Page 65 of The Sweetest Mistake

Julia smelled a rat—a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, conniving rat! She wouldn’t put it past Cam to try to get pregnant so she could keep Connor tied to her. What would have happened if he hadn’t caught Cam canoodling with her boss? They might still be together—Cam, Connor, and Ava.

“Hey,” he said, sitting up beside her. “It doesn’t really matter anymore, does it? I made a mistake, and I’ve paid for it. Plus, I almost lost you in the process.”

Julia shook her head vehemently.

“You disagree?”

“You can’t view Ava as a mistake. She’s lovely, and she’s yours. If she was a mistake, she’s the sweetest mistake there ever was.”

Leaning forward, he gently kissed her lips. “You know what? You’re right. From now on, that’s how I’m going to think of it.”

“Just don’t ever tell her that,” Julia said solemnly. “Nobody wants to think they were a mistake.”

Taking her hand in his, he kissed the back of it. “Hopefully, you’ll always be around to remind me.” And before she could respond, he tumbled back on the bed, taking her down with him.

An hour later, they were in the kitchen eating the sandwiches and potato chips they’d bought earlier.

“I need to leave early tomorrow morning,” Connor said in between bites of his Italian sub.

“I figured.”

“Finn will have my ass if I keep missing work like this. Especially now, when it’s so busy.”

“I’ll probably head back too, even though Harper won’t expect me at work for a couple days.” Plus, now that she and Connor had reconciled, there was no reason to stay away. Maybe they could come back again during the summer under better circumstances, which gave her an idea…

“Hey. Maybe we could bring Ava up here sometime. Just the three of us for a weekend.”

Connor smiled, a dollop of dressing on his lower lip that Julia wanted to lick off. “That’s a great idea as long as Cam agrees.”

At least this time, she didn’t wince when he said Cam’s name. Progress. “Why wouldn’t she? She’s your child too.”

“I know, but I still have to respect Cam’s feelings, Jules.”

“I understand.” But she didn’t try to hide her disappointment. It sucked that they’d have to check with Cam whenever they wanted to spend time with Ava.

Reaching across the table, Connor rubbed his thumb across her cheek. “Maybe we could start smaller and work up to it. What do you say?”

“Sure.” Because what other choice do I have?

The rest of the evening was pure bliss. After they finished eating, they spent the next two hours lounging on the deck, sitting side by side, holding hands, and talking.

“When we get home, I’m going to have a talk with Cam,” Connor said, looking out over the lake.

“Sounds scary.”

He chuckled. “I want to make it clear to her that there’s no chance of us getting back together. I’m not going to let her manipulate me anymore.”

Julia gave his hand a squeeze. “And I’m going to have a heart-to-heart with my dad. He needs to stop trying to reunite Alec and me and acknowledge that I’m with you now.”

“Sounds like we have our work cut out for us.”

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Oh God. Now I sound like a cross-stitch saying!

“At least we have a few people on our side.”

“You mean Harper and Finn?”

“And Liam and my parents.”