The Beast of Stornoway

Chapter 69: Amani

Amani stared at the morning sun's rays streaming across the ceiling of her room. He kissed her. She kissed him. They kissed each other! She slid her hand over her mouth and squealed. She should not be excited about this. That kiss was a huge mistake. She groaned and closed her eyes.

I told myself I wasn't going to act like a damn mistress, but here I go kissing the damn man!

A smile tugged at her lips, but he kissed her back. She sat up and held her fingers over her mouth. That kiss was incredible. The memory of his mouth on hers sent shivers down her spine.

No, Amani. This is bad.

How was she supposed to face him? What was she supposed to say to him now? She slid her hands into her hair. She'd have to avoid him-just until she could figure out how to act around him without constantly thinking of his Goddamn lips!

Amani threw the blankets off herself and padded to the shower. That was exactly what she was going to do. She had no idea how they were going to co-parent Nova during this process.

Co-parent? For heaven's sake Amani!

They didn't co-parent anything. They were not a family unit and she shouldn't think of them like that. She sighed and stepped into the shower, but she liked the thought of them that way.

Fuck fuck fuuuuck.

She had to get these thoughts out of her mind.

Van's a taken man, he's my boss and we are just friends! Nothing more.

A smile spread across her lips. Not unless he got out of that engagement. If that happened, she would gladly explore every inch of that man.

Cut it out, Amani.

That wasn't happening any time soon or possibly at all. Van was far from getting any sort of control of the shareholders. Amani knew he'd go through with the marriage if he couldn't take control of Blarcum Industries from his mother. Amani was right when she'd said he'd sacrifice his happiness to protect everyone else.

She shook her head as she stepped out of the shower. Van was just like her. If she were in his position, she'd do the same thing to protect her family. She couldn't expect him to break off the engagement and put his family in jeopardy for her.

She slipped a yellow sundress over her head and fingered some moisturizer in her hair. She tied it up in a ponytail and took a deep breath.

I'm going for a walk. It will help me clear my head.

Van still had Nova, so she'd get some time to herself to think. She slipped her feet into a pair of white flip flops and nodded to herself. Some fresh warm air was exactly what she needed.

Yes, get it together, girl.

She took another deep breath and opened her door.

"Um, good morning." Van blushed, slowly lowering his hand as if he were going to knock on her door.

Shiiiit. What's he doing here? Why can't he be like me and avoid all of this?

She was taken out of her shocked stupor by Nova pushing at her legs and holding her leash in her mouth. "Good morning." She laughed, ruffling her ears and taking the leash from her.

"She needs to go out and I thought we should talk-take her out together."

She sighed and latched Nova's leash to her collar. That wasn't a slip up. He really wanted to talk. Why? Why couldn't they just ignore this? Why couldn't he let her think?! "I can take her myself. You don't have to come," she said and walked down the hall toward the stairs. Amani was yanked back when Nova's leash went taut. The pup sat in the middle of the hall whining and looking back at Van.