Forever Love (Now & Forever) Read online

  Emily smiled and looked back at the fire. “Thank you again for inviting my friends. We will have fun tomorrow night, what did you want to do for dinner?”

  “What do you think? I can have Mrs. Bennett run out tomorrow and grab whatever you want to serve.”

  Emily frowned at him.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “I’m just not used to that, can we do it ourselves? I think it would be fun to go shopping with you and cook the meal ourselves.”

  A smile came across his face. “Sure, we can do that.”

  “I noticed that you have a grill over there, does a cookout sound good?”

  Alex nodded. “Yeah, let’s do burgers and hot dogs. It’s supposed to be a beautiful night, feel free to call them and let them know if they wanted to go down to the lake or use the hot tub, they can bring their swim wear.”

  Emily smiled. “You are awesome. Yeah, I will call them tomorrow.”

  He leaned over and kissed her again, the kiss deepened and Emily was lost again. She wanted to stay there forever, no cares in the world, free from all distractions but she knew it was only for two days and on Sunday, she would be back home and would have to deal with her everyday life.

  Alex pulled back. “Come to bed with me.” He wasn’t asking her, he was telling her. Emily’s heart started to race as she stood up. He quickly put the fire out and pulled her back into the house. As they headed upstairs, Emily’s heart was beating out of her chest. She wasn’t sure if her mind was ready for this even though her body clearly was. She took a deep breath as they entered his bedroom.

  “Alex,” Emily whispered to him as he turned around and looked at her, “I can’t do this, not yet.”

  Alex walked over to her and embraced her. “I’m not going to say I’m not disappointed but we do this at your speed. Why don’t you get ready for bed and I will join you shortly, ok?” Emily nodded as she headed towards the bathroom.

  When she was finished in the shower, she wrapped herself in a towel and walked back into the bedroom. Alex was lying on the bed with just his pajama bottoms on with his computer propped up on his lap. Her eyes glanced over his chest and she took a deep breath. He looked up at her as she approached and sighed. “God, you even look beautiful in a towel.”

  Emily blushed as she walked over to him. “Are you working?”

  Alex nodded. “Yeah, bad habit of mine.”

  “Well, since this is my weekend, I’m asking for you to put it away. I want to spend time with you.”

  Alex smiled and closed his computer. He stood up and placed it on his dresser. “Alright, it's gone. See? I’m easy going.”

  Emily laughed. “Thank you. I need to grab my pj’s. I forgot them before I went into the shower.”

  Alex smirked. “You can change here, I don’t mind.”

  Emily blushed again. “I don’t think that would be a smart idea, do you?”

  Alex smiled. “Maybe not smart but I still like the idea.”

  Emily laughed softly at his playful side as she dug through her bag. She was happy that she remembered to pack her silky pj’s. She smirked as she peeked behind her and saw Alex lower the covers on the bed, she continued walking to the bathroom door and grabbed her towel around her chest and she slowly turned her head back towards him. “Alex?”

  Alex looked up at her, “Yeah?”

  Emily slowly dropped the towel, winked at him and continued her trip into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She walked over to the mirror and smiled at herself. She had never been that bold before, she didn’t even know where that had come from but she enjoyed it. She watched his face change as she removed her towel and felt very good about herself right now. Maybe she could move on and enjoy the life that she always wanted.

  She slipped on her silky pj’s and returned to the bedroom. Alex was lying on the bed with a dangerous look on his face. Emily approached with caution as she slid into the bed next to him.

  Alex groaned as he covered her in one smooth motion, his body pressed her into the bed. His lips found her neck as he kissed her, his hands moved up her sides which pulled the bottom of her camisole up her body. His fingers found and massaged her bare skin. She moaned softly as he took her lips. When he came up for air, he whispered. “You can’t do that.”

  “Do what?” Emily asked innocently.

  Alex smirked. “You know exactly what, Ms. Stone. Your body is way too much of a temptation for me. Next time you do that, you better be prepared.”

  Emily blushed again as she kissed him. “I will try to behave myself but you have the same effect on me, Alex. You can’t be lying here all sexy in just your pj bottoms and not expect me to respond.”

  Alex smirked. “Ok, we are both to blame.” He leaned up and kissed her forehead, “Now go to bed.”

  Emily smiled as she cuddled into his embrace and closed her eyes. As she started to fall asleep her mind drifted back to earlier in the evening and Eric. She needed to stop thinking about him and just enjoy her time with Alex.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  As the morning arrived, Emily awoke to the sun shining through the balcony doors. She felt Alex’s arm around her as she turned to face him. She smiled as he made a crabby morning sound and she kissed his lips softly.

  “Good Morning, Sexy,” Emily said as she kissed his cheek.

  Alex made the same noise again as he pulled her closer to him and snuggled her into his embrace. She softly laughed. “It’s time to get up, I want to go shopping and prepare for tonight.”

  Alex smiled as he finally opened his eyes and rolled her over so he was top of her, “It was so nice to sleep next to you last night, Emily. I caught myself watching you sleep a few times.”

  Emily gasped. “What! No, don’t do that!”

  Alex laughed. “Why? You are so cute when you snore.”

  Emily blushed and covered her face with her arm. “Can I die now? Please?”

  Alex laughed louder. “No, you cannot. Why don’t you go to the bathroom first and I will head downstairs and see what we have for breakfast.”

  Emily leaned in and kissed him, “Sounds good to me.”

  After Alex disappeared, Emily went into the bathroom, combed her hair and washed up. She headed back into the bedroom to find her clothes for the day and decided to call and check on Emma.

  “Hey Emily,” Eric said as he picked up his phone.

  “Hey. How’s Emma?”

  “She’s great. She’s up already and eating breakfast with my mom right now.”

  “Good, I won’t bug her then. I just wanted to make sure everything was going ok.”

  Eric was silent and then spoke. “We are leaving shortly just call my cell if you want to talk with her.”

  “Have fun and give her a kiss for me, ok?”

  “Will do, have fun tonight at your party,” Eric said.

  This time Emily was the quiet one. “How did you hear about that?”

  “Rob told me. He doesn’t really want to go but since Sam does, he will tag along.”

  “I see, well, I will try to make sure I don’t torture him too much.”

  “Emily, I didn’t mean…” Eric trailed off.

  “No, it’s ok. I get it. He’s your friend,” Emily started to say and then snapped at him, “I mean, you cheated on me and I’m the bad person.”

  “I already apologized to you for that, how many times now? What else do I have to do, Emily? How long are you going to hold this over me? Yes, I messed up. I’m sorry that I did it, I ruined my relationship with you but I’m trying to rebuild it but if you keep throwing it back in my face, that won’t happen. I guess I need to realize that we are truly over.”

  Emily started to cry. “I’m sorry. I guess my emotions are still at the surface when it comes to you.” Emily heard the footsteps behind her and she turned to see Alex standing at the bed with a tray full of breakfast foods. He lowered the tray onto the bed and walked over to her. “I need to go, Eric. Say hi to Emma.”

  Emily hun
g up and sat in the chair that was behind her. She put her head in her hands and cried.

  “Oh Emily, now what did he do or say to you?”

  Emily shook her head. “It’s me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I keep bringing up our issues, why can’t I just drop it and move on?”

  Alex got onto his knees in front of her and looked at her. “Because you still love him Emily, it’s going to take time.”

  Emily sighed and looked at him. “It’s not fair to you though. You have been so incredible about all of this. I can’t hurt you, I won’t hurt you.”

  “And you won’t, as long as you are honest with you, which you have been. You have told me everything about what has been going on and not holding back. That’s all I can ask, we will figure it all out.”

  Emily smiled and kissed him. “Thank you.”

  Alex pulled her over to the bed and let her pick out her breakfast foods. They talked as they ate and discussed the evening’s menu. She told Alex about Rob and he was determined to show all of her friends a good time.

  After they finished breakfast, Alex pulled her into his arms and kissed her softly. “I want to ask you something and you can say no, I’m not pressuring you.”

  Emily looked at him. “Ok.”

  Alex guided her towards the bathroom and the huge shower. Emily’s heart was racing as he turned on the water. He turned back to her, “Would you join me?”

  She felt her heart leap into her throat, she didn’t know if she would be able to do it. She felt embarrassed of her body all of a sudden and dropped her head to the floor.

  “Emily, you can say no, I’m not pressuring but I want to see you. Your body is beautiful, you gave me a glimpse last night and I’ve been dying to see the rest of you. Please say yes.”

  Emily didn’t say anything, she kept telling herself over and over that she needed to get over Eric and start her relationship with Alex and this was step one. She had never shown her body to anyone else. Her eyes locked with his as she lifted her camisole over her head. She kept her eyes locked with his as she stepped out her of bottoms.

  Alex took a deep breath and just admired her. “You. Are. Beautiful.”

  She blushed as she moved closer to him. His lips took hers in one deep, passionate kiss. She moved her hands over his chest and lowered them around his pj bottoms. She felt his breathing quicken as she deepened the kiss. When he pulled away, she could see the passion burning in his eyes. He removed his remaining clothes and pulled her into the shower. He braced his hands on the shower wall above her and leaned into her, “You are breathtaking. Don’t let anyone ever tell you differently.”

  After the shower, Alex tried to get Emily dressed into her shorts and t-shirt but she wasn’t getting much accomplished and kicked him out of the room for the moment. She smiled as she realized how much she already loved being with him. He didn’t pressure her when she wasn’t ready to take the big step but instead made sure they both had a great time getting to know each other.

  Emily smiled as she finished up and headed downstairs to find Alex. He was in the kitchen with Mrs. Bennett.

  “Good Morning, Emily.” She said to Emily as she walked around the counter and looked like she was gathering her personal items.

  “Good Morning, Mrs. Bennett. How are you?”

  She smiled. “I’m doing just fine, Honey. Did you have a comfortable night?”

  Emily glanced at Alex and smiled. “Yes, Alex is quite the host and gentleman.”

  She smiled. “I’m very happy to hear that. Good to know that we raised him correctly. Well, Alex has given me the day off since you want to take control of tonight’s menu.”

  Emily frowned. “I hope you don’t mind.”

  Mrs. Bennett beamed from ear to ear. “Are you kidding me? It’s a chance to spend the day with my grandkids. I don’t mind at all. Have fun tonight and feel free to use anything in the kitchen.”

  “Thank you so much,” Emily said as she walked over to Alex.

  As she left, Emily reached for the pad of paper sitting on the counter. She quickly started to jot down some grocery items. “When did you want to go?” She asked Alex as he started drinking his coffee.

  He shrugged. “Whenever you want, what did you want to do today?”

  Just as she was about to answer him, his cell phone rang. “Hello?”

  Emily watched as he paced around the kitchen and she quickly realized that he was speaking with Sue, his assistant.

  “Are you sure about that? Yeah, I will be there as soon as I can, ok? No, there is no reason to be sorry. I just had hoped to have taken the weekend off.” He closed his phone and turned towards Emily.

  She tried to crack a smile. “I assume you have to go to work?”

  He nodded as he walked over to her. “I’m so sorry, Emily. There is a problem with the paperwork for the next exhibit and if I don’t sign off on the orders and affidavits, they won’t release the pieces of art to us.”

  Emily nodded. “Do you think you could take me home?”

  “You want to go home?” He looked suddenly worried.

  Emily smiled and kissed him lightly. “Just while you are gone; I can grab my car, do my grocery shopping and then meet you back here.”

  Alex smiled and clearly relaxed. “Sure, I would be more than happy to do that. Let me give you some cash for the groceries though.”

  Emily frowned again. “You really don’t need to do that.”

  Alex rolled his eyes at her. “Just take it, please.” He handed her the money and they grabbed the rest of their stuff and headed out. As they drove back to her house they talked about his job. “I’m sorry about this, Emily.”

  “Don’t be, your job is important. Do what you have to do, I will meet you back at the house later on, just keep me posted, ok?”

  Alex nodded as he pulled into her driveway. “Here’s a key to the house, just in case you beat me back there, please make yourself at home.”

  Emily smiled and leaned over to kiss him. His hand gently stroked her cheek and moved to her neck, holding her in place. When he pulled back, he looked at her. “Go before I decide to blow off work.” Emily chuckled as she ran into her house.

  She walked into her living room and noticed that no one was around. She ran upstairs to grab her car keys and decided to grab her bikini. She heard her mom downstairs and went to find her.

  “Mom?” She called out.

  “Emily?” Her mom said as she rushed into the room. “What’s wrong?”

  Emily smiled. “Nothing, everything is wonderful. Alex was called into work so I’m here to pick up my car and do some shopping while he is gone.”

  Her mom visibly calmed down and hugged her. “How’s it going? Is he being a gentleman?”

  Emily blushed. “Mom, stop it. He is being a complete gentleman.”

  “Good, what’s going on tonight?” She asked sitting down on the couch.

  “He invited Sam and Angie for dinner tonight,” Emily said beaming.

  “Angie is here?”

  Emily nodded. “I was surprised too and she looks great. I’m heading out to get some groceries.”

  “Well, have fun. Have you talked with Emma?”

  “No, I talked with Eric though, everything is fine. She’s having fun.” Emily said pouting. “I miss her though.”

  “Of course you do, she will be home before you know it.”

  Emily hugged her mother and headed out to the store. She dialed Sam. “Hey, about tonight, you and Rob should bring your suit wear. He has a beautiful hot tub, wait until you see his cabin.”

  “I can’t wait to see it, Rob is being a little difficult about the whole thing though,” Sam explained.

  “Yeah, I talked with Eric this morning, I heard about it.”

  Sam sighed. “Just ignore him, Emily. We will have a great time. Angie and Mike are with me right now, I will pass along the information.”

  “Great, I will see you guys tonight.” Emily ended thei
r conversation and headed to the grocery store. She picked up the hamburgers, hot dogs and some ingredients to make a salad. She also grabbed some snacks and some marshmallows to toast at night. She smiled as she headed to the register and thought about Alex. She was happy for the first time in long awhile. As she reached for her money her cell phone buzzed.

  Just finishing up, do you want me to pick you up or meet you at the cabin? - Alex

  At cabin, just leaving grocery store, see you soon – Emily

  She smiled as she packed her car with the groceries and headed back towards the cabin. When she arrived, Alex pulled in shortly after her. He ran up to her car and helped her unload the groceries.

  “How was work?” Emily asked as Alex helped her into the cabin. They placed the grocery bags on the counter and Alex leaned over and kissed her gently. “It’s just nice to be here with you again.”

  Emily smiled at him. "I got all the food for tonight so we should be all set. I called everyone and they are excited to come over and check out the cabin.”

  Alex smiled back at her. “I would like to take you for a walk, if you wanted to go?”

  Emily nodded. “I would love that, let’s finish putting away the groceries and you can lead the way.”

  As they finished up in the kitchen, they changed into comfortable clothing and headed out the patio doors and along the path that led them down towards the lake.

  “It’s so beautiful today.” Emily said as she watched the waves hit the shore below her.

  Alex grabbed her hand and walked next to her. “My family bought the cabin right before I was born. They wanted somewhere that they could get away with us when they needed a break from their jobs. It quickly became a summer vacation spot for us. We had a great time together. Of course, over the years, we have added onto it and made it slightly more modern.”

  Emily listened as she learned more about the man she was falling in love with. They walked along the path exchanging stories and came to a small pier overlooking the lake.

  Alex reached for her hand as they leaned against the railing. “Are you still happy about being here with me?” He asked.

  Emily smiled. “Yes, it’s weird not being home or with Emma. But, it’s nice being with you and experiencing something different.”