Dancing in the Gray (28 page)

She closed her eyes and let his words
sink in. He actually understood. She pressed her forehead against
his chest and brought her arms up and around his waist. Trey
slipped his fingers into her hair and held her head to his chest.
He kissed the top of her head. Day in bed = 2, Paris =
0.

“Are you coming back to bed with me?”
Trey turned her head to look up at him while he cupped her face in
both hands.

“I’ll meet you in there in just a
second, I promise. I just want to take a hot shower.” Elise raised
herself onto her tip toes and kissed Trey gently on his lips. He
was smiling down at her as he still held her face in his
hands.

“Want some company?” Trey raised his
eyebrows.

Elise laughed, “You’re the reason I
need a hot shower.” She massaged her sore shoulder.

“And you’re the reason I need cold
ones.” Trey kissed her on the tip of her nose. “Enjoy your
shower.”

Elise made her way to her bathroom
where she striped off Trey’s shirt and started the hot water. She
got under the warm jets allowing the water to start to relieve some
of the tension that was in her neck and shoulders. She massaged her
scalp as she shampooed and conditioned her hair. She felt the
tension leaving her body as she glided her soapy sponge over her
arms and legs. She stayed under the spray for just a few minutes
longer before she finally got out and toweled off.

She went into her dresser and pulled
out a pair of black cotton boxer sleep shorts and a white razorback
tank. She threw on her comfy pajama set and towel dried her hair
once more before she went back into her bedroom to meet Trey. She
felt so much better now.

When she opened the double doors that
separated the bathroom from the bedroom, she saw Trey sitting up in
her bed with his back against her headboard. He was scrolling
through emails on his BlackBerry. On the nightstand, there was a
plate with a grilled cheese sandwich cut into four pieces and a
handful of pretzels on the side.

“Did you make that?” Of course he did,
unless there’s a grilled cheese fairy she didn’t know
about.

“Yes. You have to be starving.” Trey
looked at her with concern.

“You made that for me?” Elise was
touched.

“Yes. I also made three for me, but
that one is yours.” Trey was smiling over at her.

Elise walked over to her nightstand
where she picked up a piece of the sandwich and took a bite. He was
right, she was starving. She didn’t realize it until she spotted
the sandwich on the nightstand. She gobbled down three of the four
pieces and a couple of pretzels in no time. There was a bottle of
water next to the plate. She opened it up and drank nearly half the
bottle. She returned the cap to the bottle placing it back on the
nightstand and then grabbed the plate and ran it over to the
kitchen. When she returned, he was scrolling through his emails
again.

She crawled into her bed and onto
Trey’s lap. He looked up at her with a smile. Elise wrapped her
arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. “Thank you so
much.”

Trey kissed her cheek, “I told you I
was going to take care of you tonight.”

Elise sat back and pulled her arms from
around Trey’s neck. She moved her hands up to his gorgeous face.
“And now, it’s my turn. You need to sleep.” Elise reached over and
turned off her lamp on the nightstand. She grabbed Trey’s
BlackBerry and placed it on the nightstand, too. She crawled off
his lap and under the covers facing Trey who was now under the
covers with her. “Come here.”

Elise lay on her back and guided Trey’s
head onto her chest. “So you expect me to actually sleep on top of
all this temptation.” Trey kissed her sweetly before he lay his
head down. He wrapped his arms around Elise like his pillow earlier
and nuzzled his head on Elise’s breasts. “I love you,
Elise.”

Elise kissed the top of his head,
“Sleep, Trey.” Her arms were wrapped around Trey’s shoulders and
head. She ran her fingers through Trey’s hair until she felt the
full weight of his head on her chest. His breathing became rhythmic
and shallow. He was asleep.

Elise continued to run her fingers
through his thick hair. His face was tilted towards her so she took
the opportunity to study every stunning feature. She ran her finger
along the three small laugh lines that ran along the length of his
forehead. They led to the adorable freckle right above the curve of
his eyebrow. She kissed her finger and placed it over the small
diagonal white scar located where his brow met the bridge of his
nose. She traced his square jaw around to the center of his chin
where his trademark cleft resided.

She hugged him tightly once more and
placed a kiss on his head. “I do love you, Trey Watts.”

Chapter 23

Trey’s BlackBerry began vibrating on
Elise’s nightstand. It was the alarm that he set last night while
Elise was in the shower. It was 5:30 am. He immediately reached
over and shut it off so he wouldn’t wake Elise. When Trey passed
out on her chest last night, he must have been exhausted because
that was where he woke up this morning. Trey knew she was sleeping
deeply, too, when he lifted his head off of her chest and got out
of her bed without her moving a muscle.

Trey had a scheduled interview with a
local Virginia morning show. He was scheduled to meet Paul at the
television station at 7 am, which shouldn’t be a problem. Elise’s
townhome was literally 10 minutes away from his home where he
needed to change before heading over to the station.

Trey wanted to let her sleep, but he
also felt the need to wake her up and let her know where he was
going. He didn’t want her to think he just left her again. He was
also scared as hell that she was going to get on that plane to
France today. She didn’t tell him she loved him last night, and she
wouldn’t make love to him. He knew she needed time, but that didn’t
stop the pain that was in his heart.

He was quietly putting on his clothes
from yesterday debating whether he should just leave her a note or
actually wake her up. He went into the bathroom to get his shirt
that Elise was wearing last night. When he came out of the bathroom
putting on his shirt, he looked up to see Elise sitting up bed.
Trey was happy that she was awake. “Hey babe, it’s very
early.”

“I know. So you’re leaving?” Elise’s
face was covered with disappointment.

“I have an interview on Channel 4’s
morning show, but I’ll be back. I’m glad you’re up. I was debating
on whether or not I should wake you up to tell you. I didn’t want
you to think I just left.” Trey sat on the bed next to Elise. He
grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it. When he looked back up
at Elise, her head was tilted to the side and she had a small smile
on her face.

“What time is your interview?” Elise
ran her hand through Trey’s hair.

“It’s live at 7:30 am. There’s the
interview portion then segment where the voters can call in. I’m
kind of nervous.”

Elise raised her eyebrows and had a
look of compassion on her face. “You’ll do fine.” She crawled out
from under the covers and crawled onto Trey’s lap. She wrapped her
arms around him and hugged him tightly. Trey felt his nerves melt
away as he blew out a deep breath. “Just be yourself.” Elise pulled
back and cupped Trey’s face in her small hands. “How can they not
love you?”

Trey smiled. “I love you, Elise. Thank
you so much for … everything.”

Elise kissed him on his cheek then
crawled off his lap and back under the covers. “Anything for you.
I’ll be watching and cheering you on from here. Just call me when
you get a chance.”

“You’re going to be here today?” He
needed to know.

“Yes. I’m selling my apartment in New
York, so this is the only home I have.” Elise smiled up at him
before closing her eyes.

“For now.” Trey whispered as he kissed
her forehead gently before he turned around to leave.

Elise smiled then repeated, “For
now.”

~

Trey and Paul walked into the Channel 4
Studio where he was scheduled to do his interview. He was early
considering his segment wasn’t scheduled to go on for another 30
minutes. They were welcomed by the station manager who introduced
himself and escorted the gentlemen into Makeup. The young lady that
was responsible for applying the makeup had her ear buds in and was
surprised when she turned around and saw Trey standing
there.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle
you. The station manager said that I needed to come in here before
my segment.” Trey felt bad since the poor girl jumped back when she
saw him.

“That’s cool. Hop in.” She patted the
back of the chair that sat in front of the mirror. Trey walked over
to the chair and sat down while she applied a paper cover onto his
clothes. She couldn’t be more than five feet tall. She had short
blond hair that was pulled into two pig tails and had a ton of
piercings on her face. “So what are you here for?”

“I’m running for Congress, and I’m here
for an interview.” She was dusting powder on his face. Trey would
never get used to this. He didn’t think she was paying attention to
what he said until she responded.

“So why should I vote for you?” She was
looking at him, but not looking at him. She was just checking out
her work, so her question surprised him.

“Well, what are some of the things that
are important to you as a constituent?” Trey learned from his dad
to listen, ask questions, and do more listening. Paul was watching
Trey in action.

“Well my sister is a teacher, and she
has to pay for stuff for her classroom out of her own pocket. Not
like extra stuff out of the kindness of her heart, but other stuff
that she needs to do her job like update reading material. That’s
crazy. Why doesn’t she have enough money for things like that in
her budget?”

Trey did not like hearing that. Whether
he was elected or not, he wanted to fix this. “First of all, my
name is Trey. What’s yours?”

“Jenny. Nice to meet you,
Trey.”

“Jenny, would you please do me a favor
and write down your sister’s name and the school where she teaches?
I can’t wait for an election to fix something like that. I’ll make
personal donation to each teacher at that school. Whether I’m
elected or not, I’ll work with whoever is elected and local
officials to make sure they have what they need to do their
job.”

She put her hands on her hips and gave
him a very skeptical look. “You’re not serious.”

“I’m very serious.” Trey was looking
her right in her eyes. “Paul, can we get the superintendent on the
line?” Trey said as he looked over his shoulder.

“We can, but can I talk to you in
private for a second?” Trey knew what that was all about –
PR.

“What are you worried about? It’ll look
like I’m buying votes?” Trey was staring Paul down, and he didn’t
care if Jenny witnessed the conversation.

“Well, yes. This may be an ethics
issue, too.”

“What if the contribution was anonymous
or didn’t come from me?”

“Then that’s fine. I would just prefer
that if you did want to make a contribution that it remains
anonymous and doesn’t come from any of your accounts that we need
to turn over for auditing as part of the election.”

“So what if I got Elise or Sophia to
donate it? Would that be cool?” Trey was trying to do the right
thing and work within the guidelines.

“That’s fine. Jenny, can I get your
sister’s information?”

“I can’t believe you are actually doing
this.” Jenny was stunned.

“I can’t believe the system failed our
teachers.” Trey just shook his head.

When Jenny was done with the makeup,
she removed the paper cover around his neck. Trey stood up and saw
all the makeup on the table had the initials EDP on
them.

“It was really nice meeting you, Trey.
I hope you win the election.” Jenny was twirling the brush she just
used around her finger.

“Thanks. So what do you think of Elise
DePaul cosmetics?” Trey motioned his head to all the makeup
scattered on the vanity in front of the mirror.

“Best on the market. Hands down. I
won’t use anything else on my clients. Why?” Jenny was intrigued by
Trey’s interest.

“She’s my girlfriend.” After this past
weekend, he hoped he could still call her that. There was still a
lot of unfinished business between them.

“That’s sick!” Jenny smiled then
lowered her voice. “Well don’t tell Cheryl that. You’re really hot,
and it’s like a challenge to her.” She was looking behind
Trey.

“Who’s Cheryl?” Trey didn’t understand
where Jenny was going with this.

“The morning show host that’s about to
interview you.”

“I thought her name was Sherri
something.”

“That’s what she uses for the show. Her
real name is Cheryl, and she can’t stand it that I call her that.”
Jenny had an evil smile on her face. Trey really like this chick.
She was a total badass. “I’m not hiding my relationship with Elise,
and she’s headed down a dead end road if she does make any
advances.”