“I just wasn’t the right woman, Aden.” She leaned over the table to touch his hand. “I hope you find her. I really do. You’re a great guy.”
“Thanks, Diane.” He looked at their hands, which appeared wrong. Her nails weren’t pink, like Amelia’s, and her skin was tanned, her rings big and obvious. She was smart and driven, not sweet and passionate and consumed with the drive to find knowledge. Aden missed Amelia so bad right then that he almost doubled over. God, he was an idiot. “I might have found her. What if I screwed that up? I was just as hot and cold as I was with you and everyone else who’s too good for me.”
Diane laughed, but sobered quickly, staring right into his eyes. “Commit to fighting for her. Tell her. Sometimes you think it’s too late, but it isn’t.”
The more he thought about her words, the more they made sense. Maybe he could go after Amelia one more time, and prove to her, and to himself, that he could do a relationship that wasn’t love ‘em and leave ‘em. He loved her. God, he loved Amelia, and he’d almost let his cowardice lose her.
Aden had to get her back. She’d meant it when she’d broken it off with him, so she wouldn’t just agree to meet him if he called or showed up at the library.
A plan began to take root in his mind, and Aden was glad he was a PI. He needed to do some digging, and be a little sneaky, but he thought he had a real scheme.
“Thanks, Diane,” he finally said, realizing his ex was sitting there grinning at him, looking a little misty around the eyes. “Now, how about that fried chicken?”
Chapter Thirteen
“Oh, Mandie, I don’t really want to go out.” Amelia wanted to go home and put her feet up. She’d put in an extra two hours helping Annie find a citation for some grad student’s dissertation, and her feet were killing her from filling in at the desk early in the afternoon. Now her friend Mandie had stopped by, wanting to head to the North End to have ravioli and cannoli.
“Oh, come on, hon. I know I could order in, but I really want something authentic. Please?” Mandie could do guilt trips like crazy, and could spin an amazing story about why anyone should do what she wanted them to do.
Must come with the territory of being a writer. Creative types could make you crazy.
Amelia blew her hair out of her eyes. These days it seemed to defy every attempt to tame it. Maybe Amelia just needed to lop it all off. “Okay. Just supper, though. No cocktails, and no knitting at a coffee shop later.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Mandie tugged her into a hug. “So glad to see you willing to get back out there and live a little.”
She blew a raspberry. “Right. I’ve been a hermit, wasting away.”
“No, but you’ve been down.” Marnie glanced sideways at her as they left the library. “What would you do if Aden Bourne showed up in your life today and begged forgiveness?”
What an odd question. “I don’t know. I keep trying to decide if I just had these huge delusions, or if I meant anything to him at all.”
“Oh, I think he’s totally into you. He’s just scared.”
Amelia shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself to fend off the cold. “I don’t know. I guess I never will. I wanted more than he would ever be willing to give.”
The tube rattled along, and Amelia dozed while Marnie knitted. She started when Marnie touched her arm. “This is us.”
“Where are we eating?” Amelia asked, stumbling after her friend.
“You’ll see.” Marnie led the way, and Amelia followed, trying to shake off her nap. She needed to get more sleep, darn it.
When they ended up at Giacomo’s, Amelia sighed, remembering her first supper with Aden, how magical everything had seemed at the start. “Oh, hon, I don’t know.”
“Don’t be silly. You love it here. Oh, shoot. You go in and get us a table. I need to take this call.” Marnie turned away, tugging her cell phone out of her purse.
“Okay.” Suppressing her sudden irritation, Amelia walked inside, stopping at the front stand.
“Miss Amelia! Your date is here.” Mona, the hostess she saw the most, grabbed a menu and waved her toward the back.
“Oh, no. I was with—“ She turned, but Mandie was gone. What the heck?
“He’s so handsome.” Mona nodded toward a table where Aden Bourne sat, staring at her with his deep, dark brown eyes as if willing her to come to him and sit down.
“No. I’m not doing this.” And she was going to ream Mandie. The woman wrote literary fiction, not romances. What the heck had she thought she was doing, abandoning her to Aden’s machinations?
Aden jumped to his feet. “Wait. Amelia, please. Let me buy you dinner and hear me out. Then if you want to go, I’ll pay for your cab.”
She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t want to hurt anymore, Aden. I need off the merry go round.” Her belly ached, her nerves dancing under her skin. She wanted to hug him, to take the sadness out of his face with a kiss, but Amelia also needed to protect her heart.
“I know. I promise, this is about you and me, not work, not being scared.” He reached out to her, his expression so earnest that she took his hand and let him pull her to the little table for two. Aden sat across from her and stared into her eyes. “I know you might very well be done with me, but I need to tell you what I know.”
“And what’s that?” What did he know now that he hadn’t known a few short weeks ago? The longest weeks of her life.
“Let’s order dinner first.” He raised a hand when she opened her mouth to berate him for avoiding the subject. Again. “That way you get a meal out of it even if you don’t believe me.”
“Fair enough. How did you get Marnie in on your scheme? You barely know her.”
“I had her name, and I knew she was a writer. I’m a PI, right? She wasn’t hard to find since she wasn’t hiding. She’s a closet romantic, did you know? She did threaten to beat me with a shovel if I hurt you.”
“Good for her.” Amelia settled in her chair, waiting through ordering and wine and half an appetizer before she lost her patience.
“Aden—“
“I was wrong, Amelia. Wrong to play fast and loose with you.” He grimaced. “I told myself it was just work, that we were good together but it would never last. I was scared.”
“Of me?” Amelia knew she was the least intimidating woman on the planet. “Why?”
“Because I’ve known a lot of women. None of them made me feel what you do.” He picked up his wine glass, then stared into it a moment before putting it down. “We’re good together at work, yes, but we’re good together in other ways, too.”
“I thought so, but you confused me. Hurt me.”
Aden nodded, meeting her gaze head on. “And I’m sorry for that. I want another chance.”
“I don’t know.” Hope began to build in Amelia’s chest, right around the vicinity of her heart. “I want to believe you.”
“I want that, too.” He gave a self-deprecating chuckle. “I’m not too shabby in the brains department, usually. I mean, I was smart enough to see you were intelligent, beautiful, and an amazing detective. You’re also a generous lover and so easy to talk to. What I wasn’t smart about was knowing how important you are to me.”
“I still don’t know that.” Amelia leaned toward him, wanting him to understand. “I need to hear how you feel, Aden, and then I need you to back those words up with actions.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “So, you’re willing to give me a second chance?”
“I think this might be fourth or fifth, Aden.” Amelia suppressed her own smile, trying to appear serious. “I am willing, but I need to know I matter.”
“Amelia, you more than matter.” Aden rose, tugging her to her feet and ignoring the stares of all the other diners with great aplomb. “You’re amazing. I want to be with you. I want to make love to you. I want you to be my partner. I love you, Amelia. No more running.”
Joy exploded through her body, and Amelia threw her arms around Aden’s neck to a smattering of applause from the wait staff. “I love you, too, Aden. So much. Please tell me this is real.”
“It’s real, Amelia. I promise. I know what to do now.” Aden bent his head to kiss her, taking her mouth with a passion she’d never felt before in her life.
She believed him, believed he was going to try hard to make this thing between them work. Amelia couldn’t wait to find out where their next adventure would take her.
End