Three Stages of Love: Attraction (24 page)

Snatching the phone from Alexander, I stood directly facing him with my eyes locked as I blurted all my internal hostilities into the line. “Listen to me, and listen to me good. I don’t fear you; I pity you. I don’t like you, and I don’t tolerate you. I suggest you find another job, because yours no loner exists. And if you think you can threaten me, I am not as sweet as Alexander; I will release the gates of hell for you and wait for you willingly!”

My heart pounded in my chest as I vocalized my insecurities and my anger—only to be slapped in the face by a cackling and sarcastic voice.

“What show is this going to air on:
Jerry Springer
or
Real Housewives of LA
? Because I can’t wait to get there to see it unfold!” the woman said.

Fuzzy in thought, I couldn’t place the voice. But it wasn’t Chloe! And then Alexander’s smirk gave it away.

“Sam? What the fuck. You couldn’t have stopped me after the first three words instead of allowing me to make a fool out of myself?” I continued to scream as my heart began its cool down period.

Samantha giggled through my screams, my anger, and my relief until she heard me calm. “That was the funniest shit I’ve heard—ever! You were getting all New York street on this bitch’s ass! And I’m not going to ask who she is at the moment because I don’t have time for that length of a conversation.”

“Wait. Roll back like five screams ago—did you say you can’t wait until you get here? Sam, are you guys coming soon?” The excitement in my voice raised the natural tone of my voice.

“Yes, crackhead! All that sun and plastic in LA is burning out your brain cells. Marcus has some shop talk to discuss with you when we get there, so maybe that will bring back some of your intelligence?” Sarcastic and piercing as ever, Samantha would probably be the only person who could get away with acting that way toward me—other than my parents, of course.

“Yeah, yeah, please stay on topic. My brain may have taken a vacation, but I’m still me! So, when are you coming? Soon I hope. I have to prepare for Your Grace’s arrival! Oh, Sam, I’m so excited to see you guys!” Moving the phone away from my mouth, I screamed out to Alexander like a little girl, “My Samantha and Marcus are coming!”

He nodded and, like a child, clapped his hands.

I picked up a dish towel from off the counter and threw it at him for making me suffer through thinking it was initially Chloe and then for mocking me!

“Eva, listen, don’t go crazy on prepping, because you really won’t have that much time to prep. We arrive on Friday night. We will only be there for the weekend, but it is only two days from now. Is that enough time for you to get yourself in order?” Sam asked.

“Shit no! But I’ll make do. You know that I am a great procrastinator. Oh, yea!” I belted.

“OK, I’ll call you tomorrow morning to go over details. I gotta go. Love ya,” Sam concluded.

“Right back at ya, babe!” And we hung up the call.

I tossed the phone on to the cushion of the couch and jumped into Alexander’s hips. Luckily he caught me or I’d have been ass-pasted to the floor! Not very sexy when you try to pull something sexy off and someone ends up bleeding or with broken bones.

“I hate that you didn’t tell me it was Sam and made me look like an idiot on the call. But I thank you with all my heart for inviting Marcus and Samantha to come visit. It means a lot to me,” I shared with a soft kiss to his cheek.

He continued holding me onto his hips right above the wrapped towel on his waist and just stared, grinning at me. “First, I don’t
make
you look stupid. Sometimes you leap before you digest what is happening. Second, you don’t have to thank me. This is our home, and they are our friends. I know it means a lot to you, but don’t feel like you need me to open the door to let someone in. I know you miss New York, and I just hope that Sam being here doesn’t make you feel worse instead of better.”

I actually had to pause and digest what he was saying to me, and I knew that it had great significance on our present living arrangement. But I wanted to, just for the moment, enjoy the fact that Samantha would be there in a few days and that I would have my sister and friend beside me to help me feel sane again. “I know,” is all I added. “I have so much to do. I need to make a list and—Alexander, do you mind if I borrow the car? And also, I want to start preparing the guest room and preparing some food dishes that I can cook when they arrive so I don’t have to do everything last minute; I would like to invite Cat over for some wine and cooking and girl time. Is that OK with you?”

“The car in the garage is for you and only you to use. Why would I rent two cars for me? And I think that inviting Cat over is a great idea; it’s very nice of you to have thought of her. Here is my card. It doesn’t have a spend limit, and I really don’t need to be called for every slice of bread or zucchini you buy, so enjoy.”

Alexander was giving me the car, free rein to prepare for our guests, and a credit card with
no
spending limit! “See, this is why gold diggers and bitches end up with the nice guys; you are way too trusting!”

He nodded in agreement. “Yeah, but you aren’t a gold digger!”

“Ugh, so what are you trying to say, that I’m a bitch?” I scoffed at him.

“Yes. But you are my bitch, and I couldn’t love you any other way,” He added.

There was no point in commenting. I am truly a bitch sometimes. And the other times when I am perceived as a bitch, I am either being strong, opinionated, or professional—it comes with being a woman in business. You grow thick skin, and those who aren’t used to it think you’re a bitch!

CHAPTER TWENTY

“Hi, Cat. It’s Eva. How are you holding up?” I asked, truly concerned.

“Oh, Eva, it’s so nice to hear from you. I’m doing OK surprisingly. My heart is bruised, but I must be honest: I am relieved to be out of that nightmare of a marriage. There was little I could do to make it better, and no one deserves to live with that kind of sadness,” Cat replied.

My heart went out to her and what she had been through for more than a decade of her life. “Well, I am here for you if you need a friend. In fact, I thought perhaps you would be interested in coming over to lend a hand. I have some guests from New York coming in to town and I wanted to get some trays of food ready and things like that. Truthfully, I don’t need much help, but I thought we could enjoy some wine and chat while I cooked.”

“That sounds lovely, Eva, but I must warn you, I don’t really know how to cook. I have never had to learn; though I would love to. I’m all in. I have nothing else to do with myself.” She giggled into the phone.

“Great! So I am going to run some errands, and I’ll be back around noon. Meet me at the house then?” I asked.

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll bring the wine,” Cat confirmed.

We said our “see you later” and hung up.

Alexander stood at the kitchen counter watching me as I ran around checking the refrigerator, the freezer, and the pantry, making lists of what I needed to buy. “Look at you go. You look like a housewife on speed.”

I smirked, enjoying my way around
my kitchen
. “So, Cat is going to meet me here around noon. I’ll need you to get some wine and maybe some alcohol for the weekend. And if you could, get the car cleaned so that when you pick them up, it’s not a mess.”

Alexander wasn’t used to being tasked. He was his own boss at work and at home. “Can’t I tell someone else to do it?”

I stopped dead in my tracks and looked at him like he had just landed on this planet. “Are you serious? Listen, it may not be obvious, but I am a domesticated little old Italian lady. There are very few things that I can’t or don’t know how to do myself. I didn’t ask you to make your own alcohol; all I asked was that you go to a store and buy some. I will domesticate you just yet, Mr. Mason.”

“I’ve always had people do this stuff for me. I was lucky, I guess. I don’t mind doing it though. Is there anything else I can do for you, dear?” he asked, sarcastic as ever.

“No, Alexander, that is all,” I confirmed. “Hey, are you going to work today?” I asked, recalling the fact that the Chloe conversation was left hanging in the air.

“Yeah, I have to go in for a bit. Why?” he asked, acting as if he had no idea where my thoughts were going.

“Oh, no reason. I just wanted to make sure to remind you to fire that bitch today. Because if you don’t, I won’t need to prepare all of this stuff because we won’t be making it through to this weekend.” I continued going through the kitchen cupboards, holding my phone in hand as I typed away my grocery list.

“Evangeline, please be reasonable…” he pleaded.

“Alexander, look,” I said, stopping myself in front of him. “I know I haven’t been the easiest to deal with, but I have gone against all of my rules and fought my fears because of what I feel for you. The very thought of another woman even coming close to touching you makes me want to lunge out and hurt someone, much less a woman who used you and hurt you the way she did for something you had no part of. I am not the low self-confidence type, but I can not begin to imagine moving forward while knowing that she works for you. And, not to mention,
she threatened me!”

Alexander moved closer and wrapped his arms around my hips. “I will take care of her threats; there isn’t a single person or thing that I would allow to harm you. But I also think that it is unfair for me to fire someone just because my girlfriend doesn’t like her. I’ll relocate her. You will never see or hear of her again.”

How smooth,
I thought. When Alexander wanted me to go along with something, he had a particular hushed deep-toned voice that would come from within him. And all while he spoke, his endearing expression would glide into me through my eyes, down to my chest, and tug at my heartstrings. “You are good, you know that? But I will not agree. I won’t change my mind about this. I’ll let you decide. You can make the choice to keep her or fire her. But, let me tell you this: every choice has its consequences.”

He nodded and took me into his mouth. And just like any other moment where my lips met his, there was very little left to discuss.

“I’ll be back in a few hours. And then maybe we can have a recap of last night, only”—he paused and shifted his eyes down at my body—“do you have any orgasm left in you to give me?”

I pushed myself into his groin, digging my fingertips into his smooth, silky back. “We will just have to find out, won’t we?” But as I thrust my hips into his inner thighs, my sex tingled from the sensation of his solid erection. I had plenty of orgasm left, and I didn’t know if I could now wait until night.

Alexander sat me onto the counter and ate away at my lips, tugging my hair back so he could move onto my neck. I leaned my self back onto the cold, slippery granite as Alexander widened my legs for his grand entrance. He bit at my nipples as my thighs tightened, grappling onto his hips. He grabbed his penis and forced it into me with little effort, seeing as I was completely lubricated.

We moaned together and reached for each other to hold.

My skin prickled from the cold beneath me, which made my nipples harden and my sex tighten. “Alexander, I have lots to do…” I pretended to want him to stop. Sometimes playing the game heightens the desire.

“Don’t bullshit me; you want to be fucked as much as I want to fuck you. Now open your legs as wide as you can and hold your ankles for me.” Alexander pushed my legs up, speaking his commands with a raucous voice.

I did as he asked, excited as ever, and grabbed onto my ankles.

And he dove into my pussy like a beast!

“Ughhh,” he growled as he penetrated me down to his shaft. He squeezed my hips, thrusting harder with every pulse and steady motion.

And then I heard the front door open!

“Fuck, who’s here?” I whispered to him as we froze with his throbbing cock still inside me.

Alexander pulled out swiftly and slid me off the counter. In a matter of seconds, I retied my robe, and Alexander had pulled his pants back up onto him. He looked down the hallway to the front door and saw no one. He shrugged his shoulders and walked back to reach me.

“Good morning to you both.” Ms. Gina came from out of nowhere.

Startled, Alexander turned, only to find his erection poking through his pants, saying good morning right back.

I shifted in front of Alexander before Ms. Gina could notice. “Good morning. I heard the front door but didn’t see you come in,” I said hoping to divert her attention from our red faces and exhausted breathing.

“Oh, I dropped off the detergent in the laundry room. I hope I didn’t startle you,” she said, embarrassed by our awkwardness.

“No, not at all. I am going to need to get going. Ms. Gina, we have guests this weekend, so I may impose on you to help me gets things ready. Is that all right?” I asked, needing to change the subject.

Ms. Gina smiled. “That is what I am here for, dear.” And she walked back toward the hallway.

Alexander stood behind me, moving me back toward him again as he pressed into my ass cheeks.

“Alexander, I really do need to get going. I won’t be back for when Cat arrives if I don’t go soon,” I contested, while enjoying the massage from his cock.

“And though I need to get going, I don’t know if I will make it till tonight if I don’t cum inside of you soon,” he whispered and then continued to lick my earlobe as his breath blew into my ear.

I’ll never get anything done at this rate
, I thought to my self as I panted. I pushed myself away form him decidedly. “OK, now you listen, Mr. Mason,” I walked around to the other side of the counter as he followed me in slow, planted steps. “You will have me all night tonight, but I am going to freak out if I don’t start getting things ready. I am short of time as it is, and I don’t want to be frazzled when they arrive. Please?”

Hanging his head in defeat, he stopped playing cat and mouse and nodded. “I’m not happy about this, but again, you’ll have your way.” He began to walk out of the kitchen.

And I yelled out to him, “If I have my way now, you can have your way later.” The promise of letting someone
have their way with you
is exciting as hell! And Alexander loved when I promised him my body!