“You’re right, because I won’t let it,” Eve assured her vehemently. “From now on, I’m going to pick you up and take you home. When you’re not with me, you’ll be with Jack.”
“Eve, you don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do, Lainey,” she murmured. “It would be safer for you if you weren’t even working with me.” Eve paused. “But, I don’t want to let you go even though I know I’m being selfish.”
“I don’t want to go. I want to be here with you.”
Eve ran a hand over Lainey’s hair. “Good, because I want you here with me, and I’ll do everything I can to protect you. He got past me this time,” she added in such a low voice that Lainey barely heard her. “I let my guard down and he got past me. I never expected it. Never saw it coming. I won’t let it happen again. I swear to God, I won’t let it happen again.”
“Eve! You’re bleeding!”
Eve looked down at her fisted hand, her nails digging into her skin. “I’m fine.”
“I’ll go get something,” Lainey said. “Stay here.”
“I said I’m fine.”
“And, I told you to stay here. I’ll be right back.”
“Who were you talking about?” Lainey asked when she had returned with a wet paper towel.
“What do you mean?”
“You said he got past you. Who’s he?”
“I said that?” Eve frowned. Although she was tempted, she couldn’t tell Lainey what was going on, not yet. “I guess I meant the person who did this. Everything is ready for tomorrow night,” she said, changing the subject. “The champagne is ordered and will be here in the morning. The caterer will be here in the afternoon.”
Eve’s entire mood changed in the blink of an eye and had Lainey trying to catch up.
“I have interviews in the morning, and a photo shoot. Be ready to answer some questions. I’m sure the reporters will want to talk to you, too.”
“Why me?” Lainey asked, suddenly nervous about tomorrow.
“You did a lot of this, Lainey,” Eve told her. “Of course they are going to want to talk to you. I would wear something a little less casual though. But not that gray suit!”
“I’m sure I can find something else to wear,” Lainey assured her. She still mourned for Jackie, but was glad that Eve was getting back to being Eve.
“How long do you think it will take you to finish the display?” Eve asked. It was important just now to get Lainey’s mind off of Jackie’s death. She was sure of it. Lainey was much too vulnerable at the moment. Eve could bear the weight of the grief she felt herself. For now.
“I don’t know, maybe an hour or less.”
“Good. How about after you’re done, we go shopping? Tomorrow’s a big day! We need to knock them dea...” Eve stopped abruptly. “We need to blow them away tomorrow. So, we’ll need to dress to impress.”
“Shopping sounds like a great idea!” Anything to get this tragedy off their minds, and at the same time allow her to spend more time with Eve, Lainey thought.
“Good. Just think of me as your muse while you’re finishing the exhibit.” Eve’s mouth was a breath away from Lainey’s. “Do me a favor?”
“Anything,” Lainey told her.
“Put your arms around me.”
Lainey took Eve in a tight embrace, and Eve did what she had wanted to do since coming downstairs. She lost herself in Lainey’s arms, holding her there until the pain started to subside.
They both heard the elevator at the same time and broke away from one another as she watched Mikey come into the gallery.
‘Thank you’, Eve mouthed to Lainey, smiling.
“You’re welcome.” Lainey turned her attention back to her display. She could still feel Eve in her arms. With newfound inspiration, she knew exactly what she wanted to do with the display.
“Mikey!” Eve called. “Could you come over here for a minute, please?”
“Yes, ma’am?” Mikey sniffed, pushing up his glasses.
“Did you call the florist?”
“Yes, ma’am. The white roses will be here in the afternoon. Also, the limo service has reserved four white stretch limos for you and they’ll be available to you all day.”
“Very good,” Eve said approvingly. It was a relief to be able to lose herself in the details of the gallery opening. Lainey’s embrace had helped as well. She would never be able to push Jackie’s death to the back of her mind. She didn’t want to. But she needed to keep her mind sharp. “Why don’t you take the rest of the day off? I think we’re ready for tomorrow, and I’ll need you here early, is that okay?”
“Yes, ma’am! I’m probably going to be too excited to sleep anyway!”
Eve chuckled. “Well, try to get some rest. It’s going to be a very long day tomorrow. Have you thought about what you’re going to wear? This is a big day for you, Mikey. Take this,” she said, handing him some money. “And buy you something nice.”
“No, ma’am. I couldn’t...”
“That was an order from your boss,” Eve interrupted. She slipped a pen from his shirt pocket and took his hand in hers. “Go here,” she said, writing an address on his palm. “Tell them you need a blazer and some grey slacks for tomorrow, and a tuxedo for the opening. Tell them I sent you.” Eve looked up at Mikey. “Are you bringing anyone?”
“I thought I’d bring my mom,” he told her. “She’s never been to anything like this before.”
“Well, she should have the time of her life,” Eve told him. “A limo will pick you up in the morning, and it’s yours all day. I hope that you and your mom will have a wonderful time tomorrow.”
“That was very generous of you,” Lainey said after Mikey left. “I never knew you were such a softy.”
“Get to work,” Eve said with authority. “Hurry. We’ve got some shopping to do ourselves.”
It was great to see the display transforming from sad and frustrated to joyful, sexy and seductive. Lainey’s imagination must be working overtime, Eve thought.
Just then, Eve felt a chill course through her body and her smile faded. She turned her head slowly to look out the window and spotted him down on the street immediately. Eve lifted a hand and formed a gun with her thumb and forefinger. With a vicious smile she pulled the ‘trigger’ and watched him retreat quickly. “See you soon...Daddy,” she whispered sardonically.
It infuriated him that she could make his heart pound painfully. The bitch, he thought. How had she known he was there? She had looked right at him, threatened him and he had run away like a scared little boy. I just wasn’t prepared, he thought to himself, trying to soothe his ego. After all, it was the first time he had seen her since he had been released from prison and he hadn’t known what an exquisite beauty she had become. As a girl she had been very pretty, but as a woman, her pure radiance had knocked the breath out of him. And those eyes, burning him with their heat. He would have to be more careful next time. And, seeing her now had him changing the plans he had for her. She would die, of course, but there was no reason he couldn’t satisfy his craving for her first.
“Oh, Eve, I can’t afford this place.” Regretfully, Lainey looked at all the beautiful gowns around her. The cheapest one so far had been over twenty-five hundred dollars. Jack would have a fit if she’d bought a dress that expensive.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s on me,” Eve told her as she picked out a red floor length gown and held it up to Lainey.
“No, I can’t let you do that.” Lainey caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror and sighed. “It’s beautiful, but I just can’t let you do that.”
“You’re not letting me. I’m doing it. Do you like this one?” Eve studied the dress critically and then put it back. “Maybe something a little less vibrant.”
“You don’t like red?” Lainey asked her.
“Yes, I do, and I’m sure it would look great on you. But, let’s see what else they have.”
“Your gown is ready for you to try on, Ms. Sumptor.”
Eve turned and smiled at the short, hefty woman that spoke with a Hungarian accent. She wore glasses on the tip of her nose and a measuring tape around her neck.
“Thank you, Miss Hannah,” she said, taking the garment bag from the older woman. “This is Miss Hannah. She’s amazing. Give her some ideas of what you’re looking for and she’ll be able to help you. This is Lainey, a very good friend of mine. Will you help her find something special?”
“Yes. Come along.” Miss Hannah grabbed Lainey’s arm and pulled her with her. “You go try on that dress, Ms. Sumptor and you better not have lost any more weight. I’ve already had to take it in twice. Go, now. Hurry up.”
Eve gave Lainey an apologetic smile, knowing what she was in for with Miss Hannah. The woman was amazing enough with clothes; her people skills were not as pleasant. “I’ll be right out,” she told Lainey and disappeared behind the curtain to change.
“Tell me what you are looking for,” Miss Hannah said to Lainey.
“I’m not sure. Something elegant, I suppose.”
“Yes, yes. Elegant. You are Ms. Sumptor’s assistant, no?”
“Yes,” Lainey answered, confused as to what that had to do with her choice of a dress. She let out an ‘oh!’ when Miss Hannah lifted Lainey’s arms roughly and began measuring Lainey’s waist.
“Take off your shirt,” she told Lainey briskly.
“Excuse me?” Lainey crossed her arms in front of her.
“Take off your shirt, I need to measure you. Don’t be silly, girl. There is no one here but me.” Miss Hannah placed her thick hands on her hips and tapped a toe. “The opening is tomorrow night, no? We don’t have time for you to be modest. You don’t have anything I haven’t seen.”
Lainey looked around to make sure they were alone and slipped her shirt over her head, feeling self-conscious as Miss Hannah placed the measuring tape around her breasts.
“Mmm hmm,” Miss Hannah said to herself, measuring Lainey’s arms and her waist again. “I think I have something for you. You’ll want sexy as well as elegant if you are going to be standing next to Ms. Sumptor tomorrow night. Ahh, Ms. Sumptor. It fits good, no?”
Lainey completely forgot about being half naked. Eve looked dazzling. The white gown flowed down the length of her slender body, barely touching the floor, and a slit ran all the way up to Eve’s hip on the right side leaving one incredible leg completely exposed. The neck was a plunging ‘V’ that stopped at Eve’s belly button and when Eve turned around exposing the entire length and breadth of her smooth, tanned back, Lainey almost moaned.
“Yes. It’s perfect,” Eve told Miss Hannah, but her eyes were on Lainey.
“I’ll be right back with a dress for you, young lady. You can put your shirt back on now unless you want to wait since you’ll have to take it off again.”
She marched away, her short, brown hair swaying with each step.
“I think you should wait,” Eve told Lainey, placing her hands on Lainey’s trembling ones as she began to fumble nervously with her shirt. “No need to get dressed when you’ll only have to take it off again. Besides, I’m enjoying the view.”
“So am I,” Lainey said. “You look incredible.”
“Would it scare you to know that I want to kiss you right now?” Eve asked her in a low voice.
“Yes. And, no,” Lainey answered. In fact, it was what she wanted. She had never felt this way before, and no matter how scary it was it was also exhilarating. “Would it shock you to know that I want more?”
They should stop doing this to one another, Eve told herself. These startling verbal encounters were becoming harder and harder to step away from. And that was dangerous. “We should remember we’re not alone,” she said, defusing the situation with a grin. “So? You like it?” She did another turn for Lainey, the white silk skirt billowing around her.
“Very much,” Lainey told Eve. “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“What is it with you and the color white?”
Eve laughed. “You know, I don’t know. It’s just my favorite color I guess.”
“Well, it definitely works for you.”
“Thank you. And, being half naked definitely works for you,” Eve said with a flirtatious wink. “I can only imagine what you’re like completely naked.”
“Eve. You’re embarrassing me.”
“I’m turning you on,” Eve contradicted her.
“I’ve found the perfect one.” Miss Hannah ambled back into the room holding the same red dress Eve had picked out earlier. Eve and Lainey looked at each other and laughed.
“She’s the expert,” Eve said with a shrug. “Why don’t you try it on?”
Lainey took the dress and disappeared behind the curtain, while Eve studied her image in the mirror.
“How does it look, Miss Hannah?” Eve asked, smoothing her hands over her hips.
“You lost more weight,” she said accusingly. “But, not enough to ruin the dress.” She turned Eve around and fiddled with the dress. “It looks good. Your young man will be wanting to get it off of you as soon as he can.”
Eve laughed. “He does that anyway.”
“Ahem.” Both Eve and Miss Hannah turned to look at Lainey and Eve’s smile broadened. “Do you like it?”
Even though it was not as daring as Eve’s, the red suited Lainey and the material clung to her body revealing her curves.
The neck dipped low enough to show Lainey’s cleavage, and the straps left her shoulders mostly bare. Eve let her gaze rest there for a moment before meeting Lainey’s eyes. ‘You look beautiful’, she mouthed behind Miss Hannah. No single word could have affected Lainey any more than those unspoken words.
“She’ll take it,” Eve said aloud.
Lainey began to protest. She couldn’t let Eve spend this kind of money on her. But she knew that, in the end, she would let it happen. Just as, in the end, she might just let a good deal more happen.
They walked out of the little shop with two bags each and headed for Eve’s car. “Is Jack coming tomorrow?” Eve asked Lainey as they put their purchases in the back and slid in the front, next to each other.
“He’s being a brat about it,” Lainey told her, “but he’ll be there.”
“What about Darren and Kevin?”
“Oh, no. They wanted to see you, but they didn’t want to go to some ‘boring art thing’.” Lainey quoted. “Jack’s mother is going to keep them for the night.”
“‘Boring art thing’,” Eve chuckled. “I guess when you’re that age, art is boring unless it’s done with crayons. I’m going to take you home,” she added, pulling out into traffic.
“What about my car?”
“If you’re lucky, someone will steal it and take it off your hands,” Eve joked. “It’ll be fine where it’s at, but if you want, I can have someone drop it off at your house tonight.”
“Eve, you don’t have to baby-sit me.”
“Lainey let me do this. Please? Besides, I like spending time with you.”
They drove the rest of the way in silence, enjoying the cool night air and each other’s company.
“Give me the keys to your car,” Eve said as they pulled up in front of Lainey’s house. “I’ll have someone bring it out here to you in case you need it.” When Lainey handed her the keys, Eve kissed her on the cheek. “If I’m not here to pick you up in the morning,” she said, “wait for the limo. It’s yours for the day. Get some rest, tomorrow is going to be hell.”
With her garment bag over her arm, Lainey came to Eve’s side of the car and, leaning in the window, kissed Eve gently on the lips. “Thank you,” she said, and ran up the driveway.
“Wow!” Eve said to herself as Lainey disappeared into the house. Gathering her senses, she took one last look at the house and saw Lainey standing at the living room window. Eve wasn’t sure how much longer she would be able to put up with this tension between them before acting on it. And if she did act on it, would she be risking
the best friend she ever had?
“An innocent woman was killed today.” Eve spoke into the headset as she paced her home office. “He will pay for that. He was also at the gallery today. I told you I was to be notified if he came anywhere near there.”
“We don’t know how he got around us, Ms. Sumptor,” a man’s voice replied. “We’ve been watching him and he hadn’t budged.”
“Apparently you’re not watching close enough,” she said icily. “You know him. You’re aware of how clever he is. Don’t let him fool you again. I’ve hired more people to watch his goons, so I want you to focus on him. Understood?”
“Yes, ma’am. We won’t let it happen again. We’ve recruited a couple more guys ourselves.”
“Do you trust them?”
“Yes, with our lives.”
“You’d better. Or it will be your lives. He’ll never let you get away with this if he finds out you’re working with me, so watch your back.”
“We’ll take care of ourselves, ma’am. You just be careful. Word is he’s coming after you with a vengeance now. He wants more than just your death.”
“I know what he wants,” Eve told him. “He’ll have to kill me to get it.”
“We’re not going to let that happen. Do you want us to take care of Meredith and Katherine?”
“No. I’ll take care of them. You just focus on Tony. Tomorrow is a big night for me and I don’t want anything to mess it up. I don’t think he’s dumb enough to try anything with all of those people and the press there, but keep your eyes open. I’ll be in touch.”
Disconnecting, she took the headset off and tossed it on her desk. She picked up a dart and rolled it in her fingers. Spinning quickly she threw it at the target. “Bull’s eye, you son of a bitch,” Eve said with disgust as it hit Tony’s photo right between the eyes.
Eve slipped into bed naked. After her last phone conversation, she had taken a long relaxing bubble bath to clear her mind. She had so much to do tomorrow and needed sleep to be sharp and on her toes, but she had to make this one last call before shutting her mind down for the night.
Something About Eve (An Eve Sumptor Book 1) Page 14