Chapter One
Amelia
My father always told me there were two types of people in this life: the ones who only wanted things, and the ones who went after what they desired. Both of us were, undoubtedly, the second kind.
My entire life I’d gone after—and achieved—what I desired. As a teenager, I wanted to intern at a rival fashion agency, and so I did. Later on, I decided that Harvard would be my school of choice, and I got in. Finally, after six years of yearning for Kellan Shepard, I made up my mind that it was about time he desired me as well.
The first time I saw him, I was an awkward teenager and he was the thirty-something, hot-as-hell new partner of my father’s modeling agency. We were at a restaurant, celebrating their new business venture, and I spent the entire time blushing and pretending that I wasn’t gawking at his face. It was pathetic, and, as much as I hated to admit it, it only got worse with time.
As their business and their friendship grew, Kellan started to spend a lot of time with our family. We went out to eat at least three times a week and shared many vacations together. That closeness fuelled my crush until he was pretty much all I could think about.
I would spend nights awake dreaming about him and would see his face even when I made out with my boyfriends. Although I’d never admit it out loud, Kellan was also the reason I was still a virgin at twenty-four years-old. In my mind, he was the only man deserving of my first time, and I refused to lose my virginity to anyone but him.
Hopefully, that would change soon.
A smile curled my lips as I looked out of the tinted windows of my father’s Bentley. We were on route to one of the many fashion shows Dad was invited to attend. From what I had gathered from his conversation with Mom, eleven out of the twenty models scheduled to walk the runway were signed to us, which made this an important client and a sure ticket for me to see Kellan again.
It had been a few years since I last laid eyes on him, and the anticipation was killing me. For the first time in my life, I was going to meet Kellan not as an awkward, love-struck teenager but as a woman. Under the guise of looking appropriate for the event, I went full out with my look, hoping to impress him. My hair was styled in soft curls that fell neatly over the shoulder strap of a red bandage dress that accentuated my curves. Thanks to the ridiculously high Louboutin’s on my feet, my legs looked long and toned, and a black smoky eye gave me a sultry and mysterious look.
I was pulled back to reality when the car stopped in front of the long red carpet leading up to the venue. I checked myself in the mirror as the driver exited the car and came to open my door. With the aid of his hand, I gracefully exited the vehicle and smoothed out the fabric of my dress as I looked around. The street was busy with cameramen and celebrities. Everyone who was anyone was there and as stylish as ever. My family and I made our way down the carpet, greeting familiar faces and posing for the cameras until were inside the lavish hall.
“I’m going in to take my seat,” I told my mother as she and Dad lingered in the lobby, talking to some friends. Mom nodded, and I went inside, knowing they would probably just hang out by the bar until the show was over.
I followed an usher through the chaos to my first-row ticket and got busy with emails and social media as I waited for the other chairs to fill and the show to start. I was in the middle of a text to my best friend, Asha, when I saw him walk along the runaway toward his seat.
My heart pounded as I stared at Kellan Shepard. Despite having recently entered his forties, the man looked as dashing as ever. His face was as handsome and sharp angled as I remembered, and his chocolate brown hair still made envious. His body looked lean and strong under a black on black ensemble that was accented by a deep blue tie that matched the shade of his eyes perfectly.
I cleared the text I was writing and instead wrote:
KS just walked in, and my panties are on the ground!
Still pretending I was checking my phone, I looked back at him from under my false lashes just in time to see him cross his ankle over his knee. He looked around the room, sporting his signature arrogant smirk, and waved at a few familiar faces.
I crossed my own legs and pressed my thighs together just as his intense gaze landed on me. I held my breath as he slowly ran his eyes from my face all the way down to my toes. For a moment, I thought he would recognize me as the little girl with the stupid crush on him, but then he cupped his chiseled jaw and ran his tongue across his lush lips as his eyes filled with a kind of lust that told me I was nothing more than a desirable stranger.
Excitement flooded me as he held my gaze for a second before looking away, as if I was of no interest to him. My phone buzzed in my hand, saving me from continuing to stare like a disappointed moron. Asha’s text read,