Page 13 of Golden Knight

Ella stops and looks at me. “Amber, should I be concerned? I don’t know much about your past, but I do know you don’t like to talk about it, and if this guy is from your past…”

“No. Jake would never hurt me. I know him from before…”

I don’t finish my sentence, but I don’t have to. This is where Ella and I really get each other. We’ve both experienced trauma and neither of us likes to talk about it. We don’t push each other, but we know we can talk if we want to. I never do.

I start to pull Ella towards a dress shop. “Come on, let's check this one out.”

Ella grins and follows me. “Yes, we need to find you something sexy for tonight.”

When we enter the dress shop, my eyes go wide. Shit, there are so many dresses.

Ella surveys the room. “Let’s go look at this rack,” Ella says as she points at one in the middle of the store.

I’m drawn to the rack with an array of black dresses. I start to look through them, pushing the dresses along the rack, when Ella interrupts me. “So, tell me about this guy.”

Butterflies start to take off in my stomach thinking about his touch. A soft cough breaks through my musings, and when I look up at Ella, she arches one of her eyebrows like she’s waiting for me to answer.

I clear my throat. “What did you ask again?”

A grin takes over her whole face. “I asked you to tell me about the guy you are going to dinner with tonight. But by the look on your face, I can guess how tonight might go,” she says as she wags her eyebrows at me.

“Well, he’s extremely handsome. I don’t know much about what his life is like now but when we were kids, he played football. He’s always been athletic and the most loyal person ever. He always stood up for me when other kids would pick on me.”

I shrug my shoulders trying to shake off memories, “I hope I’m not making a mistake by going out with him.”

When I look up after spilling my guts about Jake, Ella has a soft look on her face.

“You love him.”

I let out a sigh. “I don’t know. I think I loved him when I was fourteen. But I don’t know this version of Jake and he doesn’t know this version of me and that scares me.”

Neither of us says anything else.

After a few minutes, I see a dress that would be perfect for my date. A black, tight leather dress. I always love the way I look in leather. I tend to wear it at the bar, especially on busy nights. Holding it up to Ella, I ask, “How about this one?”

Ella looks it over and grins. “That one is perfect. You’re going to knock him dead.”

Chapter nine

Jake

I grab the bouquet of sunflowers out of the passenger seat and walk up to Amber’s building. These were her favorite flowers when we were younger, and I want her to know I remember. I always imagined when we were younger that I would be able to spoil her, but that was stolen from me so I have a lot of time to make up.

My heart beats fast like I’m a teenager on a first date, but I maintain a cool demeanor. I have to stay calm tonight. I don’t want to spook her. Will she be willing to explore and learn about each other again? Or is she going to try to run from me?

I do realize that I’m going to have to convince her to give us a try, and I’m going to have to be patient. It was obvious when I went to talk with her last night. She was very wary of me and the dangers of the world. But what dangers exactly? I know she thinks she needs to keep running, but I’m going to show her that there’s no reason to be scared anymore.

If it was up to me, there would be no more running, no more fear. We would skip all the nonsense and she would be in my bed with my ring on her finger. But I know that’s not possible. There’s no rushing this. It’s important to let her feel in control so I don’t scare her away. And I’m done chasing and searching for her. Now that she’s back in my life I’m going to hold on to her as tight as possible.

I knock on the door to her apartment and when it opens, I’m surprised to see who answers. Fucking Paul. What the fuck is he doing in her apartment? He opens his mouth, but I cut him off before he can even open his mouth, “What are you doing here, Paul?”

He looks over his shoulder, probably checking to make sure that Amber isn’t behind him. Which means he’s about to say something stupid. When his eyes come back to mine, he’s glaring at me with a stiff body and his mouth in a tight line. I can’t tell if he’s trying to intimidate me or if he’s constipated, which has me trying hard not to laugh in his face.

I break the silence by patting his cheek, “Paul, are you just going to stand there and stare at my handsome face or do you have something you want to say?”

Paul makes his first mistake when he steps into my space more, coming nose to nose with me. All amusement leaves me quickly when his face transforms into a full on grin, “I want you to know that I’m the one who convinced her to go out with you, and as easily as I convinced her to go, I can convince her to walk away too. She trusts me, can you say the same?”

Then he makes his second mistake when his finger touches my chest while he continues, “And you do one thing I don’t like, I will do that. She will listen to me.”

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