My Chance (Chance #2) (20 page)

He chuckled. “Yes, you’re my lover.”

“No. I want you. Let’s go into Amoureux. It’s empty, right?”

“Mike, take these drinks to Julie. Grab a beer for Mark and a cosmo for Val.”

“Mark’s here?” I looked over Alex’s shoulder and saw him and Val with Julie.

“There, they’re taken care of. Let me go take care of you. It sounds like you need some of this.” He motioned toward his body.

I giggled, and with our hands together, we practically ran into the wine room. Alex lifted me and put me on one of the high-top wine tasting tables. His hands went to my thighs, and my skirt became a belt as he forced it up to my waist. He pulled my panties aside and put his fingers in me. His hand was on the small of my back, supporting me, while the others did things that threw me into complete bliss. I felt myself tighten around him, and my release surprised even me. I leaned forward and put my hands on his shoulders to support myself.

He looked into my eyes. “This is a tasting room right?” He held up the fingers that had just brought me sheer pleasure and put them in his mouth. He pulled them out slowly, making me wet all over again.

I could hardly speak. “Yes.” I lowered myself from the table by hanging on to his shoulders. I decided to reciprocate the ecstasy he had shown me.

I went to my knees and massaged him. Once I had him naked, he was all mine. I’d never felt something as deep as I did for Alex. He was everything to me, and I would give him everything I had. I took him as deep as I could, and his hand went to the back of my head. I felt him harden as I tasted him. I never thought I’d like doing that, but with him, I enjoyed every minute of it.

Afterward, we put ourselves back together and rejoined our friends. Mark was with Julie at the bar, and Brett was still slinging cocktails. I couldn’t understand how he could know Julie was there and not care. Mark asked Julie to dance while Val took a phone call, and Alex asked if I wanted to join them.

We walked to the dance floor, and I noticed women staring at my man. I gave a couple of them a flippant wave, and Alex laughed.

He spun me into his arms. “Our engagement party is next week. Can you believe it?”

“No, I can’t. I really think we should ask your dad to come. He’s family.” I was torn because I knew that Jack didn’t really approve of me for his son. But I could overlook that if it meant Alex would have his dad at the party.

Alex stopped moving. “This is really important to you, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess it is. What do you think?”

“We can invite him, but if he says anything about a prenup or anything else negative, he’s out of here.”

I agreed and hugged Alex. I tried to find Julie and Mark, but Mark was dancing with Val. I looked toward the bar and noticed Brett talking to Julie. They didn’t look as though they were arguing. They looked like strangers. It made me sad. Alex followed my eyes and gave my arm a tug. He motioned for us to go to our friends. We walked up, and Brett offered us drinks. He turned toward the liquor behind him.

I looked at Julie. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I don’t want to talk about it, okay?”

“Sure, yeah, fine.” I wasn’t going to push her for an explanation if she didn’t want to give it.

Brett gave us our drinks and told us he had to go up to the VIP area. We said good-bye, and then Mark and Val joined us.

“So next Sunday is the party. Are you guys excited?” Julie asked.

She was back to being Julie. It was so disconcerting.

“I can’t wait.” Alex sounded genuinely excited. “I’ll make some calls tomorrow to caterers and my dad and make sure everything is perfect.”

“Your dad? You’re inviting your father?” Julie sounded confused.

“Yes. That’s what my beautiful fiancée wants, so that’s what’ll happen.” Alex kissed the top of my head.

“Hey, I think Julie and I are going to head out. I’m tired.” I really was, and I wanted to get Julie out of there.

“Okay, babe, I’ll have my driver take you.”

Memories from our first night flooded my memories. “Thank you, that would be great. I don’t feel like waiting for a cab. Will you come over later?”

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” Alex pulled out his cell and told the driver to come around front. He walked us out and then went back in the club.

I was alone with Julie. “You want to come to my place or go home?”

“I just want to go home. I’m fine, Aub, really I am. I just needed closure.” Her voice was impassive.

“Did you get it?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Julie shrugged. “It’s just hard, ya know?”

I hugged her. I definitely knew.

The driver dropped Julie off first and then me. I sat on my couch, grabbed the bridal magazines, and thumbed through them. My cell rang, and it was Alex.

“Hi there. Miss me already?” I asked.

“Always. I forgot to ask you if you were busy on Sunday. I want to go to the cemetery, and then we can grab lunch afterward.”

“Sure, I’d love to. You’re coming over when you get out of work, right?”

“I wouldn’t want to be anyplace else,” he said. “I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you later.”

We hung up, and I looked around my apartment. I was happy to be home and engaged to the love of my life. I sat on my bed and tried to absorb what had happened over the past few months. Not too long ago, I was sitting there looking at pictures of me and my parents and me and Julie. Now I had pictures of me with Alex. I lifted the frame and ran my finger down his face. Then I looked at the picture of the four of us: me, Alex, Julie, and Brett. I thought about calling Julie, but I didn’t know what to say to her. I laid back and rolled to my side. I reached for the frame that held the picture of me and Alex.

The rest of the week went by in a blur. Julie and I worked hard on a new campaign. It wasn’t as glamorous as Amoureux, but it was work. I was so happy I could see that it could’ve been a marketing campaign for condoms and I’d have been happy. Julie never really mentioned Brett, and I didn’t either. On Friday, Mark came into Julie’s office and asked if we wanted to grab a pizza with him. Val was working at the restaurant, so he would be alone.

“Sounds great to me. What do you think, Julie?”

She stared out the window with a pencil between her teeth. “Yeah, sure. Whatever.”

“Did you hear what we said?”

“What? Yeah, of course I did. Pizza.”

We grabbed a cab even though we were only going about six blocks. It was getting cold out, and I realized Thanksgiving was just a week and a half away. I had so much to be thankful for, even Garrett. We walked into the Italian restaurant, and the smell of garlic hit me hard. It smelled divine. We were greeted by the hostess and shown to a booth. Julie ordered our drinks, and Mark ordered two large pizzas for us.

Julie took a sip of water that was placed in front of her. “So did you send out invites for the engagement party?”

I shook my head. “Alex took care of all that. Since it’s so soon, he emailed or called everyone.”

“He’s really a good guy, Aub. I’m sorry I didn’t think so at first. Apparently I don’t have the best judgment.”

“Yes, you do. People make mistakes, then they learn and grow from them. It’s all good.” I grabbed her hand. “Everything will be fine. I promise.”

Our pizza came, and we devoured it. We laughed when we realized we were full and we’d left a whole pizza untouched. Julie and I looked at Mark.

“What?” he said. “It could be my dinner tomorrow.”

“You date a girl whose father owns a restaurant and you worry about dinner?” Julie was a little snarky.

Mark rolled his eyes. “Her father owns it, not her.”

“So back to your party… Is Jack coming?” Julie was obviously unimpressed by Mark’s retort.

“I told Alex to invite him, but I don’t know what he said.” I needed to ask him about that. “We’re going to visit his mom and sister this weekend.”

Mark looked at me as though I was insane. “What? Where are you going?”

“To the cemetery. Alex wants to go, so I’ll go with him. He wants to introduce me.”

Julie’s eyes filled with tears. “That’s really sweet.”

“Is it weird that I’m nervous? I mean, they aren’t really there. But what if they don’t like me? What if his mom sends some type of sign?”

Mark and Julie stared at me.

Mark gave me a wink. “My mom would love you, so I’m sure his will too.”

I took a sip of my soda. “Yeah, maybe. I don’t know. I just have this odd feeling about it.”

I wasn’t sure if I believed in signs, but I knew I wanted his mom and sister to like me. It was cold, and the weather would get worse over the weekend. All I could think of was a large snowball hitting me or me slipping on ice. I wished I could shake that feeling.

Alex didn’t spend the night because he had errands to run before we went to the cemetery. He planned on picking me up at ten. I woke early due to my nerves. I felt like I did when I was younger and excited about the first day of school. I decided to call my parents. They agreed to let Alex pay for the wedding, but they wanted me to tell him that if he needed anything, they would be more than happy to contribute. I thanked them and said I would mention it to Alex.

I was looking for my hat and gloves when Alex came in. The front door nearly hit me in the ass since I was bending over in the closet next to it. I looked back, and Alex peeked around the door.

“Hey, babe. Sorry about that.” He tried to stifle a laugh.

I stood and brushed off my jeans. “It’s okay. I was looking for my gloves.”

Alex closed the door and handed me a single orchid, accompanied by his beautiful smile. “For my beautiful girl. Thank you for going with me today. I’ll take you out afterward.”

I scrunched my brow and looked at my clothes. “Do I need to change?”

“No, you’re perfect the way you are.” He kissed me, and I melted.

“Okay, where are we going?”

Alex put his finger to his lips.

“Another surprise, huh? Okay, as long as I’m dressed okay.” I walked into the kitchen and put the flower in water. I was so bad at keeping them alive. “Would you like some coffee or do you want to get going?”

His hands were in his pockets. He looked nervous. “I’m ready if you are.”

I threw my arms around his neck. “Are you okay? When was the last time you visited them?”

He stared into my eyes. “Before I went to Paris.”

“I’m really sorry, Alex. I can’t believe you left everything for me.” I shook my head and looked down.

He raised my head. “I told you, I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else. I’d give my life for you.”

Tears filled my eyes. “I’d give mine for you, too.”

“Great. Now that we’ve got that cleared up, what do you say? Ready?”

I grabbed my gloves and put on my coat. “Ready.”

He grabbed my hand and walked me to his SUV. After he opened my door, I slid in and watched my man walk around to his door. When Alex started the car, my nerves started. I was glad I’d taken my pill when I got up. He turned on the radio, and “Be Still” from The Fray played. I loved that song. We drove out of the city and headed toward Long Island.

“My mom always liked the country, so that’s where she and Ellie are,” he said.

I took held his hand, which was resting on the gear shift. “I’m sure it’s beautiful.”

We pulled into the cemetery, and my heart rate accelerated. Alex drove us down a winding road. Fallen leaves swirled around. He slowed and stopped in front of beautiful headstones. I looked at them, and a tear ran down my cheek. Alex got out of the car, came around to my side, and opened my door.

I sat there and looked at him. “Are you sure about this?”

He took my hand and helped me out of the car. He kissed my head. “I can’t wait for them to meet you. Come on.” He grabbed a bouquet of white orchids from the back seat. “I always bring her a bouquet of her favorite flowers.”

He held my hand and walked toward the headstone that read “Logan.” There was an angel above Ellie’s name and a heart above Angela’s. I looked down and saw a bouquet of orchids.

Alex must have noticed it too because a sigh escaped him. “I guess my dad was here.”

I guess they both did the same thing. I wondered if Alex had known that, but I didn’t ask. “I’m sure he misses them.” I moved closer to him and held his arm.