Forever Love (Now & Forever) Read online

  “Good Morning, Emily. Alex would like to see you immediately.”

  Emily nodded as she moved the flowers behind her desk and out of the way. George headed back towards her.

  “Mr. Smith would like to see me. Can we do our morning meeting afterwards?”

  “Of course, when the boss calls, you run!”

  Emily smiled but already knew that Alex was mad about the flowers before she entered his office. She softly knocked and closed the door behind her as she watched Alex finish up his phone call.

  He was dressed in one of his stylish suits and looked gorgeous. His eyes met hers and waved for her to come over to him.

  “I understand that, Fred but I need a confirmation from them before we move the exhibit.” He continued his conversation as Emily got close enough for him to touch her face. She closed her eyes and just enjoyed his soft touch.

  Alex covered the mouth piece of the phone as he leaned over and kissed her lips softly. She closed her eyes and moaned softly as she felt him pull away.

  His eyes never left hers as he ended his conversation and hung up.

  “Good Morning, Emily,” he said with a serious tone.

  “Good Morning, Alex.”

  “Who are the flowers from?”

  Emily shrugged. “No name on the card.”

  Alex let out a soft chuckle. “We both know who sent them, Darling. Have you guys been talking?”

  Emily looked at him and bit her lip softly. “We talked last night. After I sent you a text and you didn’t respond, I sent him one.”

  “I assume he responded?”

  Emily nodded. “We talked for awhile.”

  Alex shook his head. “I’m going to lose you because I fell asleep.”

  Emily looked at him. “You aren’t going to lose me, Alex. Yes, Eric and I have been talking lately but just as friends. I will talk to him about the flowers, it’s not appropriate.”

  Alex smiled and grabbed her hips and pulled her close to him. “I love you, Emily. But, I feel like I’m losing you.”

  “Then you need to spend more time with me. You have been so busy with the museum and your gallery construction that I never see you. We haven’t been on a real date in a month.” Emily put her hands on the side of Alex’s face and continued, “I understand that you are under a lot of pressure to finish the construction on your building but don’t forget about me.”

  Alex closed his eyes and kissed Emily’s hands. “I’m sorry. You are right. Let’s go out this weekend. Can you have your mom babysit? I want to take you away.”

  Emily nodded. “Yes! I would love that.”

  Alex kissed her softly. “Go back to work before George is wonders what’s going on in here.”

  Emily smirked at him as she kissed him deeply. She parted her lips and moaned as he responded. His hands traced her body as he groaned and pulled at her lower lip. “Emily,” He barely whispered against her lips.

  She smiled as she backed away slowly and turned to leave.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The week flew by and Emily dropped Emma off with her mom and Paul for her weekend away with Alex.

  She talked to Eric earlier in the week and thanked him for the roses but asked that he wouldn’t do that again. She knew that he arranged for that to happen on purpose since he knew Alex worked at the same museum. Eric laughed it off but agreed he would try to behave himself.

  It was the evening of his first pre-season game. He was prepared to play the second half of the game for Denver. Emily hoped she would be able to watch some of the game so she could support him.

  She knocked on Alex’s door and heard some excitement from the backyard. She walked down the front path and around the corner. She proceeded down the path and around the house. As she got closer she could hear what sounded like a football game.

  She stopped in her tracks when she saw the big screen television outside on the patio with a table filled with snack foods.

  Alex spotted her and smiled. “What do you think?”

  “What is all of this?” Emily asked as she walked through the gate and over to him.

  “I wanted to surprise you! I knew that you would want to see Eric’s first game. I’m not a cruel person. So, I arranged to do it in proper style.”

  Emily ran over to him and kissed him. “Thank you so much, Alex. I love you so much!”

  As the evening progressed they talked about his new art gallery. The construction was almost complete and he arranged for the artwork. He prepared to part ways with the museum and wanted to start the next chapter of his life.

  They discussed what had been going on in each other lives and remained in each other’s arms as the game played on.

  Emily was shocked to see Alex cheering for Eric when he made his debut on the field. She covered her eyes when the other team would sack him and prayed he would get back up. He looked good but Emily noticed that he wasn’t playing to his full ability.

  “Emily, it’s his first professional game. He has to get used to the speed of the game.”

  “I know but it’s just hard to watch.”

  Alex laughed as they finished watching the game. Overall, Eric did a good job. He had a lot to learn about the game but Emily had faith that he would. She turned to face Alex. “What’s next on the agenda?”

  Alex smirked. “You in my bed, come on. We are way overdue.”

  Emily laughed as she followed him up the stairs and into his beautiful bedroom. He kissed her softly and started to remove her clothing. Emily smiled as he pulled her down on the bed and they enjoyed each other all night long.

  As the sun came up and filled the bedroom, Emily rolled over to find that Alex was already up and getting dressed.

  “What’s going on?” Emily yawned.

  “I need to take care of something at the construction site. But, I won’t be long. Go back to sleep. When I get back, we will head out on our mini vacation.”

  Emily smiled. “Alex, it is Saturday. Please don’t leave me. Can’t it wait until Monday?”

  Alex shook his head. “Sorry. I need to talk with the foreman. I won’t be long, I swear.” He gave her a quick kiss and left the house.

  Emily was alone in his big house for the first time. She decided to get a small work out in before he returned home. She changed into an old t-shirt of his and a pair of shorts and headed into his basement. As she passed the front door, she heard a knock.

  She opened the door to find George on the porch. She gasped and turned twenty shades of red.

  “Emily?”

  “Hello, George.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Umm, visiting?”

  “You are visiting at nine in the morning, on a Saturday?” He asked skeptically.

  Emily took a deep breath. “I think you should probably speak with Alex, George. Is there something you would like to leave with him?”

  George entered the house, moving around Emily. “Is he here?”

  “No, he had to run out for awhile.” Emily watched him nervously. She didn’t like that he invited himself in.

  “Well, I had to speak with him about some problems at the museum but I guess I will have to come back later.”

  Emily nodded. “I will let him know you stopped by.”

  George looked at her and smiled. “I’m sure you will, Emily. It’s a shame really.”

  She didn’t like the tone in his voice. “What’s a shame?”

  “I was attracted to you the moment I saw you. But, I guess Alex made his move first.”

  Emily didn’t say anything as she looked down at the floor. George moved his hand to the side of her face. “Look at me, Emily.”

  “Please don’t touch me, George. It’s not appropriate.”

  He laughed at her. “But sleeping with our boss is?”

  Emily blushed and looked away again. “Please leave. I will let Alex know that you stopped by.”

  George smiled and touched the side of her face again. The next few seconds were a
blur as Alex returned and pushed George onto the floor.

  “Who the hell do you think you are touching?” Alex yelled at him.

  George laughed as he stood up. “Apparently your girlfriend, secret is out now.”

  Alex grabbed him by his shirt and pushed him out the front door. “You’re fired. We will have your items shipped to your house. Don’t show your face around the museum again.”

  George turned red with anger. “You will hear from my lawyer.” He turned around and dashed to his car and left.

  Emily looked at Alex and ran into his arms. He kissed the top of her head. “Did he hurt you?”

  Emily shook her head. “No, I think you showed up just in time. I’m so sorry that I opened your door.”

  Alex laughed at her. “Emily, my house is your house. Don’t be upset, this isn’t your fault at all.”

  “I blew our secret. He’s going to tell everyone and people will judge me on Monday.”

  Alex sighed. “They are going to judge me, Emily. Not you.”

  “Well, at least you will be leaving soon. I will have to stay and deal with the aftermath.”

  “I need to call Sue and get a few board members on the phone.”

  Emily nodded. “Of course, I will go get my work out in and we will talk soon.”

  Alex leaned in and kissed her softly then disappeared into his study.

  After Emily’s workout, she showered and changed and went searching for Alex. She heard his voice coming from the study as she approached slowly. He hung up the phone and looked at Emily as she entered the room.

  Alex smiled at her. “How was your workout?”

  “It was good. Thanks for letting me use your room.”

  “Anytime, Sweetheart but I need to cancel our weekend. Thanks to George, the board called an emergency meeting to discuss what legal action he could pursue against me or the museum.”

  Emily nodded and pouted. “I’m so sorry. I should have stayed in bed this morning.”

  Alex came around his desk and wrapped his arms around her. “I talked with Sue and apparently he made a few passes at her and few other ladies at work. I’m glad this came to the surface but I hated that it involved you.”

  Emily kissed him softly. “Go to work and we will just hook up when you are done. No big deal.”

  “Thank you for being so understanding.”

  “That’s because I’m the best girlfriend in the world.” Emily winked at him as she gathered up her things and headed home.

  She decided to stop at her mom’s house and check on Emma before heading home.

  “Why are you here? You can’t take her, we are making cookies.”

  Emily laughed at her mom as she entered the kitchen and kissed Emma. “I wouldn’t dream of it. Alex got called away for work, so I thought I would stop by and see what was going on.”

  “Mommy, want a cookie?”

  “Yes! Did you make these?”

  “Grandma helped me.” Emma giggled as she handed her a cookie.

  Emily took a bite and made the yummy noises for Emma as she giggled and went back to stir the bowl.

  Paul ran into the kitchen suddenly. “Emily, you have to come into the living room now!”

  Emily looked at her mom and she followed Paul to the television. The breaking news crawl was scrolling across the bottom of the television screen as the sportscaster was talking about the developing story out of Denver.

  Emily sat next to Paul on the couch and watched it unfold before her eyes.

  “We have breaking news out of Denver. The starting quarterback, Adam Rodgers has been in a serious motorcycle accident and has been rushed to the hospital. Reports are saying that he has gone in for emergency surgery and family has been notified. The general manager for Denver will be speaking to the press shortly but I’m going to say right now that Eric Mason should be getting ready to take over this team. He had a strong showing for their pre-season game last night and this team will need to stand behind him. There is no way that Rodgers will be returning this year. We will have more details when the press conference begins…”

  Emily stared at the television and whispered softly, “He’s going to be the starting quarterback.”

  “We don’t know that yet, Emily. But, signs are looking good for him.”

  Emily turned and saw her mom watching over her shoulder. “His dreams are about to come true, Mom. I feel horrible about the other quarterback though, I hope he will be ok but I’m so excited for Eric.”

  Her mom smiled at her. “Call him, Emily.”

  She nodded and ran upstairs to her old bedroom and sat down in the window seat. Her phone rang just as she was about to dial. She noticed Eric’s number right away.

  “Eric! You are about to be the starting quarterback!”

  “I don’t know for sure yet, Emily. Coach wants me to come into the office right now. I’m waiting for my agent to show up and we are going together.”

  “You can do this, Eric.”

  “Thank you. I’m so nervous, I prepared myself to sit on a bench for the next few years but it looks like I'm about to be thrown into the limelight.”

  “You are a strong person. You have been training for this moment since you were a young boy. I have complete faith that you will go out there and get the job done.”

  “Hey, my agent just arrived. I need to run. Can I call you tonight?” Eric asked.

  “Yes, please do. I want to hear what’s going on.”

  They said goodbye and Emily just smiled. Her heart warmed and she felt like she wanted to be there by his side. She was taken back as her mind raced as she thought about Eric. This was the moment that they both struggled for and couldn’t finish it together. She was proud of him and would try to support him.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Over the next month, Emily had to deal with all the whispers at work. But as a thank you for surviving all of it, Alex provided her a room at his house so she could work on her drawings.

  Emma and Emily would spend their nights at Alex's house so he could babysit while Emily drew. Since the Buffalo weather was beautiful during the summertime, Alex would swim with Emma in his pool as Emily sat in the gazebo and drew them playing.

  Eric was named starting quarterback and was in constant meetings and practices. He did find the time to text Emily just to let her know that he was thinking about her. She struggled with her feelings that were rising to the surface again but she was committed to Alex and she wasn’t going to hurt him.

  It was late Friday night after Emily had managed to get Emma to sleep that her cell phone rang. She smiled as she said hello.

  “Hey Emily, I have a quick question for you,” Eric said.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I want you to come out and watch me play on Sunday.”

  Emily gasped softly but didn’t know how to respond. She sat down at her kitchen table and put her head in her hands. “Eric, I don’t know.”

  “I know we aren’t together anymore. I have grown to accept that but you have been there the entire time and we are about to hit the big time. Please come out and see me.”

  Emily sighed. “What about Emma?”

  “I would love to see her but I think it would be too crazy. My parents are flying out tomorrow afternoon. Do you think your mom could watch her?”

  “I don’t know, Eric. I’m not sure Alex would approve of that.”

  “I won’t beg you, Emily. But, I would love to see you sitting in the stands supporting me on Sunday.”

  “Let me think about it.”

  “I have a ticket at the airport for you. The flight is at two in the afternoon, I hope you will be there but if not, I will understand.”

  He hung up and Emily put her head on the table. She wanted to run to him and support him during this time but she was conflicted between Eric and Alex.

  She took a deep breath and dialed Alex’s phone number.

  “Is everything alright, Emily?” He answered quickly.

  �
�Yes, I’m fine. I just received an interesting phone call.”

  “And who was that from?”

  “Eric.”

  “And what did he want this late at night?” Alex asked.

  “He wants me to fly out there for Sunday’s game. He bought me a ticket and he wants me in the stands to see his debut.”

  “Do you want to go?”

  “Part of me does because I feel like all the crap that we went through, it would be nice to see the outcome. But, I love you, Alex. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

  “I won’t lie, I really don’t want you to go but I won’t stop you.” He paused, “I gave my resignation at the museum earlier today.”

  “Alex, I didn’t think you were ready yet.”

  “My gallery is moving along faster than I thought it would and with the whole George situation, I think it’s time to move on.”

  “Well, I’m sad to see you go but I’m happy that you will be following your dreams.”

  “Thank you. I want you to come with me.”

  “What?” Emily asked surprised.

  “I want you to work at my gallery. You can help me run it. I will pay you a fair salary and you can display your work with me.”

  Emily didn’t know how to respond. She was touched that he wanted to bring her along with him but part of her wasn’t sure if it was the right move. “I don’t know, Alex. Can I think about it?”

  “Of course, I know you are just getting used to the museum and I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable. I would love to have you but the choice is yours.”

  “Thank you for the offer, I will definitely think about it.”

  “So, are you going to Denver this weekend?” Alex asked.

  “I think I am. I’m proud of him.”

  Alex was quiet for a few seconds. Emily didn’t know if he was mad at her or was trying to understand her decision.

  “Call me when you get home?” He asked her.

  “Of course and I will call you when I arrive there. I love you.”

  “I love you too, Emily.” And then he was gone.

  Emily decided to surprise Eric and not tell him that she was coming. She called his mom and made arrangements to drive to the airport with them. Emily packed some clothes for her and put together an overnight bag for Emma.