Page 2 of Unexpected Temptation
Amelia had known her whole life that she was the oddball in the family.The black sheep.The ugly duckling.She also had an irritating and embarrassing compulsion to talk out loud when she was thinking or nervous.
They didn’t want to be seen with her in public.Even when they were home, they all tended to ignore her.Most of the time, it didn’t bother her, but it seemed the older she got, the worse it made her feel.Seeing her friends married with children pierced the shell she’d built to protect her heart.That’s all she had ever dreamed about.Children and a husband to give all the bottled-up love and affection she had stored her whole life.
Amelia knew she had to move on and had begun planning her next step weeks ago.The problem she faced was that she didn’t have much experience.She’d never lived away from the house.And frankly, she was terrified.She’d always been taken care of.She never had to worry about any of her basic needs.
Her parents made her go to the closest community college and live at home.She figured it was because they hadn’t wanted to spend money on her education, rather than wanting to protect her.Now she had a degree in business, but nothing else.
She needed to decide what she wanted to do and where she wanted to live.All she knew was she wanted to be as far away from this place as possible.She was lucky enough to have a substantial amount of money from her maternal grandmother—the only person she had ever felt loved by.She was planning on using some to set herself up and make a life for herself.She didn’t know what she would do yet, but she was determined to make it.
“Well, have a good time.”
Amelia lifted her hand as she watched her sister walk away in four-inch heels and wondered for the hundredth time how the hell she ended up in this family.How many times had she fallen asleep crying, feeling like an outsider?She would find a place where she fit in and around people who wanted to be with her, not hide her away.
She couldn’t put it off any longer.Amelia walked to her bedroom and closed the door behind her.She started pulling out the luggage she’d used twice in her lifetime and began organizing and gathering the things she wanted to take with her when she finally left the place she never belonged.
Chapter Two
Amelia faced her parents, who sat close together on the sofa.She tried to look calm even when her nerves were shot, and she had a strong desire to pee her pants.Conflict of any kind was something she’d never been good at.She gripped her hands together because she didn’t want them to see her tremble.They would have used it against her—especially her sister.
“This isn’t a decision I’ve made lightly.It’s time I found my own place in this world, and we all know it’s not here.”
Amelia watched as her parents looked at each other, but otherwise, they stayed silent.
“Where?You’ve never been on your own, Amelia,” Meredith scoffed.
Amelia turned to her sister, who sat separately from their parents, elegantly draped over a chair.
“Did you think I’d spend the rest of my life hidden away in this house?”
Meredith rolled her eyes.
“Oh, for God’s sake.Cut the drama.”
Amelia gritted her teeth.“I’m not being dramatic.It’s the truth,” she burst out.
Her mother’s lips pursed in disapproval, and she waved her hand up in the air.
