Page 78 of A Bossy Proposal

No, the fuck it’s not over.

I rush after her, my heart pounding in my chest. “Amelia!”

She storms into the living room, heading straight for the elevator.

“If you leave, don’t come back,” I warn, panic bubbling beneath my skin.

“That’s the plan,” she shoots back without looking at me, her fingers dancing over the button for the elevator.

I sprint forward, closing the distance between us until I’m only three steps away. “You can’t just walk out like this!”

She glances at me, then presses the button again. “Looks like I can.”

“Please, just talk to me.” I take a step closer, desperation clawing at my throat. “Don’t shut me out.”

“Why should I? You think this is some kind of game?” She glares at me now, fire igniting in her eyes. “This isn’t a performance for your father’s approval or some PR stunt. I have feelings too, West. You should never have taken us from fake to—”

“Real?” I say.

She glances at the floor, biting her lip. “I thought you liked me. I thought there was something happening between us. But to hear you and your brother and then listening to how you’ve never gotten over your ex. At my engagement party—” She sighs, glancing at the ceiling. “Everyone must know we aren’t real.”

“Annika was nothing to me. She was everything to Dom, but everybody thought…” My heart is pounding in my chest. “She was discreet. But she wasn’t mine. My father tried to rile you…me.” I sigh. “I don’t know why he said that, but I’ll find out.”

She swallows.

“I’ve wanted you from the day I first saw you at Henry’s,” I say, the words slipping out before I can stop them. “I’ve never wanted anyone like I wanted you. I never understood it.”

Her breath catches, and for a moment, surprise washes over her face.

“You don’t mean that,” she says quietly, disbelief etched across her features. “You’re just trying to salvage this farce.“

“I do mean it,” I insist, moving closer still. “Every damn day since you walked across the beach. Despite you having a boyfriend, I offered you the job because I knew one day—” I sigh, shaking my head. “I brought you coffee every morning because all I wanted to see was that smile you give me as you take it.”

Her eyes are wide as they flicker around my face, looking for some deceit. “Every fucking day, I would watch your sweet ass sway in my room while your eyes were on me.” I close my eyes. “Oh fuck!”

The truth is sliding out of my mouth just as the elevator doors slide open with a soft ding. She glances over her shoulder and back at me.

“You’re just saying what you think will keep me here,” she retorts, but her voice wavers. “And I’m sick of being the one who gets hurt.”

Her words cut through me like a blade, twisting my gut. I’ve never wanted to hurt her, but here I am, standing in the aftermath of my own mistakes. And I can’t do anything but tell her the truth as she prepares to walk away.

“Amelia, you have to believe me.” My voice drops, thick with urgency. “I would never play with your heart like that.”

She crosses her arms, disbelief written all over her face. “Then why does it feel like that? Why does it feel like you’re just another guy who can’t decide what he wants? Another guy who treats me like a transaction.”

Each accusation hits me harder than the last. It’s true—I never wanted to cause her pain, but now I realize that’s exactly what she expects from me.

My throat tightens as the realization washes over me. She thinks I’m just another player in this game we’ve created together, but the truth is so much deeper.

I run a hand through my hair. “You think I don’t care? That this is some joke? Or worse, that you are someone I can just let go of after a year? You mean everything to me, and you always have.”

She shakes her head slowly, disappointment evident in every movement. “Then prove it.”

Prove it?

The fear of losing her grips my heart tightly, but how do I show her that I’m not like Felix? If I let her walk out that door now, it might shatter whatever fragile connection we have left.

“I’ll do whatever it takes,” I say, stepping closer again. “You won’t feel pain from me ever again—”

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