After a few minutes, she twists around; her arms going around my waist, and embraces me. It’s the first real hug we’ve ever shared, and I pull her against me, holding her close.
“This is nice,” she murmurs, her voice muffled by the shower.
I tighten my grip. “This is how it should have been right from the start.”
She yawns but doesn’t let me go, and I turn off the shower, pulling a fluffy towel from the stack behind the stall and wrapping her in it.
Amelia is barely able to keep her eyes open. I dry myself off as quickly as I can and wrap the towel around my waist as I lead her out of the bathroom, automatically heading in the direction of my bedroom before I stop, turning to her with a frown.
“Would you rather sleep somewhere else?” I ask. “That’s okay if that’s what you want.”
She shakes her head, gripping me a little tighter, and then takes the lead, walking ahead of me up the stairs as the rain pounds against the windows around us.
As soon as we’re in my room, she’s climbing into the bed and collapsing against the pillows. I've never seen anything so right and perfect in my life.
Alexis jumps up beside her and settles down, blending in with the white of the sheets as I climb in.
“I’ll have to be up early,” Amelia murmurs.
“That’s alright, I’ll wake you,” I say, rubbing her upper arm gently.
We lie there silently for a long time, Amelia drawing patterns on my chest with her forefinger. I’m too terrified to speak as her eyes move up to mine.
“When you were sick, and I came to look after you, I imagined sharing this bed one day. I’m glad I’m here.”
I scoot a little closer. “Me too.”
She pulls her hand away, placing it beneath her cheek. Her eyes are like emeralds as she looks over at me, and I’m floored all over again by how beautiful she is. Inside and out.
“I want this to be real, too,” she whispers, and a tension I didn’t even know was there finally releases from my body as I relax into the mattress.
“I just want us to be together, no strings, no expectations. Just you and me,” I say as I curl her hair behind her ear. “Whatever you have to face from now on, I’ll be right there with you, if that’s what you want.”
She gives a happy smile. “It is.” Her eyes flutter closed as I pull myself more tightly against her body. “Just you and me,” she whispers as I place a kiss on her head.
The rain is falling hard against the windows, and the wind is howling around the apartment outside, but I have never felt so warm, content, and happy in my life.
Epilogue - Amelia
Three months later…
I step into the elevator at the Crawford offices as I ascend to the top floor. It’s been a long time since I was last here, and I feel very different from how I did on the first day.
As I step out onto the floor, there’s no one around, all the desks just as immaculate and perfect as I remember them.
I shift my clutch under my arm, walking over the plush carpet toward a familiar and intricate door.
I smile as it opens and Franklin Barnes emerges, looking pissed off, as I hear Lucas’s exasperated voice behind him.
“That’s entirely my point. You are as stubborn as a mule!” Lucas is saying, one hand in his pocket, but a smile on his face.
“I wish I’d never agreed to work with you. You’re an asshole,” Franklin mutters without much heat, and then they both see me.
Franklin rolls his eyes, but Lucas’s gaze runs over my body, and I can see the familiar pulse of heat as he licks his lips.
“Evening, Franklin,” I say as Barnes comes forward to greet me.
“Amelia, my darling, would you please knock some sense into this oaf? You look beautiful.”
