Forget Me Never (14 page)

              “So you head butted him?”

              “I may have moved my head so that it clashed with his face.” I answered. “Let’s not forget though, he had me pinned against the wall.”

              “Anton and Jake have confirmed that when they arrive, Gerald was holding his nose.” He nodded. “Okay, Ma’am, he indicated that he wanted to press charges, but when we talk with him about the fact that you can also have him charged, he may change his mind.” He then handed me a card, “When Mr Richards returns from his trip, please have him call this number to clarify a few things.”

              “Of course,” I muttered.

              “If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to call us and if Gerald comes back, call nine-one-one, okay?” I nodded. “You do not need to hide in your room, he checked into another hotel this morning. He’s gone and after we have a little chat, I doubt he’ll attempt to contact you again.”

              “Thank you.” I said and opened the door.

After trying to eat the toast, I decided I would sit on the balcony and wait for Alec to return. I couldn’t wait to see him in one respect, but I also dreaded having to explain about Gerald. I knew Jake would back me up and I didn’t think for minute that Alec wouldn’t believe me, but I suppose I was not looking forward to upsetting or angering him in any way.

Unable to fight my tired eyes any longer, I finally allowed them to close. I felt exhausted and thought that the excitement of seeing Alec again soon would have been enough to keep me awake, I was wrong.

              I woke sharply when my phone started to ring in the living room. I hurried inside and picked up my phone, it was Alec.

              Smiling, I answered, “Hello.”

              “Hello yourself,” he replied, “what are you doing?”

              “I am in my room,” I explained.

              “That explains why you are not in mine then.”

              “You’re back?” I shrieked.

              “I am and I am wondering why I am alone,” he sighed.

              “I am on my way up.” I said and ended the call, lifting my key and closing the door before hurrying down the hall to the lift.

I arrived in his room moments later and hurried to the living room where I planned to dive into his arms. When I entered he was talking on his phone. Flashing his incredible eyes at me, I melted, unable to move from the spot I watched as he talked on the phone. I hadn’t noticed his pained expression until he looked up to me again, guessing he was either speaking with the police or Jake, or worse still, Gerald himself, I headed out onto his sunny balcony and gazed at the bright blue sky.

              He appeared at my side as I drew in a shaky breath, “Are you alright?” I asked.

              “I was, right until Jake’s call, what happened, Grace?”

              “Gerald has been a complete and utter arse.”

              “When did it start?”

              “Thursday, I went to lunch at the restaurant and he started on me, Elisa came to my defence and threatened him with you.” I replied.

              “You should have told me when we spoke Thursday night, Grace.”

              “You were in such a good mood and…”

              “He insulted you,” he frowned.

              “And I gave him as good as he gave me.”

              “Okay, so last night?”

              “He was there when I got out of Elisa’s limo. He called me a man eater and a gold digger after accusing me of being with you because of your money.” I could see him getting angrier by the second, but he wanted to know, there was no point in trying to play it down. “At about three this morning I was woken by a loud knocking on my door, when I opened it, he barged in and pinned me against the wall. He um, he tried to kiss me so I broke his nose by head butting him in the face.”

              He raised his eyebrows, “You head butted him in the face?”

              “Yes,” I nodded, “The police said he mentioned about pressing charges, but…”

              “That won’t happen,” he insisted.

              “Why?”

              “Because by the time I am finished with him, he will be running for the hills.” He explained angrily.

              “Alec, don’t you touch him.” I snapped. “I won’t let him get to me by having you arrested, it’s bad enough…”

              “He dare touch a hair on your head,” he roared cutting me off mid-sentence. “I can’t even…, I am going to kill him.” He snarled squeezing the railing so hard that his knuckles turned white.

              Tears filled my eyes, “Please, Alec, let the police deal with him.” He turned to me and frowned.

              “I am so sorry, Grace, so sorry.” He folded his arms around me and held me to his chest. “I just want to make it all better, tell me what you need.”

              “This is all I need right now, you and your hugs.” He pecked the side of my head as I cried in his arms. “I missed you so much.”

              “I missed you too.” 

Eleven

We spent the rest of the morning talking and catching up on some much needed affection. I loved that he had no more meetings or business which meant that we now had just under a week in LA and then a whole week in Vegas. Just us, no business or his so called colleagues.

              “I bought you a present,” he smiled and pulled out a small black box. “I was in the city and next to the deli we had our lunch in there was this custom jewellery store and I saw this, it is one of kind and reminded me of your eyes.” He opened the box revealing a stunning white gold bracelet with a small heart pendant hanging from a delicate chain in light green. Each link was the shape of an infinity figure eight, encrusted with white and green gems, it was delicate and extremely beautiful.

              “It’s the most beautiful bracelet I have ever seen,” I gasped. “But I can’t except it.”

              “Why not?” he asked.

              “Because it will give the likes of Gerald more ammo to use against me. I have you, that’s all I want. Gems and money mean nothing to me.”

              “I know that, but I bought it for you because I thought it was as beautiful as you are,” he smiled.

              “I appreciate the gesture, believe me, I do, but I know that I am not beautiful and that is all right.”

              “You are though, Grace. Why can’t you see that?”

              “If I am so beautiful, why did…? Oh, forget it, I am trying to forget him and all he did to me.”

              “I told you, he was a moron. Look, I don’t profess to be perfect, but I promise you, I am in your life for as long as you want me to be and I will never treat you like that.” My eyes filled with tears once more, “I didn’t want to upset you, Grace.” He shut the box, “I’ll take it back, okay?”

              I sniffed and brushed away an escaped tear. “You haven’t upset me, your words just moved me. Tell you what, why don’t you hold on to it for a little while, and if in a few months we are lucky enough to prove them all wrong, I will gladly accept it, how does that sound?”

              “Sounds okay to me.” He pecked my lips and put the box back into his pocket. “So, what are we going to do this afternoon?” he asked taking my hand in his and pecking my fingers.

              “Well,” I smiled standing from the sofa, “I seem to remember making you a promise this other night.”

              “That’s right, you did.” He grinned. I held out my hand to him, he smiled taking it as he stood, “I didn’t sleep all night because of what you did to me, seriously, I thought I was going to explode.”

              “I did tell you to play with yourself, you could have.”

              “No way, I have been saving up for this moment. I just hope you are wearing those sexy knickers.” He added.

              “Ew, no, they need washing.” I frowned, “but I might be wearing some new ones I bought with Elisa,” I shrugged and led him to the bedroom. I dropped his hand so that I could remove my shirt, pulling it over my head instead of unbuttoning it. The oyster shell pick bra with small hot pink bows looked better on than I thought it would. I turned around to face him, watching as he unbuckled his belt on his trousers, he smiled as his eyes danced with excitement.

              “It has been a long couple of days.” He admitted.

              “Tell me about it,” I agreed and pushed my jeans down my legs, the matching bottom part to the set wasn’t exactly a thong, more like little hot pants trimmed in shell pink lace that curved around my backside.

              “Oh my God, I want you so badly it almost hurts.” He said as he stood in nothing but his tight fitting boxers. “Are we using condoms or?”

              “I told you, I have an implant, I am good until July, that’s when it needs to be replaced.” I went to remove my bra,

              “Don’t, leave it on for a moment,” he smiled, “let me savour you for a little while longer. Grace Matthews you are so damn sexy, what am I going to do with you?”

              “I have an idea.” I smiled and took his hand, leading him to the bed. “Lie down.” I told him.

He lay back on the bed and I crawled up his body, slowly and seductively, leaving little kisses on his torso and chest. I hovered over his erection straining against his boxers. Stroking his hands down my back, I lowered onto his erection, rubbing myself over him. His hands held my hips as he hooked his fingers under the lace and pushed them over the cheeks of my backside, where he squeezed. He lifted his hips and moved me under him, sliding his fingers inside of me. A satisfied moaned escaped my lips as he began moving his hand, pressing his mouth to mine, nipping at my lips and pushing his tongue inside.

Just as I felt that wave of warmth begin to smother me, he stopped, leaving me dangling on that fragile edge, I opened my eyes and frowned slightly,

“I told you I would make you pay,” he smiled.

“Well,” I swallowed hard on my dry throat, “if that is how you want to play. I’ll go, I still have quite a lot of my book to finish.”

“You are not going anywhere.” He stated and kissed me again. “You know, I um, I have this thing that drives me crazy, it really turns me on.”

              “Hey, you are not into kinky stuff, are you? Because I read those paint-swatch books and I am telling you now, no way, not ever. Forget it.”

              He smiled bemused, “What are you talking about?”

              “Millionaire businessman, seducing a naive virgin, don’t tell me you haven’t heard about them.”

              “I have actually, you never said you were a virgin.”

“And you never said you were a millionaire, in fact, I asked you and you denied it.”

“If I recall it right, you asked if I was a billionaire and I am not, so I didn’t lie.” He

countered.

I pushed my fingers to his lips, “It’s not important anyway, I don’t care if you have

gazillions in the bank, all I want is you.” I kissed him tenderly. “Okay, so what’s this thing you are into?” I asked pulling

back from his lips.

“Promise you won’t laugh?” he checked, I nodded. “What I like is high heeled shoes,

you know, like stilettos. A beautiful pair of legs are perfected by the shoes she wears, the shape, the extra height, yeah, that’s what I like.” 

              “I see, you are telling me you are not in to socks with sandals,” I smiled.

              “No and there should be a law against it unless you are under five years old.” I sat up, the passion was fizzling out and I began to feel a little foolish led there in only my underwear. “Where are you going?”

              “To get my book,” I shrugged.

              “Oh no you are not,” he frowned. “I thought you were going to get some heels for me.”

              “Not unless you want me to fall over flat on my face.”

              “But I have seen you in heels,” he said kissing my shoulder and cupping my breast in his hand, “And you looked so sexy, I could hardly take my eyes off you.”

              “I wear them occasionally, but really, they are not that high.”

              “If I got you some, would you wear them for me?”

              I shook my head, “Alec, I will never allow you to buy my shoes, my Nan said that if you let a man buy you shoes, you will walk away from him.”

              “That’s where I have been going wrong all of this time then.” I turned to look at him, “I’m joking,” he smiled hooking a finger under my bra strap. I pushed his hand away and stood from the bed. “Grace?”

              “If you want to chat, we can talk in the lounge.”

              “I thought we were making love?”

              “So did I, but now I am not in the mood.” I lifted my clothes from the floor and hurried out of the room.

              “Grace,” he chased after me, “Grace, wait.” I stopped and turned to face him. “What just happened?”

              “You bought shoes for your ex’s and they left you, now you want to buy me shoes too and you don’t see the problem here?”

              “I think you got the wrong end of the stick, I just wanted to have a bit of fun, that’s all.” He smiled slightly, was I not being serious enough or something? “Come back to bed, I have waited three days to make love to you again, don’t make me wait any longer.” I hated upsetting him, but I had really lost my mojo and sex was the last thing I wanted.

              “I don’t want to argue with you, Alec, so, I think it would be better if I went to my room and got some rest.” I explained.

              He sighed loudly, “You can get some rest here, have the bed. I’ll go for a swim and then a shower. Please don’t go to your room alone, you are clearly upset and after what he did to you, I am not surprised.”

              “Well,” I frowned, feeling instantly worse, “maybe you can lay with me for little while, perhaps when I have rested, well, if you still want me.”

              “I need to swim, Grace,” he muttered. “Go to bed, I’ll take a shower and join you then, okay?” I nodded and reluctantly left him standing in his boxers with a hard on big enough to poke my eye out.

I climbed into bed still wearing my underwear, but after a few moments, I decided to remove my bra. I have never been able to sleep in one. Feeling the cool, cotton sheets against my skin did help me to relax and before I could allow my guilt for upsetting Alec worry me too much, I drifted off to sleep.

              We were running hand in hand throw a meadow of wild flowers. Yellow buttercups, white daisies and blue forget-me-nots. The sun shone down from a turquoise sky and the warm summer breeze lifted the scent of the flowers that swayed. Butterflies dances on their petals as we walked and birds sang in the trees all around us. It felt like my own personal piece of Heaven.

              As I blinked at the sun, I found myself lying on the grass, his hand slowly moved up my leg and over my knee as he kissed me deeply. As his hand slid slowly up my leg, my insides warmed. His kiss deepened, his breath felt hot against my neck, but has his hand slipped under the lace of my underwear, they became rough and his kisses felt sloppy. I tried to pull away from him, he didn’t taste the same. Rough, spiky stubble scratched at the skin around my mouth. He pulled away, leaving my lips sore and stinging, I opened my eyes, Gerald smirked at me.

              I tried to pull away, but he pinned me to the ground, ripped open my shirt and grabbed my breasts roughly. I tried to scream, but nothing came out.

              “You’re mine now,” he snarled.

              “Get off of me, now,” I ordered and tried to fight him. His knee jammed between my legs as I struggled to fight him off my body, kicking and punching until I sat upright in bed. Alec was sat on the bed in nothing but a towel, frowning at me.

              “Are you alright?” he asked me.

              I nodded quickly, but couldn’t stop shaking, “He um, he was trying to…”

              “Who, Gerald?”

              “Yes,” I nodded again. “I’m sorry,” I frowned as tears filled my eyes.

              “No, Grace, I am sorry.” He said softly taking me in to his arms. “I am sorry I employed such a malevolent, narcissistic turd. I should have gone with my gut when I interviewed him, but his numbers were excellent and if I’m honest, I let him dazzle me with his CV, when all along I thought that this man is an arsehole. I am so sorry I got sucked in. if I hadn’t, then he wouldn’t have met you and hurt you.”

              “You weren’t to know,” I sniffed, feeling foolish and pathetic, “and I did break his nose. I will always have that on him.” I tried to smile, Alec moved closer and pushed my hair out of my face. I leaned in closer and kissed him. He wrapped strong his arms around me and pulled me into his warm body as we kissed. I could taste chlorine on his lips and pulled back.

              “I was just getting some clean underwear to put on after my shower, you were fighting in your sleep, the last person I woke while fighting in their sleep, punched me in the face and cracked a tooth, I was not going to risk it again.” He explained. “Aside from the nightmare, do you feel better for getting some rest?” he asked.

              “A bit,” I nodded, “I’d feel lot better if you were in this bed with me,” I added coyly and stroked my index finger down his chest and rubbed it along the line of his towel.

              “I have been swimming, I need to wash this chlorine off,” he smiled.

              “I need something to take my mind off that nightmare, I think my needs are slightly more urgent than yours.”

              “Well, in that case,” he smiled, stood from the bed and dropped the towel on the floor, revealing that he was in deed naked and oh so ready for me, it made my insides shake.

I woke sometime later that afternoon, draped over Alec’s body as he slept soundly. I gazed up at him, not quite believing that after only ten days, I was completely in love with this amazing man and that he claimed to be just as much in love with me. I didn’t know how long we would last, or if I was just something for while he was in the States, but I was deliriously happy with him and I honestly would have followed him to the ends of the earth if he had asked me. Gerald didn’t invade my dreams this time, thankfully, after all, I felt I handled him quite well.