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“Leo, I-I don’t know what to do.”
He looked up the length of her body. “Yes, you do. You might have gotten sick or confused or frightened...but you’ve always known what to do. Love me and let me love you. It’s what I was created to do, Amelia.”
“Make love to me, Leo.”
Standing, he took her back to bed and did exactly as she asked. She cried often through the day, certain in her own mind that their time together would end.
No matter how much she wanted him, how much she needed him - and Leo could tell how much she did - she was determined to keep her heart locked away.
It was a fight she wouldn’t win. No matter how many years he waited to hold Amelia the first time or how many they’d been apart, one important thing was exactly the same.
Their bodies were keyed to one another.
Each time her eyes drifted closed, he’d whisper, “Watch me love you, Amelia. Watch me worship your body and see that I don’t care about what you think it’s missing.”
His mother brought up a tray and a basket of drinks when they didn’t emerge for twenty-four hours. Leo greeted her at the door. “I was beginnin’ te worry ye’d killed each other up here. Eat somethin’ and feed that poor darlin’.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Yer towel’s slippin’ son. Close the door.”
Chuckling, he crawled up on the bed with the tray. “She made your favorite. Steak gorgonzola. Looks like she was truly worried we’d starve to death. How many snacks can we possibly consume?”
“All of them. I’m weak from hunger but didn’t want to leave this room.”
He winked. “I like the way you think.”
The silence drew out while they ate but it was comfortable, normal. He could imagine spending moments like this with her for the rest of his life.
As if she heard his thought, she murmured, “You have no idea how many regrets being with me would give you in ten years…”
“You’re right. Because if you’re with me, I won’t have them. Stop being afraid of what you don’t know and embrace what you do know.”
“You make it sound so simple…”
“Nothing has ever been simpler, Amelia.”
Taking a deep breath, she stared at him. “I need you to give me time. My dad…” Amelia broke down and started again. “I need to take care of my dad and-and she’s going to be there. There’s so much to process and this - my time in this room with you - feels like a dream.”
Reaching out, he tucked her hair behind her ear. “Eat. We’ll shower and get dressed, take care of what needs to be done for Gil. Get through one minute at a time together...and then we’re going to figure out the future. Our future, Amelia. We’ve wasted enough time.”
She tugged her lower lip between her teeth. “One minute at a time...”
“That’s the only way to start.”
“First,” she said deadpan, “I’m eating all this food.”
Leo grinned. “Not if I eat it first.”
There was pain.
There was history.
There was also love.
It was a good place to start.
