“I sincerely hope so madam.” He took her hand, and tucking it into the crook of his arm, escorted her out of the room.
The party, which was held in one of the hotel’s smaller ballrooms, was in full swing, and true to form, the cast and crew were animated. The wine and champagne were flowing freely, with the volume of laughter rising in proportion to the amount of alcohol consumed.
As a waitress walked by with another tray of champagne, Alex took two glasses, handing one to Sarah. “Drink up, Sarah. This is a cause for celebration . . . your first book, your first movie.” He raised his glass in a toast. “I’m so proud of you.”
She raised the glass to her lips. She didn’t need an excuse to drink champagne, this being her third glass, but who’s counting. “Why Lord Rutherford, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to get me drunk and take advantage of me,” she said, mimicking the Southern accent of her ancestors and flirting in her best imitation of Scarlett O’Hara.
“On the contrary, Ms. Edwards, I prefer you in possession of all your senses when I take you to bed.” He leveled a steamy gaze at her, reminiscent of Rhett Butler.
Oh. Her mouth formed the word, but nothing came out.
“The real celebration doesn’t begin until we leave the party,” he whispered seductively in her ear.
She shivered in response.
He flashed her his provocative smile. “Ponder that while I make a toast.”
He stepped to the front of the room and clinking his glass with his Christ Church ring, miraculously gained the attention of the boisterous group. He was so handsome, so poised, commanding attention with little fanfare.
“Ladies and gentleman . . . there are a few gentlemen here I believe—”
“Very few,” someone interjected to everyone’s amusement, including Alex’s.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your hard work and tireless dedication to this film.
“In my mind,” he continued, “you are the best cast and crew with whom I’ve ever had the pleasure of working. This project was flawless, on schedule, and on budget. For that, I salute you.” He raised his glass to the room and everyone drank.
“I would also like to thank Michael for his gifted directing. He captured the essence of the story in a way few could. Michael.” Again he raised his glass in toast, nodding his head in Michael’s direction.
The room erupted in applause while Michael took a brief bow.
Alex turned to look at Brooke. “Brooke, what can I say, except that you’re a brilliant actress.”
She preened at his words.
Sarah was hopeful that she was the only one who recognized the double entendre in Alex’s words, having said them herself in her e-mails to Ann and Becca.
“I have no doubt you will go far in your career, and that we will see you on the silver screen for years to come.”
Again, everyone drank a toast.
Yep, Sarah thought wickedly, especially if she sleeps with her directors.
“Finally, to the woman without whom this project would not have existed.” He turned to Sarah, glass raised, eyes sparkling. “Thank you for writing this brilliant novel and for creating characters that will live on among those in other great works of literature. I love you, sweet Sarah.” His eyes held hers as everyone sipped their drink, before draining his own glass.
Sarah was embarrassed over the attention, but she raised her glass to his generous praise, mouthing the words ‘I love you’ in response.
He set the glass down on a table as he made his way through the crowded room towards her, moving gracefully among the throng. When he reached her, he removed the glass from her hand placing it on the table behind her. “Come Sarah, it’s time for our private celebration.” Taking her wrist, he pulled her willingly from the room.
Chapter 14
After two weeks at home, Sarah’s to-do list was still as long as the Florida Peninsula, and with Alex arriving tomorrow, she was running out of time.
Car keys in hand, she was on her way out when the doorbell rang. Muttering something about timing, she yanked open the door, ready to give who she assumed was Ann a piece of her mind.
“Adrian!” She stepped back in surprise. She hadn’t seen or heard from him since their divorce almost two years ago. He looked like hell.
“Hi, Sarah.” He dragged his hand through his uncharacteristically unkempt hair. She’d never seen the polished Adrian Mills looking so . . . disheveled. “Can I come in?”
She hesitated. What on earth could he possibly want? But curiosity got the better of her. She held the door wider, indicating he could come in. “Sure.”
He paced the foyer, unsure where to go. “You look like you could use a cup of coffee,” she said, indicating the direction of the kitchen.
“So this is what the divorce settlement bought?” he said as he looked around. “Nice house.”
“Thanks.” She put the coffee on. “Adrian, you clearly didn’t just drop by to see how I was living. So let’s have it. Why are you here?”
He paced again. “Sarah . . . I did want to see you again . . . I’ve been thinking about you a great deal lately.”
“What does your lovely wife think about your . . . preoccupation?” She raised an elegant brow in disdain.
His face hardened. The beautiful surgeon’s hand combed through his hair again. One corner of his mouth turned up into what could only be called an ironic smile. “My lovely wife is having an affair.”
Sarah struggled not to crack the same ironic smile. “This is what some would call poetic justice.” Did she say that out loud? “Hurts, doesn’t it?”
“Yes . . . I guess I deserve that,” he said, taking the proffered cup of coffee. Black and robust, the way he liked it.
“No wonder you look like hell.”
“Well, that and a fourteen-hour surgery I just finished.”
“Adrian. That still doesn’t tell me why you’re here. Did you come looking for a marriage counselor, a sympathetic ear, what?”
“I don’t know.” He turned his back to her, his voice barely audible. “I just knew I had to see you again. My car seemed to head in this direction of its own volition. I didn’t even know which house was yours – I just guessed.”
Sarah was tired of trying to pry his motivation out of him, so she just waited.
“I guess I came to apologize . . . for everything. The lies, the arrogance, the affairs, the way I treated you.”
She couldn’t help the cynicism that crept into her voice, “The good doctor got a taste of his own bitter medicine, and had an epiphany.”
He turned to look at her again, only there was pain in his pale blue eyes.
“Water under the bridge, Adrian.” She shrugged.
He strode over to her. “Is it?”
She backed up against the counter and froze as he raised his hand to cup her face. She saw it coming, but couldn’t get out of the way. He pulled her roughly to him and kissed her, his lips hard and demanding, tasting of strong coffee.
She tried to push him away, but the harder she pushed, the tighter he held her. His lips crushed hers, as if he were taking out his anger and frustration with the two-timing Cheese on her. When his other hand slid up her ribcage to grope her, she bit him. Hard. And to her satisfaction, tasted blood.
“Ow!” His hand came up to his now-bleeding lower lip. “Goddammit!” He stepped back.
“How dare you!” Sarah moved around the other side of the island, putting it between them. “How dare you think you could assuage your bruised ego by attempting to seduce me!”
“Ow.” He dampened a paper towel and held it to his lip, seemingly oblivious to her rant. “Damn, Sarah. Did you have to bite me so hard? I think I may need stitches.”
“Then it’s a good thing you’re a surgeon. You can stitch it up yourself. Now get out!” she ground out, wielding a plastic spatula like it was Excalibur.
That’s when he laughed. A deep-belly lau
gh that had him doubled over, and had her feeling ridiculous.
“Oh God, Sarah. I’m so sorry. Sorry for the kiss, sorry I made you feel you had to defend your honor with a . . . deadly spatula.”
He held up his hands as if in surrender then, turned, leaning against the counter with his head in his hands. “The trouble is, I love her, and I don’t know what to do.” His laughter was gone, and in its place was the voice of a man whose heart was breaking.
“Adrian . . . I’m confused as to why you came here, but if you came looking for advice . . . I don’t have much to give, other than to say that if you truly love her, you’ll find a way to work this out . . . confront her, forgive her, give her a second chance.”
“You never gave me a second chance . . .”
“I don’t think I ever really loved you.”
“Ouch. Just kick a man when he’s down.”
“I didn’t say that to hurt you. It’s just the unvarnished truth. And I don’t think you ever really loved me, either. It took me a long time to realize that, and even longer to accept it. Without that love, relationships can’t overcome the inevitable bumps in the road.”
“Sarah, you were always more than I deserved. I mean that. I hope you will forgive me.”
“I’d forgiven you long before I knew it. Now, how about some ice for that lip?”
It felt good to clear the air. She could put the past behind her without any regrets, and that could only benefit her relationship with Alex.
Adrian stayed for a couple of hours, nursing his lip, catching up on news. He was proud of what she’d accomplished, and happy to hear about Alex. When they parted, it was as cautious friends, but friends nonetheless.
Chapter 15
“Welcome to my home,” Sarah said as she opened the door. She was a little nervous, a ridiculous reaction.
Alex stepped through the front door, setting his luggage down and looking around. He first walked into her office and then crossed the foyer to enter the dining room. “It’s so . . . you. Elegant, tasteful, and warm. I love it, and I love you, Sarah.”
“Airport greetings leave something to be desired.” He grabbed the front waistband of her jeans and drew her to him. “Come here and let me give you a proper improper greeting.” He wrapped his hands around her neck and lowered his mouth to hers.
She hungrily returned the kiss, as he groaned and pulled her tighter against his body.
“Oh God, Sarah, how I’ve missed you. Let’s not do that again.”
Alex had been in California two and a half weeks, the longest they’d been apart since their reunion in July.
Before she could respond, he threw her over his shoulder like a conquering hero with his spoils, and carried her up the stairs. “I assume your bedroom is up here?” He turned left at the top of the stairs as if he knew which room was hers.
Sarah giggled like a smitten teenager as he tossed her onto the big four-poster bed. “Why, Mr. Fraser, it’s the middle of the afternoon,” she teased.
“All the better to see you, my dear,” he said, grinning wickedly. But as soon as he removed his T-shirt and crawled across the bed toward her, all playfulness fled.
The desire in his eyes scorched her skin like flames licking her body. He lowered his body to hers, nuzzling her neck, unbuttoning her blouse, his warm hands on her skin inflaming the passion.
He grabbed her wrists, cuffing them above her head. “Let me.” With each button he opened, he placed a kiss on the newly exposed skin. “I want to worship you.”
Gasping, Sarah arched her back to his caresses, reveling in his desire.
When her blouse lay open, he grazed his lips back up her body to nuzzle her neck and nibble her ear. “Sweet, sweet, Sarah, how I want you. All of you, heart, mind, body and soul. I’ll always want you,” he murmured against her skin. He lifted his face to hers. The love she heard in his voice was reflected in his deep brown eyes.
“I’m yours. Take all of me,” she whispered.
He lowered his lips to hers and the lonely weeks apart were all but forgotten in breathy sighs and throaty moans.
Stepping out of the shower, Sarah heard Alex answer her phone. She smiled to herself. There was something homey and comforting about it.
“This is Alex. Who the hell is this?” He paused for conversation on the other end of the line. She stepped out of the bathroom in time to see anger and surprise register on his face.
“Alex, who is it?”
“It’s Adrian.” He stalked over and thrust the phone at her as if he would have preferred to throw it.
“Oh.” Taking the phone, she watched as he walked over to the window, turning his back to her. “Hi Adrian—”
“Yes. That’s great news. I’m glad it was all just a misunderstanding—”
“Adrian, can I call you back later?”
“Yeah, that would be good. Thanks. Bye.”
Alex still had his back to her. “Your ex-husband came by yesterday? When were you planning on telling me?”
“I didn’t exactly get the chance. What was I supposed to do? Hi Alex, welcome to my home, and oh, by the way, my ex-husband dropped by yesterday?”
“Christ, Sarah.” He turned to face her, his brows drawn down in anger. “It would have been better to have heard it from you than to have heard it from him. Do you mind telling me what his visit and that phone call were all about?”
“He came by because he was at the hospital and wanted to talk to me about . . . his wife.”
“Bloody hell. He doesn’t have any contact with you for almost two years, and he shows up on your doorstep to talk to you about his wife? I don’t buy it.”
“His wife is cheating on him, or at least he thought she was, and he came looking for advice—”
“From the ex-wife he cheated on? No. I’ll tell you what he came looking for, what he came hoping to find, a warm and sympathetic woman willing to repair his wounded self-esteem.”
She could feel the blood drain from her face. How did he do that? How did he cut through the noise to find the truth?
“I’m right, aren’t I?” He strode over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Did he . . .”
The blood that had previously drained from her face flooded her cheeks. “He . . . he kissed me—”
He dropped his hands from her shoulders as if they’d been burned. He was having an out-of-body experience. He knew his reaction was completely ridiculous, but he couldn’t get a grip on these alien emotions.
“But that’s it. I, I bit him before he could—”
“I’ll kill him.” Alex didn’t hear anything else she said. He paced and ranted.
She hadn’t seen him this angry since his brother all but called her a tart. She remembered the result and swallowed hard. Alex darted out the bedroom door and down the stairs, grabbing her keys off the table, before stalking to the front door.
“Where are you going?” She could barely get the words out over the congealed lump in her throat.
“To find Adrian.” He slammed the front door before she could stop him.
Sarah paced the floor, still wearing her robe, her wet hair dripping, wondering what she should do. Call the police? Call Adrian? Call Ann and Becca? Instead, she called Alex’s cell, and heard it ringing in the bedroom upstairs. Great.
She paced down the floor following the same path. Okay. She didn’t want to call the police. She didn’t want to get Alex picked up. But thinking about his altercation with his brother, she wondered if that wasn’t better than him getting arrested for assault and battery. Then she realized the police wouldn’t pick him up for just making a threat.
She paced up the floor again. She’d call Adrian. No. Why get him riled? Odds are Alex will never find Adrian in the first place. Even if he knew the city, Adrian’s address is unlisted. Adrian should be safe.
Shoving her hair out of her face, she paced the floor again. Maybe she should call Ann or Becca. She groaned. That wouldn’t help. The only thing that would accomplish
is having two more people pacing the floor.
Maybe she should try looking for him? Since he doesn’t know the city, how far could he get? Then she remembered he had her car. “Ugh,” she huffed out in frustration.
She collapsed onto the bottom step. The best course of action was to wait, but for what? Alex’s call from the police station? She had to hope that Alex would calm down, that the drive would clear his head, and that he would have the presence of mind to pull over and call her when that happened.
It took Alex about half an hour to work off the mad, and another fifteen minutes to realize he was lost. What the hell had he been thinking? He had no idea where Adrian lived, no clue how to get around the city, and now no idea how to get back to Sarah’s. And, he just realized, no mobile. “Bloody hell.”
He pulled into a parking lot and shut off the car. Okay, he thought, I can do this. I have Sarah’s address, I can ask someone, or buy a map, or . . . something.
But first, he needed to figure out what had triggered such a colossal meltdown. He’d always prided himself on his ability to control his temper, except of course where his brother was concerned.
He’d become acquainted with the uncomfortable emotion of jealousy when he’d witnessed Michael’s attentions to Sarah. But his reaction today was the equivalent of jealousy on steroids. What was it about this situation that so enraged him?
He knew Sarah loved him. And of course he trusted her. He didn’t trust Adrian, especially given the underhanded purpose for his visit. The man cheats on Sarah. Then when his new wife cheats on him, or so he thinks, he decides to cheat on her with the woman he cheated on in the first place!
His head hurt just thinking about it.
If he was honest with himself, it annoyed him that Sarah would have anything to do with him after what he’d done to her. In the end, he supposed that was her decision. He’d respect it. But it didn’t mean he had to like it.
After two long hours of pacing, crying, worrying, and caffeinating, Sarah heard a knock on the front door.
The Promise of Change Page 27