Page 12 of Cuffing His Bride

My brows furrow as I try to make sense of what is going on.

“That isnotgoing to happen. What makes you think I’d still marry you after the way you humiliated me yesterday?”

“You still need the money from your grandfather’s trust, right?” he asks. “You told me you won’t get the money unless you have a husband and that if you didn’t hurry, then your other cousin would get married before you and get the money instead. I’m your only hope at this point. I called the courthouse today and—”

I slam my mug down on the counter before he can finish explaining his sentence. He must not have noticed me when he stormed in, but now he certainly does. His eyes widen with shock when he sees me standing in Amelia’s kitchen.

“W-what’shedoing here?” Charles stammers, backing up a step and bumping into Amelia in the process. She steps away with a grimace.

“Leave,” I growl. “Now.”

He hesitates for just a moment, but when I take a threatening step forward, he scurries off with a yelp. I wait to hear the door close behind him before turning to Amelia. It’s clear that there’s more to this situation than him just being a waste of perfectly good space.

“Hunter …”

“Did you love him?”

“What? No, I never did,” she laughs. “I hate that you had to find out this way. I was going to tell you this morning, but my engagement to him was just a ruse.”

“For money?”

Her eyes begin to shine with unshed tears. I almost step forward to take her into my arms but stop before I can. She wants to tell me something, and I need to give her the space to do that. What was all this talk about money for?

“It’s not quite that simple,” she sniffs. “But yeah, basically. Ihe wedding was to secure the trust fund my grandfather left behind. But—”

She stops to take a deep breath. I reach for her hand and rub the pad of my thumb into the back of it, trying to soothe her.

“I need the money because, well …” she starts. “My mom used to own the flower shop I work at. A few years ago, she got sick, and we had to sell it to pay for her treatment. I made a promise to myself to buy back the shop, but with what I make working there, I can barely pay my bills, let alone buy a business.”

My heart softens.

“Maybe it was wrong of me to try and get married to some guy I barely knew and didn’t even really like, but it was going to be worth it. I thought that if I could get the money, I would really make my mom happy. I didn’t care if the man I was marrying had no feelings for me. I was willing to make the sacrifice.”

“Amelia …” Is that why she asked if I’d marry her last night?

“I never felt anything for him, Hunter. I didn’t know I could even feel something for another person until I met you. I didn’t mean to keep anything from you, and I should have told you sooner.”

I close the distance between us and cup her cheeks. She lifts her eyes to meet mine, vulnerable and soft. “I understand, Amelia. I’m not angry,” I whisper, drawing her into my arms. It all makes sense now. “I’ll marry you. We can go to court today and get the papers ready and later when everything is sorted out, I will propose to you officially and we can have a big wedding.”

“God, Hunter,” she says as she wipes at her tears with the backs of her hands.

“Isn’t that what you want?”

“It was,” she whispers, her teary eyes staring into mine. “At least Ithoughtit was what I wanted, but this morning, I spoke to my cousin and told her she could keep the money if she wanted to. I told her that I was going to get married, but on my own terms.”

“Are you sure about this, Amelia?”

“Am I sure I want to wait until we are both familiar with each other before making a lifelong commitment? Yes, I am. I would marry you this second, but I want to take it slow. I want to savor all of the moments we have together.”

I lean down and press my lips to hers. She wraps her arms around my neck and draws me closer, deepening the kiss.

“I can’t wait to marry you, Hunter,” she whispers. “When the time is right.”

“When the time is right,” I echo, drawing her tighter into my arms and kissing her once again.

Epilogue

Hunter

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