” I teased.
“What were you really thinking about?” he pushed.
“The next step in our relationship,” I replied. “I think it’s time we take that step.”
Xander’s grin widened. “Are you trying to tell me you’re finally ready to officially move in with me? No more pretending you still live in your condo when you spend every night here?”
“I had something else in mind.” I slid my phone across the table so he could see the screen with the confirmation for the airline tickets I’d purchased.
He frowned and shook his head. “I don’t understand. You want to go on vacation? That’s the next step in our relationship?”
I rolled my eyes. “The tickets are for a weekend trip to Las Vegas.” I waited for him to catch on. “You know what people do in Vegas, right?”
“Gamble?” he asked.
“Get married,” I told him. “People go to Vegas for the weekend to get married.”
Xander just stared at me as if I’d grown a second head for nearly a minute before finally speaking. “Not you. You want to wait, and I
’m fine with that. I’m not going to push you.”
I moved around the table and dropped to my knees in front of him before taking both of his hands in mine. “Before, I was terrified of making a hasty decision. I thought that jumping in would doom me to the same kind of miserable marriage my parents had, but I know that’s not the case with you. Xander Marsh, will you marry me?”
Xander grinned and yanked me to my feet before pulling me onto his lap and kissing me. When he finally broke the kiss, he said, “Hell yes, I’ll marry you! I love you, babe. I’m going to do my best to be the perfect husband.”
And I knew he’d succeed.
Cami’s Belgian Waffle Recipe
Ingredients
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 cups milk
Directions
Preheat the waffle maker. Combine and sift flour, baking powder, and salt. In a second bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar. Add the vanilla extract, orange extract, melted butter, and milk to the eggs and whisk to combine. Combine the egg-milk mixture with the flour mixture and whisk. Be careful to avoid over mixing. Coat the waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray and pour enough batter in to just cover waffle grid. Close and cook until golden brown. The cook time is generally 2 to 3 minutes, but you should adhere to the instructions on your waffle maker.
Author’s Note
I hope you enjoyed Xander and Cami’s story. They were definitely a fun couple to write about. Next up is Harley’s story. I also have two standalone novels in the works related to this series. You already know about the one involving Mercy and her neighbor. I also have something planned for Austin’s cousin, Remi.
Make sure you give Cami’s waffle recipe a try. These waffles are always a hit when I serve them in my home.
To keep posted on the details of my next book, or just to see what I’m up to, you can follow me on Facebook or Twitter.
About the Author
Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Cassandra Lawson first discovered her love of writing at a young age. A few early typing classes in middle school planted the seeds of a young author, who enjoyed learning to type through her exploration of storytelling. Head over heels for a good happily ever after, she has dedicated her career to creating dynamic, entertaining, and spicy, romance novels. Ranging from the paranormal to contemporary settings, Cassandra Lawson breathes life into the many different ways people experience love. A hard-working mom, she spends her days writing and homeschooling her children. A lover of music, good food, and a great book, Cassandra remains a resident of the Bay Area, basking in the culture and all the inspiration it affords.
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