"It sounds perfect." He smiled at her and they finished up their shopping and headed to the beach for a stroll down the sidewalk.
He pushed the stroller and she walked next to him, and they talked about all kinds of things, from their childhoods and they way they wanted to raise Emma, to their aspirations and goals for the future.
They made a stopping point and headed back to the car, going past all the small waves that were washing up on the golden sand. She looked at him and bit her lip slightly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't even think for a moment that it might be difficult for you to be by the sea. How are you feeling about that?" she asked him cautiously.
He shrugged. "I love the sea; it feels like home to me and it always has. Nothing could keep me from it, not even the accident that I had. I should have been more careful; I should have checked the weather.
“I'm a better sailor than that. I just had so much on my mind, and I wanted to get out and get some fresh air. I wanted to let go of the stress and anxiety that was bothering me and just... breathe again. Try to think of solutions to the things that were bothering me."
She tilted her head and looked at him. "Did you find any solutions?" she asked him.
He laughed a little and sighed. "Well... yes and no. Part of what was bothering me solved itself, and part of it has been amplified, but time is going to be the only real solver of all the issues in my head. Only time." He smiled at her and motioned to the sea.
"That, though, will always be a part of me, and I will always want to be near it or on it."
Cami nodded and smiled. "I love the sea, too." She blushed a little and looked at him shyly. "I never loved it as much as I did when the two of us were on Captain Heatherwick's boat." She reached the car and put Emma in her car seat, and then stood back up to help Roman put the stroller in the trunk.
"I wish I knew what happened to that boat, though. I could never afford it, but it holds such special memories for me..." She smiled at him and he looked at her thoughtfully. "I would just want to walk through it again, just to remember how incredible it was to be there with you." She almost turned away from him, but he caught her arm and she looked up at him.
"I know who owns it," Roman said, his expression stilled and serious, almost haunted.
Her smile widened in amazement. "You do?" she asked with anticipation. "Do you think we could go see it someday?"
He nodded slowly. "Yes, I'm sure that could be worked out." He looked down at her and saw the excitement in her eyes. "Why would it be so important to you?" he asked softly.
She blinked and turned her head a little. "I've never known a time as good as the one we had on the boat, and that's where my beautiful baby girl was made. It was a very special time for me, a magical weekend, and I'll never forget it, but I've thought many times that it would be amazing to walk back through it at some point and just reminisce about that weekend."
Roman nodded. "I feel exactly the same way about it." He spoke with a soft voice and a tender expression on his face.
She looked at him with enormous excitement. "Are you sure the owner wouldn't mind if I walk through it again?" she asked hopefully.
He shook his head. "I guarantee he won't mind."
Cami giggled happily and climbed into the car. "That's wonderful!"
They drove to her new house and cooked dinner together, playing with the baby and savoring the time they had. Cami knew that she shouldn't enjoy it as anything beyond friendship, but as he moved near her when they were cooking, each time he brushed her arm or touched her back when he was near her, she closed her eyes, she breathed him in and she loved the nearness of him.
She told herself that it was just her hormones from having the baby, and that when she got used to being around him as a friend, it would change and go away. In the meantime, she let herself enjoy being so close to him.
Roman loved spending the time with her; he felt happy and freed, as if he had no problems at all, and no rules, other than to remember that Cami was his friend, and that lingering too long beside her, touching her back or her arm, leaning in to hug her or breathe her in, those were things he could not do, and if he could only remember those rules, then the two of them would be fine. Perhaps it would take time, he thought.
They enjoyed dinner together, and then they put Emma down in her nursery. Roman insisted he would take a taxi home. Their night drew to an end and Cami walked him to the door, her heart light, and her soul blissfully happy.
"That was such a great visit. Thank you so much for it," she said, smiling up at him.
He nodded. "It was the best time I've had in a long time. Thank you." He leaned over and hugged her, holding her close to him for a long moment, and neither one of them wanted to let go of the other.
He finally let his arms fall away from her, and she followed suit, looking up at him with a small smile. He leaned down and kissed her cheek, and as his lips touched her skin, and her scent filled her lungs, he found that he was immersed in her and he did not want to surface from it. He raised his hand to her cheek and lifted his face slightly, so that it was a breath away from her face.
"Cami..." he barely whispered, his heart beginning to pound.
She looked up at him and she knew what she wanted, more than anything, she wanted to feel his lips on hers and his arms around her holding her tightly, but she knew she could not tempt herself with his closeness.
Roman looked down into her warm brown eyes, the same eyes that his sweet baby girl had, and he felt as if he were being drawn in by them, unable to pull himself back. He closed his eyes and his lips brushed hers; just the sheerest of touches, but that brief contact set off a spark in them, and in a moment, his lips were on hers, soft, warm, moving sensually over her mouth as she moaned softly and slid her arms around his back.
Just this once, she told herself. I'll kiss him just this once. It felt like the entire world had fallen away from her and there was nothing in it but the two of them.
He parted her lips with his and his tongue found hers, touching it lightly, trailing along the edge of it, and then caressing it tenderly, kissing her deeply and losing himself in the moment, and in her; in everything about her, from her outward beauty to her inward beauty, from her scent and the feel of her skin to the heat of her body as it pressed against his and he almost lost himself entirely.
His hands canvassed her back, holding her closely to him and then they reached up to run through her hair and touch her neck and her cheeks. He felt his need for her growing stronger and his body began to ache and burn for her.
Cami held fast to him, feeling the electricity from him shooting through her and making her feel completely alive and in need of him. Every place his hands touched her, from her back to her neck and her face, left a heated trail, and burned for more of him, and it was all that she could do to keep it in some kind of check. He grew breathless and panted, his hands sliding around her back to her hips and he pressed her up against the door, holding her tightly to him and their bodies burned for one another.
"Cami," he whispered breathing her in and tasting her skin with his lips and his tongue. "Cami..." Her name faded away on his lips as he realized what he was doing and what he wanted, and he let her go suddenly, stepping back away from her with a heavy gasp.
She looked up at him in surprise and wonder, waiting for him to speak as she tried to catch her breath.
He looked deeply pained, and his heart was full as he shook his head at her. "I can't do this to you... to Emma. I can't do this to myself and Denise. I'm married. I want you so much, but I have other commitments that I have to keep myself to. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen... again..." He looked at her and shook his head. "Please forgive me."
Cami felt her heart aching severely and she knew her Mama had been right. She had to be very careful around him and careful with herself and her emotions.
"I can't keep feeling like this for you, Roman," she whispered back. "This hurts."
He bit his lip and moved to her, taking her in his arms and holding her tightly to him. He rested his cheek on top of her head. "I know that. We can't do it to each other. We really have to mean it when we say that we are going to be friends. We have to make sure that we stick to that." He lifted his head and raised her chin with his finger, looking down into her eyes.
"I don't know what it is about you; you just make me feel so... so good, so complete and whole, like there's nothing missing from me whenever you are around me. I just have to figure out a way to make that work into a friendship," he whispered with sorrow in his voice.
She nodded to him. "It's the same for me, but we can do it, if we try. We'll just have to be really careful not to let things... go this way," she said, looking from his eyes to his lips, and then away from him, angry with herself for wanting him as much as she did.
He leaned close to her face and she drew in her breath and closed her eyes. His lips pressed warm and soft on her forehead, and the chasteness of it stilled her.
"Goodnight, Cami, my beautiful sweet friend,” he said softly, and walked out of the door.