“That’s much better,” Eve said huskily and reached for her iced tea. She looked at Lainey over the rim of her glass, “Go home tonight, put the boys to bed early and seduce your husband.”
After eating, they spent the rest of the day unwrapping and unpacking statues, sculptures and paintings from local artists. The talent ranged from mediocre to brilliant, yet Eve gave all of them the same amount of time and attention, even going so far as to put the less outstanding in the most prominent spaces. Lainey observed, gave Eve her opinion when asked, and felt tremendously proud to be working for such a talented woman.
“It’s really great what you’re doing,” Lainey told her.
“Placing statues?” Eve teased.
“No, silly,” Lainey replied, giggling. “Opening your gallery to unknowns.”
“Someone has to give them a chance,” Eve said casually. “Why not me? Everywhere they go, these artists are going to be told that their work needs to be ‘popular’ and that they have to have sold so many in order to be shown in that gallery. If each gallery says that, how will these artists get popular and sell their art?” Eve picked up a small clay sculpture of an elderly man with a cane, turning it in her hands. “I know what it’s like to want something,” she said quietly. “The opening will give them the exposure they need.”
“How big will it be? The opening,” Lainey asked her.
“It’s going to be huge, with press, art critics, and buyers. Then, of course, there are the artists, and the artists’ families and friends.” Eve stopped and looked over her shoulder at Lainey. “I hope you’ll bring your family.”
“I’d love to. I just hope they want to come.”
“Tell them I insist,” Eve said. “It’s going to be the event of the year. It’s the re-opening of Sumptor Gallery in New York City.”
“You’re excited about this.”
“Yes. I am,” Eve said and took a long look around her. “I’ve waited for this moment for what seems like an eternity. I have galleries in Italy, France, and different cities around the U.S., but this one means the most to me.”
“What makes this one so special?” Lainey asked.
Eve didn’t answer for a moment. “It was my first,” she said at last. “When I learned of the fire, I knew that I had lost everything. I was devastated. I’ve never told anyone that before.”
It was clear to Lainey when Eve bit her lip that she had said more than she had meant to say.
“The rest of the shipment will be here tomorrow morning,” she said, continuing the unpacking. “I’ll need you here early; will you be able to be here?”
“Yes, of course,” Lainey answered, deciding not press Eve on the subject.
“Good. I’ll give you a set of keys so you will be able to get in if you’re here before me.”
“Great. What time will you need me here?”
“Seven,” Eve responded apologetically. “Is that a problem?” She asked when she saw Lainey hesitate.
“No! No, not at all. I just have to make sure Jack will get the boys ready for school,” Lainey said. She wasn’t going to let Jack ruin this for her. Kevin and Darren were his sons, too, and he would just have to help her out.
“Lainey? If this is going to cause problems for you, I can be here and you can just make it in later.”
“I’ll be here, Eve.”
“Good. The deliverymen should be here shortly after seven. Being New York, you know how reliable that is, but we can hope,” Eve brushed the dust off of her hands. “Now, let’s get out of here. You have a husband to seduce and a gorgeous man is cooking me dinner. Good luck. I want details tomorrow.”
“I want details, too,” Lainey said with a grin. She was surprised to realize that she really meant it.
Eve stepped out of the elevator and saw Adam standing at her front door, holding a grocery bag. She had always enjoyed beautiful things and men were no exception. Adam stood tall at just over six feet two inches, with jet black hair and the most amazing crystal blue eyes that melted her every time he looked at her. Every part of his body was perfect, from the muscles that rippled beneath her hands when she touched him, to his skillful hands that knew every part of Eve’s body and exactly where she liked to be touched. But it was his mouth that drove her insane. The way he kissed her, the way he did everything with those full, sensual lips, amazed her.
“Hi,” she said huskily, aroused just by seeing him, and was greeted in return with a staggering kiss.
“Ahem!”
Eve pulled away and greeted Mrs. Jenkins, an elderly neighbor who had just come out into the hall. Eve smothered a giggle when the old lady just huffed and went back into her apartment. Taking her own keys out, she unlocked her door.
“What was that for?” she asked Adam.
“Just because,” he told her. “Why don’t you go and change into something more comfortable while I start dinner.”
Ten minutes later, Eve came back down wearing faded Levis and a white, cotton t-shirt that clung to her breasts. Barefoot, she padded to the kitchen.
“It smells incredible in here,” she said, leaning around Adam’s shoulder as he dipped a spoon into the mushroom sauce and turned to give her a taste. “Oh my God!” Eve said, closing her eyes and bringing her hand to her mouth. “That’s amazing! Why didn’t you tell me you could cook?”
“You never asked,” Adam replied, then crushed his mouth to hers. When he picked her up she wrapped her legs around his waist and drowned in him. Just as quickly as it began, however, Adam ended it, abruptly setting her down and turning back to the stove. “Why don’t you get us some wine?” he suggested shortly.
She frowned at Adam’s back. She didn’t understand why he was acting this way, but she didn’t want to fight with him. “Do you want red or white?”
“Red,” he responded without looking at her.
Selecting a light merlot from the wine rack, Eve took two glasses out of the cabinet. Filling each, she handed one to Adam.
“Is this how it’s going to be tonight?” she asked.
“Why don’t you help me out and prepare the vegetables for the salad,” was Adam’s answer.
Eve sighed and walked around to the other side of the island, separating herself from Adam. Grabbing a butcher knife, she began slicing a tomato with the grace and ease of a seasoned chef.
“You never told me you could cook,” he said accusingly.
Eve glanced up at Adam. “You never asked,” she said, throwing his words back at him.
“You never offered,” he replied. “Why is that, Eve? Too intimate for you?”
“Don’t,” she said softly. “Why are you doing this, Adam?”
Adam was silent for a long moment. She saw the anger flash in his eyes a split second before he spun around, back to the stove.
“You’re right,” he said furiously. “Why am I doing this?”
He grabbed the sauce off the burner, setting it on the counter with a thump and spilling it.
“This isn’t what you want, is it Eve?” he continued, coming around the island towards her. Before she had time to react, he caught the hand holding the knife and took it from her. Throwing it across the room, he dragged Eve to him, pressing her to him, ravaging her mouth with his, only to push her away from him and begin tearing off his shirt.
“This is what you want, isn’t it?” he demanded, standing there, bare-chested in front of her, chest heaving. “Come on, Eve. Let’s fuck. That’s all I’m here for, isn’t it?”
“Stop it,” Eve told him voiding all emotion from her eyes as she looked up at him. “This isn’t all I want from you.”
“Then tell me what it is you do want, Eve,” he said. “Because I’m not going to wait forever for you to make up your mind. I can’t.”
“I know,” she whispered.
“Tell me what to do,” Adam pleaded.
“What you have to do.”
“And if that means leaving right now?”
Eve’s heart stopped. Pra
ying that her voice wouldn’t betray her, she said, “If that’s what you feel you need to do, Adam, I won’t stop you.”
“Would you be hurt?” Like I’m hurting now, he thought. Would you be dying inside like I am?
“I - I enjoy being with you, Adam,” she went on gently. “Not just making love to you, but talking and just...being. I don’t want you to go.”
“Would you be hurt, Eve?”
“I would miss you,” she said quietly, knowing it wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
“But you wouldn’t hurt, would you? There are no emotions with you are there, Eve?”
When he bent to pick up his shirt, Eve closed her eyes. Adam would never see the defeat or sadness inside her, would never know how she was dying inside just as much as he was. She would never let him.
“I’ll never be that person,” she said quietly after taking a deep breath. “If you want a wife, a mother for your children, a relationship - hell, a woman who isn’t complicated, you don’t want me. But if it is me you want, Adam, then here I am. No pretenses, no promises, just me. Take me or leave me.” She wanted to beg him not to leave her, but instead she took a sip of wine and picked up the knife.
Lainey stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom trying to gather the courage to do as Eve said and seduce her husband. She squared her shoulders and untied her robe. Letting it fall to the floor, she caught her reflection in the glass and remembered what Eve had said to her. ‘You are an amazingly beautiful woman.’
Lainey’s pulse quickened as she thought of how Eve had reached over and unbuttoned her shirt. Eve had made her feel beautiful and desirable in a way that even Jack had never made her feel. Lainey closed her eyes and ran her hands down over her breasts, her stomach. Lower.
She took a deep breath and walked into the bedroom where Jack was sitting in bed reading. He was still attractive to her, maybe now more so than before. His brown hair was accented now with a sprinkling of gray at the temples making him look distinguished. His eyes were a gilded brown and Lainey could remember a time when he would look at her with such love and desire.
“Jack,” Lainey said in a low voice.
Vaguely annoyed at being interrupted, Jack looked up and was astonished to see Lainey standing before him completely naked. “Lainey?” he exclaimed. “What are you doing?”
Taking his book from him, she climbed on the bed and straddled him. “I want you, Jack,” she whispered in his ear. “Make love to me.”
“Lainey the boys are in the other room,” Jack said, pushing her away.
“And we’re in here and the door is locked,” she told him. “Make love to me.”
“What’s gotten into you?” he demanded, shifting uncomfortably beneath her.
“Jack, it’s been months since you’ve touched me.” She hesitated. “Are you having an affair?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Lainey. I’m home every day by five o’clock. When would I have the time to have an affair?”
“Then it’s me? You don’t want me anymore?”
“Lainey, I’m tired. It has nothing to do with you.”
“You’re still mad about the job,” she accused him. “You’re still pissed off that I’m going in early tomorrow and you have to get the boys ready.”
“Who’s going to get the boys ready for school, Lainey?” he had said when she had told him that Eve needed her to come in early. And when she had told him that he would simply have to do it, he had reminded her that she was their mother. That was when she had lost her temper and reminded him that it was time for him to be around for them, too.
“I said I’m tired, Lainey,” Jack said now. It’s been a long day and yet he had to admit she was exciting him. Why not, he thought. He was only a man after all. With a sigh he shifted his position until he was on top of her. Pushing aside his boxers, he entered her. She felt good, he thought. Better than he remembered. He began to pound inside her, breathing harder, moaning her name and Lainey knew that it was almost over. When he had finished, Jack rolled off of her.
“That was great,” he said. Then, turning his back on her, he fell asleep.
They laid in bed, one alone, one lonely and both thinking of the other. If Lainey’s evening had not gone as expected, neither had Eve’s. When she and Adam had made love she could feel a difference. He was slipping away from her and there was nothing she could do about it. Adam wanted more than she could give him and no matter how much she cared about him, she would never be able to give him what he needed. Eve knew he wouldn’t wait forever, and she prayed she had the strength to watch him walk away.
As the sleepless night had gone on, Eve’s thoughts had turned to Lainey. Eve could admit that Lainey intrigued her. What confused her was this inexplicable attraction she felt. Rarely had Eve met someone to whom she had felt so drawn. Adam had been the first, and the only until now. As she lay there alone, Eve thought of Lainey and wondered how far she would go to satisfy her curiosity.
Lainey arrived at the gallery at precisely seven after stopping to get coffee and donuts. She was waiting for the elevator when Eve strolled up beside her.
“Good morning,” Eve said and smiled.
“Good morning. I brought you some coffee.” Lainey handed Eve a cup.
“Mmmm. Thank you. This is exactly what I needed, but it’s not in your job description, Lainey.” Both women stepped into the elevator as the doors opened. Eve glanced at Lainey. “Why don’t you try your key? I want to make sure it works for you.” Eve took the donuts from Lainey as she brought her keys out.
Lainey inserted the key and turned it. “Works perfectly,” she announced with pride, and turned to Eve, “I know it’s not in my job description, but I don’t mind bringing you coffee. Besides, you look like you could use it. You look tired.”
Eve chuckled. “Thank you. That was exactly the look I was going for.”
“I didn’t mean that in a bad way,” Lainey explained laughing. “I just meant you must have had a long, hard night.”
Eve’s smile faltered ever so slightly, but Lainey had noticed.
“Oh! How did your night of seduction go with Jack?” Eve asked Lainey cheerfully as the elevator doors opened up to the gallery.
Lainey rolled her eyes.
“That good?”
Lainey paced over to the window and stared out, and watched silently as people started filling the sidewalks. Eve walked up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Want to talk about it?”
“I did what you said,” Lainey began. “I walked into the bedroom completely naked.”
“And?”
“And nothing. He looked irritated and confused.” She laughed shortly. “I don’t think it excited him at all.”
“It would have excited me,” Eve said quietly.
Lainey felt the flush creep up her neck. “Um, well...it didn’t faze Jack much,” Lainey went on. “Even when I got into bed and straddled him.”
“Wait! You straddled him? While you were naked? And he didn’t grab you and make mad passionate love to you? He is a fool.”
“I had to practically beg the fool to make love to me. He was ‘too tired’. It had been over two months and he’s too tired? I even asked him if he was having an affair.”
“What did he say?”
“What else? No.”
“Do you believe him?”
“Yes.” She paced away from the window, away from Eve so she could think. “He’s home every day at the same time, has the same routine. Day in and day out.”
She hadn’t really realized it until she said it, but that was what her marriage had become. Day in. Day out. Everything was always the same.
“Anyway, after rejecting me, making me feel like the fool, he was suddenly on top of me and inside me. Before I could even catch up or register what was happening to me, he was finished.”
She looked at Eve, tears brimming in her eyes. “After that he said, ‘that was great’ then rolled over and fell asleep.”
> “Bastard,” Eve said with vehemence. “So you didn’t...?”
Knowing exactly what Eve meant, Lainey laughed mirthlessly. “No. I haven’t for so long, I’ve forgotten what it feels like.”
“How long?”
“Since we were first married.”
“Twelve years?” Eve asked in amazement.
“It seems that long. It was wonderful in the beginning. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other. Then after Kevin was born it just seemed to go downhill. I thought it was the woman who was supposed to lose interest, not the man.”
“I’m sorry,” Eve said softly.
Lainey shrugged. “What can you do?”
“Hmm, a lot,” Eve said with a grin. “And I certainly wouldn’t have turned over and fell asleep before pleasuring you.”
The intercom buzzed.
“Damn it,” Eve whispered. “Today they show up on time.”
“I’ll get it,” Lainey said. She needed to do something, to clear her head. What would she have said if they hadn’t have been interrupted? Lainey’s heart jumped when she thought about it.
Eve laid her forehead against the cool window. How could Jack treat Lainey like that? And why was she thinking about what she would have done for Lainey instead of thinking of how to fix Lainey’s marriage? Why did she care so much?
“Eve?”
She turned when she heard Lainey call her. “Yes?”
“Where do you want all of this?” Lainey asked and watched as Eve walked towards her. Eve had worn faded jeans and a matching button up shirt with the sleeves rolled and the top three buttons undone. Her hair was up in a ponytail and she had minimal make-up on. Lainey had never seen anyone quite so beautiful. She had no idea that her own jeans and t-shirt had Eve thinking the same thing about her.
Something About Eve (An Eve Sumptor Book 1) Page 4
