Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
The words fell out of Leo’s mouth before he could stop them, and now they were out there, between him and Amelia, impossible to take back.
But how could he want to take them back? What he wanted was Amelia by his side, forever. Every night. Every morning. Every day. He wanted her laughs and her scowls. He wanted her sudoku skills. He wanted her pleasure-drunk expressions when she ate the center swirl of a cinnamon bun.
He was desperately, foolishly in love with her.
“What?” she answered, blinking rapidly.
He fumbled in his pockets and pulled out the ring. He didn’t even have a box for it, useless man that he was. He just held it between his thumb and forefinger and thrust it at Amelia’s chest. “Take it. It’s yours.”
“Leo, slow down.”
“This is so romantic,” the hostess swooned behind him. A smattering of applause sounded around the restaurants, quickly hushed by Amelia’s friends as they crept closer, listening in.
Leo didn’t know how he’d convinced Amelia’s friends to tell him where Amelia was. He’d banged on the bakery door and waited for a startled Camilla to show up, then he’d poured his heart out to her. Somehow, she’d been swayed.
Now he needed to do the same thing once more—but the stakes were so much higher.
“Amelia,” Leo said, voice raw. “I love you. I love you more than I thought was possible. I’m so sorry I pushed you away. I know I acted like an ass. I asked you to come to my company retreat with me and then I left you at your door like nothing had passed between us, but I was lying to you—lying to myself. I fell in love with you. I fell in love with your eyes and your eyebrows?—”
“You fell in love with my eyebrows?”
“And the way you laugh. Kissing you is a revelation. I’ve never felt the kind of connection I feel with you. You make me want to be a better man. If I were decent, I would wait until I could prove to you that I’ve changed, but this is me, and I have to tell you how much I need you. I love you, Amelia. I love you so much I’m in pain when I think about it. I love you so much that I wish I could tear my heart out and give it to you. So take this.” He thrust the ring at her chest again. “Please, Amelia.”
“Leo, we’ve known each other two weeks.”
Gasps echoed around the room.
Panic nipped at Leo’s chest. “I know.” He sighed, then scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Shit. I don’t?—”
A soft palm slid over his jaw. Amelia tilted his head up so she could meet his gaze again. “I can’t marry you, Leo. Not when we don’t really know each other.”
His heart cracked, a deep fault line he knew would never heal.
“But,” Amelia continued, voice tentative, “I…I love you too. And you don’t need to change yourself for me, because I love you exactly the way you are.”
“But you won’t marry me?” His voice was small and thin.
Amelia’s lips curled into a smile. “Well, we’ve known each other two weeks. How about you wait two more and ask me then? And if I still say no, you could wait two more. Give us time to think about it. Get to know all my horrible habits.”
Happiness was a nuclear explosion in Leo’s chest. “I love your horrible habits.”
She laughed. “Slow down, cowboy.” Her eyes were glassy. With a tremulous smile, she brought her lips to his and kissed him softly, tenderly. When she pulled away to the sound of polite (if slightly confused) applause from other patrons, Amelia wiped a tear from her eyes. She glanced down at the ring in his hands. “You kept it. Did you go back to the jeweler and buy the ring just for this?”
Leo sighed. He might as well come clean about it. “This is my grandmother’s ring,” he admitted. “It’s one of the only things I kept after Marlon bought my share of the house.”
Amelia’s eyes widened. “And you let me wear it all week?”
“It belonged to you the moment you put it on, love,” he whispered. Gulping, he grabbed her right hand. “How about until you officially say yes, you wear it on your right ring finger?”
As tears coursed down Amelia’s face, she let out a little squeak. “Okay,” she whispered.
“You just have to promise not to shake hands with any old ladies.”
Snort-laughing, Amelia let him slide the ring on her right ring finger. “And stay away from squirrel-chasing chihuahuas.”
Once the ring was firmly back where it belonged, Amelia flung her arms around his shoulders. He stood, holding her, feeling like he was floating on air.
She felt perfect there, in his arms, exactly where he needed her. He inhaled the scent of her skin, her hair, then pulled away and kissed her long and slow and deep, not caring that they were in the middle of a restaurant and he’d just interrupted her date.
“I love you,” he whispered against her lips.
“And I love you,” she answered. “You nutter.”
Laughing, Leo turned to Ben. “Sorry, buddy. She’s mine.”
Ben grinned. “We already decided to friend zone each other.”
“But in a nice way,” Amelia added. “It’s a compliment.”
“Yeah.” Ben nodded. “We’re happy about it. And I’m happy for you.”
Leo assuaged the tiny twinge of guilt in his heart by paying for the dinner Amelia and Ben had eaten. He shook the other man’s hand, then wrapped his arm around Amelia’s waist and led her out of the restaurant. They enjoyed the cool evening breeze on their way back to Amelia’s building, only stopping six times along the way for impromptu kisses and makeout sessions on street corners.
Leo’s heart soared. He touched her like a man starved. He held her face, stroked her skin, wrapped his arms around her waist, and tugged her close. She was his—she would be his—forever.
“I love you,” he told her for the thousandth time, which made her laugh.
“You mentioned that,” she teased.
“And I’ll keep saying it.”
When they got to Amelia’s building, she paused at the front door. Keys in hand, she gazed at him curiously, then touched the ring on her right hand. “This proposal,” she started, “it’s not just a ploy to continue your cover story, is it?”
Leo’s heart ached. He’d put those doubts in her head. This was his fault. Sliding his hands over her cheeks, he lifted her face until their eyes met. “I came clean to Fred this week,” he admitted, “and Fred already knew we weren’t really engaged.”
“And he was okay with it?”
Leo grinned, smug. “He could tell you were in love with me the whole time.”
“Oh, wow, I just got a call from NASA, and they said they can see your ego from outer space.”
Laughing, he slid his hand to her nape and pulled her in for a hard kiss. She tasted perfect and sweet and his. Heart soaring, he curled his other hand around her waist and pulled her tight, only coming up for breath when his chest heaved.
“I did, you know,” Amelia whispered.
“Did what?”
“I loved you the whole time. I know you think you need to change who you are to become worthy of me, but that’s just bullshit, Leo. It’s like what you told me when I was trying to learn how to flirt. I like you because you’re you. And you’re more than an old nickname, more than your past. You’re a strong, complicated man who makes me laugh, who sees the real me no matter how much I try to hide.”
A shuddering breath escaped his lips, and he wrapped his arms around Amelia and held her tight. Finally, she wiggled free and opened the door. They rushed upstairs and into her apartment, and they made it all the way to the sofa where they’d first kissed before falling in each other’s arms.
Leo made sure to show Amelia just how happy he was to be with her again until the only word she could speak was his name.
Boneless, Amelia stared at the ceiling and let out a happy sigh. Leo’s fingers trailed over her arm, up and down, soothing. She was collapsed on his chest, both their bodies sticky and sated.
Sex with Leo was explosive, passionate, and perfect. She’d never tire of it.
Pressing a kiss to his chest, she snuggled against him as he reached for the remote and flicked on the television.
“I’ll get up in a bit,” he promised. “I just need a minute.”
“Same.”
“Hey, Amelia?”
“Mm?”
“Will you marry me?”
“I said two more weeks, not two hours,” she mock-grumbled, trying to hide her smile, but her gaze slid to the ring snug on her third finger. It was still on her right hand, but she already knew she’d move it to her left sooner rather than later.