Not just any roses—green beauties. They were a pale-green-and-ivory rose with darker green edges. The flowers reminded him of tiny cabbages, really, but she’d always loved them. Her favorite color was green after all.
“Wow,” she said. She looked up at him with a wide smile brightening her face.
“I was about to say that same thing.” Amelia looked amazing. She was wearing a plum-colored dress that popped against the ivory of her skin. It almost looked like strips of fabric wrapped around her body. It had cap sleeves with straps crisscrossing over her collarbones. It molded to her shape, making her incredibly voluptuous figure even more outrageous. She had the kind of dangerous curves that required two hands or a man could lose control. “You look beautiful tonight.”
“Thank you. This is a Herve Leger bandage dress I saved up to buy, and I’ve never had the opportunity to wear it. It’s on the snug side to begin with, so I figured I should wear it tonight while I can. If I could get away with it, I’d wear it every day until I hit my second trimester, but it’s just not that practical.”
Fashion before comfort with Amelia, always. “I would vote for that. I wouldn’t get anything done staring at you the whole time, though.”
“You’re sweet,” she said, a rosy color rising to her cheeks. “I can’t believe you remembered my favorite flower.”
“Of course I did,” Tyler said as he held the bouquet out to her. “For you.”
“Come in,” Amelia said as she took a few steps back into her apartment.
He followed her into the cozy one-bedroom corner unit she called home. Golden overhead lighting shined down from an antique-looking fixture. It illuminated every detail she’d worked hard to put in place. It was a cute little apartment, spacious by New York standards, and very much Amelia. The furniture was shabby chic in style, mixing older, worn antiques with a few newer, brighter pieces. There was a mishmash of throw rugs, embroidered pillows and candles scattered around the space.
She had always had a keen aesthetic eye, be it for fashion, furniture or food. Even back in high school, when Tyler’s daily uniform had included jeans and a T-shirt, she had always gone above and beyond when it came to her style. To her, decorating an apartment was like getting her place dressed up to go out. He couldn’t be bothered. He wanted things to be functional and not too fussy. Like his clothes.
He watched Amelia disappear into the tiny kitchen and put the green roses in a tall crystal vase filled with water. She had been right when she said there wasn’t room for him to live here with her. It was comfortable, welcoming, but not really big enough for more than one person. And she certainly would have difficulty raising a child here, too. There was no room for a nursery. No yard to play in. A couple toys on the floor could create a treacherous obstacle course.
“What?” she asked, coming toward him with the vase in her hands. “You look disgusted about something.”
“Not disgusted. I was just thinking of how small your place is. Reminds me of the first apartment I rented when I moved to New York to apprentice at Levi’s jewelry store.”
“It suits me just fine.” She placed the flowers in the middle of her square white dining room table. “It’s quiet, I have reserved parking and the price is good. I’m really not home that much anyway.”
“Well—” he frowned “—no matter what happens with us, we’ll need to find you a new place. Either you’ll move in with me or we’ll get you something bigger for you and the baby.” He raised his hand to halt her protest. “Don’t start. You and I both know you’ll need more space when the baby comes.”
Amelia shrugged and scooped up her purse. “I had been thinking about getting a townhouse before all this started. But there’s no sense in worrying about it now. We’ve got time to figure out things like that.”
“Absolutely. Right now, we need to focus on not missing our reservation.”
“Where are we going?”
“The Watermark, downtown.”
Amelia smiled as she picked up her jacket and followed him outside. “Nice choice.”
He escorted her to the parking lot, but Amelia stopped abruptly at the curb. “What’s the matter?”
“Where’s your BMW?”
“I’d only rented that for a couple days. I turned it back in when I realized I was going to be staying awhile.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his keys and hit the button to unlock the doors of the white Audi SUV parked beside hers.
“I see you finally found a place that would rent you an Audi. I bet you’re happy now.”
Tyler held open the passenger door and helped her inside. “Actually, I bought it,” he said before slamming the door shut.
By the time he got in on his side, Amelia was shaking her head. “You’re from another planet, you know that?”
“Why?”
“Because,” she argued, as they pulled out of her apartment complex, “you buy luxury cars on a whim—with cash, I’m certain. You think a mansion in Belle Meade is a reasonable suggestion. You gave me an eight-carat engagement ring for a spur-of-the-moment wedding in Vegas. That’s not normal, you know?”
Tyler smiled and focused on the freeway stretched out ahead of them. “I worked hard to be abnormal. Would you prefer I have a dead-end office job and scrape pennies together for the monthly payment on my practical sedan like everyone else?”
“No...” she said thoughtfully. “I suppose it wouldn’t make a difference. Even when you were broke, you were abnormal. Just abnormal with less money.”
He chuckled. “I’m not sure if I should be offended or not.”
“Don’t be. I’ve kept you in my life this long with you the way you are. If you’re abnormal, then I guess I am in my own way, too.”
Tyler had to heartily agree with that assessment. For whatever reason, he had lasted in Amelia’s life far longer than any other man. Probably because they weren’t dating, so she didn’t try him on like a pair of shoes and cast him aside when he didn’t fit just right. When they’d crossed the line in Vegas, he’d known he was putting their friendship at risk. Despite their long-standing relationship, adding sex to the mix could potentially land him in the discard pile. Even with their agreement to remain friends no matter what, that was still a very real danger.
That was why he’d come to Nashville fully anticipating they would file for divorce and pretend that night in Vegas never happened. He’d never dreamed they might continue their romance, much less stay married.
The wild card in this scenario was their baby. It was Amelia’s anchor; it might be the only thing that would keep her from bolting from this relationship like every other one before it.
Might be.
Tyler had agreed to Amelia’s thirty-day arrangement for their child’s sake. He would put everything he had into convincing Amelia to love him. Everything but his heart. His wasn’t any good to anyone anymore. It had been irrevocably broken, and he didn’t dare expose it to more damage.
If
