Amethyst loves music and enjoys hip-hop dancing to spice up her dull and dreary life. But one evening on her way home from dance class, she hears a voice that drew her away from her route.
Caught in the act of eavesdropping, her life is about to change in a way she has never foreseen.
David didn't quite know what to do with the beautiful trespasser, but when he learned that she was injured, taking care of her was the only solution.
Little did he suspect that she was about to take care of his lonely heart in return.
CHAPTER 17
His hand was warm and distracting. And confusing to my head which had to be clear right now. I could feel the frown showing my confusion and pulled I my hand away. “You mean I still have a job?”
David frowned in return. “Why wouldn't you?”
“Mr. Henry is not a nice man. He managed to fire some people in the past even when they did nothing wrong.”
That earned me a few raised eyebrows, but I had a more pressing concern. “Am I still getting paid, or do I need to find another job?” I looked down at my hands. The bandage and splint a reminder that my stay here would soon be over. “I cannot afford not to have a job.”
“Okay, let's backtrack a few steps here. What did you mean he fired people when they did nothing wrong? There are laws against such things.”
I glared at David. “You cannot be serious! How can someone like me get a lawyer, let alone pay him, to fight a company for unlawful dismissal? Get real.”
My stomach suddenly rolled at the smell of freshly brewed coffee and perfectly toasted bread. I got to my feet instead. “I am not hungry.”
* * *
Jeff nudged his brother. “Go after her.”
“Why? I cannot force her to eat.”
Jeff rolled his eyes. “Idiot. She needs you to understand her position. You are in love with her, and you need to convince her to stay.”
“We want her to stay,” Phyllis added.
David's jaw dropped. “I am not in love with her.”
Jeff slapped his shoulder. “Yes, you are. Mom and I can both see that, so stop arguing with the truth and go get her. Now!”
Frowning, he got up. “Am I in love?”
“Yes!” the reply came in duplicate.
Shaking his head left the room. Was he in love with Amethyst? Even now his heart ached for the difficult position she could find herself in.
In the hall he stopped, not sure where she went. She was mobile and could be anywhere on the estate.
He spotted the housekeeper in the entrance hall checking the fresh flowers in the tall floor-standing vase.
“Excuse me, Mrs. Neethling, did you see which way Amethyst went?”
“If I am not mistaken, she went to the kitchen.”
Thanking her he ran to the kitchen, startling the chef and one of the maids, and then out the back door without pause.
There were only a few places she could go from here. He doubted she had a hankering for the vegetable garden or the greenhouse. The only alternative left was the theater his dad had built for his two boys to sing and play the piano.
He found her just inside the fence where they met that first night. She was sitting on the ground staring into the street outside.
“May I join you?”
She shrugged and kept looking away.
“Do you really want to leave that badly? Does your job mean so much to you?”
Her shoulders moved again, but she didn't reply.
“Amethyst, please look at me.”
“I can't,” she whispered.
“Why?”
“Because.”
He smiled. “I used to say that to my mother when she asked me why I didn't want to sing duets with the other kids.”
She turned to look at him. There were tears on her cheeks. She quickly tried to wipe them. “Why didn't you want to sing duets?”
He reached up and wiped the tears away. “Because I didn't want to sing with someone who didn't understand that music was not just about the right notes and harmonies.”
“It had to come from the heart,” she whispered.
“Yes. I want you to sing a duet with me. Not just on a stage, but at night when we are alone, and no one else can hear us.”
She blinked her blue eyes wide with the same hope warming his heart. “Why me? I am nothing special. Just someone you felt sorry for.”
He shifted and brought her into his arms. “Maybe in the beginning. Maybe for about five minutes. But after that? I just wanted to be with you. It was hard not touching you, kissing you. It still is. Because I am in love with you. I want you—”
She gasped. “You're in love with me?”
He smiled and nodded. “Yes.”
She threw both arms around his neck. “I don't want to leave. I thought you were sorry for me. I don't want you to be sorry for me.”
He pulled back a little to look into her eyes. “Do you think you could love me? I know I am not a people person, but I could learn.”
She touched his cheek. “I don't have to think about it. I love you. I think I fell for you that first time you picked me up in your arms.”
He didn't give her another moment to explain. Sealing his lips to hers, he tightened his arms around her. Yes! his heart told his head. Never had anything felt so right than holding Amethyst in his arms.
Amethyst moaned softly when he touched her lips with his tongue requesting her full participation. He didn't just love, she gave love in return.
It was his turn to moan when she surrendered to their kiss.
“I think we should leave.”
They broke apart at the whispered voice.
“Jeff!”
She giggled at David's exasperated voice.
“You could have left without saying anything.”
Jeff grinned. “I could, but then you would have killed me when you saw your picture in the tabloids tomorrow.”
David groaned. He got up and helped her to her feet. “Sheesh, can't a man not even propose in private?”
Amethyst froze while Jeff's grin grew by leaps and bounds.
“Propose?” she croaked.
Jeff slapped his brother on the back. “I think you should take this inside before the press realise how close to the fence you are.”
When they heard sounds like running feet, they ran themselves. Amethyst managed without stumbling or adding to her injury.
Inside the house, she planted her hands on her hips, wincing when the splint dug into her flesh through the light pants she wore.
“Are you okay?”
She glared back. “Don't change the subject.”
David bit his lip to keep from laughing. In pleasure. Their first fight. Women wanted to please him. Amethyst didn't seem to have that problem. She was perfect for him.
The matchmaker, Jeff, seemed to have miraculously disappeared, the bastard.
She folded her arms and frowned at him. “You can't marry me.”
“Why not? It is the next logical step once we now agree that we love each other.”
“For other people, maybe. But we can't.”
He took her head between gentle hands and made her look at him. “Again. Why not?”
She pulled his hands away and sat down on the stairs. “Why not?”
