Page 15 of Camden
“Is this okay?”
“What?” I asked with my eyes closed tightly. Apparently, I wasn’t a huge fan of heights.Who knew?I crossed the hot air balloon ride off of my newly formed bucket list.
His fingers tapped my shoulder, reminding me of his touch. “This. My arm around you.”
“Oh. Yeah. Sure.”
“Stephanie?” When I didn’t respond, he said it again.
“Huh?”
“You can open your eyes. I promise it’s safe.” He squeezed my shoulder and grabbed one of my hands with his other. My eyes flew open when he attempted to pry my fingers from their death grip on the lap bar.
“What are you doing?” I heard the fear in my voice when I spoke, which meant Cam could, too. He smiled softly. Releasing my hand, he cradled the side of my face.
“I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. Relax. Breath.” He took an exaggerated breath and released it. “Your turn.” Nodding, I took a deep breath through my nose, slowing my heart rate. “Good. Again.” I did as he said and took a few calming breaths, my grip loosening. “There, that’s better.”
“Thanks. How’d you know how to do that?”
He dropped his hand that had been cradling my face, and I instantly missed the contact. “You looked like you were having a panic attack. My Mom used to get them all the time. It was either getting you to breathe or holding you tightly in my arms. While I would’ve preferred to do that, it’s not exactly doable right now.” He shrugged, and I felt the weight of his arm around my shoulders. Strangely, I didn’t mind it.
I leaned a little closer to him and relaxed further. Sandalwood and something purely Camden surrounded me. He smelled wonderful. He reached up, toying with one of my hands. I released the bar and Cam laced our fingers together, placing our joined hands on his hard thigh.
“This okay?” He whispered in my ear and I closed my eyes trying to stop myself from shuttering from the deep timbre of his voice.
I nodded once, and we sat in silence except for the hum of country music below us. Twinkling lighting bugs floated around us in the darkening sky. “Why do you always ask that?” My question cut through the silence.
“Do what?”
“Ask if touching me is okay?”
“Because it’s your body. You are the only one that gets to decide who touches you. I don’t care what the touch is. I refuse to make you uncomfortable. I would touch you any chance I could get if you let me, but I won’t decide for you. If you ever say no, that means no. No questions, no hesitation.”
“So, you’d stop if I asked you to.”
“Of course. Look, I want you. I want to go on a date with you. I want to kiss you. Hold you. Call you. Text you. Fall asleep with you in my arms and wake up the same way. But that’s your decision. One that I will try like hell to sway in my favor, but it’s always up to you.”
My heart melted in my chest with no hope of stopping.Well, dang.He was good. Like really good. How did I decide if he was worth taking a chance on? My gut was telling me to believe him, but my brain and my heart thought my gut was broken. My instinct hadn’t led me in the right direction in the past. Why would it now?
“Ladies and Gentleman, attention please,” the attendant below bellowed through a microphone. “We seem to be having some mechanical difficulties. We’ll get you down as soon as we can, but for the time being, hang tight.” And just like that, my chest tightened, and I stared at Cam with wide eyes.
CHAPTER FIVE
CAMDEN
Her beautiful blue eyes widened. “Cam?”My name sounded strained and I pictured another panic attack starting.
“Hey. It’s alright. We’re just fine. Nothing’s changed. We’re still in the same place we were a few minutes ago. The only difference is that we might be here for a little longer.”
“Right. Okay.” She inhaled deeply through her nose and exhaled slowly as she tried to get herself under control.
I tapped our joined hands against my leg before running my thumb against the smooth skin of her wrist. “Let’s get your mind off of it?”
“How?”
“Let’s get to know each other a little better. How else am I going to convince you to go on a date with me?”
The corner of her lips tilted up. “That is a good question.” Her eyes stayed trained on mine, but she relaxed back into my side. Where she belonged. “Okay. What do you want to know?” She motioned with her free hand, which caused the bucket to rock. She grappled for the lap bar again, eyes bulging. My lips twitched.