In all my years, I had never met a woman who got under my skin and caused my body to react the way it did around Amelia. She made me feel like a moth drawn to a flame, ready to throw everything to shit and burn with her. Every inch of me wanted nothing more than to chase after her and surrender to her charms. I wanted to make her mine again, consequences be damned. But I was twice her age, and she was my best friend’s daughter. There was no scenario where following my urges would end well.
After a few moments of breathing and reminding myself who I was, I regained my composure and devoted my energy to my work. For the sake of my company and everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, I vowed that Amelia would not get what she wanted from me, no matter how badly I wanted to give in to her.
Chapter Four
Kellen
New York Fashion Week passed as quickly as it came. I was proud that our agency had had the largest booking rate out of all our competitors. Still, a lot of the girls were left disappointed—which was part of the job, I guessed.
With Alex in Milan, I had to handle the stress of it all almost entirely alone. It was weeks of long days sitting through meetings and even longer nights negotiating contracts, and then there was the actual week of the events, which was even busier with me jumping from show to show to make sure the girls were there and doing what they were supposed to do.
The little rest I was able to get was thanks to Amelia, who surprised me more than anyone had in a long time. She was smart, efficient, and had undoubtedly inherited her father’s work ethic, which earned her our entire team’s respect and admiration, as well as my own. We worked amazingly well together, and, with each passing day, I found myself wanting to talk to her and get to know her better. Whenever that desire hit me, however, I would do my best to push it away.
I was bluntly aware that I couldn’t be trusted around Amelia. Everything about her enticed me. The bold way she flirted with me made my insides quiver, the way her skirt danced around her legs as she walked made my mouth water, and the sweet scent of her perfume drove me to the edge of sanity. She was like a siren calling me to my demise, which was why I was so wary when I walked out of my office late on a Friday night and saw that the only other lit room was hers.
Unbidden, thoughts of all the sexy fun we could have together in the empty office filled my mind. I imaged myself doing unspeakable things to her in various locations of the office, and the pleasure those thoughts brought me was enough to knock me back to reality. She was Alex’s daughter and therefore completely off limits.
Desperate to put as much distance between me and Amelia as possible, I pressed the elevator call button with unnecessary force and focused my thoughts on what kind of takeout I’d order once I arrived home. I was debating between pizza and Thai food when I heard a mixture of gagging sounds and clicking heels coming from the barely lit corridor to my left. I turned to look at what was happening just in time to see Amelia run from her office to the bathroom. With a furrowed brow, I walked over to investigate.
Once I reached the door, I knocked, but no answer came. I tried to open it but it was locked, so I just stood there in silence, listening to the awful sounds of a person puking. Worry deepened the lines between my eyes as I impatiently tapped my foot on the floor. Moments later, I heard the toilet being flushed, water running from the faucet, and steps approaching the door.
I straightened my back just as the door swung open. “Are you okay?” I asked immediately.
“Jesus, Kellan,” Amelia muttered, bringing a hand to her chest. “You scared me half to death.”
She closed her eyes and took deep breaths to calm herself down. The worry I felt grew as I ran my eyes over her. She was always so well kept, yet at that moment she looked like a freaking mess. Dark circles surrounded her beautiful eyes, her hair was messy, and her skin had a light green hue. My chest ached at seeing her like that.
“I didn’t mean to scare you. I was leaving, and I saw you,” I attempted to explain. Then I ran a hand through my hair and took a breath. “Are you all right?”
“Of course,” she replied with a fake-ass smile as she walked past me and headed toward her office.
Unconvinced by her words, I followed behind her. My confusion grew when, instead of gathering her things to go home, she simply sat behind her desk and went back to work.
“You should go home, Amelia. You don’t look well,” I said.
Amelia looked up from her papers and rolled her eyes at me. “I am fine, Kellan,” she told me in a voice completely devoid of her usual flirtatious tone.
Completely exasperated, I blurted out, “If you were fine, you wouldn’t look as awful as you do.” Realizing how harsh my words were, I quickly added, “And you didn’t sound fine in the bathroom.”