“No, thank you,” she replied, giving him a grateful smile, and Landen loved that the worry that had been in her face a couple of hours earlier, seemed to have completely vanished now.
“I’m tired,” Amelia said as they rode up in the elevator to Landen’s penthouse a couple of hours later.
“It’s been a big day,” Landen said as he looked over at her, giving her a smile. “But you’re happy, right?”
“I am,” she replied as she looked up at him. “Very.”
The elevator came to a stop, and Landen took hold of Amelia’s hand, then stepped out into his penthouse.
“I was thinking,” he said as he released her hand, slipping off his jacket. “I could have someone go to Nikki’s tomorrow and pack up your things, then bring them here.”
“Pack up my things?” Amelia repeated, her comment stopping Landen in his tracks as he walked through the apartment, towards the kitchen.
“You’re going to move in?” He asked as he turned back to face Amelia, giving her a questioning look. “Right? I mean, I assumed…”
“I hadn’t really thought about it!” Amelia replied, surprising Landen. “I mean, I just didn’t think.”
“Amelia, you’re going to marry me,” Landen said as he walked back towards her, and gave her a smile. “That means you’re going to be my wife, and we will live together. This will be your home. This is your home.”
“I know,” Amelia said giving him a smile. “I know what getting married means. I just… I guess I never really thought about it.”
“Well, you better start thinking,” Landen said with a grin as he slipped his arms around her waist, drawing her closer to him. “This is happening. I want to spend my life with you.”
“I want that too,” Amelia replied as she leaned into his embrace.
“So, you’re going to move in?” Landen asked as he looked down into her eyes.
“I guess I am,” Amelia replied with a smile before Landen leaned down and softly kissing her.
“Then let me welcome you home,” Landen breathed against her lips before he kissed her once more; this time deeper and filled with longing.
Landen could feel his whole body come to life the moment Amelia pressed her body to his. Unable to hold back any longer, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her to his bedroom.
Our room, Landen thought to himself as he crossed the room and set her down on the bed before he quickly climbed over her.
“I love you, Amelia,” Landen whispered as his pressed his lips to the nape of her neck. “I will love you every day, for the rest of my life.”
He kissed her soft skin once more.
“I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy,” he continued as he kissed her once more. Suddenly his kiss became more urgent and needy, as did Amelia’s.
Pulling at each other’s clothes, their hands explored the other’s body until there was just skin against skin.
Landen settled in between Amelia’s legs, as she pulled her legs up, making Landen’s access easier.
Landen kissed her hard, as his huge hand glided over the soft skin on her thigh.
“Perfect,” he breathed out against her mouth before he pushed his erection deep inside her with one, slow thrust.
“Landen,” Amelia cried out but his swallowed her words, as he kissed her once more.
He pushed into her, over and over, each thrust his breathing became more ragged, his heart hammered fast inside him.
As he made love to Amelia, Landen realised just how new, and amazing, yet completely terrifying all this was. He had sex with his share of partners before. He had known what it was like to feel pure, unashamed pleasure, but with Amelia, it was so different. Never before had he felt so exposed, so naked in front of another human being. Landen knew it was because all the masks he had worn in the past were gone.
When he was with Amelia, all his walls were down, she got to see the real him. She could see inside him, deep into his soul, and she had the power to destroy him completely.
He held her close to him, allowing himself to get lost inside the woman he loved,
Finally, Amelia cried out, as Landen too came undone before he crashed down on the bed next to her. They both lay there, gasping for breath, covered in sweat, completely consumed in each other.
“Tell me that we will always be this happy,” Landen finally said, as he lifted his head, glancing over at Amelia. “Tell me that this is how I will spend the rest of my life. That we can stay here, in this room, just us two forever.”
“I think you would soon get bored,” Amelia laughed.
“I could never get bored of you, or your beautiful body,” Landen insisted as he rolled on to his side, looking down at Amelia. “That I can promise you.”
“But you’re Landen Murphy,” Amelia replied with a smile. “You’re the famous Bulldozer, and as much as I would love to spend the rest of my life, lying here naked with you. I think the world needs to have Landen Murphy in it.”
“Well, as long as Landen Murphy has Amelia Davenport, soon to be Amelia Murphy, in his life,” Landen said with a grin. “And also in his bed every night, then I don’t care about the rest of the world. I only care about you, Amelia. You and I are everything that I will ever want, and I want you to never doubt that.”
“You are all I want too,” she replied as she reached up, softly brushing his face with her fingertips, but her smile faded a little.
“What’s wrong?” Landen asked as he pushed himself up onto his elbow.
“Nothing,” Amelia replied as she shook her head.
“Something is,” Landen insisted. “I told you already; you’re a terrible liar.”
“I’m just worried that you will end up disappointed about the wedding,” Amelia admitted, as he eyes dropped away from Landen’s. “I know you wanted a bigger wedding, and your dad wanted one too…”
“I don’t care what my dad wants, Amelia,” Landen assured her. “I don’t care about anything except making you my wife. If you want to, we can go to Vegas and Elvis can marry us this very night, because I don’t care as long as I hear the words, I do.”
“I would love nothing more than to say those words to you tonight,” Amelia said as she looked up into his eyes once more. “But I think your mom would be hurt if we did that, and I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“Then promise me that you’ll stop worrying,” Landen pleaded as he lifted her hand, bringing it to his mouth, then kissed it softly. “I just want you to be happy.”
“I am happy,” Amelia assured him.
“That’s all I wanted to hear,” he growled as he moved over her once more, claiming her mouth again.
Chapter 17
Over the next couple of weeks, preparations for the wedding where well and truly on the way. Nell and Amelia were on full planning mode. The wedding had been set for six weeks after Landen had proposed, but there was still so much to do. Landen loved that his mom and the woman that he loved seemed to have bonded even better than he had ever hoped.
Amelia had also finally moved into his penthouse. Landen loved having her there with him every night and every morning. Landen was still surprised that having her there with him felt so right, but more than that, it felt normal.
Everything seemed to be running smoothly, almost too smoothly, Landen thought. He found that he was almost waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was just a feeling he had somewhere deep inside him that he couldn’t seem to shake off.
About two weeks after Landen had proposed, he arrived at his office and found a worried looking Nikki sitting in his office staring into space.
“Hey, Nik,” he said as he walked into his office, slipping off his jacket before he took his seat behind his desk. “You’re here early, is everything okay?”
“Not really,” she said as she set a newspaper down on the desk in front on Landen. “I stopped at the newsstand on the way in this morning; I wanted to pick up some bridal magazines for Amelia…”
&
nbsp; “More?” Landen asked with a laugh as he reached forward, picking up the newspaper.
“Landen,” she said, and something in her voice caught Landen’s attention. He sat up straight in his chair, looking at his assistant, then glanced down at the newspaper he was holding. “Page seven.”
Landen glanced back up at Nikki for a moment, before he looked back down at the paper again, then opening it on page seven. The moment he did, his heart almost stopped in his chest. There on the page in front of him was a picture of him and Amelia; the one that was taken the night of the charity ball, the night he asked her to marry him.
Beneath it was the caption, The Bulldozer’s secret love.
“I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL THAT FUCKER!” Landen exclaimed angrily as he stood up abruptly, sending his chair crashing to the floor. “This photo was supposed to be taken for the event only, so now I’m going to screw this little asshole to the wall.”
“It might be okay, right?” Nikki asked, but Landen could hear the worry in her voice. “I mean it’s not even front page, and it’s not a national paper. Maybe he won’t see it.”
“It’s not Pete Reynolds seeing it that I’m worried about,” Landen sighed, as he minded raced with some many thoughts at once, he felt like his head was ready to explode. “If Amelia sees it, she will freak out, and if she freaks out…”
“She might run,” Nikki finished Landen’s thought.
“I need to get over to her office,” Landen said as he picked up his seat from the floor, pushing it back behind his desk, before he grabbed his jacket from coat stand in his office. “Nikki, I need you to get hold of the editor of this piece of trash, also I need you to get hold of Juliet Browning. She is the event coordinator for the charity, she will have the name of the money grabbing little asshole that took this photo. I want his name by lunch, or Juliet will be spending the next six months in litigation too.”
Landen turned to walk out the door but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Amelia standing in the doorway.
“Amelia!” He said, surprised to see her standing before him, but the look on her face told him exactly what she was doing there. She had seen the photograph too.
“You said that picture was just for the event,” she replied, her voice flat and completely unreadable. She was holding the newspaper in her hands; though now it no longer resembled a newspaper, she was gripping it so tightly.
“It was,” Landen said, knowing that if he said the wrong thing, he could make everything a million times worse than they already were. “I mean, it was supposed to be. But I am going to get to the bottom of this. I promise you; I will fix it.”
“How?” She asked as tears suddenly glistened in her eyes before they trickled down her cheeks. Still, her voice was unchanged. “How can you undo this? It’s out there for the world to see. For him to see.”
“I know,” Landen said as he took a step closer to Amelia, but something stopped him from closing the distance between them completely. “But I give you my word, Pete Reynolds will never hurt you again.”
“You can’t say that,” she replied, her voice now barely a whisper as if all her fight was suddenly gone. “You don’t know him like I do. He will never stop, and he will never let anyone stand in his way.”
“No, you’re right, I don’t know him like you do,” Landen admitted, wishing that there was some magic wand somewhere that he could wave and make all this go away. “But I will die before I let him near you; before I let him hurt you again.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” she breathed out as she brushed the tears from her face. “I knew that staying was a mistake, and I was right.”
“You can’t let him win, Sweetie,” Nikki said as she stood up from her seat, walking towards Landen and Amelia. “Remember, we can’t let them win. Just like you said.”
“What the hell did I know, Nikki?” Amelia replied with a soft sob. “I was stupid to believe I could ever have my happy ever after.”
“What are you saying, Amelia?” Landen asked, knowing that in her mind, she had already decided what her next move was going to be, and something told Landen it was something he was not going to like.
“I’m saying that I can’t do this,” Amelia cried, as this time a sob came from deep inside her. “I’m saying I love you. I love you so much I can barely think straight. But I also love you too much ever to risk you getting hurt again. I just can’t, Landen. I need you to understand.”
“Understand what?” Landen demanded, taking another step closer to her. “That the woman I love wants me to let her walk away from me. I’m sorry Amelia, I don’t understand.”
“I NEED YOU TO TRY!” She exclaimed as she threw the paper to the ground. “I need you to see that this is the only way.”
“I CAN’T!” He yelled as he pushed his hands through his hair with sheer frustration. He turned, walking toward the window and stared out at the street below, as he tried to calm his racing heart.
For a moment no one said a word, and you could almost cut the atmosphere in the office with a knife.
Landen felt hurt, angry, and beyond terrified all at once, and for the first time in his adult life, he felt completely and utterly out of control.
“I think I will leave you two alone,” Nikki said, walking towards the door. As she passed Amelia, she softly touched her arm, giving her a sad smile, before she continued out of the room leaving Landen and Amelia alone.
Once more silence fell between them.
“I don’t know how to do this, Amelia!” Landen finally whispered without turning back to look at her. “I’m not this person. I am focused, determined, and ruthless. I’m the Bulldozer. I don’t let people close for a reason. I can’t have a weakness…”
“What are you saying?” Amelia said, and Landen could hear the fear in her voice, the same fear he was feeling himself.
“You are my weakness, Amelia,” Landen said as he turned and looked at her once more. “You are everything I swore I would never want, but you are now all I need. I can’t lose you. I won’t. Please don’t ask me to let you walk away.”
“I’m afraid,” she whispered as a fresh wave of tears fell. This time Landen didn’t hesitate, he hurried to her, wrapping her in his arms.
“I know you are,” he replied as he pressed his lips to her forehead. “But I promise you, that I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. I swear to you, something like this will never happen again. I give you my word.”
“Okay,” Amelia said as she wrapped her arms around him holding him tighter.
Landen sat at the desk in his office, staring into space. He had work he needed to catch up on, but he couldn’t seem to focus on anything other than Amelia, and the whole situation with Pete Reynolds and the photograph.
He had asked one of the partners in his firm, to follow up with the newspaper that published the article, also the photographer who sold them the photo. He knew that when it came to the newspaper, there was little he could do about them publishing the article, but the photographer had broken his contract with the charity that had organised the event, and Landen was determined to make him pay.
He had taken the day off and taken Amelia home. Part of him was relieved she had agreed to go home with him, but there was still part of him that was scared that she would run.
When they got back to the penthouse, Landen ran Amelia a hot bath, insisting it would help her relax. After her bath, she climbed back into bed, passing out, completely exhausted from all the tears she had shed.
A little after midday, the buzzer in the hallway sounded. Landen was surprised to find his father had dropped by.
“Dad!” Landen said as his father stepped off the elevator, making his way down along the hallway of Landen’s penthouse, where his son greeted him with a handshake. “What brings you here at this time of the day?”
“Well I could say that I was passing by,” Sean said as he followed his son back into living room, and on through to the kitchen. “But the truth is, your m
other asked me to drop by.”
“I take it Mom has seen the newspaper,” Landen said as he pulled two mugs from the cupboard, setting them on the counter before he picked up the coffee pot and gave his father a questioning look. “Coffee?”
“Please,” Sean replied with a nod, as he sat down on the high stool next to the breakfast counter. “And it was Laney who saw it.”
Landen poured them both a coffee, before he brought the mugs to the breakfast counter, sitting down next to his father.
“So,” Sean said after he took a sip of his coffee. “I stopped by the office before I came here. Nikki said you had taken Amelia home. She said she was pretty upset.”
“I think she panicked a little,” Landen sighed, knowing that was an understatement. “She is sleeping now, so I think she has calmed down a little.”
“And how are you doing?” Sean asked his son as if he could sense Landen’s mood.
“You know,” Landen shrugged. “Freaked out. I thought she was going to leave, Dad.”
“But she didn’t,” Sean replied giving his son a knowing smile. “She came to you instead. That has to count for something. That girl loves you. I can’t ever see her doing anything to hurt you.”
“But what happens next time?” Landen sighed. “What if she doesn’t come to me? What if she just runs?”
“Do you believe that she will?” Sean asked, and Landen knew his father was making no judgment.
“I don’t know,” Landen replied honestly, wishing he could have said that he knew without a doubt that she wouldn’t. “I mean, I get it. I get the fear, and I get why she thinks that running is her only choice. I just don’t know how to show her that running isn’t her only choice.”
“I won’t run,” Amelia said suddenly from the doorway, surprising both Landen and Sean. “I mean, I know in my heart that it is the right thing to. I love you so much, that the thought that you could get hurt because of me, well, it’s hard to breathe sometimes when I think about it. But then I try and imagine my life without you, and I can’t. I don’t want to have to spend one minute without you.”
Landen Page 17
