Page 5 of Guardian of Misty Mountain

I want to wrap my arms around this man and tell him he’s worthy of love and companionship. Not that he’d ever love me. I’m not that naive to think someone like Adrian would go for a chubby girl with enough baggage to sink a ship.

“Adrian, I would love to see you tomorrow,” I assure him.

“Are you sure?”

I giggle at his question. “Yes, I’m sure. I even have some extra cookies we can share.” This earns me another partial smile.

We exchange numbers and agree on a time for him to come over. As I climb back in my car, I can’t help but feel like there has to be a catch. Good things never last long for me. My damn phone rings again, a stark reminder that my time in Misty Mountain may be coming to an end sooner rather than later.

3

ADRIAN

What the fuck am I doing?I think to myself as I stare at Amelia’s apartment door. I’ve been loitering around the hallway for a few minutes, psyching myself up to knock. I’m half convinced I dreamed up her visit yesterday, but I have her number in my phone so it must have really happened.

I tug at the shirt collar rubbing against my neck, regretting my outfit choice. It took an hour of digging in my closet and dresser to come up with clothing choices that weren’t jeans or ratty t-shirts. Can’t remember the last time I wore a button-up shirt and slacks, and honestly, I was surprised I still had any date-worthy clothes.

Not that I know anything about dating. I don’t even know if thisisa date. My stupid ass couldn’t even muster up the courage to properly ask Amelia out, I just bumbled my way through an embarrassing attempt to see her again.

That now-familiar excruciating ache formed in my chest when Amelia was trying to run out on me yesterday. I’m usually thrilled to be the only person in the room, but Amelia makes me feel… Well, that’s just it. She makes mefeelsomething other than pain and regret.

The sound of a doorknob turning snaps me out of my haze, and I look up just in time to see Amelia open her door. Jesus, she's even more beautiful than I remember. Her light blue dress hugs her curvy chest and flares out at the waist, ending just above her knees. I try not to stare at her legs, but I'm only so strong. My gaze drifts up to her face, where I notice she put on some light makeup. The liner around her eyes makes her golden irises practically glow, and her soft lips are accentuated by light pink gloss.

“Hey,” Amelia says cheerfully, not making me feel like an idiot for pacing in front of her door. “I thought I heard you out here. Want to come inside?”

I nod, words failing me at the moment. She opens the door wider and steps aside, inviting me in.

“Are those for me?” she asks, pointing to the bouquet in my hands.

I look down at the wildflowers, feeling dumb for not buying her roses or something as elegant as she is. She must think I don’t care enough to spend money on her.I’m already fucking everything up.

“Yeah, but I’ll get you something better. Something expensive and extravagant. These are…”

“Beautiful,” she finishes for me. Amelia takes the bouquet from me, marveling over the hand-picked flowers. “Adrian, are these from your property? Did you put this together?” Those golden eyes flit from one flower to the next, then lock on mine. Her gaze is filled with joy, and fuck if I don’t want to put that look on her face every second of every day.

"You mentioned liking the wildflowers when you stopped by," I start. "Delicate yet resilient," I repeat her words from yesterday. They struck me as the perfect description of Amelia herself.

“I can’t believe you went through the effort of picking flowers for me,” she says, though her voice is quiet, almost like she was talking to herself. “This is so much better than store-bought,” Amelia adds, this time addressing me. “Thank you, Adrian.”

I love the way she says my name. I want to capture the sound and bottle it up so I can listen to it when she’s not with me.Slow down, buddy, I remind myself. I’m already far too obsessed with the curvy, bubbly woman. I don’t want to scare her away with my intensity.

I watch Amelia fill a vase with water and arrange the wildflowers just so. Her smile is bright and her cheeks are rosy, like she’s giddy just looking at them. I’ll have to make sure she always has flowers around to make her smile. Who knew something so simple could bring so much happiness?

Taking stock of my surroundings, I notice the kitchen, a hallway off to the right, and a tidy living room with a couch, coffee table, and four massive bookshelves lining two walls. My girl loves to read, that’s for sure. I wonder what her favorite book is? Does she have a list of more books she wants to buy? I should find out and get every single one. Then I can build her a new bookshelf to store them.

“Go ahead and sit wherever you’re comfortable. Dinner will be ready soon.”

“Dinner? I wasn’t expecting you to cook for me. I was thinking this was, er, uh, well, a date?” What a fool I’ve made of myself already. Here she is, inviting a friend over, and I mistook it for a romantic date. Idiot.

Amelia walks toward me and wraps her hand around mine, her touch soothing my self-loathing. I can’t look at her while she lets me down easily.

"I was kind of hoping this was a date, too," she confesses, her voice barely above a whisper. "I thought you'd be more comfortable with a home-cooked meal instead of one of theplaces here in town, but we can do whatever you want. Pine & Petal Cafe is open and so is the Rusty Elk Tavern. I'll just throw dinner in the fridge."

“No, this is… this is actually perfect. Thank you, sweet girl.” I didn’t mean to call her that, it just slipped right out of my mouth. Amelia’s eyes flash at my pet name for her, a pretty pink blush spreading across her freckled cheeks. I lift our joined hands to my lips and kiss the back of her hand. “You’re incredibly thoughtful and insightful. You must have picked up on the fact that I don’t go out in public much.”

Amelia squeezes my hand and then leads me over to the small dining table with two place settings. "I spent a lot of years pining for the outside world. When I finally had a chance to break away, I realized I had no idea how to talk to people or what the expectation was. I recognized some of those same emotions in you when you stopped in the bookstore. All I wanted was to make you feel comfortable."

How is she perfect without even trying? I barely know this woman, yet her pure heart is imprinted on mine for all of time. No matter what happens between us, I’ll never forget the kindness she’s shown me tonight.

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