Page 40 of The Runaway Bride and the Billionaire

“That guy has a name,” she said. “His name is Oliver.”

“I don’t care about his name. I care about how close the two of you have been since the moment you walked in here.”

“Why?”

Her question caught me off guard. “What?”

“Why do you care, Matteo? What does it matter to you if I’m here with Oliver? You’re here with Ivy. You have no right to be jealous!”

“I only agreed to be Ivy’s date because you told me you already had a date! The only person I wanted to be here with was you. But then you told me you were going with some guy called Oliver.” I hadn’t planned to admit that much but it was out there now, and I couldn’t take it back.

Amelia was going to respond but then we heard the restroom door open. I pulled her into the room beside us so we could have some privacy. Thankfully it was empty. I walked away from her once we were inside. I wasn’t sure I could stand beside her without kissing her.

“This is all becoming incredibly confusing,” she said.

I couldn’t help the scoff that escaped me. She was right. It had all become one absolute mess and neither of us was sure where to go from here. All I knew was that I hated watching her with another man. The very sight made my fists ache to punch the man.

I’d never been a violent person and yet here I was tempted to punch someone over Amelia. That was the power she had over me.

I walked back to her and stopped only a few inches away from her. “I cannot even begin to tell you how frustrating it was to see you with him,” I said. “I hated seeing you with him.”

“I hated seeing you with Ivy.”

Her confession was all I needed to abandon my inhibitions. I leaned in and claimed her lips right there in the empty room. Ipulled her into my arms. Amelia came willingly and with that, all the space between us was gone.

Our bodies pressed against each other as I allowed myself to satisfy the desire I’d been harboring for weeks. I didn’t want things to end here. I wanted to take her back to the penthouse and make her mine.

I pulled away slightly so I could look at her. Her beautiful green eyes stared back up at me and I lost myself in them. I lifted a hand to stroke the smooth skin of her cheek. Amelia’s eyes fluttered closed as she leaned into my caress.

“Let’s go home,” I said.

Her eyes opened again. She looked at me for a drawn-out minute before nodding slowly. We didn’t bother saying our goodbyes to anyone at the gala. We walked out of the building and I drove us straight to the penthouse.

The elevator doors slid open on our floor. I took her hand in mine as I walked into the living room. Once we were standing outside my bedroom door, I turned back to look at her. I needed to know if she still wanted this. Amelia gave me a soft nod, a silent answer to my silent question.

I pushed my bedroom door open and walked inside, taking her with me. As the door shut behind us, I pulled her into my arms and kissed her. My hands ran over her sequin-covered hips. The dress looked stunning on her but I looked forward to getting it off her.

I reached behind her to unzip it and a pile of sequins fell to her feet. Amelia stepped out, her long legs clad in a pair of strappy gold heels. She wore a black strapless bra and matching black underwear.

Her hands rose to pull off my tie while I took off my suit jacket. Soon most of our clothes lay on the floor. Amelia was left in her black underwear and I in my gray briefs. We fell into bed together. I held her tightly as I kissed her.

Tonight, I would make her mine again.

***

The next morning, I woke up with Amelia in my arms. She was still asleep which meant I had time to admire her before she woke up. I stared at the delicate structures of her face, her high cheekbones, her long lashes, and her slightly pointed nose. She was so beautiful. I could look at her forever.

Her eyes slid slowly open. The sun rays that poured into the room made her eyes gleam. Her eyes mesmerized me. I wanted to drown in them. “Morning,” she said quietly as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Morning.”

Five years had passed since we woke up in each other’s arms but in that moment, it felt like no time had passed at all. It felt like she’d never stopped being mine. I kissed her forehead gently and pulled her even closer.

It was a Sunday which meant we didn’t have to get up just yet. Amelia and I spent another hour in bed before we finally stood up. We showered together in my bathroom. Then she left to put on some clothes.

We walked to the kitchen together, pausing on the way to kiss and laughing about absolutely nothing. It felt surreal. A part of me was waiting to wake up from this dream. I had to constantly remind myself that this was really happening.

I made us breakfast and we sat in the living room to eat. We spent the entire day together and when the day ended, I wished we could do it all over again. Unfortunately, we both had to go to work because it was Monday.

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