“I am serious with him,” she said, the walls spinning around her. Once upon a time, she would’ve given everything to hear these words from him. But it was too late. She’d moved on. From Cameron and with someone else. With Caden. “We’ve been apart for three years, too. A lot has changed.”
Cam stepped closer. “How I feel about you hasn’t changed. Or maybe it has. It’s gotten stronger. I have a good lead on a position in DC when my fellowship ends. I want to try for that position and move down there. I want to be with you. I want us to start over and build the life together we should’ve already had.”
“You’re not listening—”
“I am. I hear you. You think you’re serious about this guy. But he’s the blink of an eye compared to how long we’ve known each other. If you gave us a chance—”
Makenna stepped back, away from his intensity, away from his touch, away from these words that tormented her only because they no longer mattered. And once they would’ve meant the world. There was a sadness in that that hurt. A lot.
He moved with her, staying close. “Please, give us a chance. Give me a chance.” He pulled something from his pocket. A ring box. “I still have it,” he said, cracking the velvet top open to reveal a stunning emerald-cut diamond in a magnificent setting. She remembered how beautiful it looked on her hand. “I would give anything to be able to earn my way back into your heart, to have the chance to hear you say again that you would marry me.”
Swallowing around the knot in her throat, Makenna closed the ring box in his hands. “Cameron, I appreciate what you’re saying. I do. But I moved on. You made your choice and I made mine. And three years have passed. Caden and I haven’t been together very long, but that bears no relationship to how much I care about him. I can’t turn that off, and I don’t want to,” she said. She didn’t want to hurt Cameron’s feelings, in fact she hated that her words might hurt him, but he’d waited too long. Damnit, that wasn’t her fault.
Cam clasped his hands around hers. “Don’t say no. Please. Just think about what I’m saying. I’ll wait. I’ll wait as long as you need to figure things out.” Desperation shaped his classical features into a tortured mask she’d never before seen him wear, and it made her realize how sincere he was being just then. Which meant he really had grown up a lot since they’d split.
Her heart ached for what they might’ve been. “I don’t think I need to think about it, Cam.”
“I’ll wait, Makenna. Because I love you,” he gave a helpless shrug. “I’ve loved you so much of my life.”
She’d said those words to him once, but now when she thought of love it was Caden’s face that came to mind. Caden’s touch. Caden’s eyes. “Where were you three years ago, or even two?”
He shook his head. “So lost. Clearly. Just think about it, okay?”
Her shoulders sagged. She didn’t want to fight with him. She didn’t want to hurt him. And she didn’t want to ruin Thanksgiving. What was she supposed to say? “Okay,” Makenna blurted, already mentally drafting the email where she told him they were through, for good.
She inhaled to say more when Cameron suddenly stepped fully into her space and pressed his lips to hers. Makenna was so stunned it took her a moment to realize what had happened.
She wrenched back and glared. “Don’t. You know what? I don’t need to think about this. I meant what I said. I’m with Caden right now. I have no intention of stopping being with him because we’ve had this talk.”
He held up his hands. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I understand. I just…I just miss you.”
“I need to get back downstairs now,” Makenna said, and without another word, she slipped around him and padded down the steps.
And then she locked herself inside the hall bathroom, pressed her back against the door, and slapped her hand over her mouth. What the hell just happened?
*
“Okay,” Makenna had said. And with just that one word, Caden’s whole world tilted on its axis and sent everything reeling.
He bolted from where he’d been standing near the bottom of the steps, having gone looking for Makenna to see if she wanted anything before he made himself a turkey sandwich. And he’d overheard her entire conversation with Cameron. The guy missed her, loved her, and wanted her back—well, that much had been clear most of the day, hadn’t it?