Faithfully (23 page)

             
Alex cut me off by getting to his feet. “I fucked up. I normally don’t drink with them. I don’t even know why I did it.”

             
“I don’t care if you drink. I honestly don’t care if you smoke a little pot.” I stopped a second. “Actually, I do care if you smoke pot, but honestly, you were an asshole last night.”

             
“I was just excited. I was celebrating. We are doing things in the studio that are new, the sounds are amazing. I think we hit on something with this album.” There it was again, referring to them as
we
.

             
“I’m glad this album is coming along so well, but I can say how I’m unhappy with all the time it is eating up. When you first did this project, you said it wouldn’t cut into our time.” I walked over to him. “You have not come home some nights, missed dinners, the cutting of the Christmas tree.” Alex interrupted me.

             
“I knew you were pissed about the fucking Christmas tree.” His voice was starting to rise.

             
“No, I’m not, fucking listen to me.” I was irritated. I walked over to grab my purse and jacket. I no longer wanted to talk to him right now. “I was only trying to tell you I miss you.” Alex grabbed me by the arm.

             
“I miss you too.” He leaned in and kissed me. I hated fighting with him. It seemed like it was starting to happen more and more lately.

             
“Come home with me. I need some quality time.” I pulled him down for another kiss, this time adding intensity to it.

             
“I wish I could, but I promised Paige I’d help her finish a song she is trying to write.” I stepped away. I hated hearing her name lately. “I basically had to beg her to have time to come over and see you.”

             
With the thought of him asking her permission to come here to see me infuriated me. “Well, I’m so glad she allowed you to come here.” I put on my coat and went for the door.

             
“Wait, honestly, I have to get this done. Let’s plan on breakfast tomorrow morning.” He tilted my head up and kissed me on the nose.

             
“Fine, but dessert is at my house after.”

             
Alex wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in tight. “I like the sound of that.”

             
Daryl was already gone by the time we walked into the pub. I made sure everything was shut down and grabbed the moneybags. Alex walked me to my vehicle and kissed me again before I climbed in. “Do you think you could at least respond to me tomorrow now that you aren’t pissed at me anymore?”

             
“Maybe.” I shot him a smile as I shut the door. I watched him walk over to the Jeep and climb in before I pulled out of the driveway.

~19~

I actually had no trouble bouncing out of bed. I was excited to steal some time with Alex. When I was in the
shower, I did extra grooming. I had been busy and was shocked at how much I had let myself go. After I dried off, I turned on my Bluetooth radio to my iPad and listened to one of my running playlists. I was in a good mood.

I sent Alex a text that I was on my way. I thought he would have
come out the door when I pulled in, but he didn’t. I sent another text and even called, but he didn’t pick up. I decided to grab my keys and go get him. When I took the keys out of the ignition, I realized Alex left all my other keys on my car key chain that Johnny now has. I decided I would try the doors and hope he didn’t lock them.

The front door was locked, so I went over to the garage door. The door to get into the garage was open, but the one to the house was also locke
d. I was debating on pounding on the door, but decided to try the French doors to the living room. When I walked around the corner, I saw Paige in the kitchen. As I approached the doors, I was able to see fully into the kitchen.

My stomach
sank to my feet. Paige was standing in an oversized t-shirt that was clearly a man’s. When she turned her back, I saw the AC/DC logo on it. I started walking backwards before I turned, jumping into the Yukon. I didn’t know what to do, so I drove over to Lexi’s house. When I pulled in, I remembered she wouldn’t be home for a few more days. I sat in her driveway thinking about what I saw, but the shirt looked so much like Alex’s. Why would she be wearing Alex’s shirt? I looked at my phone and he still hadn’t returned my text or call. I picked up my phone and sent him another text.

I stopped by the house, but
clearly you were busy. Have fun at work today.

It was a snarky message, but I
had initially wanted to write I hate you. I finally pulled out of Lexi’s driveway and decided to head to the pub to start packing, sorting and cleaning.

I walked in and started the
cleanup I had Daryl leave the night before. I stocked the coolers, mopped the floors, and cleaned the bathrooms. I had my iPod plugged in and I was listening to angry chick music. The music and cleaning was therapeutic. I didn’t hear Alex come up behind me. When I turned and saw him, I wanted to throw the dirty rag at him, but instead walked past to put away the cleaning supplies.

“I’m sorry
.” He was following behind me, but I wouldn’t turn and look at him.

“You seem to be saying that an awful lot lately.” I
stored the supplies and yanked off the rubber gloves I had on.

“We were up late and I didn’t have my phone with me. I didn’t think to grab it when I went to bed last night.”

I turned and had my hands on my hips. “I’m sure you didn’t.” 

“I’m sorry, but I’m not sure why you’re so pissed at me for missing breakfast.”  He seemed confused.

“Look, I have a lot to do here and you clearly have a lot to do there, so why don’t we just leave each other alone and get our work done?” I left the supply room and tried to walk past him. Alex grabbed my arm, but I yanked it free. “I’m sure you have stuff to do.”

“I do, but I’m not leaving you here pissed like this.”

“You don’t have much of a choice.” I walked away and headed for the basement to get boxes. Alex didn’t follow me down. I sat there for a second and took in a deep breath. I wanted to cry, but I wasn’t going to become an emotional wreck. I figured I deserved this. I allowed him into our lives too quickly. I knew what I was getting myself into and I kept thinking he was different.

I finally grabbed a box and headed back up the stairs. When I rounded the
corner, I was taken a little off guard. Alex was still there, sitting on the bar stool off to the side.

“So are you going to tell me why you are so pissed or will I have to sit here all day?” I rolled my eyes and turned away.

“Sit there, but you will pay for your beers.” I grabbed the garage bags and headed towards the office.

I heard Alex
hop off the stool as he started to follow me. I was trying to open the office door when he came around the corner. “What don’t you understand? I don’t want to talk to you. I really don’t feel like looking at you, so please leave me alone.”

“You are this upset with me for missing breakfast?”

I was so mad I couldn’t keep my cool. “No, I hate you for sleeping with Paige.”

Alex looked at me shocked. “What? I didn’t sleep with Paige.” He looked amused.

“Really? She was in your kitchen this morning with only your t-shirt on.” I finally got the door unlocked. I pushed the office door open and went inside.

“Really
? Well, for your information, I slept on the couch in the studio last night.” I turned quickly to look at him. “I’m glad you trust me.” He turned and walked out the door.

I was out the door behind him. “What was I supposed to think?” I quickly got in front of him and stopped him.

“I don’t care what you think something looks like, the bottom line is that you don’t trust me.” I could see the hurt in his eyes.

“
I don’t,” I said it before even thinking. I surprised myself as much as I surprised him. “Alex…” I didn’t know what to say, and there wasn’t anything I could say to fix the situation. “I’m sorry.”

“Me too
.” He was out the door before I could say anything else or stop him. I leaned up against the wall and sank down to the ground. I screwed up again, but what was I supposed to think when I saw that this morning?

I finally got the energy to get up and head into the
office. I started boxing some of the personal belongings and trashing the junk that had started to accumulate over the years. My dad was a sentimental hoarder. He could tell you each event that went with what he kept.

When Daryl got
in, he popped into the office. I told him to get me when it got busy. It didn’t take long for him to show back up. Luckily we still had Linda, but she and Daryl were running like crazy. I was trying to clear plates, refill drinks, set new tables. The three of us were barely keeping up. Finally, at nine, the dinner crowd stopped and the local drinking crowd stayed. It was easier for the two to keep up, and I slipped away to the office to call and check on the girls. I was so consumed with everything here that I forgot to call and check in every day. I talked to David’s mother and was able to talk to Lily, but the twins were already in bed asleep. She told me that Alex had called them on Face Time earlier in the day. I was a little surprised, but happy to know he was still thinking of them.

I was going through more stuff when I heard the office door open. I was expecting Daryl, but instead
I saw Michael. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, good evening to you
, too.” He was dressed more casually with a pair of worn jeans and a vintage t-shirt. “I came to have a drink and hoped to have a talk with you.”

“I thought you were leaving since this was on your own personal time.” I stopped placing things in the box and leaned back on the desk.

“See, that’s the good thing about being your own boss.” He slid into a chair that I had moved to the center of the room. “I brought over a contract. Basically, it’s everything we talked about last night, but I’d still have your attorney go over it for you.”

“Well, I don’t have an attorney, but I’ll have someone look it over.” I reached out to grab the papers.

“So it looks like I was right. I might have to stay for a while to put pressure on you to write.” He was leaning over and looking through one of the boxes I had set on the floor.

“Look, I may have made a mistake last night. I have a lot going on. I have to get this place closed down and
be back to work in a few weeks.” I was second guessing this whole writing thing.

“What if I help
? I mean, you are going to make me money.” He was smiling at me, and his teeth were white and perfect. “I may or may not have pitched this story to a friend of mine at Universal.”

My eyeballs felt like they were going to pop out of my head. I was shocked. “What
? You don’t even have the whole story.”

“No, but you
fed me your outline last night, and that is what I pitched to him over the phone. He wants first dibs.” He leaned over, placed his elbows on his knees, and clasped his hands together. “He actually wants to meet with you so you can pitch it yourself. He said the book doesn’t have to be completed yet, but he would like to read what you already have.”

“Wait, is this how this usually happens?” I couldn’t believe how easy this was.

              “No, most authors struggle to get anyone to look at their book. You are lucky. Alex did you a huge favor by using his connections.”

             
“Fine, I will agree to this meeting, but I don’t want to have Alex’s name used to help me in any way. I actually don’t want to use mine either.” I wanted to see if I could do the rest on my own, even though I knew everything got started with Alex’s influence.

             
“Deal.” Michael reached out to shake my hand. I couldn’t help but think the hand shake lingered longer than it should have. “Can we make a writing meeting tomorrow?”

             
“A what?”

             
“Obviously, you aren’t writing. I need you to start, so pencil me in at nine in the morning and I’ll meet with you while you write. I’ll handle any of the outside distractions for that time.”

             
I started to laugh. I thought he was joking, but his expression didn’t change. “You are serious?” He nodded his head. “Fine, nine to eleven, but no later than eleven.”

             
Michael hung around a little more as I boxed things up, but he left a little after eleven. I finally left the office with a few boxes in hand around midnight. Linda and Daryl were doing clean up while a few regulars were at the bar. I asked Daryl to close up and I slid the boxes in the back of the Yukon.

             
I wanted to go home and crawl in bed, but I couldn’t leave things with Alex. I felt bad for not trusting him, but he had to realize his sketchy behavior made it hard for me to not second guess him.

             
I pulled into his driveway and walked into the studio. It was quiet. Nobody was in there. I walked over to the house and walked in. I almost felt like I should knock, but never had in the past. When I walked in, I heard a guitar playing from the living room. I followed the music in and watched from the doorway as Alex sat by himself by the fire. He was playing a few cords and writing stuff down on a piece of paper. He looked up and finally saw me.

             
“Did you come over in hopes of catching me doing something inappropriate?”

             
I wanted to fire back something snarky and bitchy, but thought I needed to make peace. “No, I came to apologize, and I was hoping we could talk.” He motioned with his head for me to sit on one of the couches. “Where is everyone?” The place was quiet.

             
“Johnny headed back to LA today. He said he had something to take care of.” I was surprised he didn’t stop and say bye. I wondered if it had to do with Sam, but I couldn’t ask Alex. “The others were getting sick of me being a prick, so they headed off to the house the band is staying in,” Alex explained, strumming the guitar.

             
I stood up and walked over to him. I took the guitar from his hands and set it on the floor to the side of us. I sat on his lap, straddling him, and kissed him. I didn’t know how to apologize with words, so I thought I would show him how sorry I was. I grabbed his face and gently started to kiss his lips. As soon as they connected, Alex was grabbing at me and pulling me in closer. My shirt was off and he was picking me up and carrying me over to the couch.

             
My hands were in his hair as I kissed him with hunger. I had missed his taste and smell I wanted to devour as much of him as I could. When Alex set me down, I yanked his shirt over his head. I was grabbing at his buckle and loosening his pants. Alex was working on my pants at the same time. I used my feet to push his pants down while lifting my butt off the couch so that he could shimmy my pants off. Alex slid my bottom half off the couch and pulled me onto him. Alex was inside me in one swift movement and the motion made me let out a yell.

             
There was nothing gentle about Alex. He was grabbing and digging into my hips with his hands and slamming into me with a force that hurt and felt good at the same time. Each time we connected, I let out a yell from the depth of the contact. I removed my bra, and I was groping my own breasts while he slammed in and out of me. I arched my back as I got closer and closer to an orgasm. I could hear Alex’s breathing intensify and I knew he was getting close. I could feel my insides starting to grip around him as I rode the wave of my orgasm to its fullest. Alex was with me, and when we were done we both sank into the couch.

             
“God, I’ve missed you.” Alex kissed my stomach.

             
I sat up, placed my hands around his face, and looked into his eyes. “I’ve been missing you, too.” Alex reached over, grabbed our clothes, and set them on my stomach. He locked my legs around him and carried me up the stairs and into the bedroom. The night was filled with a few make up sessions.