Chapter 18
18
I’D LIGHT THE MATCH FOR YOU
T he sound of footsteps on the marble floor wrenches me out of a string of emails I’m busy reviewing on my phone. The sight of her never ceases to amaze me. Amelia dressed in date night attire like the night we met and Amelia dressed in work attire moments ago are both beautiful versions of her.
However, Amelia at home like this, comfortable, is breathtaking.
Breaking me from the trance her exposed legs are currently holding me in, she snarls at my staring. “What?” she snaps while pushing her black glasses higher on her nose.
Smiling back at her, “you look cute,” I say as I lean back against the couch lazily. “Like, a baby nerd.” I keep my expression neutral, waiting to see her reaction.
“I don’t think any part of that sentence came out sounding like a compliment the way you probably think it did in your head,” she replies, with obvious annoyance dripping from each word like I had assumed she’d be.
I let out a howl. “Trust me, Princess. It was a compliment.” My eyes fixate at the way her cheeks gain a pink hue. Under the rim of her black glasses, I can see her rose colored cheeks and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t turn me on knowing I can affect her in any way with just words.
Amelia turns away from me quickly, hiding her face from me and walks into the kitchen. “For a person that has to choose their words so carefully for their profession, your choice of verbiage for a compliment needs some serious work,” she teases before unpacking the food from the to-go bags on the counter. She tosses the yuca fries in the air fryer to reheat them and turns on the broiler to make quick work of warming the rest of the food all at once so the fries, chicken, and the other sides will be done at the same time.
Eyeing the considerable amount of food, “when is the party getting here?”
She looks at me genuinely confused by my sarcastic question. “Are there more people you expected?” she asks.
“You tell me, you ordered enough food for a small get together.” I joke while grabbing two plates from the cupboard.
“Well, technically, this is a small get together,” she confirms innocently, swaying her pointer finger to gesture to the two of us.
I take notice of all the food still left over while heating up our two portions, “for someone so small, you have the eyes and stomach of a sumo wrestler.”
Amelia bellows. “I just love food,” she says with a sigh.
The timer goes off and Amelia reaches to remove the food from both the oven and the air fryer before plating our dinners. I notice she’s decided against any alcohol for the night and pours two glasses of sparkling water for us instead.
“How did Loverboy take to the news of his unrequited love?” I ask her, feeling triumpha nt that she chose being with me tonight instead of him.
“It’s Surfer Boy , and no clue. I broke his heart via text via friend. I did it so indirectly that it really should be considered an art form,” she boasts with a smirk. “How was the merger?”
“It was ok.” I lie.
She places her hand gently over mine, “you can talk to me you know.”
I let out a sigh before divulging. “The deal sucked. Both sides were equally unhappy with the merger even though they needed to do it to keep both companies afloat, but they spent weeks trying to make sure they weren’t the ones that ended up with the short end of the stick. Typical merger.” I scoff at the memory of the last two weeks. “Joke was on them though, the only person that had the short end of the stick was me.”
Her eyebrows pinch together. “Explain.”
“The two companies were both represented by our firm before the merger. One by me and the other by my brother.”
Amelia looks at me and I know that she’s realizing and playing out how the last two weeks of my life have been. I had to work closely with Phil, my brother who betrayed me and destroyed our already rocky relationship so irrevocably I wasn’t sure how we ever could be around each other again, let alone work side by side, and I hadn’t mentioned a word of it to Amelia.
Her delicate hands leave mine to cover her gasp. “Rye, you didn’t tell me.”
“No. I was dealing with it.” I say curtly. Regretting my sharp tone hoping she knows I’m not meaning to direct it at her. “I’m sorry.” Apologizing, I rub my eyes with my thumb and forefinger. A weak attempt at pu shing my frustration out of my mind.
The last few weeks have been rough to say the least. To be in that close proximity to my brother, forced to negotiate amicably while simultaneously wanting to punch him in the face. The only happy distraction I had was Amelia.
“I’m so sorry.” Her angelic voice overpowers the storm brewing in my mind.
“Don’t be. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Although, I admit, I was hoping it would’ve been closer to later.” I flex my jaw so hard I’m going to crack a molar if I don’t stop thinking about it. “At least the bastard had the civility not to bring her up during the time we were forced to be in the same room with one another.” If he had, I don’t know if I would’ve had the willpower to keep from murdering him. Even if he only mentioned her to apologize. Again. “They’re getting married, you know. In two months.”
Amelia’s jaw drops so fast I worry her stone countertop would fracture from the drop.
“My parents asked me to come to the wedding to show support and a unified front of Anderson & Anderson.”
“You don’t need to go. You can stay here.” Bending at the waist, resting her elbows on top of the island, she plops her chin on her folded hands in an innocent gesture.
I would give anything to stay within the walls of Amelia’s home over celebrating the union of my ex and my brother. But I can’t hide from my problems forever. “As enticing as that idea is, I'm afraid I can’t. That would make me look like a coward, and they have a point. Anderson & Anderson was built on a foundation of my grandfather’s core belief, family above all else. To not go would be tainting his legacy, as false as it has become over the years.” I grab the plates from the other side of the island and gesture for her to sit down, “Anyw ay, let’s eat before the food gets cold again.”
Acting on my cue to change the subject, she grabs her plate after taking the seat next to me and begins eating her food. “Thank you.”
“For what?” I ask, confused.
“For saving me from a dreadful evening.” She smiles at me and it twists my heart. Only Amelia could take on the burden of someone else’s problems, then turn around and thank them for something so trivial as having dinner with her.
“Yeah, because the topic of my family problems isn’t a dreadful conversation,” I say with an expressionless face.
Amelia leans over to rest her head on my shoulder. The smell of her hair, an intoxicating scent of rainwater, invades my senses causing me to lose all train of thought. “I will never not want to listen to your problems, Rye.” I lean my head so that it rests above hers without saying anything.
We sit there in silence, my focus solely on the rhythm of her breathing.
“Riley?”
“Yeah?”
“Is it bad to say I wish I could burn down that law firm so that you weren’t so tied to a legacy that doesn’t exist anymore.”
I turn my head slightly to kiss the top of her head. “Can I be honest?” I say, readjusting my head back to its previous position so that I’m resting against her again.
“Always.”
“I’d light the match for you.” We both chuckle at our displays of aggression and I sigh. “Sometimes, I wish the firm had burned down after my grandparent’s accident. That way the legacy he built, while gone, would remain a beacon of everything good he ever di d with his life in memory. Instead of whatever it’s become now.”
I’ve never admitted it before, but that was the truth.
I feel tied to that company because I love my grandparents more than I loathe being part of my family, but it doesn’t bring me comfort being there. I thought it would make me feel closer to them somehow, like walking the walls they built would remind me of them everyday. All it does is remind me that they are gone and their replacements are shallow narcissists who never deserved to take over such a legacy.
Amelia nudges her head against my shoulder like a puppy would. Dragging me from my thoughts.
We sit there again in a familiar silence. Her inhales and exhales causing my head to rise and fall to the rhythm of her breath. The only other motion is the vibration from the whisper of my words. “Thank you, Amelia.”
A smile forms on her face. I can’t see it with the way her head is positioned, but I can feel the slight change in the way the muscles in her face move against my shoulder and all I can do is smile back.
For the first time in weeks, I feel a sense of peace blanket over me. I’ve been a brewing storm of anger and annoyance for so long, but one evening with her, I feel like I can breathe. While there are so many uncertainties surrounding my family and my future, there is one thing I know for certain.
Amelia is my calm in the storm. My sanctuary.