The Real

And he did. Again, and again, and again. I wanted to regret the wait. I wanted so much to hate myself for depriving us of what we both so clearly wanted, but I knew it was the right call. Because it was all there. All of it. There was nothing awkward about it, no second-guessing, and no hesitation. It was simply us, and most definitely an introduction, a declaration, and a promise.

When he pulled away, he trailed hot kisses to my ear. “Jesus, I never want to stop kissing you.”

“I need you to kiss me exactly like you just did, every time you kiss me.”

He grinned down at me, but I wasn’t smiling.

“I’m dead serious.”

?

??I know you are,” he said with a smirk. “And now I’ve got leverage. You love my tongue.”

“I do,” I admitted, leaning in to suck on the bottom lip I’d been dreaming about for what seemed like forever. Now that I had his touch, I never wanted to be without it.

“Filthy girl,” he said with a lift of his husky voice before our tongues dueled again.

When we reluctantly pulled away, I whispered to him as he rubbed his knuckles seductively down my sides. “Where in the hell have you been, Cameron?”

“Hard up in the desert of no man’s land on the other side of a macaroni table.”

He was exasperated because of our distance, and I was just as ready for the space to disappear. And in a matter of minutes, with his lips on mine, that space had disintegrated. Our reward was the other. Enamored, I stood beneath his watchful eyes as we feasted.

“But, Abbie, it was worth it,” he whispered. “I would do it again. I would do it all over again.”

“Me too.”

We shared a smile as he jutted his chin toward the coffee shop. “You want to go in?”

“No way.” I shook my head. “Take me anywhere.”

He lifted a brow. “You sure about that?”

“Positive.”

He took my hand and led us toward the unknown.

Cameron slid his thumb over the top of my hand before he squeezed it.

“Are you ready?”

“Hell no. No.” I shook my head adamantly. “I’ll just wait back here for you.”

“Nope, we’re doing it,” he said. My whole body trembling with fear, he took the first step onto the glass.

“Oh, shit,” I squeaked out as the line behind us laughed at my outburst. We stepped out onto the glass deck, 1,353 feet in the air, while I kept my eyes tightly shut.

“We’re out,” he said. “Open your eyes, Abbie.”

I cracked one open and took a hesitant peek.

“Okay, that’s good enough, right?” I said, anxious to retreat into the building.

“Nope,” he said as he moved us further out onto the Skydeck, and I reluctantly followed.

We were at the top of the Willis Tower, which everyone still referred to as the Sears Tower. My erratic pulse only intensified as Cameron leaned forward, placing his forehead on the glass to hold all his weight.

“Oh, you’re crazy,” I said as I took a step back. He tugged me forward by our clasped hands.