Everything I want: Will Alfie and Lily's love survive?... (11 page)

I began grinding my heat against his. He was solid beneath the material. He grunted and groaned as we continued to turn each other on. The soft moans we made and the occasional rustle of material only heightened the passion betwee
n us.

We were getting carried away. I placed my hands on his chest and pushed myself off of him. “Sorry,” I mum
bled.

“Venite qui e baciami,” he murmured pulling me toward him again. He said it with so much passion I me
lted.

“Oh, God,” I groaned. Don’t talk to me in Italian.” His voice and the way he was looking at me was very seductive. “What did you
say?”

He smirked, but there was passion in his eyes. “Come here and kiss me.” I didn’t say anything else, just moved closer again, and stared into his hooded eyes. He pulled me closer and kissed me
hard.

When he broke the kiss, he began stroking my back, allowing his fingers to run up and down the ridges of my spine. “Your skin is incredible. I love the way you
feel.”

He drew in a sharp breath. I smiled against his neck and lifted my face to look at his eyes. They were incredible. The color of dark chocolate, set against the whitest background. They were framed by dark thick eye lashes, and his facial features were per
fect.

Luca was true to his word. We made out but, apart from his hand on my ass, it was me that almost lost control. He didn’t try to take things fur
ther.

I was pleased, but frustrated at the same time. So goodness knows how he had been feeling about that. I stayed the night with him. We even slept in the same bed, but we didn’t take things any fur
ther.

Chapter 11
– Mutual rewards

W
hen I woke, Luca was sleeping soundly beside me. His face was peaceful. He must have been exhausted after traveling yesterday, and I did briefly feel him get up in the night, probably out of sorts with the time difference between Europe and the East c
oast.

Six hours was a big difference to deal with; I knew that from my experiences traveling back and forth. The fact that he was knocked out gave me a chance to study him as he s
lept.

With his beautiful olive skin, Luca looked amazing and, from my memory of last night, felt every bit as good as it looked. He had flawless tones and although it was dark, the hair covering his arms and torso wasn’t exces
sive.

He had some slight hair on his lower abs and a trail disappearing into his boxers. Other than that, he looked quite smooth everywhere apart from the shadow of growth on his
chin.

Luca facial hair was spikey toward the end of the night, last night, but damn if it didn’t make him even sexier to loo
k at.

Oh and his hands, God, his hands were incredible. Large and soft, not a hint of callouses; the pads were like silk, skimming across my
skin.

He rolled over onto his side and opened his eyes. “Were you staring at me?” His gruff morning voice with that smooth- as- chocolate panty melting accent, added to his sex ap
peal.

I snickered. “What? What’s funny?” he said with some humor in his croaky v
oice.

“Just thinking how you could be a movie star with your great l
ooks.”

He chuckled. “Damn, maybe I should just move right on over to Hollywood
, eh?”

I grinned. “Don’t you dare.” His arm swept under my neck, and he pulled me close. “Hmm, showing signs of being clingy already, I may have to watch that.” He chuc
kled.

He leaned in to kiss me, and I pressed my mouth closed. “I have morning breath,” I muttered through closed
lips.

“So do I and we both ate garlic last night. I don’t care. I’m not getting up to brush my teeth to kiss you, it would take too long. Besides after a few minutes I’ll have you forgetting all about that.” He smirked. His mouth crushed into mine, and he was right, I never noticed after a few seconds, I was too busy coping with my hormones and fighting the feelings of climbing inside
him.

Luca rolled away, his breath ragged. “Go shower, I’ll make some breakfast.” His voice was abrupt, but I knew he wasn’t mad. He just wanted to keep himself under con
trol.

I smiled. “I might just stay dirty today,” I teased, stretching out on the
bed.

“Move it, or you’ll be dirty in more ways than you can imagine, belladonna,” he scowled, but he was grinning. Luca shoved me to the edge of the bed. “I’m fighting for control here, so don’t pus
h it.”

We had spent over five weeks getting to know one another. I had slept in his bed, and he in mine, many times since that first night, but we still hadn’t gone past second base, and to be honest, it was killing both o
f us.

I felt sure that Luca had to be taking care of himself in some way, from the amount of self- control he was demonstra
ting.

Showered and dressed, we had breakfast before Luca dropped me off at home. He had business in Fort Lauderdale, and I was meeting with the girls at my apart
ment.

It was almost Christmas, and Mandy, Holly, Elle, and I were discussing some party nights out together. The subject of Luca came up, and I had been thinking about wanting to take things further for a couple of weeks, but the thought of hurting him held me
back.

XrAid was going on tour in a couple of weeks, and the long distance thing was going to be very difficult. Luca said he was okay with it, and that he could begin to synchronize his schedule more in line with mine as the year wen
t on.

My feelings were that things weren’t right with Elle. The vibe she was giving off made me think she was hiding something fro
m me.

We were preparing some dips and snacks on a tray, while Mandy and Holly were plugging in the karaoke machine, arguing over the songs they wanted to
sing.

I asked Elle if she was okay, then flat-out told her to spit out what was worrying her. “Drew has asked me to marry him,” she said without expres
sion.

The way she said it told me; this was about me. She would have been ecstatic to share her news with me under normal circumsta
nces.

I put the knife down I was using and flung my arms around her. “Congratulations, Elle,” I squealed. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me be
fore?”

I knew why, and I was hurt. She felt she couldn’t share one of the most important events of her life with me. I knew she was trying to spare my feel
ings.

Cutting the celery for the dips again, “Elle, I am so happy for you both. Don’t ever let what happened between Alfie and I affect what you and Drew have. I’m okay with the choices I’ve made. I’ve got Luca
now.”

Elle started crying and placed her head on my shoulder. “Sorry, Lily. I just didn’t know what to say. I know how long you struggled with all that shit about A
lfie.”

Her brows bunched again. “What, Elle?” I asked, and her eyes searched my
face.

“I wanted to ask you something, but I don’t want you to have to say yes, if you feel uncomfortable in any
way.”

“S
hoot!”

Swallowing, Elle took my hand. “I want you to be my maid of honor, but Alfie is the best man. I don’t want to put you on the spot. I had an argument with Drew that I’d known you first, but as soon as Drew told Alfie, he felt obliged to ask him right away. I think Drew feels the same about you guys and doesn’t want to make things worse for either of
you.”

I hugged Elle again. “You won’t get any drama from me. I can do this. No problem. You are my best friend Elle. Well, apart from Jack, and he doesn’t count this time, because he’s a
boy.”

Elle smirked. “Oh Jeez, you don’t think he’ll want to be a bridesmaid do you?” We both burst out laug
hing.

“Hell, with Jack, honey? You never can tell.” I giggled at her wit, but with Jack, there was an outside chance that he’d want a role in the limel
ight.

Elle asked Mandy and Holly to be bridesmaids as well. They were amazed to be considered. Elle knew that Maddie, our friend in London, wouldn’t make the trip out to the USA for the wed
ding.

She had a toddler to think about and was already pregnant again. Emily, our other female friend, was currently working on a production for a local theatre group, and her world revolved around musical the
atre.

She wouldn’t be available for the next few months, and Elle didn’t want to plan her wedding to Emily’s
tune.

I was delighted that Mandy and Holly were going to be with me in the bridal party. Apart from them being my friends, with Alfie being the best man, it would be important for them to have my back if I needed
them.

When we were talking, I knew I had to make this okay for Elle. We couldn’t have any bad feeling between us. It would have created a horrible atmosphere for Drew and Elle’s wedding. I would hate for that to ha
ppen.

All this stuff between Alfie and me had gone on long enough. We needed to be okay in the same room as each other, if only for their s
akes.

“Does Alfie still have the same phone nu
mber?”

Elle’s eyes widened. “Yeah, why? I shouldn’t tell you this, but when they hit the big time, the ‘suits’ wanted them all to have new numbers. Alfie wouldn’t change his. He didn’t want to miss you if you ever wanted to call
him.”

My heart stuttered then I felt sick again. It was such a sad statement, because it meant he’d been waiting to hear from me, just like sometimes I stared at my phone waiting for him to
call.

I, on the other hand, did something to deal with that craving. I changed my number, not once but twice, since I had called him that last
time.

“I’m going to call him. We all need to blow this thing wide open and be the adults we are. He’s with someone else. I’m with someone else. You and Drew are getting married. I’m not having one of the most important people in my life cut out, because we didn’t work
out.”

Looking at the girls, their mouths were gaping wide. Holly stood up and walked over to me. She felt my forehead then hugged herself. “Do you have a fever, h
oney?”

Smirking, I said, “I’m serious. Look, give me my
cell.”

Before I could back down, I called the number that was on my list of contacts. Yep, he was still in my phone, and my heart was pounding once I’d pressed the bu
tton.

The last time I had called it was when I had ended things between us, but it ported to each new phone I’d had along with all the other numbers. I never deleted it again after he punched it in again when we got together again last
time.

The line connected and Alfie answered on the fifth ring. “Yeah?” It occurred to me that he didn’t know who was calling him. When I heard his voice, I almost hun
g up.

My lips were dry, and my eyes flicked to the girls who were all sitting holding their breaths, waiting to hear what I was going to
say.

Clearing my throat, as I held the phone against my chest so that he couldn’t hear me, “Alfie, it’s me,
Lily.”

I heard the disbelief in his voice when he said, “Hey, it’s really you?” His voice sounded gentle, melodic, and soot
hing.

My eyes closed at the sound of his voice, but I forced myself to focus on the task at
hand.

My heart was racing. A longing to see him again flooded my senses. I wasn’t going to get hung up on how much I loved him, or how not being with him made me ache a
gain.

Acutely aware that he hadn’t said my name, I wondered if he hadn’t because Zoe was with him. “Can you talk?” I heard rustling and then a click as if he’d gone out
side.

Then I could hear a lawn mower in the distance. Where he was, it must have been a little windy, and the microphone in his phone was picking it up. “I can now,” he cooed down the p
hone.

I wasn’t going to give him any time to think I wanted anything more than what this call was about. “I need to talk with you about Elle and
Drew.”

Alfie’s tone was a little clipped, and I could imagine his jawline flexing. “What about them?” I exhaled and told him that I was maid of honor, and he was the best
man.

I heard him chuckle, but I ignored it. “Alfie whatever our differences, we will have to spend time together to help Elle and Drew to plan. We have to be mature about this and allow our friends the respect to plan their perfect day. I know that’s going to mean parties and activities leading up to the big
day.”

He listened silently. “We all have time off over Christmas, let’s plan some nights out. We need to show them we can do this. They have made their choices of the people they want to stand up for them. The rest is up to us, Alfie. We have to show them they chose
well.”

Feeling proud, I could do this for Elle, until I heard Alfie’s reply to my suggestion. It wasn’t the reply I needed. “Lily, I’ll do whatever it takes to spend some time with
you.”

I swallowed hard and pressed on. “This isn’t so that we can spend time together, Alfie. I’m doing this to make our friends feel happy at having us in the same room together for their big
day.”

He let out a long breath. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make Drew and Elle happy,” he murm
ured.

“Great, make sure Zoe has plenty of rest. Us girls are going to party hard from now onwards. Oh, and Alfie, I will make sure that Zoe feels part of the group, just make sure you do the same with
Luca.”

Alfie growled, “You want me to be friends with some other guy that’s fucking you, Lily? Are you out of your tiny mind? You really think I can do
that?”

I didn’t correct him about how Luca and I were. “Not only do I expect it, but for Drew and Elle, you have to d
o it.”

The conversation drifted, and he asked me how I was doing, and I knew the conversation was leading to something I wouldn’t want to talk about
, us.

I politely told him I was with the girls, and they were waiting to eat. “I’ll call you tomorrow, have a great night,” he said, his voice sounded sarcastic. “Thanks,” I gushed trying to sound enthusiastic and hung up, trembling in
side.

Elle hugged me hard. “You don’t know what this means to me,” she c
ooed.