Everlasting Love (Now & Forever) (17 page)

Emily blushed slightly as she turned to her mom. “I will see you later tonight, ok?”

Her mother nodded and hugged her, whisperin
g in her ear,
“Just have fun, Emily. This is what you wanted so let yourself enjoy the evening, ok?”

Emily backed up and nodded. “Emma, come say good night to your
Mommy
.”

Emma dashed across the room. “Where are you going?”

“Mr. Smith and I are going to have dinner tonight. Is that ok?”

Emma
nodded. “
Yep.” She reached for her and hugged Emily and then reached for Alex. Emily couldn’t stop smiling, her daughter even liked him.

Alex and Emily headed towards his car. “Where are you taking me tonight?” Emily asked as she got into his car.

“You will just have to wait and see, Emily,” he said as he smiled at her.

Emily laughed softly as she peered at him from underneath her lashes. He really was gorgeous and the dark suit he was wearing made him downright irresistible. She smiled as he looked over at her. “I’m so happy that we are finally doing this, Emily.”

She smiled. “I am too and it’s about time that I start enjoying myself.”

Alex nodded. “We all need to do a little bit more of that.”

Emily stared out the window as she watched Alex drive into the city. She could see the art museum in front of them as Alex turned into the underground parking garage. He pulled into the spot marked reserved for him.

"I thought we would start with a private tour of my newest display," Alex said as he opened his door and walked around to open Emily's.

Emily smiled at him as he took her hand and walked her to the elevator. He pressed the button and stepped in. The tension mounted between them as the door closed. His fingers traced her hand as he looked down at her. Emily still had no idea what he had in store for her but she was overcome with sexual energy that made it hard to breath. Finally the doors opened and the night security guard was watching for them. "Good Evening, Mr. Smith. I was told you would be by tonight."

"Yes, we will be here for awhile, Mr. Stern."

"No problem, Sir. Just let me know if I can be of any help, ok?"

"Of course," he said, "Emily, this way." Alex placed his hand on the small of her back as he led her towards the first main room.

Emily sighed and closed her eyes when she felt his hand on her back as if it would help steady her reaction to his touch. When she finally looked up, they were heading down the main hallway.

"Before we get to the newest display, I thought we would eat dinner first. I had some food brought in. I hope you don't mind but I asked your mom what some of your favorite foods were so I could surprise you tonight."

Emily smiled at him. "Wow, that's so sweet."

"I want tonight to be special, Emily. The minute you walked into that classroom," he paused and stopped her before entering the next room, "I wanted to know everything about you." He touched her cheek with his knuckles. "You are so beautiful."

Emily almost melted right there under his touch and watched as his eyes turn dark as he spoke
. H
e really did like her. Why was that so hard for her to believe?

Alex softly laughed.  "You don't believe me, do you?"

Emily shook her head. "You have to forgive me, I've been in one real relationship and that relationship has been on the rocks for over a year now. It’s been awhile since anyone has said anything like that to me. I just don't know how to process it."

Alex smiled at her. "You better get used to it because it’s all I can think of when I look at you tonight. That color looks amazing on you, by the way."

Emily smiled at the compliment, but it immediately made her think of Eric. He loved the color red on her also. Was that why she wore it?  She shook her head as if to shake away the past. The last thing she wanted was for thoughts of Eric to take anything away from this night with Alex. "I feel the same way about you, Alex. I can’t get over how handsome you are and how absolutely amazing you look tonight. Something also tells me that I will never forget what you have planned for us."

"I hope that's the case
. C
ome on, follow me." Alex grabbed her hand again and took her
to a room that overlooked the C
ity of Buffalo. The room was lit by candles
and filled with roses and the French
doors were open to a large balcony with an incredible view.

Emily gazed at the room
. I
t was obviously a private room that the museum must rent out to parties
.
It
beautifully decorated of course, but there was something about tonight that gave it a special glow. "Alex, I have no words."

Emily continued to walk around the room. She paused a moment to literally smell the roses and take it all in, including an elegantly set table for two. She continued to walk through the large opening created by the
French
doors, so that she could enjoy the stunning view and fresh, cool spring air.

She felt Alex come up behind her and she turned to face him. "You are just incredible. Is this what you do on all first dates?"

He smirked at her. "You are the first lady that I have ever brought here, Emily. I told you, I knew you were special the minute I saw you. You deserve a night to be about you and to be able to celebrate your achievement today."

Emily started to cry as she watched him and took in his words. "You have no idea how much I dreamt of a night like this. You always think as a little girl that one day your prince will come and sweep you off your feet and pamper you like this, but the older you get, the harder it is to believe in such fairytales. I'm not saying that Eric treated me poorly, he didn't, but he definitely never did anything like this to make me feel this special; and to think the evening has just started."

Alex smiled while his fingers softly wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Please don't cry," he whispered.

Emily smiled and whispered back, "Please do something for me?"

"Anything," he said staring deep into her eyes.

"Kiss me."

Alex took a deep breath and grinned. "You don't know how long I have wanted to do that, Emily."

He leaned in slowly and Emily stopped breathing. She closed her eyes and felt his fingers grab her sides as he pulled her tight against him but didn’t kiss her right away. When she slowly opened her eyes, she could see the passion building inside of him as he took her in and contemplated his next move. Finally, he leaned in more and lightly brushed his lips against hers. Her body tingled in response to his touch and her blood started to boil as she moved her hands up to his chest. She pulled back slightly, "I have dreamt of that for weeks now."

"Oh Emily, I'm not done yet."

Emily softly moaned as her eyes drifted shut. She felt his lips on hers again and his grip around her hips tightened as he sighed. She felt his tongue part her lips as she pulled lightly on his lower lip.

He smirked as he pulled away
.
“I have wanted to do that since the moment I saw you.”

“Me too Alex,” Emily said glancing at his slightly swollen lips.

“Come,” Alex said grabbing her hand and leading her back to the table for two. “Our first course is about to be served.”

After helping Emily with her chair, Alex was seated across from her
. O
ut of the corner of her eye, she noticed the wait staff entering with their food. Her salad was placed in front of her as she glanced up at Alex. “Tell me Alex, other than being a great kisser, what other talents do you have?”

Alex softly laughed
.
“Great kisser, huh? I like that I didn’t disappoint you, Miss Stone.”

Emily blushed hoping that the candlelight wouldn’t show it. “I only speak the truth.”

Alex smiled and continued. “Well to answer your question, I love art, of course. I’m great at spotting talent and the creativity in a piece. I also love curling up with a good book.”

Emily smiled at the unexpected response. “So do I. There’s nothing better than sitting in my window seat at home during a rainstorm with a good book.”

Alex nodded. “I can relate to that except my choice is my patio, although not in a rainstorm.”

“That reminds me. I wanted to tell you how much I love your house, Alex. It’s so beautiful and peaceful. I would love a tour of the grounds someday.”

“I would be honored to show you around
.
I take great pride in it and do my best to keep up with it. I must admit, my mom helped me with the decorating though.”

“Are you close with your family?” Emily asked.

“Yes, very close. My mother is my rock. We lost my father to cancer about two years ago
. S
o my sister and I have been doing our best to help her move on.”

“Oh Alex, I’m so sorry to hear that,” E
mily said reaching for his hand.
“I can’t imagine the pain of that.”

Alex squeezed her hand in response. “Thank you but I’m ok now. It was definitely a tough time for awhile though.”

“Is your sister younger or older?” She asked as she was served her favorite soup.

“She’s younger. She runs a bakery in the Northtowns.”

“Wow, your mother must be so proud of the both of you. Both her children are doing so well.”

Alex smiled. “We can’t complain. We are very fortunate
. M
y father came from a wealthy family and while we have had the privilege of learning about the finer things in life, we were also taught to work hard and take pride in our achievements.”

Emily started to feel uncomfortable. She wasn’t raised
with money
and she hoped that it didn’t matter to him.

“Here comes the main course
. Y
our mom told me that your favorite dishes were based around Italian foods so we did some pasta combinations
.
I hope you enjoy it,” Alex said smiling at her.

She was overwhelmed with all the attention to detail. “This whole evening has been wonderful.”

Alex asked, “I’m happy that you are enjoying it. So, tell me about your family
. O
f course, I know
what
you and your mom shared with me, but I would like to know more.”

Emily filled in the blanks for him about her childhood, mostly about the ordeal that she went through with her stepmother and the challenges of moving to Buffalo.

“I started my senior year of high school here and met Eric right away.” Emily took a deep breath as she finished her dinner.

“Well, I’m happy that you moved here,” Alex said standing up and reaching for her hand.

“Where are we going now?” She asked.

Alex started heading back towards the main hallway. “I thought you would enjoy a private tour of the museum afterhours.”

“That would be great!” Emily said excited.

Alex showed her the main floor and described to her all of the collections that were currently on di
splay
. They continued down a hallway that opened to a large lecture hall.

“Hey! This is where I first saw you,” Emily said remembering the room but thinking how different it looked at night and without anyone in it. “You were talking about the grant that you wanted to get for the museum and I know I was supposed to be taking notes on what you were talking about but for some reason, I just couldn’t focus,” she said with a playful laugh.

Alex blushed and grinned as he leaned down and kissed her lips softly again. They s
miled at each other as he spoke.
“I wish I knew you were there
.
I’m sure I would have been mesmerized by you, just like I am now.”

“You wore a pair of grey slacks and a white dress shirt. All the girls in my class wanted you.”

Alex laughed.
“Really? Well, I guarantee that I would have
only
had eyes for you, Miss Stone.”

“You are a very smooth talker, Mr. Smith.”

“I just know what I want.”

“What do you want, Alex?” Emily asked moving her body closer to his. She was feeling very brave and secure in this moment. Her fingers traced over his dress shirt and lightly pulled on his tie.

“Emily, you don’t know what you are starting right now.”

“Don’t I?” She asked looking up into his eyes.

She heard a groan escape from him as he pulled her body tight against his. He didn’t say a word to her as he took her lips. She moaned as she parted her lips feeling his tongue with hers. Their lips moved in sync with each other as his hand traced over her body.

Alex pulled away just enough to speak
.
“I have more to show you around the museum, Emily.”

Emily smirked
.
“What’s stopping you?”

Alex
groaned again
.
“I have a feeling that you only play sweet and innocent, Miss Stone. I’m still trying to be a gentleman.”