She wished she had been, because when he asked, “It wasn’t me you saw as Nick, was it?” she could only stare.
23
Rennick stood and stepped out of the water without a word.
Finn. Amelia thought Nick was Finn all those years, and it wasNickshe’d cried out for today, even though he’d asked her not to call him that and explained why.
All those times he stroked himself to her building pleasure, she’d pictured another man. She had no way of knowing what he looked like, but to picture his best friend, or worse, Gilpin, was a punch to his heart and pride.
Water sloshed around with Amelia’s movements as she tried to scramble out of the bath. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t him; I swear.”
“Stop,” he rasped from the doorway.
The blame wasn’t hers—how could it be? But the last thing he wanted to hear after confessing his love was a name she associated with another man’s image.
Her gaze burned into his back, but he couldn’t face her. Not now. This felt worse than when she’d fucked another man.
People said things in the heat of the moment, and he couldn’t fault her for that, no matter how much it hurt, but he needed a moment alone.
Silently, he pulled on his training gear, laced up his boots, and left, trying to ignore the fact that she didn’t stop him.
An insurmountable pile of guilt pressed down on Amelia like a lead blanket. He’d asked her not to use his alias. So even though to her NickwasRennick now, and it was an honest slip up, the look on his face told her intent didn’t matter.
The impact had devastated him.
He’d told her he loved her, and she broke his heart and let him walk away.
There had to be a way to make it right.
An hour of wearing a hole in the rug of the sitting room had her shoulders tight with stress, and a knock at the door made her heart leap into her throat.
Rennick?
She sprinted across the room and threw open the door to find a pair of startled brown eyes staring back at her. A young maid stood beside a cart of food, and Amelia moved aside to let her in with a disappointed smile.
Dinner, she realized, remembering Ora’s words from earlier.“I’ll see you at dinner tonight.”
Had Rennick met Ora for dinner without her? If he had, she would return to the Human Kingdom. Amelia would not fight another woman for her mate’s attention.
The thought of being by herself made her feel worse, so when the maid tried to leave, Amelia blocked her path. “Will you stay?”
“Yes, Miss,” the maid replied instantly with a small curtsey.
Amelia scrunched her nose. “Don’t do that. I’m not royalty.”
The girl seemed to war with herself for a moment. “We were instructed to treat you as we would a noble guest, Miss.”
“I’m Amelia,” she said, waving off Rennick’s orders. “Stop calling me Miss and please don’t curtsey again.”
The maid took Amelia’s outstretched hand. “I’m Fawn.”
“You don’thaveto stay,” Amelia amended, realizing her request may have come off as an order. “I won’t be offended.”
Fawn shrugged and plopped down at the table across from where Amelia took a seat. “This was my last stop of the day.” Her eyes lingered on Amelia’s now exposed ears.
“I’m from the winter region of the Human Kingdom,” Amelia told her with a wry smile. “Bet you feel silly for curtsying now.”
Fawn pushed her hair behind her own human ear and smiled back when Amelia’s eyes rounded. “I’m half fae. My mother fell in love with a fae man from here.”
