I nod. “I’m going to be honest. I grew up on a ranch. I don’t really do fancy.” My eyes scan over all the dresses. “I don’t even know where to begin with all of this.”
“That’s why we’re here,” Emma says energetically, pulling a clementine-orange dress from the racks. “Okay, well, this is an immediate no,” she notes, shoving it back into the mountain of silk and tulle.
Margo turns to the guys. “Okay, you two can go. Make yourself useful and make us some dinner.”
Camden cocks his head to the side. “I’d envisioned taking Pippa out somewhere tonight. There’s a few places I want to show her.”
Margo shakes her head. “No. She traveled all day; there’s an event tomorrow. Give the girl some peace and let her chill here tonight. There’s plenty of time to show her around the best city in the world tomorrow.”
“Now, go make us some food. The both of you, shoo!” Emma claps her hands together, dismissing them without any kind of afterthought as she turns back to the rack of clothes. Margo joins her, looking at the dresses on the one next to her.
“You good?” Camden asks, leaning down to place a kiss to my lips.
I nod. “We’re good in here. Go make me food.”
“See you in a bit, shortcake,” he says lowly, giving me a wink before following Beck out the door.
When I turn to face Margo and Emma, I find them both grinning ear to ear, looking at me.
“What?” I ask, confused as to why they’re both staring at me.
“Oh, he’s so gone for you,” Emma teases.
48
CAMDEN
“How do you feel about surprises?” I ask Pippa as I lead her into the elevator. We landed in New York yesterday, and I want to show her as much as I can before we fly back to Sutten tomorrow.
She gives me a sweet smile, tucking a strand of curled hair behind her ear. “It depends on what the surprise is,” she answers, molding her body to mine the moment the penthouse elevator doors close.
I wrap my hands around the back of her neck, savoring the moment with her. I liked waking up with her in my bed. I liked both of us sitting at my kitchen island as Kiley, one of my personal chefs, made us breakfast. I liked lounging around the table late into the night last night as we spent time with my friends. Pippa fit in perfectly with them, and I went to bed thinking how easy it was to imagine her in my life here. How simple it’d be to go back and forth together between our two homes, how amazing that life together would be.
Pippa’s eyes travel over my face as my thumbs brush along her cheeks. She waits for me to respond, but for a moment, I’m too swept up in wanting to ask her what we are. The words to ask her to be my girlfriend are at the tip of my tongue, but I want to do it in some romantic way and not in an empty elevator on a Saturday morning.
“There’s someone I’d like you to meet,” I confess.
“And who is that?”
I play with one of her curled tendrils of hair. I’d never seen her take so long to get ready in the morning, but she’d spent almost an hour carefully curling her hair and applying makeup. It’s something I hadn’t seen her do before. I sat on the edge of the tub, responding to work emails as she got ready, not wanting to be too far from her. The entire time, I wanted to tell her she didn’t have to change anything about her to fit in here. There was no need for her to put on more makeup than normal or do her hair differently than she normally would, but I kept my mouth shut. If she wanted to wake up and get ready before our day, then I’d wait as long as she needed.
“Camden?” she presses, reaching up to run her fingers through my hair. “You there?” she laughs.
I nod, pressing a kiss against the inside of her wrist. “I’d love to introduce you to my gran.”
Her features soften, a timid smile forming on her lips. “I would love to meet her.”
“Yeah?” My heart pounds inside my chest, loud as a drum. In the quiet of the elevator, I’m sure she can hear it. It doesn’t matter to me if she does. I want her to know how excited I am for the two most important people in my life to meet one another.
“I mean, if you want me to, but I don’t want you to feel like I have to meet her. I can always wait if it’s not something—”
I cut her off by placing my lips against hers. She eagerly kisses me back, allowing me to steal whatever she was about to say. Once the kiss slows, I pull away far enough to be able to speak. “There’s nothing I want more,” I answer, a small laugh escaping my throat. “Although it terrifies me for you to meet her.”