“You invested in the American oil business?” she asked surprised. “I hear it is a cut throat industry.”
“Yeah, it is definitely not for the weak of heart. But it is what I wanted to do and I was not going to give up on it.”
“Well, good on you,” she said. “It is important to follow your dream.”
“Speaking of, you know what I do for a living. What about you?” he asked. “What is it that keeps you busy?”
“I am a travel blogger,” she said.
“That must be amazing,” he said smiling. “Going around the world taking photos and trying out different foods. Must be fun.”
“It is...sometimes it can get a little tough with the culture shock and everything but it is worth it. I think experiencing different cultures is what makes it worth while,” she said as she leaned back.
A smile played on her face when she began recalling all the different countries she had been to. “You can go from flying high in Brazil to backpacking around Africa, getting on safaris and everything. Plus seeing how people live and work...” she took a long deep breath. “It is just amazing, like you said.”
Rafael smiled at her.
“You sound like you really like it.”
“I do. I really, really do and honestly right now, being away from home...it is all that is keeping me sane right now,” she said in a soft voice.
“So, you are not a permanent resident in Italy?” he asked and she shook her head.
“I’m just visiting a friend. She has an apartment in Turin,” she said in a soft voice.
“I know that you are from the States, but where exactly?”
“New Jersey,” she said in a soft voice.
“New Jersey?” he smiled. “You seem like more of a New York kind of girl.”
She smiled and shrugged.
“I was...I think I still am. But...” her voice trailed off. “It’s a long story, one that I don’t want to get into right now.”
“So are you here doing a piece on the life and culture of Italy?” he asked and she nodded.
“Turin to be specific. I did a piece on Rome and The Vatican but this time I am solely focused on Turin.”
“Sounds great. You know, if you want I could show you around.”
“Thanks, but you don’t have to.”
“Just hear me out. I think I can take you to places you wouldn’t be able to see without my help,” he said and she laughed. This guy was slowly but surely crossing over from confidence to arrogance and she was almost sure that he didn’t even realize it.
“I still believe that you don’t have to,” she said.
“Well, I insist,” he said, smiling. “You never know, I might just be able to take your mind off whatever it is you are avoiding in New Jersey.”
Amanda smiled and took a sip of her lemonade again, wondering how she was going to respond to that. But she could not think of saying anything that would ensure she didn’t divulge everything she was running away from.
“So how long do you plan on being here?” he asked and she shrugged.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure really...a couple of weeks. A month maybe?” she said.
“That’s barely enough time to see all that Turin has to offer. Maybe you could extend your trip?”
She smiled and shrugged.
“I don’t know. I’ll see how everything goes.”
Rafael looked at her for a long time before he finally spoke again.
“That’s too bad because I was hoping to see you again. To have you all to myself away from all this music and people, away from all this mayhem.”
Her lips were slightly parted as he looked at her. She did not know what she was supposed to say to him. She had a million thoughts running through her mind.
“What?” she asked, surprised at what she had heard.
“You heard me,” he said as he looked into her eyes. “I would like to take you out sometime. Dinner maybe.”
“Dinner?” she asked.
“Dinner,” he echoed. “We could go to a restaurant but I am one hell of a cook and I would love to show off my culinary prowess.”
She forced out a laugh.
“I literally just met you.”
“Yes, it’s been a good half hour and if you say no, you will just be delaying the inevitable,” he said and she took another sip of her lemonade.
“You sound pretty sure of yourself,” she said.
“That’s because I am,” he pointed out. “And I would follow you out to New Jersey too...or New York. Wherever you decide to go.”
Amanda put her glass down and stood up. She wanted to say what made her suddenly get up but her throat was dry. Her glossed lips were slightly parted as she tried getting the words in her mind out but she couldn’t quite find her voice.
“Hey,” Rafael stood up. He was standing close to her, a little too close for comfort. She could smell his breezy cologne, that was how close he was to her at that moment. “Did I say something to upset you?”
“No, I just...I think it is just better if I head home...I mean back to my friend’s apartment,” she said in a low voice.
“I’ll take you,” he said but she shook her head.
“No, I’m fine. I’m fine.”
“No, Amanda.” He took a step closer to her, getting himself right in front of her. “You are the first person I have met who I can actually talk to and I know that it has been just a few minutes but that is enough to make me realize that I want to see you again.”
“See me again? Really?” she asked. “I don’t think it would be a good idea to...”
She never had a chance to finish what she was saying. He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. She gasped silently as he held her against his body.
“I don’t know what you have heard about me, Amanda. But I can tell you one thing. I like you. I like how simple you are, how natural you are, how mature you are.” He pulled away and ran his eyes down her body before he looked into her eyes. “I haven’t met anyone like you in a very long time and I want to get to know you better.”
His arm was still around her waist and subconsciously, her hands were on his shoulders.
“Let me show you around,” he said in a soft voice. “And let me wine and dine you like the sophisticated woman you are.”
Amanda was not sure whether it was his upfront Tony Stark personality that appealed to her so much or the fact that he seemed to believe in himself more than anyone she had ever known. There were two conflicting voices in her head. One screaming to her that she should have pulled away and just walked off but at the same time, there was something about being in his arms. Some sort of comfort that she just had not felt in a long time.
“Even if you don’t agree to dinner, then let me take you around town,” he said, softly.
She did not know how but the next word out of her mouth surprised even her.
“Okay.”
Chapter 5
“He asked you out on a date?” Emilia asked as she looked at Amanda in surprise. Emilia had insisted on knowing everything as soon as Amanda walked into the door. She had been staying up late, probably twiddling her fingers as she waited for her to get home.
It was almost midnight by the time Amanda finally made it back to the apartment and a worried Emilia looked up at her, doe eyed, ready to hear about what she had been up to. Amanda had asked her to come with but Emilia had adamantly refused saying that the Imperioli parties were known to get a little ‘out of hand’...whatever that meant.
“Yes, he asked me out on a date,” Amanda said as she looked at Emilia. “That is exactly what I said two or three seconds ago.”
“And you agreed?” Emilia asked.
Amanda looked at her and wondered what she was supposed to do. She wanted to lie and say that she had turned him down but to be quite honest, Emilia was like a bloodhound when she was onto something and there was no way she was going to hide the fact that she was going to have dinner with Rafa
el forever. Plus, she was in Turin for another few weeks. There was no way she was going to come up with a reasonable excuse for getting dressed up.
“Well, to be honest I am not very sure what I agreed to,” she said as she looked at Emilia.
“Okay, now that makes absolutely no sense,” Emilia pointed out crossing her arms over her chest. Amanda took a long deep breath and sighed.
“He asked me to go out to dinner with him and he also asked to be my tour guide and I said yes, just not sure what I said yes to,” she explained.
Emilia still looked confused.
“I still don’t get it.”
“Well, honestly I don’t want to get into all that. Just know that everything at the party was great.” She brushed a curly strand off her face. “I’m actually glad that I got that invite. I had a great time out there. You really should have come.”
“I love being taken seriously and being in the same circles as Penelope Lowe is going to kind of taint my reputation in my professional circles,” Emilia said and Amanda raised an eyebrow over the other.
“Penelope Lowe is amazing,” she said. “You and I both know that...I mean have you seen her latest music video? She makes Rihanna look like old news.”
“That’s because she is hardly ever clothed when she shoots her videos,” Emilia said rolling her eyes. “Like seriously, that ‘Forget About Us’ video, she literally only covers her nipples and she calls that a fashion statement?”
“Musicians do that all the time...Miley Cyrus, Rihanna herself also puts on some questionable clothing... Lady Gaga wore an outfit made of meat,” Amanda pointed out.
“Honestly, I would have loved to see her perform at a zoo or something of the sort,” Emilia said and Amanda laughed.
“Did anyone ever tell you, you are evil?”
“The whole world was thinking the same thing. All I did was just give people a voice.”
“Did you suddenly turn politician and not tell me about it?” Amanda asked and Emilia gently pushed a strand of her brunette hair behind her ear.
“We are digressing. You were telling me about your date or not a date plan with Rafael.”
Amanda suddenly went silent. She had been hoping that they would not have to go back to that topic. All she wanted to do was forget about everything. Forget that she had actually met someone by the name of Rafael Imperioli but there was something inside her that was crying out to her that she just couldn’t do that. She could not ignore the fact that she had met someone who was potentially a good man. And another thing she did not want to handle at that moment was the fact that Emilia was grilling her. She wanted to know everything. Everything about the party.
Everything about Rafael.
And not just what Amanda was telling her. She wanted to know what Amanda was thinking about. What she planned on doing now that she had accepted Rafael’s offer.
“Hey,” Emilia said as she waved her hand in front of Amanda’s face. “What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”
Amanda took a long deep breath and sighed.
“I don’t know how to say this without sounding like a complete tool,” she started and Emilia shrugged.
“How about you just start at the beginning and we see how things go?”
Amanda shook her head. She knew that Emilia could almost read her mind, understand what she was about to say. She looked into Emilia’s eyes as she tried forming the right words to say exactly what was on her mind. That she was actually looking forward to seeing Rafael again because he was the complete opposite of Brett. That she wanted to see him again because she missed the attention. Craved it actually.
She wanted anything to make her feel beautiful again because heaven knows, she did not feel like much at that moment. Brett had managed to break her. He had managed to shatter her. Literally.
“You look like you have so many thoughts right now,” Emilia said again and Amanda nodded.
“I do.”
“Then tell me. Let me know what is going on with you,” Emilia said as she shifted her weight getting herself closer to Amanda. “I’m here for you, you know.”
“I know.”
“Then talk to me.”
Amanda sighed.
“When Rafael asked me, it was not a struggle to say yes. I knew that I wanted to see him again but I can’t tell you why.”
“I think that is perfectly normal,” Emilia pointed out and Amanda shook her head.
“Any other time...any other situation and I would have considered it to be okay but right now...” her voice trailed off and Emilia raised an eyebrow over the other.
“Right now...what? What are you trying to tell me?”
Amanda bit her lower lip and shrugged.
“I’m pregnant, Millie,” she finally said. She looked as Emilia‘s eyes gradually grew wide. She could tell her friend was more surprised than she was when she first found out that she was expectant.
“I’m sorry. It sounded like you just said that you are pregnant,” Emilia said, seeking clarification.
“That’s because that is exactly what I said,” Amanda said in a low voice. “I am pregnant,” she said again.
There was a long silence before Emilia finally spoke again, a clear sign that her news caught her off guard.
“Wow,” Emilia said after what seemed like forever. “How long have you known?”
“A few days. I found out just before I left New York.”
“And how long...I mean, how far along are you?” Emilia asked again and Amanda shrugged.
“I’m not very sure. I mean I am late and everything but it’s not like I ever went to the hospital or anything. I just took a few of those home pregnancy tests and...yeah.”
“You must be stoked,” Emilia said excitedly but Amanda shook her head.
“I won’t lie to you. I’m not so sure what I am feeling. I mean, on the one hand I feel really excited to be carrying a life inside me... I mean, I have always wanted to be a mother and everything but this is not how I planned on doing it. I mean, I always pictured that Brett would be there with me every step of the way but now I'm doing it all alone.”
“Come on, Mandy, lots of women do the whole single parenthood thing and they do pretty damn well too,” Emilia said and Amanda shook her head.
“You are not getting it. I am not questioning whether I can do it, it is whether I want to do it. That’s the big question here. I mean, this is Brett’s child. The man who I thought I would spend the rest of my life with.” She paused and clenched her fist so tightly that her knuckles were white. “The man who cheated on me.” She shook her head and bit her lower lip again. “I seriously don’t know what I am supposed to do about this.”
“You said you have only known about this for a few days, right?” Emilia asked and Amanda nodded. “You just need time to get used to the idea. I know for a fact that most people don’t just embrace motherhood as soon as it happens. It takes a while.”
“Yeah, so I’ve heard but at the same time, this is not just any baby,” Amanda said in a soft voice. “This will be a living reminder of all the shit Brett put me through. All those days I waited up for him because he was working late and nights I spent alone because he was out of town, working...” she shook her head. “This baby...what if he or she is the spitting image of his father? What do I do then?”
Emilia took Amanda’s hand in hers and sighed.
“When I found out I was carrying Hope, I had the same problem. I kept on wondering if I wanted a child that reminded me of years of abuse and I even considered an abortion but by the time I got to the clinic, all I could imagine was ‘what if that was my one chance’?” Emilia smiled. “As I sat there, I stopped thinking of what had been and began thinking of what could be and just like that I changed my mind and you know that Hope means the world to me.”
Amanda smiled. Hope was a darling. With her piercing blue green eyes and brown hair that made her look almost the same as her father, Emilia’s ex Harris. And just then, som
ething hit her. What happened between her and Brett might have been the worst thing that could have happened but she was almost too sure that her mind would change when she saw her baby. That was just it. It was not Brett’s baby. They were no longer together. It would not be their baby. It would be her baby. The one person who would always love her unconditionally. She placed a hand on her tummy and without even realizing it, she was smiling.
“I think someone’s changing her mind,” Emilia said.
“I guess. But I am still not sure about this though.”
“I know. It takes a while to get used to the idea.”
Amanda took a long deep breath and shook her head.
“I don’t know what to do. I think it is still early and....” her voice trailed off and Emilia gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
“Give yourself some time, okay? It doesn’t happen magically. I mean I thought I was going to give up Hope for adoption...like, that was the plan from the get go but when I saw her, all I could think was...I made this. She is mine.”
Amanda nodded and sighed again.
“You know, that’s not all. I don’t know whether I should tell Rafael about it,” she said and Emilia shook her head.
“Okay, I’m a little confused. I thought he was just taking you around town.”
“He did offer to and I don’t mind...but he also asked me out to dinner and I really want to say yes.”
“You never cease to amaze me, you know that?” she asked and Amanda shrugged.
*****
“I should have kissed her,” Rafael thought as he leaned back against the poolside chair. He had not gone back into the party after bringing Amanda out there. He had not seen the need to. As a matter of fact, he thought of going back into the party like drinking orange juice after brushing teeth.
He looked at his now empty glass and the half full pitcher of lemonade and a smile played on his lips. That was the first time he had avoided drinking alcohol at his own party. Well, granted, he’d had some cognac earlier on but that was just it. He hadn’t had any more alcohol. Not after he began speaking to Amanda.
Accept My Baby: A Billionaire BWWM Single Parent Pregnancy Romance Page 5
