The Final Chapter
Roman pulled his car up at Cami's house and went to the door. She opened it up with a big smile and his daughter playing happily in her arms. Roman took his daughter and held her close to him, breathing in her sweet baby scent and kissing her soft cheeks.
He played with her for a little while, and then her Auntie Janine showed up, and Roman smiled thankfully at her and took Cami out to his car with him.
She got in and was quiet for a few minutes and then her curiosity got the better of her. "Where is it that we are going?" she asked. "You seem so full of mystery tonight!"
He only smiled at her and said, "I'm keeping my word to you."
She shook her head at him. "I don't know what you are talking about, but I trust you implicitly, and I'll say this, too. I've never seen you as happy as you are right now, so whatever it is that you have up your sleeve is fine with me. I don't care what it is, if it makes you this happy, it's fine with me." She grinned at him and he took her hand in his and lifted her fingers to his mouth, kissing them softly before letting go of her hand.
The touch of his lips on her fingers made her catch her breath, but she told herself she had to focus on being friends with him. She could not ever afford herself the luxury of feeling what he really made her feel, because he was married and that was just the way that it was.
They curved down a long and winding private road with enormous trees lining both sides of it, and finally came to a stop at a boat house and a huge cabin. He helped her out of the car and they walked around the boat house and there before them, was the yacht that had carried them down to Mexico and back.
Cami gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my gosh! I didn't think I was ever really going to see it again! How in the world is it here?" She looked at Roman.
"You know the owner? They are letting you use it?" she asked with exhilaration.
He chuckled and took her by the hand, leading her to the boat. He helped her on deck and then he walked over to the main cabin door and unlocked it.
"I do know the owner." he said. "I know him very well, and I think you do too."
He turned on the lights and there in the main dining area, was the table all set up with taper candles and vases of red roses everywhere. The staff was lined up, resplendent in their uniforms, smiling. Then they dispersed themselves unobtrusively and returned to their duties.
Roman walked over to the stereo and turned it on, and soft romantic violin music began to play over the speakers. Then he walked to the table and lit the candles all over it, and all over the other areas of the dining room until it was aglow in candlelight, and then he turned the lights off and walked over to Cami, taking her hands in his.
She hesitated, looking around her and paused where she stood. "Roman, this looks amazing... in fact, I don't think I've ever seen anything more beautiful in my life, but we said we were going to be friends. We said we were going to try as hard as we could to just be friends. This is incredible, but this doesn't feel like friends to me." She spoke softly, looking up at him with sad eyes through her thick lashes.
He placed his hands on her shoulders and smiled at her. "Well, my life has taken a few turns this last week. Denise has moved out and we are in the middle of a divorce. It will be official in about five weeks, maybe less if my attorney makes himself worth the money I pay him."
Cami stared at him with wide eyes full of surprise. "You're kidding!" she said in shock. "That's... that's unbelievable! What happened?"
Roman shook his head. "It ended. Actually, I ended it much later than I should have ended it. It should have been over years ago."
Cami nodded and looked at him in sympathy for a moment, and then looked around the room they were in, feeling the music and candlelight work their magic on her.
"...and this?" she asked, hesitantly still.
Roman slipped his finger beneath her chin and lifted her face to look into his. "I don't want to be just friends with you anymore. I don't think I could possibly manage it."
Cami's heart began to pound. She was sure she hadn't heard him correctly, but she thought she might as well pretend anyway, because she was standing in the best dream she had ever known. "Why couldn't you manage it?" she whispered to him as he leaned so close to her that their lips were a breath apart from one another.
He smiled at her and ran his other finger down the side of her cheek. "Don't you know, beautiful lady? I couldn't possibly manage to be just your friend because I'm in love with you. I want to be much more than just your friend."
Cami gasped and stared at him, and before she could respond, he closed the gap between them, pulling her to him in a warm embrace, and pressing his lips to hers in a tender kiss. She closed her eyes and let him steal her away from herself as he moved his mouth over hers, tasting her and igniting every fire within her as he made her melt in his arms.
When he lifted his mouth from hers and looked into her eyes, she tried to remember how to breathe, and when she could, she whispered, "Roman, I love you, too. I just couldn't help it, it happened. I've tried to talk myself out of it so many times, but you took my heart a year ago when I gave it to you, and I just don't know how to ask for it back. If you're going to keep it safe and love me, I don't want it back, you can have it forever."
He grinned at her. "Good. That's just about the time frame I had in mind."
Roman let his arms fall away from her and slowly descended to one knee, holding her hand in his. He kissed each of her fingers slowly and delicately, and then he pulled a box from his pocket and opened it before her, as he knelt there at her feet.
"Give me every day of the rest of your life, and even though I know it will never be enough for me, I promise to give you all the best of me as long as we live, and more than that, to give our daughter, and all of our future children, all of the best of me as well. Be my soul mate, Camille, be my love and be my best friend. Marry me."
Cami couldn't even begin to try to breathe. She stared down at the gorgeous man who was kneeling before her holding up a box with the biggest diamond ring she had ever seen in her life nestled into it, and he was proposing that she spend the rest of her life with him. He had even mentioned having other children. It was more than she had ever allowed herself to imagine and it was all she could do to hold her emotions back enough that only a few tears fell.
She got down on her knees and faced him, eye to eye, and kissed him softly. "I could ask for nothing more in my life that would make me happier than spending every day of it with you and our children." She kissed him again and smiled at him through happy tears. "Yes, I will marry you. I love you." she whispered, and he kissed her back and held her close to him for a long moment, then he lifted her to her feet and placed the ring on her left finger.
It was another long weekend on the boat for them, making love, eating, relaxing, making love, sailing, and making love, and when they came back three days later, they found that Janine had taken excellent care of Emma, who was ecstatic to see her parents.
Denise signed off on the paperwork immediately, taking the money that Roman had offered her and running with it. They never heard from her again.
Cami and Roman were married five months later in a beautiful private ceremony on their yacht, with all their close friends and family in attendance. It was a lovely wedding which was officiated by the very good Captain Heatherwick, who could not have been happier to see the two of them together.
They honeymooned in Mexico and then sailed on the yacht with their daughter to Hawaii and the South Pacific on an extended tour. They knew that the business was in good hands with Janine and Allen.
A year later, Cami and Roman welcomed a son, and then two years after that, another daughter. In all of their long days together, spent in happiness over their lifetimes, both of them said that they never knew more blissful days than all of the days they had spent with each other, loving one another, raising their children, and living a life that must have been the sweetest of dreams.
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Message From The Author:
Hiii
I really hope you enjoyed my book and if you like what you read then check out all my other books, you can view them by going to my
Alexis x x
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