Chapter 4 Take it off

Amelia and Leonard ate together in an awkward silence. The food did not burn much, but if they had stayed another minute without checking it, it would have been a disaster. The silence was broken by Leonard.

"So, this your boyfriend, doesn't he know that you have been thrown out of the house?" he asked.

"No, not yet. I was trying to call him earlier, but he did not pick up," Amelia answered.

Leonard nodded and ate another bite of his food before speaking again. "What happened to your phone?"

Amelia shrugged. "My mother seized it earlier today before the drama with my sister."

Leonard was quite surprised. Who would seize the phone that belonged to an adult like Amelia?

"Why would your mother seize your phone when you are not a six year old?"

Amelia laughed a sad laugh. "I had not finished the house chores before she got back from work. She asked me to wash her and Jemima's clothes and scrub their bathrooms."

Leonard shook his head. 'She really had it hard,' he thought. He made up his mind to get her a new phone the next day after work.

"Were you adopted?" he asked. Amelia shook her head.

"I was not, and even if I was, I think my mother hid it well because I have seen pictures from when I was a baby."

Leonard kept quiet and continued eating. He did not want to tell Amelia any other thing that would make her hate her family. 'She is apparently clueless if she does not know that children can be adopted right from when they are babies.' Leonard thought again.

"Thank you once again for taking me in," Amelia said.

"You're welcome," Leonard nodded.

After their dinner, they both retired to the bedroom. Amelia kept thinking about the scene in the kitchen. It made her stomach flutter. Her cheeks even became red. The thought of Leonard's hot body was living in her mind now, and no matter how hard she tried to shut it out, she kept thinking about it.

She hoped that Leonard would change his mind and go sleep in the living room. She winced at the thought. It was a selfish thought, but she preferred it to having him in the same room with her. What if she woke up in the middle of the night and saw him shirtless?

Leonard took one pillow from the bed, and a duvet from his wardrobe. He spread the duvet on the floor and he laid down to sleep. Amelia soon slept off too, after successfully fighting off her thoughts.

Amelia roused and turned on the bed. She opened her eyes to a dim room. She could not tell if it was morning yet, or if she had woken up in the middle of the night. As she sat up on the bed, there was suddenly light in the room.

Leonard had opened the blinds so that the daylight would enter the room.

Amelia turned around to what was the most unexpected sight in the morning. Leonard was wearing only a white towel on his waist. He was still facing the window when she turned, but before she could get up and run into the bathroom, he turned to face her.

"Ah, Amelia," he called. "You are up."

Amelia nodded. But now instead of running into the bathroom, Amelia remained fixed on the bed where she sat. She could not even hear anything he was saying again.

"I took the liberty of getting ready for work while you slept. I was going to wake you up immediately I finished up."

But Amelia was watching the water that was dripping from his face. She looked down to watch the droplets run down his chest, and then to his abs and waist. This man has such a divine torso! Good God!

"Amelia?" Leonard called.

But she was still in a daze. She looked at his muscular arms and wondered how much he had gone to the gym. 'Those hands, what do they do?' she wondered. She had never stared at a man this long, not even Derek. Derek even had a belly that Amelia learned to tolerate.

Amelia's eyes fell to the towel. She wondered what Leonard would look like down there...if he took off the towel. She did not know when she shut her eyes tight, as if she was trying to close out the thoughts that were invading her mind.

"Take it off," she mumbled.

"Huh? What are you saying?" Leonard saw her mouth move, but he did not hear what she was saying. He looked at Amelia incredulously and chuckled.

"Amelia," he called her again, but her eyes were still shut tight.

Leonard shook his head and walked over to her. He then crouched so that his face would be on the same level as her own. He tapped her on the shoulder.

"I said you could go have your bath now," he said when she opened her eyes.

"Huh?" Amelia was shocked to see his face right in front of hers.

"I will give you your space. Go get ready before we get late," he assured and commanded her at the same time.

Amelia nodded and quickly ran into the bathroom while Leonard laughed and wore his clothes.