Page 45 of The Runaway Bride and the Billionaire

I pulled Amelia to the couch where she and my grandmother had sat earlier. “About what I said at the diner… ”

Amelia didn’t meet my eyes. She stared at where my hand held hers and shook her head. “We don’t need to talk about it.”

“Yes, we do. What happened made me realize that I still had a few unresolved feelings about how our relationship ended. I didn’t recognize them at first because they manifested as doubts. Those doubts swarmed around in my head, but I managed to keep them under control. I managed to keep them in my head until tonight when I slipped up.”

She didn’t say anything so I continued. “The truth is that it’s been hard building trust again. I’m not saying I don’t trust you. I’m only saying it will take time for both of us to get to where we used to be. We are not the people we were five years ago. It’s like we’re starting a whole new relationship but there’s still a bit of baggage from the past. Still, I believe that in time, we’ll get there.”

I lifted her head so I could look at her. Amelia’s eyes watered and she gave me a wobbly smile. “You’re right, it’s going to take time,” she said. “But we’ll get there someday.”

“Someday soon.”

I wiped her cheeks with my thumb even though there were no tears. Her hand gripped my wrist as my lips lowered onto hers. She kissed me back and we slowly fell onto the couch. And when we finally moved to my bedroom, we left all our pain and past hurt behind. There was no space for that in the relationship we were building now.

I wanted to build something special with her and to do that, I needed to trust her. Trusting her meant letting go of the pastbecause only after true forgiveness would we be able to move forward. Our future must be unencumbered by our pasts.

An hour later, I lay in bed with Amelia. She’d fallen asleep with her head on my chest, and I stroked her hair as I thought about what the future had in store for us. Neither of us knew where this new relationship was going.

The uncertainty scared me. I felt a strong need to proceed with caution but I knew I couldn’t do that. And I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t want to be cautious. I wanted to lose myself in my feelings for her. That was the only true way to love.

That was how I wanted to love her.

Chapter 23

Amelia

Matteo and I had our first fight and survived.

Well technically it wasn’t a fight, just a conversation. but I still counted the situation as a win. It wasn’t easy but we’d come out of it stronger. I knew it would take time and effort for us to rebuild trust. I was ready to wait as long as I needed to wait and do everything required to make this work.

I loved him even if he didn’t know it yet.

Soon, I would confess my love to him but for now, we needed to focus on building trust. The way I ended our relationship last time made Matteo lose his trust in me, but I knew we would get back to where we used to be. I knew that one day we would overcome our obstacles and be everything we were always meant to be.

“What are you thinking about?” Matteo asked as he kissed my cheek.

We were lounging on the couch in the sitting room. Well, he was lounging on the couch, and I was lounging on him. He wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed my cheek again. His kisses trailed down my neck and across my shoulder.

“Stop thinking so much or you’ll miss the movie,” he said.

“If I miss the movie, it will be because you keep distracting me with kisses,” I argued.

Matteo’s laugh poured onto my skin. He kissed me again before saying, “It’s not my fault your skin is so beautiful.”

“Now he resorts to flattery.”

He laughed again. Then, after one final lingering kiss, he lifted his head and focused on the screen. Weekends with Matteo were the best part of being with him. We never went out. We always stayed in and enjoyed each other’s company. I loved it.

After the movie, Matteo worked on lunch while I vacuumed the popcorn that had fallen on the floor during the movie. Agnes was back in the house but she had to leave often to help her daughter with the baby.

Matteo and I didn’t mind. We loved having the place to ourselves. There had been enough awkward encounters with Agnes for a lifetime. My skin still heated up when I remembered the moment when she walked in on Matteo and me kissing in the kitchen.

He’d placed me on the counter and was devouring my lips when Agnes stepped in. I hadn’t been able to look her in the eye since. Matteo thought the whole thing was funny but I didn’t share his sentiment.

I was happy to have this version of Matteo back though. The one who laughed often and faced life with unbridled optimism. That was the man I loved. It killed me to know that my actionshad turned him into someone else. And I was thankful he was regaining his true self.

I was about to join Matteo in the kitchen when I heard my phone ringing. I walked over to where it sat on the center table. It was my dad calling.

“Dad,” I said after I’d answered and brought the phone to my ear.

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