The Guardian of My Soul (Soul's Desire) (19 page)

“Alec, is this about the strip club? Matt is like that. He likes to joke, don’t take him seriously. You’ll get used to him. He’s harmless, I promise.”

“All I’m saying is that I prefer the real you.”

“But this is the real me...”

He said nothing more and I chose to remain silent as well.

“Are you upset with me?” I asked him, as he closed the front door behind us once we arrived home. “I should be upset with you. After all, you were the one talking to other women at the bar.”

He circled my waist abruptly, pulling me hard against him. “I sent them away fast enough, Kris, once I understood their intentions. You have nothing to worry about...”

“Guys?” Paola asked, coming out of the kitchen into the dark entryway.

We jumped apart before she got the chance to turn the lights on and catch us in an embrace.

My heart did a back flip and somersaulted all at the same time inside my chest. I took a deep breath as waves of nausea flooded over me. The prospect of Paola exposing my relationship with Alec made me sick.

“What are you doing?” I asked disconcerted. “I hope you’re not spying on me now.”

She rolled her eyes. “I was just making myself a cup of tea when I heard voices...”

“Really?” I was so scared and upset, I thought I might pass out.

“Miss...” Alec grabbed my arm when I lost my balance for a second because of the nausea.

“I’m off to bed. I’ll see you in the morning,” I said simply, then directed myself toward my room as best as I could.

“Did I do something wrong?” I heard her say. I could almost see her eyes rolling in her sockets again.

“Good night,” Alec replied to her in a dry voice.

The alcohol-induced vertigo slowly subsided after I climbed under my blankets. Fred welcomed me in bed and I pulled him against my chest, needing his warmth and softness to help me relax.

“Good night, little man.” I kissed his head and let myself drift into the comforting embrace of sleep, praying tomorrow would be a better day.

*  *  *

I threw myself into my seat at breakfast, avoiding Paola’s curious gaze.

Mom opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again. She said nothing for a long moment, then leaned forward, getting my attention. “We’re having a party to celebrate the launching of the perfume on Friday.”

I nearly choked on my coffee. “More public appearances, Mom?”

“A lot of important famous people will come. This event involves us both, since it is
our
fragrance. Everyone is expecting to see us together. You cannot miss this.”

“All right, I’ll come. But hopefully there’ll be no others.” I knew I was being difficult, but I felt so strongly about this.

She kissed my hair and walked away to prepare for work, leaving me facing Paola’s cool expression by myself.

My eyes widened when Jake suddenly walked in and Paola turned around to see what was causing the surprised look on my face.

“Wow, look who decided to show up,” I said, trying to guess his mood.

“Who’s this?” Paola grinned from ear to ear, gazing at him with girlish interest and admiration.

“My fitness instructor,” I replied, observing her reactions attentively.

“Hi, I’m Jake.” He introduced himself politely.

“I’m Paola. Kristen and I are cousins. I’m from Italy.” She offered eagerly.

“What are you doing here at this hour, Jake?” I asked, interrupting them.

“Your mom told me to come. She wasn’t happy that I didn’t come last week.”

“What? But we’re supposed to go to work.”

“You’re not going today. Lillian said you’re both taking the day off,” Paola informed me.

“That’s weird...”

“Oh, hey. You made it,” Mom said to him, returning in her sweats. “Join us, Kris,” she told me, then led him to the gym.

“Wow, that guy is pure muscle!” Paola sighed dreamy as soon as they were out of sight.

“He’s single too.” The words popped out of my mouth before I could catch myself. In my mind I contemplated the idea of distracting her with Jake, so she’d stop bothering Alec once and for all.

“Is he really? How sad. A guy like him...”

I shook my head and decided to go change and join them in the gym, hoping a little exercise would dissolve the tension and unkink my muscles.

“Can I work out with you guys?” she asked, following me.

Deep inside I was smiling. “Sure...” I replied, hoping my plan would succeed.

*  *  *

As the week slowly went by, Paola’s growing interest for Jake didn’t go unnoticed, but to my surprise he didn’t seem to be bothered by her flirtatious actions. Soon I began to wonder whether he just didn’t care or simply didn’t realize what she was doing.

Joy animated her features every evening and she was always the first to rush to the gym to wait for his arrival. She practically beamed at the sight of him, and when he would touch her to show her the right way to do an exercise, I thought she would pass out from sheer excitement. I was a tad suspicious she might purposely be doing them the wrong way to just to give him reason to get closer.

Damn, she’s good at this!
Her forwardness and lack of inhibition in the way she interacted with him blew me away.

“It’s really hot in here, wouldn’t you say?” she asked him on Thursday evening, while enjoying a short water break.

Mom and I exchanged a curious look, wondering what she was up to now.

“You mean the room, or you?” The corners of his eyes crinkled in amusement.

Aha! So he does know she’s flirting with him.
I watched them amused, biting my lower lip to keep from laughing.

She didn’t have an immediate response for him, but the way her eyes shone as she gave him the once-over caused him to smile.

“Are you coming to the party tomorrow? Lillian, can he come?” she asked with a lilt, her mouth twitching with a grin.

“Yes, he can,” Mom answered, fixing them with a measuring, questioning gaze.

“Oh, I’m not sure I can come,” he replied, not sounding very eager to participate.

“Why not? It will be fun.” Paola insisted, moving closer to him.

“Yeah, Jake. You should come...” I nudged him playfully.

“All right, all right, I’ll be there.” He accepted, glancing from her to me, then back to her.

Paola beamed with merriment, apparently fighting back the urge to hug him.

“I think I’ve had enough for today. I’ll see you tomorrow, Jake.” I got up and patted his shoulder before heading to the door. Once in my room I pulled my wet T-shirt off and reached for the back closure of my bra to unhook it. Then I peeled the sweaty bra off and let it fall to the ground before removing my shorts as well.

The sound of steps behind me startled me. Hands grabbed my arms and hauled me back into a tight embrace. I shuddered and looked up, but relief sprang through me when I met Alec’s handsome face.

“Alec...” I sighed, leaning my head against his shoulder.

He bit my lower lip as he cupped my bare breasts, massaging my nipples with the palms of his warm, sturdy hands.

I gasped. “Alec, I’m sweaty. I need to shower,” I barely whispered the words, feeling my trembles of pleasure echo through his shoulders and arms.

He didn’t let go, his lips moving to my neck. It almost felt like he had bit me, but I could tell he hadn’t pierced my skin. He was marking me and I loved it.

I swiveled around to face him. My arms locked around his neck as I gave myself up to the delicious sensation of his mouth against my own. Having nothing but my lacy white panties on aroused me, as though my mind was being peeled back to only basic instinctive thinking capabilities, lust taking over.

After a long and erotic session of passionate kissing, he trailed his fingers across the back of my neck and a shiver slid down my spine. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, as they continued to sweep languidly between my shoulder blades. His hot, ragged breath fanned over my swollen lips. “I’ve been waiting all day for this moment,” he confessed in a soft voice. My breasts peaked as he grabbed my bottom to pull me closer still. It was all I could do to keep from wrapping my legs around his waist. His hips bucked against me and I could feel my excitement begin to run down my inner thigh. I wanted him so much.

“I’m glad you came. If I’d known you were in here, I would’ve escaped my training session earlier,” I murmured, so aroused I could barely stand.

“No, no. I like it that you work out.” He stepped back and ate me up with his eyes. Scanning me slowly from head to toe, he appeared to be full of wonder and admiration. “You’re amazing...”

I breathed the words in and savored them as my own breath came faster, reveling in the rush of power which came with the certainty that he wanted me. My hands moved up from my waist in slow motion to cup my own breasts and roughly tease my aching nipples with my thumbs and forefingers, toying with him. I noticed his hungry green eyes were ablaze, lingering on my tight nipples, causing flames of passion to lick my skin.

“Don’t tempt me ‘cause I don’t have the strength to control myself.” He lowered his eyes to look at my body, then back up to my face again.

I let my hands fall to my sides, feeling a little disappointed. “You’re right. This is no place for...um...you should go. I need to shower and grab something to eat before getting in bed.”

He looked at me for a long moment, then put his hands on my hips and pulled me back into his arms to hold me.

I could feel his heart pounding and I circled his waist to soothe him. “See you tomorrow,” I whispered sweetly and reached out for one last kiss before he turned to leave. Staying out of his bed was getting more and more difficult with each passing day.

*  *  *

The alarm clock showed six-thirty in the afternoon, half an hour before the party. I checked my reflection in the mirror one final time while taking a deep breath to collect my thoughts. My tight fitting black and green sequin, one shoulder mini dress shimmered in the bright light of the hot summer day. I checked my long side braid and makeup in the mirror and was pleased. Yet, in spite of my somewhat glamorous look, I lacked all will to attend this event and be the center of attention once more.

Paola met me with a broad smirk in the foyer and Mom joined us soon, stunningly gorgeous in a short red V-neck dress. Her blonde hair was up in a fashionable pony-tail, showing off her favorite long diamond earrings. With excitement making her eyes dance, she approached me and coiled her arm around my waist.

I gave her a small smile which she happily returned, but I gulped nervously when Ryan and Alec showed up wearing similar black suits. Standing side by side, I was amazed to discover how much they actually looked alike. Tall, muscular and strong, with sexy green eyes and light brown hair, Alec seemed to be a younger version of his father.

The trip to the fancy place where the event was held lasted about ten minutes, but the multitude of photographers and people waiting for our arrival made me nervous. I wished I could somehow teleport myself inside without having to face them.

Mom took my hand in hers as we walked down the red carpet, stopping from time to time to flash bright white smiles at the cameras.

I was relieved when we finally made it inside and Mom surprised me with a hug.

“You did great, honey. I am so proud of you!” She smiled and kissed my cheeks. “Now let’s greet our guests.”

We spent the next thirty minutes shaking hands and welcoming everybody. I recognized some of them as famous actors, models or business people, but the majority of those present were not familiar to me. However, they seemed happy to meet me when Mom proudly introduced me to them. I smiled, acting polite and respectful, accepting their compliments and making them as welcome as I could. This pleased Mother.

She gave a fascinating speech in which she described our perfume and the reasons why she wanted to launch our own fragrance together. I watched her mesmerized, impressed by how easy she made everything seem and moved by all the love she put into her words when she spoke about me.

As everyone applauded, I hugged her warmly when she concluded the speech, but the smile evaporated from my face the moment I noticed Niall in the crowd, his hawk-like eyes locked on me.

She saw him too and took me to him when we got off the stage.

“Niall, how lovely to see you!” Mom beamed as they hugged.

“Mrs. Mancuso, you seem to get younger every time I see you.” He gave a broad smirk.

“I do my best.” She laughed. “I’m glad you could make it tonight. I know you’ve had work to do in New York.”

“Of course. How could I miss this?” He turned to me and I instinctively stuck to Mother’s side. He was giving me that eerie feeling again.

“Mom, I’m going to step over and speak to my friends,” I informed them, eager to get away from him.

“Sure, dear. Have fun!”

I headed to their table and sat down next to Megan. Their presence comforted me and we ended up having a lot of fun, enjoying the good food, drinks and cool music. I danced until my feet hurt because of the high heels, and was surprised to see Jake and Paola getting closer to one another.

“Could I have this dance?” Niall’s voice caused me to flinch and I forced my eyes to look up at his face.

Feeling trapped, I had no choice but to accept and placed my hand reluctantly in his.

He took me to the dance floor and moved me to the slow rhythm of the music. “I get the feeling you’re avoiding me. I don’t bite, you know? I’m just trying to get to know you and be your friend. Especially since we’re business partners.”

“I get the feeling you want more from me than friendship and all I want is to avoid an awkward situation,” I said frankly, hoping it would deter him from approaching me again.

“I’m sorry, are you seeing someone?”

The forwardness of his question disturbed me, but I tried not to show it. “I don’t see how my personal life is anyway related to our business association.”

“Oh, please excuse my manners. How about I take you to dinner tomorrow night and we get better acquainted?”

Damn, he’s insistent!
“Um, I’m afraid I have other plans for tomorrow night. Mr. Tomlinson, I honestly appreciate your help with the perfume. You’ve done an amazing job and I’m grateful for that. However, I would prefer for us to maintain a business-like relationship.”

He didn’t look happy with my decision and I seriously began to worry about this man. Something in his eyes told me to stay away, so I kindly thanked him for the dance and returned to my friends.