Hot Commodity(84)

She loved him. Whether he liked it or not, Olivia loved him. It was

an unconditional devotion, like what his parents felt for each other. Whether he pushed her away or not, she’d still love him. The insight was humbling and overwhelming, but he liked it.

And that was his decision-maker right there. Never truly having loved a woman before, never having felt the pressing need to keep her safe, Cameron knew he’d do anything for Olivia. He’d even fix himself to protect her.

"Livy," he whispered.

She jerked guiltily; her face drained of color. As his parents and Boston stepped aside and slowly started backing toward the separating curtain to give him privacy, Olivia cautiously shuffled forward as if she thought he was going to beat her now.

An unexpected surge of pleasure moved through him. She cared. She loved him so much, he altered the whole view he’d been taking on the entire situation. He no longer wanted to distance himself from her. He just wanted to be with her forever. And if he had to make himself right to do that, then by God, he would.

"Where’d you go?" he heard himself ask, not really caring but curious about the answer. He realized it was the wrong thing to say as soon as the panic entered her face. Shit, he hadn’t meant to make her think this was her fault. He lifted his hand, but she jerked back.

"I-I...Oh, God, Cameron. I’m so sorry. I’ll never leave again. I’m sorry."

He closed his eyes as his own words to Sienna repeated themselves through his head, the first time he’d gone away for the weekend to go camping with friends. Forgive me, Sienna. I never meant to hurt you. I’ll never leave again.

Cameron shook his head. "No, Livy. I didn’t mean it that way. I…" Hell. He what? He was blowing this. "I’m just glad you’re here." He saw new hope staring at him through the big blue eyes of his cupcake as he held out his hand again.

Their fingers gripped and held. Cameron had to assume the tight bond meant something. He sent her a smile.

"I went a little overboard tonight, huh?"

She sucked in a shuddering breath and wiped a trail of tears off her cheek with her free hand. His heart clenched. He could only do one thing to stop this. Well, two maybe. He could finish the annulment and get as far away from her as possible. But that no longer seemed possible. The other option, however…

"God, I’m sorry, Livy." He clutched her fingers for dear life. "I’ll change. I’ll get better. I-I’ll go into rehab again. Whatever it takes. I didn’t mean to scare you. I love you too much to keep putting you through this."

"You love me?" she said, her blue eyes blinking.

He smiled. "I do. And I want to change. I want to get over this. So, if

I can do this, if I make it successfully through rehab, will you stay?"

"You love me?" she repeated, stark shock outlining her face.

He grinned. "Well, yeah."

"No one’s ever loved me before," she said, looking a little panicked by the thought as if a whole new world of overbearing responsibility had been plopped onto her shoulders.

"Don’t worry," he assured her. "I’ll take it easy on you for the first couple of months." Then he winked. "But after that, I’ll probably start laying it on a little thicker and, you know, getting really down and mushy with all the poetry and roses and serenading."

Olivia gurgled out a laugh at his corny attempt to make a joke. "Oh, Cameron," she said falling suddenly serious. "I love you too."

Bending, she wrapped her arms around his chest and laid her head on over his heart. Contentment roared through him. Cameron sifted his fingers through her long mass of bed-tangled hair. Closing his eyes, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"I never wanted to leave," she confessed, her voice muffled against his thin hospital gown.

"Then why did you?"

She lifted her face and sent him a slightly annoyed look. "You started the annulment papers."

He frowned. "Only because you told me to."

"Yeah, and I only told you to, to get you to confess you loved me."

"Well, I do love you."

"Then I’ll come back," she returned in a snippety tone. "If you make it successfully through rehab," she added on an afterthought. "And under one condition."

His stomach tightened into knots. "What’s that?"

"You have to drop the annulment papers."

The grin that spread through him was instantaneous. He glanced toward the curtain where he could see his family’s silhouette lingering on the other side. "Bos?"

Boston’s face appeared around the side. He smiled approvingly even as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. "I’m already on it."