True Love (Volume 4) (Now and Forever)

by Melissa Johns

  Alex noticed the bushes behind Becca move as a policeman slowly approached her. He tried to keep her attention on him as they did their job. “Becca, I’m sorry that everything has happened this way. I thought we had a great working relationship.”

  At that moment, the officer took the chance to bring Becca down to the pavement and kick the gun away from her. Alex took a deep breath as the cops took over. He turned around and Eve stood at the front door looking at him. He quickly walked up the pathway and opened the door. He wrapped his hand around her neck and kissed her passionately.

  He didn’t care who watched or what was being said. He needed her at that moment and she allowed him the opportunity.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  As the police cleared the scene and left with Becca in custody, Alex finished signing the police report and headed back inside of the exhibit room. Eve stood with Steve and his sister as he approached the group.

  “Alex, are you sure that you are ok?” Patty asked.

  He nodded slowly. “I just wish that I could have helped her.”

  Eve nodded. “I was so worried about you. I watched her from the door and saw the gun, my heart was racing, Alex.” She wrapped her arm around his back and placed her head against his chest.

  He lightly kissed the top of her head. “I was scared too but I figured if I kept talking to her it would allow the police to take control of the situation.”

  Patty hugged him. “I love you, Alex. We are going home, too much excitement for me.”

  “Thank you for coming,” Eve said. “I hope you had a nice time.”

  Dan smiled at her. “Your paintings are beautiful, Eve.”

  She smiled as they said good bye. She turned towards to Steve. “Well, looks like the evening is over. I hope tomorrow night will be less exciting.”

  Alex chuckled. “I agree. Did you want to go grab a drink?”

  Eve nodded. “You have no idea how good that sounds to me. Steve, would you like to join us?”

  He looked at Alex and frowned. “No, that’s ok. I’m going back to the hotel for the evening. I will touch base with you in the morning.”

  Eve nodded and gave him a quick hug. Alex tensed slightly but tried to keep a clear head. He reached for Eve’s hand and locked the door behind them. He entered the main lobby and found Beth sitting at reception.

  “Beth, thank you for tonight, you ran the show perfectly. I hope you will do the same thing tomorrow night for us.”

  “Of course but I’m ready to head home to my husband now.”

  Alex laughed. “Please, go. We are all set here; I will see you tomorrow night.”

  She left as he escorted Eve from the building and set the alarm. “Where would you like to go? After tonight, I definitely need a drink.”

  She smiled. “Do you dance? I would love to share a dance with you.”

  Alex smirked. “I know just the place.” He opened the car door for her and they headed into the city. He pulled in front of a renovated hotel that hosted a nightclub for an older crowd. Alex didn’t want to think of himself as old but he couldn’t handle the young clubs anymore.

  “This place is beautiful. I love the older feel of the building.” Eve said as she looked around the lobby.

  “It was the place to be in the late fifty’s. The train station was only a few blocks away and Buffalo was a great city. But along with everything else in this city, the hotel closed and just fell to pieces. A few years ago a local developer came in and spent millions to bring it back to life. It’s a full hotel again with a great bar and dance club.”

  Eve smiled. “Show me the way.”

  They walked into the large ballroom hand in hand. Eve took in the sights and sounds as Alex led her to the large oak bar. He lightly frowned as he noticed the males of the entire room look at Eve as she passed them by.

  “What would you like?” He asked looking into her crystal blue eyes.

  She playfully licked her lips and smirked, “You.”

  He laughed softly. “You will have me soon enough. What would you like to drink?”

  “I will take a glass of wine.”

  He nodded and ordered from the bartender. “Would you like to dance?”

  She smiled, “Yes.”

  Alex led her out onto the dance floor and luckily the club wasn’t packed. He found a small patch on the dance floor and pulled her close to him. He allowed the soft slow music to take over as he lightly kissed her lips. “The whole time I was outside with Becca, I thought about you. I wanted to make sure that she had no plans to hurt you. I tried my hardest to keep her from that building.”

  “You are a true gentleman, Alex.”

  He smirked. “Sometimes, I am.”

  Her eyes lit up as she kissed him again. He felt her body sway with his and her arms move tighter around his waist. They were molded perfectly together as he deepened the kiss and became lost.

  She pulled back slightly. “I’m in trouble, Alex.”

  He opened his eyes and looked at her. “What do you mean?”

  “I promised myself that I wouldn’t allow my heart to be torn apart again and crushed but I find myself breaking that promise.”

  He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “I promise you that I will do everything in my power not to hurt you. Eve, you are an amazing person.”

  She kissed his neck gently. “Take me back to your place.”

  Alex grinned and kissed her again. He reached for her hand and led her back to the bar to finish their drinks. As they were leaving, they ran into his friend Paul as he entered the lobby with Brooklyn.

  “Alex! How are you?” Paul asked as he reached for his hand.

  “I’m doing great but we are in a hurry, man. I will call you next week and we will do dinner.”

  “Wait a second, where’s the fire?” Paul asked as he looked at Eve. “How’s it going, Eve? Is Alex behaving himself?”

  Eve laughed. “Yes, he’s wonderful but we are in a hurry.”

  “Alright, go on. Talk next week, man.”

  Alex waved as they approached the valet stand. He leaned down and kissed Eve’s lips lightly as they waited for the car. “Your hotel room is closer.”

  She agreed as they headed towards her hotel. After a long and horrible day, he couldn’t wait to unzip her cocktail dress and see every piece of her flawless skin. He moved uncomfortably in his seat as he tried to think of other things to distract him.

  Eve noticed as her hand skimmed along his leg and closer to his groin.

  “You are going to make me crash.”

  Eve pulled back just enough but he could still feel the heat from her hand. He pulled into the underground parking garage for her hotel and opened the door. They walked up the small staircase and into the hotel lobby.

  He pulled her into his arms as they waited for the elevator to arrive. “Tell me one thing that I don’t know about you,” he asked her.

  Eve thought for a moment. “When I was seven years old, I kissed a boy in my classroom and afterwards he cried to teacher.”

  Alex couldn’t control his laughter. “That’s the cutest story I’ve ever heard.”

  “I recently found out that he’s gay so it doesn’t hurt as much.”

  Alex kissed her. “This is what I’m talking about. I love this playful side of you. I need that in my life…” he paused. “You are leaving me in two days.”

  The door opened and they stepped in, Eve leaned back against the wall and looked at him. In two days, he had fallen in love with her but he knew she didn’t want anything serious. She continued to watch him as he noticed her tongue lick her bottom lip. He groaned as he moved to pin her back against the wall. He covered her lips and aggressively parted her lips. She responded back by biting his lip. “I love your playfulness but that may come back to hurt you my dear Eve.”

  “I hope so,” she whispered.

  They heard the bell as the elevator landed on her floor. He pulled her out of the elevator and leaned against the wall as she lo
oked for her key. Once the door was opened, they heard her cell phone ringing.

  “Ignore it, Eve.”

  “I should look at who is calling, Alex.”

  He threw her purse onto the couch and pulled her into the bedroom. “I want you, Eve. Right here, right now. No more distractions, just us. Here in the moment.”

  He crushed his mouth to hers as his hands ran down her bare arms. They moved around to the back of her dress and started to unzip it slowly.

  He reached up without breaking his kiss, slid the straps down her shoulders and the dress pooled at her feet. He moved away from her lips just enough to speak. “I’ve been dreaming of this moment.”

  Eve breathed heavily. “Thank God I wore my good panties then.”

  Alex chuckled as he stepped away from her. His eyes traveled the length of her body as he took in the sheer black matching bra and panties. As his eyes met hers again, he took a deep breath. “Oh Eve, the things I’m going to do to you.”

  She moved closer to him, removed his suit coat and started to unbutton his shirt. Her nails ran down his lightly hairy chest and stopped at his waistline. She un-tucked his shirt and slid it to the floor as her lips found his chest and kissed it lightly. “You are gorgeous, Alex. My God! How does any woman resist you?”

  He smiled at her as she started to unbuckle his belt. He inhaled deeply as her fingers undid his zipper and removed the rest of his clothing. He pulled her into his embrace and kissed her deeply. “You. Are. Mine.”

  He pushed her back on the bed and kissed every inch of her body. He enjoyed every noise, every whimper and felt his blood as it pulsated throughout his body. He couldn’t control himself for long but he knew he had the whole night to make her every desire come to life.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  In the morning, Alex woke to the wonderful aroma of fresh brewed coffee. He rolled over and felt that Eve was missing. Eve. He smiled as he thought back to the previous night. Everything went perfectly, there was none of that awkward getting to know you stuff, they listened to each other and it made for one of the best nights of his life.

  "Good morning, sleepyhead. I hoped that you would be up shortly. I wanted to hit the gym this morning and I thought you could join me," Eve said as she handed him a hot cup of coffee.

  "I would love that but I don't have any clothes here." Alex placed his coffee on the night stand and pulled her back into bed with him. He felt her hands sliding down his bare chest.

  "You are gorgeous, Alex."

  He blushed as he kissed her lips. "You told me that several times last night."

  Eve chuckled. "I'm still wonder how a man like you isn't taken yet."

  Alex smiled as he deeply kissed her. His tongue parted her lips and he ran his fingers up into her hair and pulled her closer to him. "I hope you don't think I'm being forward, Eve but I would like to officially take myself off the market."

  She smiled against his lips as she rolled him onto his back and sat on his hips. He placed his hands firmly on her hips and held her close. She leaned down and whispered. "God, I hoped that you would say that, baby."

  Alex sat up and kissed her. "What are we going to do after today? I can't let you go, not yet."

  "Come with me to Pittsburgh. It will give us a few more days to be together and then we will go from there."

  "Eve, I can't do that. I have a business to run and on top of that, I'm training a new assistant to replace that last disaster."

  Eve sighed and rolled back down on the bed. "Alex, sometimes you just have to take a break. You work too much."

  Alex sighed and rubbed his hands over his eyes. This was a familiar argument with all his past girlfriends. He worked too much and never gave them enough attention. He laid back down and closed his eyes. "Eve, you are right, I know you are but it's difficult for me to relax because this was always my dream."

  Eve smiled and turned to face him. "I know it was but you are still young. If you don't take breaks and relax, you will burn out before you even have a chance to get started."

  "You sound like my mother, Eve."

  Her beautiful laugh filled the bedroom. "I'm going to assume that your mother is beautiful and intelligent so I will take that as a compliment."

  Alex laughed. "Ok, I will take a few days off and come with you to Pittsburgh."

  Eve clapped her hands and covered his lips with hers. Alex took the opportunity to pull her close and make her forget that she wanted to work out.

  ***************

  A few hours later, Alex headed towards the gallery to check in with Beth. He wanted to make sure that everything with Becca from the past night was taken care of and things had returned to normal.

  As he walked into the main lobby, Beth walked over to him with some files. "Good afternoon, Mr. Smith. I hoped that you would stop by before this evening. I have a few things to go over with you."

  "Follow me upstairs to my office and we will run through everything."

  Beth followed close behind him as they climbed the stairs. "First, Becca is still in custody. I don't believe she will be released this time."

  "I'm happy to hear that, she needs all the help she can get," Alex said as he entered his office and sat down.

  "Next on the list are the newspaper articles from Ms. Matthews’ show last night." Beth handed him the articles. He quickly skimmed the papers and smiled.

  "It looks like she was a hit last night."

  Beth nodded. "Everyone loved her and her pieces. Of course, they did notice that she had an escort. They have called for a comment but I said you weren't in the office."

  Alex nodded. "If they call back again just tell them that we have no comment."

  Beth nodded. "Lastly, Emily Mason called earlier today."

  Alex looked up at her. "Did she leave a message?"

  "Yes, she said to call her back when you have a chance. She wanted to discuss a possible exhibit."

  Alex smiled. "Fantastic, I will call her back."

  Beth stood up and headed out of his office but turned around. "My friend contacted me and your damaged portrait is fixable. I can box it up today and get it shipped over to him for repairs and for the record, I think you and Ms. Matthews make a cute couple."

  Alex laughed. "Thank you so much Beth. That means the world to me. Please have him bill me directly for the costs. And for the record, I think so too. Oh, my sister should be sending over my new assistant today or tomorrow. His name is George. Could you show him the ropes around here?”

  "Of course, I will see you tonight at the show."

  Alex looked at the pink piece of paper with Emily's name written across the top of it. He knew that he needed to call her back because it was good business but would Eve agree? He picked up his office phone and dialed her number. He smiled when he heard her voice on the other side.

  "Emily, it's Alex returning your phone call."

  "Hey Alex, how are you?"

  "I'm doing great. I heard that you are ready to talk about moving your exhibits over to my gallery."

  "I talked with Henry yesterday and we both agree that I need to leave some of my pieces in Buffalo and I know you would take care of them for me."

  Alex took a deep breath. "And have you talked with Eric about this decision?"

  "Yes, we had a long talk and he's on board. He wants to support my career just like I have supported his."

  "I'm happy to hear that. When did you want to make the switch?"

  "I know that your current show ends tonight. I can fly in tomorrow morning and Henry has agreed to bring my pieces over to your gallery and we can go through all the paperwork."

  Alex paused. He was supposed to head to Pittsburgh with Eve for the next few days and knew he shouldn't cancel his plans with her.

  "Alex? Are you still there?" Emily asked.

  "Yes sorry, I was just looking at my calendar. That's not a problem. Why don't you call me in the morning when you get into town? I will meet you at the gallery and we will go through all the in
formation."

  "Fantastic, it will be great seeing you again, Alex."

  "It will be nice seeing you too, Emily. See you tomorrow." Alex hung up the phone and took a deep breath. He turned around to leave his office and spotted Eve as she stood in his doorway with a frown on her face.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  "Eve, let me explain," Alex stated as he walked around his desk and put his hands on her arms.

  "What's there to explain, you have chosen to stay in town to see Emily instead of going to Pittsburgh with me."

  Alex sighed. "It's for business. Emily has decided to show her pieces here and I need to work out the details."

  "You could have told her that you have plans with your so called girlfriend but you didn't. I stood right here and listened to your conversation."

  "Please try and understand, you have been a breath of fresh air for me these past two days, I'm not going to ruin that, Eve."

  He heard her sigh and look at the floor. "I think you already have, Alex." She turned to leave and he didn't stop her. She jogged down the stairs and out the front door. As the front door closed he turned and saw his sister standing on the main desk. Patty looked at him and shook her head.

  "What did you do now?"

  Alex headed back into his office but he could hear his sister as she walked up the stairs. "Patty, I don't need a lecture."

  She walked into his office and sat down. "Why do I need to give you a lecture?”

  Alex looked down at his paperwork. "I think I messed up another relationship."

  "What did you do now, Alex?"

  "Emily called me and she wants to display her work here. She's coming into town tomorrow to work out the details but earlier today I made plans to travel to Pittsburgh with Eve so we can continue our relationship."

  "How many times are you going to let Emily ruin your relationships? Eve is a gorgeous, fun and a free spirited lady that you desperately need in your life. If you stay here for Emily, that's going to be over."