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Unless…
Unless this whole date was a ruse. A way to show me that I have something better waiting for me. A way to show me that I don’t need to marry someone rich, someone of note. Maybe my father has been sending me another message entirely.
That if I want to marry for love, then I have to go out and find it.
And I know exactly where it is.
“Claudia, I’m leaving,” I say abruptly, standing from my chair. She looks horrified.
“You’re surely not going to leave me alone at dinner?”
“I know why you’re here,” I growl. “You don’t want me, you want everything that the clause would promise you. But you’re wrong if you think you’d get anything out of marrying me. The clause states that I have to marry for love, not marry some gold digger who just wants to see how deep my pockets are. I see through you, Claudia. Go and find some other rich fool to mess with.”
“Darling, come back! L-let’s talk this over...” she stutters.
But I’m already striding away. I have no idea if I’m doing the right thing, or whether I’ve interpreted my father right, but I can’t stand the idea of spending the rest of my life with a woman like Claudia. Not when the love of my life is so close to home and so willing to be mine. Not when I have a perfect life with her mapped out even if I lose my entire inheritance. I’m not too old to start again. I won’t be able to give her everything that I want to give her right away. It’ll be a riches to rags story, and it’ll take a long time to recover from that.
But it’ll be worth it. Amelia is worth risking everything. I have to get back to her. I have to find her and confess everything I’ve been keeping inside. I have to let her know just how special she really is before it’s too late.
I step outside the restaurant and hail a cab.
“Get me home fast,” I growl as I get in the cab, tossing a handful of bills onto the front seat. “Don’t waste a second of time.”
The taxi driver does as I ask, speeding off down the road as fast as the speed limit will allow. I feel agitated, my entire body stiff with anticipation. Every possessive bone in my body wants me home right now, telling Amelia exactly what I want. I want to rip every layer of clothing off her and finally indulge in these desires that we’ve been hiding fighting so long. I just hope she’s still there, waiting for me. I wouldn’t blame her if she decided she’d had enough and upped and left. I know she’s been waiting as long as I have for a moment like this, and now she saw me leaving the house with another woman…
I hope she still wants me. I hope she can forgive me for being such a fool by trying to fulfill my father’s last wish by going on this stupid date. I hope I can make it up to her, with my mouth all over her body. It’s our time now. It’s time to leave everything else behind. It’s time to put my focus where it belongs.
On her and nothing else.
Chapter Six
Amelia
I can barely believe what I just saw. Leo and that beautiful older woman leaving the house hand in hand...I thought I had him figured out. I thought I knew what he wanted. But maybe I read it all wrong. Maybe I believed what I wanted to believe. I thought he knew that I wanted to explore things with him. But now, I’m the one here alone. Now, I’m the one who looks like a fool.
I’m holding back tears as I head back to my bedroom. I know now that I have to go. He’s never going to want me the way I want him. I have to leave this house and never return because I can feel my heart breaking more with each step I take.
Love is cruel. Love is painful. I never expected to be this floored by it, but it’s taken over my life. I’ve been kidding myself for too long that a man like Leo would ever want me. He wants someone like that beautiful woman who just took him out for dinner. I’ll never be rich or beautiful or as gifted as I need to be to entice a man like Leo. Why have I tortured myself for so long, convincing myself that I stand a chance when I’m just someone’s maid and nothing more?
I feel sick to my stomach. I’m so angry with myself. I need to pack a bag and get the hell out. I have no idea where I’m going to go or what I’m going to do, but anything has to be better than staying here, knowing I’ll never be loved the way I want to be loved.
