Page 259 of 7+Us Makes Nine

Then she laid against me, her fingers absently tracing over my chest.

“That was so different.” She whispered.

I nodded, “it was the mattress.”

She giggled softly, turning her face up to look at me.

“Is that your family you were sitting with?”

I nodded. “Yeah, my sister brought her boyfriend. I wanted to introduce you.”

Her brow furrowed in confusion. “Why?”

Well I hadn’t expected her to say that.

“Because, they already know about you. Pretty much everyone does after what you did at the ball.” I explained. “But, I told my sister about us. She gave me pretty good advice.” A sad smile found my face.

“What did she say?” She asked me.

“That if I care about you, I should respect your wishes. Guess I’m not doing a pretty good job of that.” I chuckled softly.

“Well, that is partly my fault.” She muttered. She folded her hands on my sternum and rested her chin there, looking up at me with those big eyes full of wonder.

“I don’t think we know what we want.” I thought aloud.

“I think…I want to be with you. But I don’t want to neglect you because I’m too focused on work. Or the other way around.”

I nodded in understanding.

“I’m opening another business. I’d be busy too.”

Her brows raised. “You are?” I nodded.

“Yeah. A tech holdings company. It is something I have been wanting to do. I figured now was as good a time as ever. I shouldn’t keep holding it off.”

“I’m happy for you. That’s so good.” She smiled.

I traced small circles on her back. Distracted by how good she felt.

“Maybe we can try and at least date each other. After the wedding.”

Her face didn’t discourage me, but she wasn’t exactly jumping at the bit.

“Maybe.”

She kissed my chest softly and then laid her cheek against me.

“Emilia,” I said after a while.

“Hmm?” She looked up at me.

“How come you don’t talk about your mom?” I wondered about it for a while. She had only ever talked about her dad. And I wanted to understand her more.

“She…died when I was twelve.” Her voice was sad. I pulled her up next to me and tightened my arms around her.

“I’m sorry,” I said as I cupped her cheek, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“It…was a long time ago. But she’s the reason I love flowers so much.”

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