No Ordinary Love (A Modern Vintage Romance #5)

2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Lucas

I looked at my phone. Amara had not responded to my text messages. I wondered if her flight had been delayed. She was supposed to have arrived a half hour ago.

I stood on the balcony of my suite and looked at the vast gardens of the Covington estate. My conversation with my mother had jolted me. Kath was single again. She wanted to come back to me. It felt damned good to hear that. For years, I had to swallow my pride whenever I saw her with Mercer, feeling the sting of her choosing him over me.

Kath had told me several times in the past five years that she wasn't happy but didn't know how to leave Mercer without hurting him. Was I in that same place with Amara?

Fuck no! I was happy with Amara. I was content with her. We had fun together. The sex was amazing. The only problem I had with her was how she didn't seem to be interested in being Mrs. Covington. Kath had been groomed for that job. She worked at LPC, the Covington family business since we'd bought Bellamy Foods, Kath's family business. She'd come in as the CFO for LPC, the role she'd held at Bellamy Foods. She was smart and knew our business.

No one could say Amara wasn't intelligent. With a PhD in communications, she taught and researched women's health communication. She was just a different kind of brilliant.

We talked about our work together, but it wasn't the same as when I spoke to Kath about LPC; after all, she knew our company inside out.

I hated mentally comparing Kath and Amara. I had no right—no business—thinking about my ex when I was living with my loving and affectionate girlfriend.

I tucked my hands in my slacks and saw Shelby, my sister, in the garden with Kath. They were close friends.

They were laughing, and my heart beat just a little faster.

When Kath was with Mercer, she'd been untouchable. I worked with her every fucking day, and I hadn't gone there. But she was mine first . Ours was a love story that got derailed because—my jaw clenched—Kath had chosen to do so.

But now, she'd left Mercer, or maybe he left her, and did that really matter? I'd spent the past five years watching her, feeling a fire burning inside me—hate, love, affection, aggression—she drew out all my extreme emotions.

With Amara, I felt content and peaceful. I knew I was loved. She took care of me. All my life, I took care of everyone: my mother, my sister, the company, Kath—but Amara took care of me . She catered to me. I had no idea how calm life could be until I met Amara. I hadn't planned on dating her, but after a difficult day at work, I met her by accident and found myself not only distracted but also recharged, ready to face my problems with more energy the next day. So, I kept seeking her out.

Before long, I was seeing Amara all the time.

The first time we had sex, I was fascinated by how wonderful it was to be with a woman who wanted to please me—who asked me what I enjoyed. I couldn't stop touching her. I wanted her all the time. I wanted to bury myself deep inside her, where there was nothing but satisfaction.

That wasn't how I felt about Kath. Passion was a driving force with her. I couldn't sleep for wanting her, and I couldn't stand it if she talked to another man. Amara's closest friend was a professor she worked with, Basil, and I never felt jealous—I was always certain of her devotion to me.

Kath spun around at something Shelby said, her white dress twirling around her gorgeous legs. I remembered the feel of those legs wrapped around my waist. Kath was full of life and energy, her eyes always bright, lighting up every room she entered. She riled me up, while Amara always made me feel calm.

I missed Kath every fucking day since she left me. Would I miss Amara?

What was I thinking?

You're thinking of leaving Amara. That's what you're thinking.

I felt like a cold-blooded ass. Amara didn't deserve to be hurt. She was sweet and kind. I couldn't do that to her. Hell, no!

"Mister Lucas." I turned to look at Jerome.

"Is she here?"

Jerome's eyes narrowed, and he looked angry. He'd been in my life since I was a child, and I held him in high regard. He'd been a better role model than my father. I hadn't seen him look at me the way he was since I made fun of a girlfriend when I was sixteen, and he told me to learn to respect women, or he'd beat the shit out of me.

" She was here two hours ago." He clenched his jaw.

"What do you mean?"

Jerome walked up to me. He stood next to me and, like I had, looked down at Shelby and Kath.

"She heard you talking to Miss Patsy."

"What?" I couldn't understand what he was saying. What did he mean she had…. No!

"She heard you tell your mama that you loved Kath and always would. That you weren't sure about Amara. It was—"

"Why the hell didn't you tell me right away?" I roared.

Jerome looked at me sternly. "Keep your voice down, son . She asked me to give her a two-hour head start, and I did."

I looked at my watch. Fuck. It was nearly six, and my grandmother would expect me to join her at the receiving line for our guests in about fifteen minutes.

" Fuck ."

"Language, Mister Lucas," he said sternly.

As my grandmother told me, I might be thirty years old, but I was never going to be older than my elders.

"Sorry, Jerome," I muttered, feeling like I was fifteen again. "How was she?"

"Devastated."

I closed my eyes. I picked up my phone, and he shook his head. "What?

"You don't do this over the phone."

"Grandma is expecting me downstairs. I can't go to South of Broad and make it back here in time to greet our guests."

Jerome took a deep breath. "In that case, you don't have anything to say to Amara. Just let her go." He looked at the gardens, where Kath was talking loudly and excitedly. "In any case, it sounds like you've made up your mind."

"I haven't," I told him sincerely.

He shrugged. "Let me rephrase that. She heard your doubts and made up your mind for you. She's intelligent, kind, and wonderful—and she knows she deserves a man who truly loves her, not someone still hung up on a spoiled girl he fell for when they were both kids. I thought you'd grown up, since Miss Kath certainly hasn't, but it seems you're still not mature enough for a woman like the Professor."

With that barb, Jerome left me holding my phone, contemplating how to handle where I was.

I called Amara and was surprised when she picked up.

"Lucas."

"Amara, where are you?"

"I'm at Basil's place. I'm going to stay here until I figure out what to do next."

It was surreal how we were ending without my doing anything or saying anything to her.

"Don't you think we should talk first?"

"Of course. Do you love Kath, Lucas?"

I didn't reply. It would be cruel to answer that question honestly.

"Do you love me?"

"I care so much about you," I whispered, feeling inadequate. I had been so sure of Amara and me, and now I wasn't. How did one afternoon change everything so drastically?

"There, we talked. I…I can't afford to pay the mortgage on the townhouse on my own and—"

"Don't worry about that," I cut in.

Were we doing this? Was I ending a two-year relationship, one that gave me so much over the phone? Was that the kind of asshole I was?

"I have to," she said softly.

Yeah, she had to. She wasn't independently wealthy. She earned a living. A good one, but I knew she'd sunk all her savings into her half of the down payment for the townhouse. I'd wanted to buy the place outright, but she'd wanted to own half. In my world, women didn't fight to pay, and the novelty of it had been just another way in which she cared for me. She didn't expect things from me. Amara gave more than she took.

"We're not done talking, Amara." No, I couldn't just let this go. Not over a conversation she overheard.

Jackass, you just told her you loved Kath, and you only care about her.

"Yes, we are," she murmured. "I'm heartbroken, Lucas. I'm hurting. Talking about this will only make it worse."

I could hear her agony and revolted against it. No. I didn't want this precious woman, this smiling, happy lover of mine, to feel any distress; she only deserved tenderness. In our two years together, we'd hardly argued and never fought, and that wasn't because she gave in every time; hell no, it was because she made us understand each other's perspective. She always came to me with curiosity about why I wanted to do something and why it was important to me. Was I prepared to lose this for the turbulence that was Kath? That relationship was all fire and ice. We fought, we made up. It was hate sex and makeup fucking. It was angry words and tender caresses. It was… all-consuming .

"I'm so sorry you heard what you did."

"I'm not," she replied, and I was once again reminded of her strength.

Amara was no coward. A weaker person would have pretended not to hear what I said, avoided the confrontation entirely. Most wouldn't have spoken to me at all after the way I broke them. But not her.

" Please , can we talk later?"

There was a long silence.

"Maybe," she told me. "But not right now. Next week?"

"I'll call you."

"We'll see," she said in response and hung up.

What the hell did that mean? Did she think I wouldn't even call her? That I wouldn't talk to her? That was bullshit. She should know me better than that.

I felt a combination of shell shock and confusion as I went down to stand with Grandma Rena.

"Where's Amara?" Grandma asked.

She was an elegant woman who reminded everyone of Audrey Hepburn. Petite, she may be, but she was a force to be reckoned with. I loved her and worked hard for her praise all my life because I knew it was real . She wouldn't lie to make me feel better.

"I think we broke up." The words scorched me.

Grandma cocked an eyebrow. "She dumped you?"

"Why don't you think I ended the relationship?" I mused as she put her hand on my forearm.

"Honestly, I'm surprised it took her so long."

"What?" I stopped to look at her. "I thought you approved of her."

Grandma scoffed at that. "My approval doesn't matter. You're the one who has to live your life with your partner, not me. Honestly, I thought she'd leave you because of Patsy, who was doing everything she could to make that poor girl's life miserable, and you did nothing to stop it."

We stopped at the ballroom's entrance and watched as the first cars started to pull into the driveway.

"Mama was just bein'—"

"A bitch," Grandma cut me off. "Now, since you don't look heartbroken, which just hurts my heart some more for Amara, let's get this show on the road."