AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was the eyes, I realized as I spoke to her, maintaining eye contact the entire time. The moment I’d met her, I had been instantly transfixed by Amara’s eyes, hypnotized by those pools of liquid honey. Brie was a beautiful girl—all of the Delatou women were—but her pine green gaze simply didn’t cut me the same way as Amara’s golden one did. It was almost easier, I thought, to be making this speech to someone who could easily be Amara but wasn’t. To be explaining to someone else how badly I’d messed up, how I never should’ve gone after her in the first place, and how I should’ve done everything in my power to make sure her tenure as head of the company was a success instead of looking for ways to weaken her leadership.
How I should’ve trusted her, believed in her.
How I should’ve done my goddamn research instead of flinging baseless accusations at her for so long.
“Have I mentioned lately that I’m a fucking idiot?” I asked when I finished.
“Once or twice,” Brie said. “So why aren’t you telling her all of this?”
“She won’t text or call me back. I’m sure your dad would have me arrested if he knew I set foot on CD property earlier when I went looking for you, so I’m not anxious to go back and try again. Short of showing up at her house…”
“Definitely don’t recommend that,” Brie said. “She’d probably beat you over the head with something and throw you in the lake.”
I chuckled, but the thought of Amara causing me physical harm, the thought that she mightwantto, cut right to my heart.
“How is she?” I asked softly.
I didn’t miss the pity in Brie’s eyes as she said, “Okay. Scared.”
I ground my teeth together to avoid shouting that she didn’t have to be scared, that I'd be there every step of the way. Exploding right now wouldn’t do anyone any good. In fact, it would almost certainly have the opposite effect on my bid to win Amara back.
“I love her, Brie.”
“I know,” she said with a sad smile. “But you need to tell her that.”
“That’s why I’m here. I need your help.”
Waiting for the weekend to end was the purest form of torture, mostly because my entire body ached to be near Amara. Knowing she was so close yet I couldn’t touch her, taste her, simply wrap her in my arms and promise her everything would be okay was slowly eating away at my insides.
I was up before the sun on Monday morning—Labor Day—and decided to get up and take Skye for a run, needing to do something to burn off the excess energy burning beneath my skin like an itch I couldn’t scratch.
The Labor Day festivities at the winery were getting started early so that many of the sales team managers who would have a significant distance to travel this afternoon could get home for work tomorrow. I knew from Brie that Amara was kicking off the party with a little speech thanking them all for coming, and that’s when I’d make my move.
The winery had been closed for the day in deference to Amara’s party, and I waited until the last possible second to come out of hiding in the kitchens and take up a spot along the wall.
Amara’s parents stood on a small, raised platform that had been erected at one end of the flagstone patio. To my right was a table laden with all the goodies Brie and Ezra had cooked up, sitting perpendicular to a bar where a tall, blond man poured canned cocktails for the partygoers. Each of the sisters was present, milling about and mingling with the crowd. The excitement and buzz in the air was palpable, and a little bubble of pride rose in my chest. Despite my protests and failure to see the point, she’d pulled off this event perfectly.
Even if I had yet to see evidence she was actually here.
The clinking of a utensil against a glass rang out over the crowd, and everyone turned their attention to the stage, where Leon approached the microphone.
“It’s weird for me to be standing up here knowing I’m no longer the man in charge. This whole speech making thing was my job for so long, so you’ll forgive me if I have difficulty giving it up.” The crowd chuckled indulgently, and Leon grinned. “But damn am I proud of the woman whoisin charge, not only because she’s my daughter, but because she’s accomplished so much in her first three quarters as head of this company, and I know without a doubt that my grandfather’s, father’s, and my legacy are in good hands with her.
“This entire weekend was her idea, and I hope you all had a great time experiencing all we have to offer here at CD. I hope you understand now that this has been and always will be a family run operation from top to bottom, and we’re proud to have your company representing us in the market. I can’t wait to see those Q4 sales reports,” Leon said with a wink. “And now, without further ado, let’s welcome to the stage my daughter and Delatou, Inc. CEO, Amara Delatou!”
Amara stepped to center stage, and I nearly fell to my knees.
My god, she was stunning. I didn’t know if it was simply because I hadn’t seen her in a while or if she was already getting that pregnancy glow people were always talking about, but she positively shined up there. Her melon colored top tucked into a tangerine pencil skirt that hit just above her knees offset her olive skin—darker now thanks to the summer months spent in the sun—perfectly.
She was, simply put, the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on, and I couldn’t believe I’d fucked it all up. If I couldn’t convince her to take me back, convince her to give us another shot, I’d spend the rest of my life lonely and celibate, kicking myself in the ass for letting her slip through my fingers.
“First and foremost,” she said when she stepped up to the mic, “I want to say thank you to my dad, and my entire family, really, for believing in me. I’m sure you’re all aware it was never the plan for me to take over, but I can’t deny—I’m quite pleased with the way things shook out.” The crowd laughed, and Amara smiled as she pressed on. “I started working at Chateau Delatou when I was fourteen, bussing tables in the restaurant for extra money that I spent on candy more often than not.”
“Watermelon tutti frutti, right?” I asked, peeling away from the shadowed awning and stepping into the sun. Amara squinted down at me, a thousand emotions warring on her face.
I raised a mental fist of triumph when hatred didn’t make an appearance.
This wasn’t part of the plan, but I couldn’t help myself. There was no way I was standing here another second, watching her without letting her know I was here.
