by Katie Dowe
He stood there staring off into the darkness, his eyes fixed on the lights blazing along the long driveway. He went into his phone contact and clicked on Theresa’s number but for the life of him he could not press send! It was as if she had put a spell on him! Swearing beneath his breath he shoved the phone back into his pocket and went back inside. It was time to make his excuses and go to his apartment!
*****
She waited for him. She had texted her address to his phone and had faith enough to believe that he would come. She had taken a bath and let her hair down. She had just stopped herself from putting on makeup but had dragged on a pair of denims and a loose white t-shirt. She sat in the living room and aimlessly switched channels as she waited. She had come home and thought about calling Millie but had decided against it. They had been friends for a very long time and she never expected that of her. She was so deep in thought that at first she did not hear the footsteps on her patio until there was a knock on the door. Her heart careened so hard in her chest that she almost passed out! Taking a deep breath she got to her feet and went to open the door. His hair was tossed about by the wind and he looked like a mysterious leading man out to do nothing good. He was wearing a white shirt with a black leather jacket over it and he had on black denims. He looked so dangerously beautiful that Jayda wondered how she had the nerve to tell him that he was the man for her!
He took in her petite frame and the hair tumbling around her face. “I am here,” he told her hoarsely and without waiting for her to say anything he pulled her into his arms. Jayda did not resist as she curled her fingers into his shirt and opened her mouth beneath his. Alessandro wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her up to meet his mouth, his tongue going into her mouth to delve and to explore! He had told himself that there was no way he was coming to see her, but the vehicle had a life of its own and he had soon found himself heading into the opposite direction! He felt himself hardened as he deepened the kiss and knew that he was in danger of taking her right now! He put her away from him and stared down at her, his breathing shallow and his hands clenched into fists. “This was a mistake!” he said harshly. “I have to go.”
“Please stay.” She was afraid to touch him. As innocent as she was she knew that the slightest touch from her to him would set them off. Her body was like a raging inferno and she was on the verge of abandoning her morals and telling him to have his way with her. But she knew that the minute she did that it would not end well for them and she was holding out for forever!
“Do you know what you are asking me?” he demanded.
She took a deep breath and responded. “I want us to talk,” she said tremulously. “I want us to get to know each other. Please, Alessandro.”
Her beautiful voice calling his name did not make matters any easier! “I want to make love to you!” he ground out. “You are in my blood and I want to sink my dick deep into you. I suddenly do not mind that you are a virgin. I can look past that but right now I have this fever inside me that needs to be quenched.” He looked down at her and his expression softened somewhat. “I am an Italian male, Jayda, and that means we are hot blooded. If you are not prepared to give yourself to me then you should not be calling me.”
Shaking off her uncertainties and fear she straightened her shoulders and looked into his eyes. “You are trying to scare me and I know why.” She reached out and touched his arm lightly. “I am in this for the long haul, Alessandro, and it is time you took me seriously.” She stroked his jacket for a moment. “I am not giving up my virginity until we are married and that is final. It will be worth the wait.”
He stared at her for a moment and then hauling her into his arms he kissed her roughly, his fingers biting into her waist. He let her go after and without telling her goodbye he pulled the door open and went on his way. Jayda slumped against the closed door and waited until the shivering stopped before she locked up behind him!
Chapter 7
He could not get her out of his mind! No matter what he tried to tell himself that she was not his type and that he was better off without her it was not working! It had been a week since he had gone to her house and had left there unsatisfied. He had tried putting her from his mind but it was not working. She had done something to him with her calm quiet beauty and spirit and he could not stop thinking about her! It was approaching the end of September and he could not wait for Domenico to get the hell away. Russo had not called again but he had a feeling that the man had not given up but was biding his time and waiting for what he did not know.
He was sitting in a sales meeting but his mind was all over the place. “The make your own chocolate shape has taken over the country and has become quite popular,” Maxine, the head of sales, said with an approving look at Alessandro. “Sales have tripled in the last two months and it is all thanks to Alessandro.” There was a scattering of applause as they all looked at the darkly beautiful man sitting at the head of the table. “Rivera Chocolates is a household name that has far surpassed the leading brand of chocolate out there but we need our own stores where there is everything Rivera. I appreciate that it is in stores and supermarkets and pharmacies but maybe we should think about stores of our own where a person can step in and get something exclusive with the Rivera brand.”
“It is something to look into,” Adam said in approval as he nodded at the woman. “What do you think?” he asked looking from his son to his daughter.
“I think it is a very good idea,” Isabella said as she looked at her brother. “We could try and meet the December sales. As Maxine pointed out, Rivera is a force to be reckoned with but I kind of like the idea of stepping into a Rivera Chocolate store where I am able to buy everything they have to offer.”
“Maxine, you came up with the idea so I would like you and Isabella and Alessandro to work together to make this happen,” Adam said with a nod of his head. “Dismissed for now.” He waited until the people had filed out of the conference room before he continued. “Where is your head, Alessandro?” he asked his son bluntly.
“Right where it should be.”
“You have been distracted and it seems to me that you are not altogether here. Is Domenico gone?”
“He is leaving on the weekend.”
“Son, I am worried about you and so is your mother. Whatever it is you need to find a way to deal with it and soon.”
“I will.” He got to his feet and with a nod of his dark head he strode from the room.
“Do you know what’s going on with him?” Adam asked his daughter.
“I am sure it is Alessandro being himself,” she said lightly as she too got to her feet. “Don’t worry about it, Dad.” She stopped and planted a kiss on top of his head. “I am sure it will work out.”
Isabella knocked on his door before pushing it open. She found him standing by the window and staring down, his hands shoved into his pockets. “Your secretary looked as if she is about to drop any minute,” she murmured as she came up behind him. The day was cloudy with dark clouds hanging low indicating rain. “I am worried about you, Alessandro.”
“Don’t be.”
“Okay, now I have stopped worrying,” she said in exasperation. “Telling me not to worry is not going to automatically make me stop worrying. You are moody and I think to myself that maybe he is pining for Italy or some woman there but I have a feeling it is something else.”
He did not answer and Isabella sighed. “Alessandro, please talk to me.”
He did not turn around but he responded. “There is this woman-”
“I knew it!” she crowed in delight.
This time he turned to look at her, his dark eyes amused. “Are you going to let me finish?”
“Of course, Cara.” She touched his cheek lightly. “Go on.”
“She has me all mixed up inside and I have no idea what to do.”
“That’s new for you.” She tilted her head and looked at him. “Usually you take them to bed and that’s it or so I have been told.�
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“She is different and she wants marriage.”
Her dark eyes widened as she looked at him. “And?”
“And nothing,” he said with an elegant shrug. “I have no intention of allowing a woman to trap me into marriage just because-” He broke off abruptly and looked away.
“Just because what, Alessandro?”
“Nothing,” he said abruptly as he moved away and went to his desk.
“She is not giving in!” she said in amazement. “Cara, how unusual. Who is she?”
“Leave it alone, Bella,” he said a little grimly. “How is Alec?”
“We are good and when you decide to stop being so stubborn we can go on a double date.”
“Not going to happen,” he told her dryly.
“We will see,” she said with a grin as she came over and kissed him on the cheek. “I cannot wait to meet her.”
*****
It was all over the news! A mass shooting at the local high school with several students and administrative staff dead and others in critical condition at the hospital. Jayda was on her way home from a luncheon she had planned for a company when she heard it over her car radio. Immediately she diverted and went to her parents’ place. Several of the young people from church attended the school there and she dreaded the news. She turned into the parking lot and saw people gathered out there with her father standing in the middle talking. Her mother saw her as she got out of the car and hurried over to her. “Mama, I just heard,” she said in a hushed voice as her mother guided her over to a secluded spot.
“Five of our young people are dead and four are in critical condition.” Jenny Walker gripped her daughter’s hands tightly, her face bleak. “Your father is talking to the grieving parents right now, honey, but frankly I have no idea what to do what to say. All I kept thinking about is what if it had been you? How would I cope with that? Brother and Sister Graham lost their eldest daughter and Sister Marjorie was a single mother who lost her only child. What can you say to someone like that? God knows best?”
Jayda stood there in shock not knowing what to say! She looked around at the people gathered around, people who she had grown up with and their kids who she taught in Sunday school and had interaction with. It could not be happening! Not in their small town! She put her arms around her mother and held her close as they walked over to where the people were gathered. She stood there and listened numbly as her father tried to give reassurances that sounded useless even to her own ears!
She did not make it home until after ten. Her parents had tried to persuade her to spend the night but she just wanted to be in her own bed. She sat in the darkened living room and stared at nothing in particular. She had always managed to put a positive spin on everything no matter what but she was having great difficulty doing so now. Her phone rang and she looked at the number realizing that it was Alessandro. “Hi,” she said in a dull lifeless tone.
“What’s wrong?”
“I need you,” she whispered tearfully.
“I will be right there.”
He got there in under an hour and she let him in. “Jayda?” He lifted her chin and saw the tears. “What is it?”
Suddenly, she flew into his arms and burst into tears! He locked the door and lifted her up, taking her to the sofa and cradling her into his arms. He stroked her back as she sobbed against him, her fingers tight in his shirt. He waited until she had stopped crying and told him what had happened and when she did he felt the horror of the tragic situation going through him. He had heard some people at the office talking about it but he had been in and out of meetings for the entire day. He had not too long come from the club and had decided to call her.
“I am so sorry,” he said softly, not knowing what else to say.
“I just saw them two nights ago when we had Bible Studies,” she whispered in his damp shirt. “They just got back to school for the fall semester. Jodi Ann is a senior and was looking forward to graduating next spring and going off to college.” She was digging her fingers into his chest without even being aware of it. “It was a kid at school who did it, Alessandro. He came in with a gun and did all that damage all because he was booted off the basketball team because of his low grades! He killed himself in the process and so many others. I stood there in that church yard and saw anguish and despair on so many faces that it turned my stomach.”
“And you believe in a God who allows things like these to happen?” His tone was slightly cynical causing her to look up at him. His inscrutable dark eyes locked with hers and held.
“I believe in a God who believes in free will. He is never going to force himself on anyone and that is the problem.” Her eyes blazed passionately as she stared up at him. “There is good and there is evil, Alessandro, and I hope you know that.”
“So you are saying that these people are dead and the ones in the hospital because God has left us up to our own inclinations?” he persisted.
“I am saying that we as people are doing things that are not right in the sight of a very loving and caring God and we reap the consequences.” She bit her lip as she blinked back tears. “I don’t want to talk anymore, please. It’s too much.”
He lifted her small chin and used the pad of his thumb to wipe the tears away. “Why did you ask me to come over?” he asked her softly.
“You already know the answer to that.”
“I want to make love to you,” he told her slowly, his eyes on her lips. “I want to lose myself in your body, inside you, and let us both forget the horrors of this world. Will you allow me to do that?”
She reached up a hand to touch his cheek. “When I stood there looking at all those people mourning the loss of their loved ones taken away from them so violently, I thought to myself how uncertain life was and how we never know what is going to happen to us! And I thought of you.” She traced his lip with her finger and smiled as he closed his eyes at her touch. “I love you, Alessandro, and I would love nothing more than to be with you. I want to be with you as your wife and I am not going to stop until you realize that you want the same thing.”
He stared at her for a moment and then bending his head he took her lips with his. This time the kiss was gentle, a whisper, a soft touch like the gentle breeze on a sunny day. His tongue traced her full bottom lip slowly savoring the texture and the taste of her. Jayda arched her body to his and spread her fingers onto his chest. Without a shadow of a doubt she knew that whatever happened he was the man for her and there could be no one else! He was the man she had being waiting for her entire life, the man who God had ordained to be her husband! With a trembling sigh she leaned into him and surrendered as she wrapped her hands around his neck.
For the first time in his life Alessandro stayed with a woman and did not have sex with her. After the kiss she had cuddled into his arms and had drifted off to sleep no doubt emotionally exhausted. It never occurred to him to put her to bed and leave. He wanted to stay with her and make sure she was okay. He carried her into the bedroom and placed her on the bed. She held onto him and murmured and he climbed in next to her taking off his shoes. He was Alessandro Rivera and even though the neighborhood was quiet enough and looked safe he knew his parents would have a fit if they knew he was without a protection detail but he had not been thinking about that when he called her and heard the tears in her voice. His first instinct was that something had happened to her and he wanted to be there with her. She snuggled closer to him and murmured something not quite coherent and he wrapped his arms around her. She talked crazy and he was starting to believe what she was saying. She claimed to love him and wanted him to be hers but she had no idea what she was saying! He was not good enough for her! She was a girl who believed in values and marriage first and foremost! He had been with too many women to count and he had started very early! For the first time in his life he wished he could erase his past but that was not possible. He eased away and looked down at her. She was tiny - as tiny as his mother but unlike his mother she was n
ot forceful at least not obviously so. She was calm and serene and made him feel unlike his restless self. With a sigh he kissed the top of her head and went to sleep!
*****
He was gone when she got up the next morning. She started to reach for him but only felt the warmth where his head had rested on the pillows. She opened her eyes at the sun streaming through the light blue drapes and blinked, her eyes feeling heavy. Memories came crowding back at the horrible news that had affected them! She stayed there for a moment and remembered that he had come running to see her and had cradled her in his arms. Her patience was going to pay off and she had no doubt about that! She rolled over and stayed where the imprint of his body was and closed her eyes as she remembered his lips on hers. “Alessandro,” she moaned softly. She jumped as she heard her phone ringing. She did not remember taking it into the bedroom but maybe he had done so. She took it up and her breath quickened as she saw that it was him!
“I did not want to wake you,” he murmured. “I hope I have not done so.”
“I just woke up.” She stretched as she held the phone to her ear. “I wish you were still here.”
“I have a meeting.” His tone was husky. “How are you?”
“I miss you, Alessandro,” she whispered.
“Jayda,” he murmured not knowing what else to say.
“Can you come by later please?”
“I am not sure-”
“I want to cook for you.”
“I will pick you up and we can go by my apartment,” he said.
“Just dinner and talk?”
“As you wish,” he said with a soft laugh. “I have never done that before.”
“You mean sleep with a woman without making love to her?” she teased.
“Yeah.” He paused. “Jayda, I don’t want to hurt you.”
“And you are not going to. What would you like to eat?”
