Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
Still lazy with the last embers of sleep, Leo lay on the bed and listened to Amelia move around the bathroom, humming to herself as she got ready for the day. He let a smile play on his lips as he closed his eyes, enjoying the quiet moment after the chaos of the last few days. His face was still sore from its introduction to Ari’s fists, but enduring the pain was worth it. They’d found the ring. Cora had been taken away by the cops. He’d spent the night with the woman he loved, he’d opened up to her, and he’d made her cry out his name over and over again. All was well that ended well.
Today, Leo would drive Amelia back to her apartment and tell her he wanted more. He’d tell her what existed between them was real. He wanted every night to be spent beside Amelia, holding her in his arms. He’d work up the courage to tell her how he felt. He’d tell her that he knew he didn’t deserve someone as intelligent and driven and beautiful as she was, but he was willing to become a better man for her. He’d move to Stirling to be nearer to her, and they’d make it work.
A ding drew him from his musings. He glanced at the bedside table and saw Amelia’s phone screen light up with a new notification.
He wasn’t snooping. Truly. He wasn’t the type of person to go looking through someone’s private things…but it was right there on the screen.
Ben’s name.
Been meaning to ask , the barista wrote. Would you like to grab dinner with me next weekend? There’s a good tapas place…
The rest of the message cut off. Leaning on his side, staring at the phone on the nightstand, Leo’s heart thundered. Reality crashed into him like he’d lost a high-speed game of chicken with a concrete wall. He stared at the message until the phone went dark, then kept staring at the black screen.
He thought he would tell Amelia how he felt? Was he delusional? How could he ask her out when their relationship was built on this stupid exchange of favors? Could he even call it a relationship?
She had other prospects. Better prospects. She had a whole world of men who would soon discover how incredible she was, and Leo wouldn’t come up to scratch. Sourness coated the back of his throat as the realization sank down, down, down to the pit of his stomach.
Whatever happened last night, the night before, or during any of the past seven days, the truth remained unchanged: Leo wasn’t good enough for Amelia. Never would be.
The bathroom door opened and Leo straightened, his mouth dry, his heart pounding. Panic and pain warred within him, closing his throat so tight he couldn’t utter a word.
“Hey,” Amelia said as she came closer. “Are you okay?”
She stood in front of him wearing nothing but a towel, her hair damp and hanging around her face. Leo straightened and she approached, putting her hands on his shoulders. The weight of them was slight, but they felt more solid than anything Leo had experienced before.
But he had no right to that touch. No right to ask Amelia to put the rest of her life on hold while he figured his shit out. She deserved a guy who could keep up with her. Whether or not that was Ben the Barista, Leo didn’t know. But it sure as hell wasn’t him.
“Leo,” Amelia said, concerned. “Talk to me.”
It was their last morning. These were the last few hours he had with her, the last time he could claim her full attention. Despicable man that he was, he let his hands curl around the backs of her thighs. “I’m fine,” he grated, and he slid his palms up to the sweet little crease where her legs met her bottom. His thumbs rubbed her hips, and he relished the fluttering of her lashes. His touch did that to her. For today, at least, his touch brought her pleasure.
“We have an hour before we need to be downstairs,” Amelia whispered, climbing onto the bed to straddle him. “Why don’t we make the most of it?”
He shouldn’t. He couldn’t.
But he would.
A gasp was wrenched from Amelia’s lips when Leo ripped the towel off. He tossed it aside like it had personally offended him and let his hands coast up her sides, moving up to palm her breasts with a rough, possessive touch.
“You want me?” he asked, voice dark.
A thrill shot through her as her lids fluttered closed. He was so sexy when he used that tone. She’d never tire of it. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, her core already growing wet for him. “Yes, I want you. So bad, Leo.”
Who was this woman that was using Amelia’s mouth to speak? Surely it wasn’t Amelia demanding pleasure, confident enough in herself to straddle a man and grind herself against him? The thought made her lips curl. Leo hadn’t followed her spreadsheet cell by cell, but he’d certainly shown her what was inside her all along.
“You like slumming it with me?” Before Amelia could answer, Leo flipped her onto her back, pinning her arms to the side. “You like getting dirty with a guy like me?”
Amelia’s brows shot together. That didn’t sound right. “W-what?”
Leo’s expression was stark. She only saw it for a moment before he dropped his head to her neck and began to kiss her. His hand slid between her legs.
“Wait, Leo. What did you mean, slumming?—”
Her words died when he slid a finger inside her, his thumb teasing her clit. She moaned.
“Love hearing those noises from you,” he said, lips brushing her ear. “Love knowing I’m doing it to you.”
“It feels so good.” She spread her legs wider as he teased her clit before sliding his finger back inside.
“One last time,” he whispered, almost too quiet for her to hear. His lips pressed against her neck, body trembling above hers.
She frowned, stilling, then pushed at Leo’s shoulders. “One last time?” She pushed harder. “What are you talking about?”
Propping himself on his hands, Leo leaned above her and looked down. Amelia didn’t recognize the man staring back at her. “After this morning, our arrangement will be done. You’ll be free. You won’t have to waste your time with me.”
She blinked, then immediately clamped her legs closed. Ice water jetted through her veins as she tried to find the tender, loving man who had opened his heart to her last night. That man was gone. “Done?” Amelia whispered.
“Isn’t that what you wanted?”
She shoved him away, wriggled off the bed, and picked her towel up off the floor. Whirling back to face him, Amelia clutched the terrycloth to her chest and stared. “No! What I want is for you to stop acting like some shameless playboy. I want the real you, Leo. The man who was with me last night. The man I got to know all week.”
He sat on the edge of the bed and spread his arms. “There’s only me, Amelia. Those two men are one and the same.”
“No.” She shook her head. “You don’t get to push me away and put on that stupid persona. Not with me, Leo. Not after everything we’ve shared.”
“We fucked, Amelia. That’s it. Isn’t that what you wanted? You can think about this week and be confident that you’re good in bed. Now go forth and find a man to make your boyfriend. Ben the Barista is just waiting for you to say the word.”
His words hurt . He sat wearing pajama pants and nothing else, his bare toes curled into the rug on the floor, his green eyes pale and so, so bleak.
“What if I want you?” Amelia whispered.
For a moment, it looked like Leo’s expression would crack completely. But he dropped his eyes and clenched his fists, then stood up. “I can’t be the man you need, Amelia.”
“Leo, stop it.” Her voice was stern. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“I’m being real .” His voice was harsh. She flinched, then watched him walk away.
She watched his broad back disappear behind the bathroom door, her whole body shaking. She’d thought… She’d thought what they had was the real thing. She’d thought they’d moved past the stupid fake fiancée deal days ago!
Leo thought he wasn’t the man she needed, but he was wrong. Wrong .
But did it matter? If he didn’t want to be with her, could she convince him otherwise?
Last night, she’d thought they’d connected on a deeper level. There had been no spreadsheet, no pretense. They’d shared a physical and emotional intimacy that she’d never experienced before.
To Amelia, that had been the start of something special—but maybe to Leo, it had been the end.
A tear left a hot trail down her cheek. She brushed it away with furtive movements, then sniffled once and pulled on her clothes. Her movements became more and more frantic until she was shoving her clothes in her suitcase and scanning the room for anything else she needed to pack. By the time Leo was out of the bathroom, his hair still wet from the shower and his lips set in a grim line, Amelia was zipping up her suitcase and placing it by the door.
“I’ll wait downstairs,” she said to the wall, then left Leo in the room and closed the door without looking back.
The next hour was torture. Amelia forced herself to paint a cheery smile on her face while she greeted everyone and subsequently said goodbye. By the time Leo came downstairs and the staff brought their bags to the foyer, her cheeks were sore from holding up her smile. She waved goodbye to everyone, hugged Nadia, kissed Percival’s cheek, then got in the passenger’s seat of Leo’s car and slumped down in her seat.
It wasn’t until they pulled up outside her apartment that she spoke. “Thanks for the lift,” she said. Pulling the ring off her finger, she handed it over to Leo. “Here.”
He was careful not to touch her fingers when he took the ring from her grasp. He didn’t meet her gaze. He just nodded and said nothing.
Amelia waited a beat, then two. Maybe he would say something, apologize, fix this…
But he just lifted his gaze to hers. “Thank you for everything, Amelia.”
His voice was painfully tender. His eyes were stark.
It sounded like goodbye.
Amelia’s eyes watered as she got her bag out of the trunk, but she didn’t cry until she was safely behind her apartment door.