When I led him to the bed, he crawled over to the side I’d been lying on. He inhaled deeply. “The pillow smells like your hair.” I could hear the smile in his voice.
We lay there in a tense silence until his shallow, ragged breathing slowed. I thought he had fallen asleep until his hand found mine, and he squeezed it tightly. “I love you, my little Lily. Merry Christmas.”
I squeezed his hand back. “Alfie, I’ve never stopped loving you. Tonight, this moment… it’s all my Christmas wishes coming true at the same time.”
There was a strained silence as we both lay, not trusting ourselves to touch anything except our hands, and we both managed to stay strong until we fell asleep.
Chapter 20 – Surprises all round
A calloused thumb drew lazy circles on my belly as I gradually woke up, and I briefly forgot where I was. The décor of room we were in was so different from the one at my apartment.
It had a white wicker headboard with a fancy design around the top with loosely woven thick wicker but with a solid bit in the middle. It seemed to creak at times without anyone touching it.
Calloused fingertips moving over my belly was a sign Alfie was awake, but he wasn’t touching me anywhere else, just that spot with just one hand.
I could feel his hot breath on my back, but he was laying still, apart from that those fingertips gently strumming on my lower belly. What he was doing felt safe, but it was pleasantly teasing at the same time.
The act in itself wasn’t supposed to be sexual. Yet, my skin had reacted with an eruption of goosebumps as the charge of electricity we seemed to create between us was ever present.
His body was strategically placed away from mine. Reaching down, I laced my fingers in his before rolling over to face him. “Hey,” he cooed sleepily.
“Morning,” I croaked, my voice still struggling with the concept that it was time to wake up. “Merry Christmas,” I squeaked.
His eyes darted back and forth over my face. He wasn’t smiling back, but his eyes lit up. “Fuck.” The word came out in a rush.
I stared into his eyes and saw raw, pained emotion. I struggled to swallow, watching Alfie go through what seemed like an emotional moment before he spoke.
“Do you have any idea what it feels like for me to wake up to you?” He swallowed audibly. “I never believed I’d ever get to do this again.” There was a reverent pause before he continued. “You know the saying ‘all my Christmas’ have come at once?’” he whispered, pulling my head gently toward him and kissing my forehead.
I smiled widely at him, thinking he was being cheesy. “Seriously, Lily, I’m never going to let you down again.” His stare was so piercing, my smile slowly retracted as I gazed back entranced.
He leaned in to place a kiss on my closed mouth. “I love you so fucking much, it hurts,” he mumbled against my lips and squeezed my hand hard. If it was possible to ‘touch’ the concept of love, I would have sworn we were holding it between our palms right then.
He inhaled deeply and pulled his hand out of mine. “We need to get out of bed,” he stated sharply, inhaling hard and rolling away from me.
I bunched my brows. “It’s still really early, Alfie.” He smirked and slid out the bed, the mattress bouncing with the loss of weight from him standing.
Alfie’s boxer shorts were tented, and he glanced down at them briefly. “My dick doesn’t know the concept of timing, day or night. I’m always hard when I’m with you.”
Smirking, I seemed to have the same problem, my lady parts acted like a radar whenever he was near me, just the sight of him dampened my panties.
I was glad he hadn’t just tried to have sex with me like he would have back in the day. He was showing restraint. I took it as a sign he wanted me for more than just my body.
“Do you want to shower first?” I offered. Alfie nodded and glanced down at his boxers again. “This is kind of painful, and I’ve been struggling with it for most of the night. I’m sorry, but I need to take care of it or I’m not going to get through the day without someone commenting.”
I chuckled, but he was just being honest. Nodding my head toward the bathroom door, I smirked and dropped my eyes to his boxers again. “Have fun.” I would have gone and helped him out with that, but I figured I would have caved once I saw him naked.
Alfie had obviously thought the same thing, because he came out in a pair of Bermuda shorts. He wouldn’t have thought twice before about walking around naked. His muscular chest was still bare. The sight of him freshly showered was stunning, a mini Christmas feast in itself.
His skin was so perfect, smooth and silky, making me have crazy thoughts about what I wanted to do to him when I got him alone.
By the time he’d come back, I had laid out my attire for the day. I had chosen a mid-thigh length dress in a soft, ruby red velvet with a sweetheart neckline and a low back.
Alfie groaned when he saw it. “Fuck,” he hissed, rubbing the material between his thumb and forefinger. He shook his head, knowing he had to wait to see me in it. I still had plenty of time to wear my little black bikini with a black and white silk sarong beforehand. The weather was warm enough for us to lay by the pool in the sunshine.
Fighting the urge to run my fingers down the trail of fine hair that started at his belly button and disappeared into his shorts, my eyes feasted on his abs. Sexual tension was high between us, but I was impressed with Alfie’s self-control so far.
Already, I had a sense it was going to be an early night for the both of us; I was just hoping I could wait that long.
He left the room, and I showered, taking my time to make sure I shaved in all the right places. Treating my skin to a soufflé that my mom had picked up from a spa she visited in New York, I knew I smelled great as I headed out to find him.
Alfie was sitting alone by the pool. The look on his face proved my effort had been worth it. He grabbed my hand as I passed by. “C’mere, I need you right beside me, babe,” he cooed. We gazed at each other, and I instantly felt our connection.
Alfie’s eyes were mainly green, and I could see that he was turned on just by looking at me. His pupils were dark rimmed and dilated, and his eyes shone but were heavy with lust.
He scooted over and pulled me beside him on the lounger. His face burrowed into my neck. “Damn, you smell good enough to eat. Are you trying to fucking kill me?” I giggled when he squeezed my ribs at both sides, tickling me.
When he stopped, I stared seriously into his eyes. “Alfie, if anything were to happen to you, I would die. A little teasing never killed anyone, did it?” I giggled, but this was swallowed by him when his hungry mouth crushed mine in a passionate, tongue-probing kiss. Growling deeply, he broke the kiss and inhaled shakily.
“You are going to be ruined tonight, you know that, right?” he murmured into my ear, in a low seductive voice. It made me shiver. His eyes flicked up, sparkling brightly, and glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one was listening. I grinned wickedly and raised my eyebrow.
“Oh, Alfie, I hope so.” He chuckled and lay back. Turning to see what I was snickering at, he followed my gaze to his shorts. They were tenting again. “Damn.” He smirked and rolled over onto his side.
Everyone gradually surfaced, and my parents dished out Buck’s Fizz. We had smoked salmon and eggs benedict for breakfast. Lennon and Cody sang their own version of a couple of Christmas carols and had us all in stitches from laughing at them.
They had done a version of the ‘Twelve days of Christmas’ and had kind of captured the essence of my parents and our friends in it.
Alfie’s sister Layla and his aunt Connie arrived. They were surprised to have the invite. Alfie was so happy. He just welled up, his eyes brimming with tears, and hugged them. I had been a little nervous to meet them, but we hit it off right away, and my parents and his aunt seemed to find plenty to talk about.
; We decided to do presents before lunch, because my mom was worried most of the boys would be too drunk to do this sensibly afterwards, with all the wine and beer that was flowing already. Plus, there would be the alcohol and liquors after lunch too.
There was a screech from the kitchen when my mom discovered that Jack had eaten about seven of the pigs in blankets.
She stood there painstakingly rolling bacon around the linked sausages to make them, ensuring we had plenty for the lunch, and Jack had tucked into them fresh from the oven. Jack was banned from the kitchen until lunch was served.
When we sat around giving presents, everyone seemed excited, and it dawned on me that Lennon and Alfie hadn’t had a proper Christmas in years.
Cody was from out of state, and his parents were on a cruise, so he’d had the choice to meet them in St. Martin, or come to us. With the XrAid concert tour starting in the New Year, he’d opted to spend it with us.
My parents, being the primary hosts, started the proceedings. My dad handed out presents to everyone, and they all got busy opening them.
Lennon freaked out. “You got me a weekend rental of a fucking Ferarri? Seriously? You’re not fucking kidding me?”
My parents were getting used to the F word. The guys injected it into everything. My dad chuckled at Lennon’s reaction when he gave him his gift.
Dad passed Lennon an envelope. Lennon looked overwhelmed to have two gifts. “You’re getting helicopter lessons right here in Miami when you’ve finished your tour. When you complete them, I’ll let you come and fly my helicopter with me over London.”
Alfie squeezed my hand when he saw Lennon choke with emotion. I gave Alfie a smile that said, “I know my dad is amazing.” Lennon had never known a dad’s love, so this coming from my dad, after only meeting him a couple of times, meant everything to him. Lennon hugged my dad without embarrassment, and even Jack had a tear in his eye.
Cody was up next. Dad had gotten him a pilot navigator’s course up at Indian River County. He also chartered him a yacht for a weekend. Cody was stunned with his gifts. He loved sailing.
My dad told him that he couldn’t be a rock star when he was seventy, so he wanted these guys to have a career after they got fed up with being mauled by girls every night.
The presents continued like this, and when my dad had gone around everyone, Alfie was the only one who didn’t have a gift from him.
My dad turned to Alfie and told him that he didn’t know he was coming, but he’d been keeping a gift for him for the longest time. Alfie looked puzzled then my dad took my hand. “This girl is the most precious gift God has ever given me. This will be my gift to you, when you can demonstrate to me you deserve her. Meanwhile, you will have to be content with a week in Hawaii, when you both have time on your calendars.”
Everyone in the room sat staring, first at my dad, then at Alfie. Eventually, they were looking at me, waiting for one of us to say something.
Alfie looked like he was in shock. Suddenly, he seemed to collect himself, and ran his fingers through his hair, before clearing his throat. “You have no idea what you just did for me. You have given me the best reason in the world to be a better man.”
His gaze turned to me, and he spoke to my dad but looked into my eyes. “I want to be everything that Lily could ever need and want in life. I will work every single day to make sure that I achieve that. We have both struggled long and hard to get to where we are now, to finally commit to our relationship, and we have an idea there isn’t a clear path to our final destination as a couple yet. I believe we can achieve everything and us, somewhere down the line.”
My dad stood up, and Alfie followed; they shook hands, and I stood and hugged my dad. “Thank you, Dad,” I whispered, wiping a tear from my eye and burying myself into his chest.
I turned to look over at my mom. She was a blubbering mess, so I tried to lighten the mood. “It’s okay Mom, you don’t have to worry. Alfie knows the present is from both of you. Fabulous as he is, Alfie doesn’t think Dad produced me on his own.”
My comment to my mom broke the seriousness of the moment, and all our guests went back to enjoying the present sharing.
When everyone had given their gifts out, Alfie had something for every person there. I was amazed he knew exactly who was going to be there.
For the girls, he had pamper- packs and had arranged for Jack and my mothers, Holly, Mandy, Elle, Rosie, and me to go to a weekend spa in an exclusive resort at Lake Tahoe.
This was to take place before Elle’s wedding. He had also included Elle’s mom in this gift, even though he’d never even met her.
For the XrAid guys, and his own band members, Brett, Neil and Jack, he had arranged a snowboarding weekend at the same time, telling us he’d rented cabins for everyone present, including Layla and Connie.
For my dad and Jack’s dad, Alfie he had arranged helicopter flights over Lake Tahoe and up into the Colorado Mountains.
He then handed out small gifts, which were mainly humorous. When he got to Jack, he presented him with a small dark-haired blow up doll and a bottle of Jack Daniel’s with the comment, “for when Rosie’s not around and you can’t sleep alone.”
Jack took it in good humor and chuckled at Alfie’s ingenuity of getting his point across; that he wasn’t sleeping beside me anymore.
When it came to me, his gift left me breathless. He gave me a box containing a tablet. When I opened it, I looked puzzled. He knew I already had one. He turned it on and opened the gallery icon. I scrolled the gallery, and it began to play a slide show.
He had transferred all the pictures from his tablet to mine on a micro card. What was there made my heart crack. If I ever needed evidence of how much he missed me, it was right here in my lap.
Alfie had made a photographic account to memorize all the places he had been during his international tour. He was standing by the Trevi Fountain in Rome, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Buckingham Palace in London, The Opera House in Sydney, and Times Square in New York, among many others.
He posed as a lone figure in all of the shots, looking miserable. He had adopted the same pose in all of the pictures, standing by the landmark with one arm stretched out at his side.
“Lily, I couldn’t take you with me on that journey, and I understand why, but every moment was a moment I only wanted to share with you. Without you, it was just another tourist attraction. So with that in mind, I filled my days when we weren’t traveling by taking pictures of the places we passed through to catalogue all the sights that weren’t that memorable, because you weren’t with me. Next time we’ll go together. Maybe we can replace these pictures one by one with pictures containing the both of us, because I really want us to build happy memories for when we’re old and grey. Look, see my arm? It was out waiting for you to join me. Next time, it will be cradling you, and I’ll be smiling, because you are with me, and you love me as much as I love you.”
Again, the room was silent, and I sat scrolling through the pictures, speechless that he’d thought of me every day he wasn’t with me.
Eventually, I touched his face and kissed his cheek. “I can’t wait see those places and replace these pictures, because I really do love you.” He grinned and hugged me tightly, before placing a soft kiss against my closed lips.
Alfie nearly fell over when I gave him a gift certificate to a music memorabilia site. It was for a guitar that once belonged to Ronnie Woods of the Rolling Stones. Alfie was overwhelmed. Alfie thought Ronnie was the world’s best guitarist ever, and he was a major influence on Alfie as a musician.
Guitar players were a debate we frequently had, because I thought no one beat Brian May’s playing. At least he was rooting for a British guitarist, so I couldn’t be that hard on him.
Alfie leaned over and whispered, “I’m saving the rest for when we’re alone if that’s okay.”
I smiled and raised my eyebrow
. We seemed to be on the same wavelength. “Me too.” I winked.
Alfie’s eyes widened at my comment, and the sexual innuendo of it wasn’t lost on me. Damn it was going to be a long day.
Chapter 21 – Cheekinis
We ate lunch, and mine and Jack’s parents were the perfect hosts. They somehow managed to make everyone feel special during the day. Even Connie commented that she felt part of the family.
Dad and Alfie sat out on the patio for a while, deep in conversation. My dad looked serious, and Alfie was nodding. I really hoped Dad wasn’t giving Alfie a hard time because of the stuff we went through before. My dad didn’t know the whole story, just that I was seeing him and then we broke up.
Holly and Brett arrived, then Mandy and Neil, so we had a very full house. We played a silly game of charades, and Jack was especially funny when the card he picked to mime was National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. I’m glad he had that one to mime and not me, because I wouldn’t have had a clue what to do with that.
Screaming with laughter, my eyes scanned the room; everyone was having fun. It dawned on me this was the first time I’d seen Lennon really carefree and happy in all the time we’d worked together.
Mandy rigged up the karaoke machine from our place, and the neighbors next door came over and joined us. Their two teenage boys couldn’t believe their luck when their dad came around to complain, and we’d invited them in. They nearly fainted when they saw Alfie. They were massive Crakt Soundzz fans.
My dad had never heard Alfie and knew nothing of their band, but when Alfie sang a ballad, my dad came over and placed his hand on my knee. “I can see why he’s famous. If I was thirty and competing in the world with that, I might have had to kill him.” I grinned at him and gave him a hug.
“No competition Dad. Besides I’ve seen Alfie drive, he barely gets from A to B, never mind flying a helicopter for a living. So I guess he had to be good at something else,” I cooed but was doing a happy dance inside that my dad was becoming a fan of Alfie.
Everything I want: Will Alfie and Lily's love survive?... Page 17
