Page 24 of The Runaway Bride and the Billionaire

Amelia visibly recoiled when I threw her words back at her. She opened her mouth to speak but she ended up not saying anything. Instead, she shook her head and pulled her arms from my grasp. She stepped back until there was enough distance between us.

I could see that I’d hurt her and that made me even more upset. I was the offended party here yet somehow it felt like I should apologize to her. I could feel the words pushing at my throat, but I held them back. This was the first time I was telling her how I felt about what she did five years ago. She wasn’t allowed to play the victim and walk away.

“We’re not done with this conversation,” I said. I reached for her again and I pulled her back into my arms.

This time we were closer than before. Our bodies pressed against each other and our breaths mingled while her heady scent invaded my nostrils. I was supposed to be angry with her but all I felt was desire. The desire to taste those lips that I’d only dreamed about for years.

Our kisses existed in my memories but at this moment, I craved more than memories. I didn’t know what I expected when I lowered my head and claimed her lips. All I knew was that my memories hadn’t done justice to the taste of Amelia’s lips and the feel of her body pressed against my own.

My arm snaked around her waist and I pulled her even closer to me so that not even the cool air in the penthouse could pass between us. Amelia didn’t complain or pull away. She clung to me, her hands gripping my shirt as she pulled me to her.

She matched the intensity of my kisses. It was as if we were both desperate to feel this again. Like two addicts who had just been reunited with their drug of choice. Amelia was my drug. The more I tasted, the more I wanted.

Soon the fight we were having was long forgotten and all I could think about was kissing her. It was odd how quickly things changed between us. One moment we were arguing and the next she was in my arms.

Amelia’s arms wrapped around my neck and I had to bend so she wouldn’t be forced to stand on her toes. She wasn’t short but the difference in our heights was very clear. And it became more obvious when we were kissing. In the past, I would pick her up and she would wrap her legs around my waist, thereby eliminating the issue of our height difference.

I wanted to do that now but I refrained. This was technically new to both of us. We hadn’t been this intimate in five years so it would take a while before we became more comfortable.

I ran my fingers through her hair and I realized that my memories had also failed to do justice to the silkiness of her jet-black hair. It fell past her shoulder, in luscious waves and all I wanted to do was run my fingers through it.

I remembered the days we would put a blanket down in the park and lay on it together. I remembered her head on my chest and my fingers in her hair. Those were the moments where I’d felt the most at peace. No matter how difficult my day might have been, knowing that I would have her in my arms always brought me comfort.

The park was our special place. That was until Amelia broke my heart there. The memory of that day burst forward, shattering the moment I was having with her. I remembered all the pain I felt when she broke up with me and the pain I felt in the years to come.

I immediately felt angry with myself for kissing her. What was I doing kissing a woman who had no issue dropping me like I was nothing?

Amelia must have noticed the change in my demeanor because she pulled away. When our eyes met I knew she could see the anger in my own. She moved away again and this time I didn’t stop her. I watched her walk to her room.

She opened the door but she paused to look at me one last time before walking inside. Once she was gone, I allowed the self-loathing I felt to consume me. I should have never kissed her. It was a bridge I shouldn’t have crossed. We’d been down this road before, and I knew how it ended.

There was no point in doing this again. She would only break my heart just like she did last time and I would be a fool to let her. Kissing her was a mistake and I couldn’t let it happen again. I couldn’t let anything happen between us.

She was supposed to be my house guest, not my lover. This was not what I had in mind when I agreed to Joseph’s deal. Iknew Amelia would disrupt my life but not in this way. I hadn’t expected my desire for her to be so overpowering.

It would take a lot of effort to stay away from her, especially now that I’d gotten a taste of her again. We’d only kissed but it felt like she had awakened something in me that had been dormant for years. I would spend the remaining duration of her stay, resisting my attraction to her.

Then in a few months, she would leave my house and my life would go back to normal. Until then, I would simply have to endure.

I decided it would be best if I left the house. I needed to put as much distance between us as possible. I was fairly certain that if I stayed in the same space right now, I would succumb to my desire. I could already feel myself itching to go after her. I wanted to go to her and kiss her again until we were both out of breath.

Leaving was the only way to keep myself from making that mistake. I took the elevator down to the parking lot where I met Eddie waiting in the car. “To the office sir?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m going to the office but I’ll drive myself. You can go home.”

“Thank you, Mr. Hayes.”

Eddie handed me the key and walked out of the parking lot. I knew he would take the train to the other side of the city where he lived. It was important to me to send him home early so he wasn’t moving around late in the day. New York was dangerous at night, especially on the subway.

After he left, I drove the car to my office. Kayla had already gone, which was to be expected. I hadn’t realized how much time had passed when I was with Amelia. She consumed me entirely and when I was with her, everything else seemed unimportant.

I didn’t want to feel that way about her. I’d felt those emotions before and it had only led to heartache. I had no desire to go through that again.

I spent the next few hours working in my office and when I finally left it was almost midnight. Amelia was asleep when I got home which was exactly what I wanted. And thankfully she didn’t fall asleep in the living room this time so I didn’t have to carry her.

Things continued like that for the next few days. Amelia and I settled into a new normal, one where we avoided each other at all costs. It was like when she first moved in but worse. Now even the laconic conversations we used to have had stopped.

There were days when we were in the same room and we still didn’t speak to each other. On days like that, Agnes would awkwardly try to fill the void. She didn’t know what was wrong but she could tell something had happened.

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