“That shop is crazy. It has just about anything I need. In fact, I could probably go on a vacation to Walmart, pitch a tent in there, and spend a week sightseeing.” He glanced up at me and did a double take, “Jeez, Lily, did you fall in the ocean or where you pushed?”
I smirked at Jack’s question. “I was romantically thrown in the ocean.” I pretended to look like I was swooning.
Jack’s brows furrowed. “That’s like saying I was romantically thrown under a bus. You could have died either way.” I giggled at Jack’s analogy and swatted his arm.
“Alfie was happy. He demonstrated it. What can I say?”
Jack glanced at Rosie who snickered then looked back at me. “Well best not piss him off in that case honey, that’s all I can say”.
I rose above Jack’s comments. “I’m going to take a shower.”
Jack called after me. “Okay, give me five to send Rosie to the store, and I’ll join you.” I shook my head.
“You’re crazy, Jack.” He never could let me have the last word so he called out, “I know that’s code for you want monkey sex with me, right?”
Rosie giggled, and I felt relieved that she was beginning to get that Jack and I were really not interested in each other sexually, and it was our strange way.
I stepped in the shower and washed the ocean out of my hair. By the time I’d finished, I no longer smelled like a fisherman’s boat.
My cell began to vibrate on my nightstand, and the ‘Crakt Soundzz’ ringtone for ‘Insatible’ rang out. I smiled when I saw the ID SEXPERT.
I pulled on some fresh lace panties and swiped the phone to answer. “How the hell did you manage that?”
Alfie sounded confused. “Huh?”
Raising my brow even though he couldn’t see me. “The ringtone?”
I heard him chuckle. “Well…I figured that if you heard our song, you wouldn’t be able to ignore your phone.”
I smiled but pretended to be annoyed with him. “No, Alfie I meant how did you get my phone and change the ringtone for your number.”
There was a pause, and I could hear the humor in his voice. “I did it when you went to put your bikini top on at the restaurant. You left your phone on the table, so I figured there was nothing you didn’t want me to see. Oh, and by the way, you’re bound to find out, but I deleted that tool Luca’s number for you too…I saved you a job, right?”
Normally, things like that would have made me so furious, but Alfie was right, I had no need for anyone else’s phone number any more.
“Thank you,” I said. I could hear him exhale heavily. He must have known that his action could have gone either way.
Alfie cleared his throat. “So, shall we start the call again?”
I giggled at him. “Sure.” Alfie hummed some of the introduction from ‘Listen’.
I played along. “Hello?” Alfie’s voice sounded seductive as he cooed, “Hey.” The fresh underwear I had put on was now soaked, and I knew that I needed to start carrying some reserves for times when Alfie turned me on.
Hell, I would need a trundle suitcase to haul around most times the way he affected me.
“I love you, baby.”
Smiling fondly, I said, “I love you too. Why did you call me?”
I could hear the smile in his voice. “Because.”
Waiting, thinking there would be more to his answer, and pulled on some panties, “Are you still there?”
His end was completely silent until he spoke. “Uh, huh.”
I smiled. “Okay, you were telling me why you called.”
He chuckled. “I did.”
Shaking my head, even though he couldn’t see me. “Nope, you didn’t.”
“Seriously, Lily? I did. I told you I called because.”
“You’ve lost me, Alfie. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You need me to expand?”
I giggled at him. “Expand what?”
He huffed pretending he was the one annoyed. “I called you because…because I can do that now. Because I love you. Because I wanted to hear your sweet voice, with that sexy accent. Because I know you just got out of the shower and might possibly be naked. I called you, because I can’t wait for tonight. Because I love you; I said that already right? I also called because I can’t wait for tomorrow night to hold you in my arms. So you see, Lily, I called you ‘because’.”
“Wow,” I said breathlessly. “Alfie, I think I just fell in love with you a little more after that.” His seductive voice in itself had won me over. Alfie was the guy that didn’t do hearts and flowers relationships, yet his thoughtful ways and choice of words left me breathless.
“Did you know that because is a ‘wow’ word?” I smiled, waiting for him to answer.
“Why?” he asked, I could hear he was puzzled.
“Because anything that’s said after because is what makes the sentence have reason. I love you Alfie, and wow, I’ve finally realized you are my ‘because.’”
Chapter 19 – Sexiest Man
Christmas Eve night was fun at Eject. Louie was here tonight, and it felt like one big private party. This club had a big VIP section, and there were people here from different disciplines within the arts, all getting to mingle together.
There were a few movie stars, musicians and other celebrities; some who I didn’t know who they were or what they did, other than that they were famous for being famous.
We had a fantastic time, it was lovely to relax without someone hitting on Alfie, or trying to get a piece of him. A couple of young actresses were very flirty, but Alfie was oblivious.
Holly was the one stars-truck tonight. She spent ten minutes hanging on the arm of Baz Hartley, who had just been voted Sexiest Man of all time.
Garbage, my man was number one in my eyes. Holly was grinning from ear to ear, and Brett was pissed at her.
Alexia Rainy, a starlet from the latest Tom Cruise movie, had walked up to Brett and dragged him onto the dance floor. He hesitated, but when Holly was still drooling over Baz, he put his hand low on her back and winked at me, before going with her.
I knew Brett couldn’t see past Holly, they were perfect together, and I knew what he was doing. I casually walked over and whispered in Holly’s ear that she’d better take care of her man or someone else would.
Taking one look at Brett and Alexia, she left Baz in mid conversation to claim what was hers. She abandoned me beside him. Baz flashed me a smile which told me I could possibly be his next victim. I smiled back, trying to figure out how to get away from him without being rude or embarrassing myself.
I needn’t have worried. Alfie’s hand slid around my waist from behind, and he pulled me flush to him. There was a growing bulge in his pants.
“Damn, why did you turn your back, I couldn’t resist that sexy little ass of yours,” he cooed in my ear, sending shivers down my spine.
I didn’t know if Alfie had realized it or not, but his little perversion had saved me from a possible awkward situation.
During the night we had gone from fun loving to just plain loving. We danced so closely wrapped in one another’s arms, not interested in who was around us or what else was going on.
It was the most peaceful I have felt since before I ever met him. If I had to experience everything I had again, just to be at this point with him, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it.
“Are you ready to go home?”
I was. I smiled slowly. “I am. Are you?”
His voice almost cracked. “I am. Let’s get out of here.”
Henry had Alfie’s car brought around. We climbed inside, and he put his arm around me, pulling me tightly to him, kissing me slowly, sensually, and full of passion. “Mmm…I can’t wait until tomorrow. Spending Christmas with you is something I have dreamed about. I never thought it would ever happen.”
He seemed really happy, and I knew then I couldn’t send him home alone. I didn’t want us to wake up on Christmas morning without each other.
I had arranged for him to come in the morning, but I wanted to wake up with him. I didn’t want to wait a year again before we could spend Christmas morning with each other.
“Henry can we go to Alfie’s first?” Alfie’s brow lifted in a quizzical look. Before he got the wrong idea, I quickly explained what I was thinking.
He looked ecstatic. “Seriously? You’ve changed your mind, I can stay with you?” I couldn’t believe how easy it was to make him happy.
Seeing his gorgeous face grinning, I couldn’t help but feel guilty at how I had treated him. Our journey to get this far together hadn’t been a straightforward one.
I waited in the car while Alfie went inside to gather up his things. There was no way he was getting me behind closed doors because, as strong as I had been, I was definitely not strong enough to be alone with him without anyone to interrupt us.
He appeared again after ten minutes, carrying a suit carrier and an oversized bag with wheels. “Jesus, Alfie, I haven’t asked you to move in with me. It’s one night.” He chuckled and glanced at the bag.
“It’s Christmas,” he stated. “I had a list drawn up and got my PA to shop for me today. I wasn’t shirking my responsibilities. It’s just that I didn’t want to spend time shopping instead of spending it with you.”
He held my hand and faced me after clipping his seat belt on. “I did take the time to shop for your present though. I didn’t want anyone else to do that.” He smirked and kissed my hand. My man was turning out to be the best boyfriend in the world, this time around, so far.
My dad was surprised when I turned up with Alfie and wanted to know where he was sleeping. At twenty-three years old, I figured it was time my dad realized I wasn’t a virgin, no matter what he’d been telling himself.
He was the most important man in my formative years, but Alfie was the one I wanted to spend my life with. I knew he’d want me to be happy no matter what.
It wasn’t that I was disrespecting my parents. I just wanted to be honest and not sneak around pretending we wouldn’t be having sex.
I felt it would be more disrespectful to try to dupe them like that. I wouldn’t be rubbing it in their faces either. I had a chat with my parents while Alfie kept Jack’s parents entertained with anecdotes from his tour.
Finally, after some reservations, my dad resigned to the situation. He hugged me and was able to see my point of view about being honest.
My mom was more concerned whether Alfie had brought drugs with him. She was of the opinion that all rock stars did drugs. I pointed out that I was in a band and didn’t do them either, and the same was true of Lennon, Cody, Digs, and Shawn as well.
I could see from my mother’s face that she hadn’t thought of me in the same vein as other rock musicians. As far as sleeping with Alfie, she was quite liberal in her thoughts.
She inadvertently gave me rite of passage, when my mom dropped Dad in it by telling me about the time Dad had stayed the night at her parent’s house but almost got caught.
He sprained his ankle when he went to jump out of her bedroom window and slipped when my granddad opened my mom’s bedroom door as he was leaving.
My dad gave my mom an, are-you-fucking-serious-telling-her-this look and smiled at me kind of sheepishly. I had to keep myself from bursting out laughing.
Jack’s mom and mine did a great job of decorating the villa. They must have bought most of the of JC Penney’s Christmas displays.
Everything looked great, and I could smell turkey cooking. My mom always insisted on putting it in early and cooking it overnight to let it rest before cutting it.
When she told Alfie this, he questioned her. “If the turkey is dead, why does it need to rest?” He was being totally serious about this and gave me a rare glimpse of innocence.
We sat drinking wine, chatting, and my dad and Alfie got along really well. I was so pleased, I would have hated to end up picking someone to be with that my dad didn’t like.
We were all getting ready to call it a night, when Jack burst through the door. “Merry Christmas.” He was wasted and hanging onto Rosie.
When he saw Alfie, he scratched his chin. “Hmm, that’s not going to work.” He shook his head while everyone stared at him with smiles on their faces waiting for what he was going to say next.
He glanced at Rosie and back at Alfie. “Okay, that’ll work…you can sleep with Rosie. Lily’s ass is mine.”
Alfie’s jaw ticked, and I grinned at him; he was jealous. He ran his hand through his hair before looking back at Jack.
“Sorry, dude, but horny, inebriated Jack isn’t getting anywhere near my girl’s ass tonight, best friend or no best friend.”
Jack pretended to pout. “What does Lily say?”
I smiled, trying to be careful about everyone’s feelings, remembering how Jack was when he was drunk in bed.
“Jack, you know how much I love when you’re drunk and drooling in my hair right? Tomorrow is Christmas morning, and I promised our moms that I’d help get lunch ready. If I have to wash the drool out, it doesn’t give me a lot of time to help them now, does it?” I’d kept it clean and saved Jack the embarrassment of pretend rejection in front of everyone.
I hugged him and told him that we’d still snuggle on the couch tomorrow as we watched a classic movie the networks usually showed on TV during the festive holiday.
This seemed to placate Jack, and he grabbed Rosie’s waist and pulled her to him. “Smile, baby, you do realize you just got lucky, don’t you?” Our dads started chuckling, and Rosie smiled and rolled her eyes. She was definitely starting to become a keeper.
There was an awkward moment when I said we were going to bed. Alfie seemed fine, but I felt the attention on me magnify when I told everyone that I was going to head over to my room.
I half ran, half walked to get out of the main sitting area and into the hallway leading to my bedroom. Alfie walked slowly behind me, completely unaffected by the fact we were going to be in the same bed, but then again, it wasn’t his parents, and he wasn’t someone’s little girl.
As soon as the door closed, Alfie smiled. “Your family and friends are amazing, Lily. I can’t believe I’m here with you.”
I stared at him and pulled my lip as I thought about my resolve. I wanted him, more than anything, but I was determined not to sleep with him tonight.
“I’m not having sex with you tonight Alfie, remember that.” His face was serious, and he nodded his head. His voice was husky when he spoke. “Whatever you want, Lily. I’m just glad to be here.”
I showered and brushed my teeth, then swapped places with him in the bathroom. I noticed that his gaze lingered on my bath towel, knowing that it was the only thing keeping him from seeing me naked.
When he went to shower, I opened my little case that I’d dropped there earlier and pulled out some boxer briefs and a t-shirt. I quickly pulled these on and then slid between the sheets.
I was so nervous; my heart was racing, and I felt flushed. I could feel my pulse in my mouth. I was praying that I didn’t start sweating because that would mean another trip to the shower.
Switching off the bedside light to make me feel less self-conscious, I lay in the dark, trying to calm myself, but dying for him to be beside me at the same time.
It had been almost over a year since the last time we had shared a bed. Memories of that night flooded my brain, and I could feel myself becoming moist between my legs.
Groaning silently at just the thought of him lying beside me. It was going to take all my resolve not to climb on top of him and go wild.
The door of the bathroom cracked open and Alfie padded out, the light giving a soft glow behind him.
He had his clothes in his arms,
and a white towel wrapped around his hips. I swallowed hard and wondered if I’d had a period of temporary insanity in the car when I said he could stay over tonight.
Alfie placed his clothes over the ottoman at the bottom of the bed and went back to turn the light out. I lay there anticipating him getting into bed, so when nothing happened, I wondered what was wrong.
“Alfie, what’s the matter?”
Clearing his throat, I heard him swallow hard. “Not too sure I can get in there with you, Lily.” It was my turn to swallow. I knew exactly how he was feeling.
“Come sit on the bed.” Alfie didn’t move. He just stood there in the dark, and it worried me. He seemed to be having a difficult time with this. The old Alfie would have been in my bed before I’d showered.
The sexual tension was intense between us, so I tried to inject humor as a way of helping Alfie to relax.
“Maybe I should have let Jack in here after all.”
Alfie growled, “Not fucking funny, Lily. I like him, but I hate that he’s rubbed his dick on your ass when he’s lay beside you in bed.”
“It isn’t like that Alfie.”
“It wasn’t like that, Alfie,” he corrected me. “That bastard is never touching you again, understand? I can just about tolerate the sexual flirting and shit, but not that.” The pain in his voice told me how much our behavior had hurt him, and I thought about how I would feel if the tables were turned.
To be honest, part of me had wanted to hurt Alfie when he was in London but not now. “Alfie, I haven’t allowed Jack to sleep in my bed since he’s been with Rosie. He’s learning that it seemed harmless fun when we were kids and weren’t in relationships, but as adults, it definitely isn’t acceptable. He was joking tonight. I’ll speak to him though. It isn’t fair to you or to Rosie.” I smiled in the dark. I figured I’d distracted him.
“Okay, Alfie are you ready to get into bed now? I’m tired, and I really do have to help with lunch tomorrow.” He didn’t move. I pushed the sheets off and crept off the bed to stand beside him.
He was wearing his boxer shorts now. “Come on, you can do this. I promise you it will be nice. We owe it to us to take this slowly, just for one more day. Actually less than that, it’s about three am now.”
Everything I want: Will Alfie and Lily's love survive?... Page 16