“Stop, it doesn’t matter now, come on Blossom, it doesn’t matter, just a blip. Let’s get you tidied up and we can do whatever you want.”
“Anna wants to go to Henry’s.” I tell him between breaths.
“Do you?”
“No, not really.” I sob. “I want to stay here but I’d be letting Anna down and she’s only been home such a short while.” I don’t want to be the cause of any more problems.
“She’ll understand. We can always go next week?” He whispers, kissing the top of my wet head.
“If it’s still there, the clubs in a bad way,” I say through the tears, “I will be making Nial an offer to buy him out in the next day or two. If he refuses the club might not be here then!”
“Sssh, no talk of that now. And anyway he’ll accept your offer, I’m sure he will.” I’m wrapped in The Bossman, the man who has helped me move on, show me more love and affection than anyone else, ever.
“Let’s stay in,” he says, “I’ll cook us something, or arrange something anyway.”
He helps me dry and dress before we go downstairs together. Anna’s sat in the kitchen as we walk through.
“Thank you for coming,” Anna smiles at James, “I don’t know what went on this morning, but I’m so pleased you’re here. Are you back together?” She asks, just the slightest of smiles passing her lips.
“We were never really apart!” James says, “Just a little blip. It happens to all couples and today it happened to us, that’s all.” He smiles down at me and holds my hand so tightly. “Nothing’s going to come between us, ever!” He kisses me deeply. Anna blushes
“Get a room!” She hisses as she walks past us and into the hall.
James and I just chuckle, me through my tears, much to her displeasure.
I sit at the island as James makes a pot of tea, “I am sorry you know,” He says, “I didn’t mean to be cross or angry, it was just, well I suppose a man thing you know, it’s my job to provide for you and protect you.”
“I know that’s how you feel,” I mumble, my head down, “maybe I over-reacted, but your look, well it reminded me so much of him. It scared me. I’ll talk to my therapist about it, I know I can’t go on the rest of my life like it, I need to sort myself out. But, James, I can’t be wrapped in cotton wool either, you know that?” I lift my head, looking at him.
He brings the pot of tea to the island and stands beside me, putting his arm around my shoulders, “I know, but I love you Alex. We’ll get through this together, right? You and me against whatever stands in our way, we’ll smash it together!”
“You’re sure? You could be in for a long ride?” I offer him the opportunity to cut and run, now, I really do hope he knows what he’s letting himself in for.
He smiles at me, “Oh shit, what did I say?” He puts his hands to his mouth, looking horrified. Then he laughs the gesture away prompting me to laugh with him.
“That’s better Blossom. And yes, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to be in for a long ride.” He wraps his arms around me and we stand just holding onto each other, my arms wrapped around his well toned body eventually extracting ourselves from each other and taking our drinks into the living room just to relax on the sofa. Just enjoying each other’s company, we don’t talk about today or attempt to analyse what happened, we just sit. Him holding my hand so very tightly.
I think that Anna must have sensed that it was safe to return to the kitchen. I hear her wandering downstairs and through the hall, “I’m hungry.” She announces as she passes the living room door. “What’s with all these strawberries? Can I have some?” She shouts from the kitchen
“Help yourself,” James calls back, “they’re good for you!”
I laugh out loud at his comment and then whisper to him, “Bloody strawberries James. You know I think maybe we have a problem with strawberries – A strawberry fetish?”
He whispers back, “Yes, I think it may be a fetish, especially when it comes to you Alexandra Drake,” he leans further forward against my ear, “just think of all the things I could do, with you naked, totally laid bare and a punnet of strawberries, maybe some melted chocolate and a can of cream. I could pour the melted chocolate over your body, over your breasts, between your legs and then I could trail a strawberry through it. How about a strawberry…..” He doesn’t finish his sentence as Anna appears at the living room door. I sigh out loud feeling totally aroused simply from his words and the brush of his lips against my ear. Anna just looks at us both, frowning disapprovingly.
“Are we still going out?” She asks.
“I don’t know. What do you want to do Alex?” James looks at me.
“I don’t really fancy Henry’s sweetheart. We can see if Gia and Roberto have a table free at Amici?” I suggest.
“That’d be good. I’m tired, but can we go early, I’d like to get an early night if I can.” She pops a strawberry into her mouth. Oh God, another one with a strawberry fetish, is it catching?
“I’ll call them now, see if they can fit us in.” James pulls his phone from his pocket.
The rest of the afternoon passes quickly and we’re soon on our way to Amici. “You haven’t met Gia and Roberto yet and they’d love to see you. They’re my real Uncle and Aunt.” I explain to Anna in the back.
“So what are they to you James?” Anna asks.
“Nothing. No blood relative at all. Roberto was my father’s business partner, my dad died when I was eighteen and they sort of looked after me for a while. They’ve no children of their own, and well I suppose I’d always known them, they’d always been around and we just got closer.” James explains.
Anna leans forward between the two front seats, “Right. So mum’s birth father is Gia’s brother?” She asks.
“No, my father, Ramiro is Roberto’s brother” I tell her.
“Oh, I see,” I can see the cogs of her mind spinning at an incredible pace. “When are we going to Birmingham, to sort an apartment out? I’ve only got few weeks before I need to go. There’s loads of property details. Have you looked through any of them?”
“No, I haven’t looked yet. But we can go this week. We’ll have a look at the property particulars when we get back and make some appointments for Tuesday. We can call the agents on Monday or tomorrow if they’re open? I could do with meeting up with Shauna in Birmingham anyway. We could even stay over somewhere, do two days. What do you think?” I turn my head towards her.
“Fine with me.” Anna agrees as she sits back.
We’re soon at the little bistro and even though it’s early the tables downstairs are mostly occupied. Roberto walks down the centre of the restaurant.
“Alex, James.” His greeting is warm as usual, his arms outstretched, “I have your usual table for you. This must be Anna.” He takes my daughters hand and kisses it gently on the back.
“Anna, this is Roberto,” I introduce them to each other, “he’s your Great Uncle!”
“Hey, less of the Great, it makes me sound too old!” He gives me a stern look. I shrug my shoulders, he’s her great Uncle, no escaping it.
I hear Gia rambling away at someone in the kitchen and then she appears down the centre of the restaurant behind her husband.
“Hello, hello. I’m so pleased you came,” she opens her arms and gives me such a lovely hug and tweaks James’ cheek. “Anna?” She looks at Anna, “You are so like Ramiro, so like him.” She throws her hands to her face and mutters away in Italian, shaking her head as she does.
“Roberto, she’s just like Ramiro when he was a young man, don’t you think?” She’s so excited that we have arrived I think.
Anna’s a little dumb-struck and overwhelmed, she looks confused.
We sit at what is now regarded as our usual table and study the menu, Roberto arrives with a bottle of red wine and proceeds to pour for all three of us.
“Please may I have white?” Anna covers the top of her glass with her hand.
“Of course, not a problem,
” Roberto places a hand on her shoulder, “she really is just like my brother, and I’m sure a little like my Mother too!”
He wanders off with a shake of his head muttering and smiling as he goes, I look at Anna, I think she may be a little uncomfortable with all the attention she is receiving, mostly about who she does and doesn’t look like!
“Is that where my skin comes from?” She asks, “From that side of the family?”
“I have no doubt sweetheart, no doubt at all. Although look at me, I go brown in the summer but that’s it, white as white most of the time!”
James laughs at us both, he’s taking it all in as we sit jabbering about this and that. I think Anna is happy with her newly found family, real family, something that she’s never experienced as Lewis always ensured we were remote from any relatives.
James suggests he orders for us all and we agree. He then disappears to the back of the restaurant and into the kitchen making his excuses as he goes.
Anna and I continue our discussion about going to Birmingham and apartment hunting, what she expects from an apartment, which isn’t much considering the handsome budget I’ve set. She may change her mind when she sees some of the properties. As we reach a natural lull in our conversation I take a deep drink of the wine that Roberto has selected and listen to Andrea Bocelli singing Con te partiro, clearly an artist that Gia and Roberto favour as he’s always being played in the bistro.
James returns after about twenty minutes and takes his seat, sipping his wine as he sits.
“Where’ve you been?” I ask.
“Just talking to some of the old staff in the back, that’s all.” He lifts his napkin and places it on his lap.
We talk about our forthcoming apartment hunting telling James what we have discussed and what Anna expects from her new apartment when our starters arrive.
“This is good.” Anna says as she tucks into her Calamari. The food is good, the company is good and I begin to realise what a catastrophic mistake I made earlier today, if Anna hadn’t of been there it would have been devastating to both James and me. I was stupid, I realise that now, totally stupid allowing Lewis to still control my life. He’s got to go! Maybe he’ll go once the divorce is finalised and I am legally no longer attached to him. I make another mental note to discuss this with my therapist.
Once we’ve finished our starters we consume more wine and before long our mains arrive. Anna tucks in hungrily, whilst I don’t think I’ll be able to finish mine!
As I sit here in this little restaurant I realise how happy I am, content – well almost, if you can be almost content because there is one thing stopping me moving on. The knots in my stomach have gone and I no longer feel choked as I did earlier. I just pray to God that I can move on, that my life will change.
The restaurant is now heaving, every table full, it’s noisy and I struggle to hear what James and Anna are talking about as they chat about this and that, I’m so pleased they get on so well together, whilst Anna and her father were close, well sort of close, he was never really there and the bond that should have been formed between a daughter and her father never fully, well materialised I suppose.
Once Anna and James have finished their mains and I’ve admitted defeat our plates are cleared and I am aware of a tall young man approaching our table, not with desert menu’s but a silver wine bucket on a stand, in it appears to be a bottle of fizz. He places it down at the side of our table and leaves. One of the young girls that I recognise from around the place then appears with a large bowl of strawberries “You wanted these James?” She says as she places them on the table. Bloody strawberries! I tell you, there’s a problem there! Does he need therapy for his strawberry addiction? Can you be addicted to fruit?
James stands, “Excuse me a moment.” He says as he walks into the kitchen area. He returns a few minutes later, I notice the music has stopped the only sound is of people chatting, cutlery scraping and tapping on plates and bowls and the clinking of glasses. He walks over to our table and totally unexpectedly drops down on one knee. Anna throws her hands over her mouth, “Oh mum!” She gasps.
I look around, the restaurant has gone quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Everyone has stopped eating, there’s no clattering, the sound of knives and forks against stopped, the kitchen gone quiet, Gia and Roberto stand in the corner, holding hands, I see Gia’s face, tears roll down her plump cheeks and then I look at My James, the Bossman who is knelt before me, he looks up at me and takes my hand.
“Alexandra Drake – Alex. You know how I feel about you, you complete me. Without you I am only half of what I can be. I love you with all of my heart, I want to stand by you, protect you, worship you. I’ll always be here for you, I’ll support you in whatever you do, walk beside you wherever you go but most of all Alex, I love you for who you are. Alex will you marry me?”
If silence could be any more silent, then that’s how it is. Quieter than quiet. The whole restaurant waits for my answer. I look around at Anna, Gia and Roberto and unknown faces, all willing me to say yes and then I look at my lover, my very best friend.
I drop down from my chair and kneel before him. Putting my arms around his neck I pull him into a deep and passionate kiss. He pulls me closer before drawing back. His speaks with his eyes “well?”
“Yes, James. Yes, I’ll marry you.” My voice, barely a whisper.
The place erupts. Anna screams, jumping up and clapping. She’s the first to fling her arms around both me and James, “I’m so happy for you mum!”
Then Gia and Roberto rush over, hugging us both tightly. James reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small ring case, it’s the same one that we had this morning but when he opens it it’s a different ring. I look at him, questioningly, “Oh!”
“Don’t you like it?” He asks.
I look at the huge princess cut pink diamond seated between two smaller white diamonds, all set in yellow gold. “It’s gorgeous James, absolutely gorgeous…But how?”
“I took it back and changed it. The one we chose would have had bad memories, we couldn’t have that! So this is totally different!” He slips the ring onto my finger, “I love you.”
I hug him and whisper, “You think of everything don’t you? I do love you, totally and completely.”
“Not as much as I love you!” He smiles, looking down at me. Of course, he has to have the last word.
As if on cue, and I have no doubt pre-arranged Stephen Curtis Chapman starts singing I will be here. I shift myself back onto my chair feeling totally overwhelmed, the knotted feeling of this afternoon in my stomach replaced with one of sheer and total excitement, I feel alive.
James stands and opens what I can now see is Prosecco, he hands glasses to Anna, Gia and Roberto before handing one to me with a kiss and one for himself.
“Another few bottles I think.” Roberto calls as he goes into the back of the restaurant. Before I know what’s happening every diner has a glass of fizz and we’re being toasted by just about everybody, receiving congratulations from every direction from people I don’t even know. I feel a solitary tear trickle down my cheek, I am so very happy.
Chapter 20
We arrive home at around 10pm, it’s early but then we expected it to be. Anna is shattered and heads straight off to bed, I doubt we’ll hear from her until tomorrow. Before leaving Amici I confirm the arrangements for Gia and Roberto to come over for Sunday lunch tomorrow, I have that huge rib of beef, plenty to go around it’ll be really good to have a proper family lunch, although it would have been nice to have Ramiro here too.
Gia explained that he has to apply for a passport and although they can obtain one relatively quickly, it still may still be a week or two before he can get over, I really do hope it’s quick as I would have liked him to meet Anna before she heads off to uni., I hope they can work it so that he can visit before she leaves. The next time she’ll be at home will be Christmas!
James and I head upstairs a little after Anna. I check on her bef
ore I go through to our room, she’s fast asleep already. As I walk along the landing I look at my beautiful ring, it’s stunning there are no words to describe it, truly beautiful, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it.
I undress and brush my teeth, using a baby wipe I remove what little make up I wear and hang my clothes. I’m stood in front of my wardrobe in my new underwear as James grabs me from behind pulling me close. His hands finding their way to my breasts, he cups each of them over my bra, massaging gently. His hands travel down my stomach to the top of my knickers, his thumbs working their way under the elastic, further down in between my flesh and the silk, he tuts, “You still haven’t waxed Alex. What are we going to do with you?” He breathes against my neck.
“I don’t know where to go - which beauty therapist to use.” I make excuses.
“Use the one at the hotel.” He suggests.
“Not on your life – I know her, I can’t have someone I know seeing my bits.” I huff.
“I could always see to it again?” He suggests, laughing.
“No, I’ll make an appointment, on Monday I’ll sort it. I promise!” I’m grovelling now, I know I am.
“Good. Now, I have strawberries and chocolate sauce and a can of cream. Where shall we start?” He growls, “I know, we lose these first.”
He unclips my bra from behind and lets it drop to the floor, then he eases my knickers down my legs, “Step out,” he says as he reaches my ankles.
“Bed!” He commands. I walk over to our bed, “Lie down,” and as usual, I comply.
Barefoot he walks over to me losing the jeans and white shirt as he goes, tossing them on the floor he stands before me. I note a semi-hard cock just jutting towards me. His chest, so defined and those strong, powerful legs. Turning he reaches for his bowl of strawberries, those bloody strawberries of his and I see that wonderful arse, the backside that I find I cannot take my eyes off when he walks in front of me, I can’t resist. Sitting up I slap his backside quickly and sharply.
Loving Alex (The Alexandra Drake Series) Page 18
