Love Me? The Trust Me? Trilogy (5 page)

I feel so out of place. I'm not used to being taken out to a restaurant like this.

He smiles at me tenderly. My knees feel weak, even though I'm sitting.

"I'm starving."

We let each other's hands go and take a look at the menu. Everything is very fancy. I've no idea what most of it means. I think maybe it's in French or something.

"I've no idea what any of this is," I whisper to him.

He chuckles. "Neither did I when I came here as a child. I'll order for you if you like." He shuts his menu and I look at him with a worried look.

"Don't worry. I won't order the escargot."

"I
trust
you."

He looks elated. I'm guessing because I used my forbidden word,
trust.
The waiter moves to our table and takes our order. We talk generally about how much we missed and love each other. Our meals are served, and mine is, of course, mouth-wateringly delicious. We eat our meals and drink our expensive champagne. I shift the conversation to something a little more stressful, even though we had a small discussion in bed earlier; I want to watch his reaction. "How do you feel about going back to work on Monday, really?"

His face crinkles. "Not sure. It'll be strange." I see an anxious look on his face. He shifts in his seat, exhales, and bites his lip.

"Are you sure you're ready to go back?"

"You'll be there, which helps considerably. I'm sure I'll be fine. You always tend to keep me focused on the important things."

I hold his hand tighter.

"Are
you
ready to go back to your job with us?"

Instantly, my mind wanders straight back to when Brielle and I were listening to Matthew and Rachelle talking about their plot to take Aiden away from me. I feel a cold shiver go through my body.

"Jeni?" he asks, concerned.

"I'll be fine knowing you're there with me."

He moves my hand up to his mouth to kiss it tenderly. "A toast," he announces.

I raise my glass to his.

"To the most beautiful, caring, and life-changing woman I've ever met."

I clink my glass to his.

"To the best boyfriend a woman could ask for."

We both take sips from our flutes. The champagne tastes crisp, clean, and is chilled to perfection.

I look at the time on my cell; it's ten forty-five p.m. I look around the dining room, and to my surprise, we're sitting alone in the great expanse of the room. He notices me looking around and does the same.

"I guess we'd better let these guys close up for the night." He stands and walks around to my chair, pulling it out for me to stand up.

"Thank you."

He takes my hand and leads me to the maître d' desk.

"Thank you, Thomas. Sorry for keeping you here late this evening."

"No, not at all, Mr. O'Connell. It was our pleasure."

"Thank you, Thomas. Everything was lovely," I say.

"Glad you enjoyed your time here."

"Give my regards to Georgia and the kids," Aiden says.

"Yes, sir, I will. Goodnight, sir, ma'am."

"Goodnight." We both say as we walk to the elevator and I push the button.

The door opens, and we walk in. He puts his arm around me, pulling me toward him so we are face to face, our lips millimeters apart.

"What would I do without you?"

"Get more sleep."

He gently kisses my lips. "Who needs sleep anyway?"

"Not you apparently."

"It's over-rated."

I lean in closer and kiss him, hard. The elevator chimes, and the doors open. I quickly back away and probably look about as guilty as the young girl did when the elevator doors opened on them. He chuckles at me, takes my hand, and leads me outside.

"Thank you for dinner. It was wonderful."

"Only the best for my girl. You should know that by now." He pulls out his cell from his pocket and sends a text message to Mike. He positions himself behind me, embracing me closely and resting his chin on my shoulder. I wrap my arms over his as he holds on to me tightly.

"I thought ..." He pauses, making me turn my face to the side to meet his. "I thought I was going to be in there for seven years and I was going to lose you."

I turn my whole body to face him, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Stop it, don't even think like that. You're out now, and I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I love you, and I mean it when I say it."

"I can't believe they set me up like that."

"Listen to me. They're out of our lives; you have nothing to worry about. I know it's hard to think that someone you've known for so long could do this to you, but you have to let go of any anger you have toward them. If you don't, it'll bottle up inside you, and then it'll eat you from the inside out. Trust me. I know how bottling up misery can be bad for you," I say, thinking of my ex, Jason, and the mess I was in.

"I love how you always keep me focused. You help me just by being here with me, now, in this moment together."

Mike pulls up to the curb. I lean forward and gently kiss Aiden, stoking his face. We hold each other closely. Mike walks around and opens the door. Eventually we part and get into the car. By the time we get back to the apartment, it's after eleven p.m., and even though we've been sleeping on and off all day, we decide to go to bed, completely exhausted.

***

Time passes quickly. We spend our days and nights with each other in the apartment sleeping, watching movies, or making love. We never lose sight of each other or move from within the other's grasp. The time is spent holding each other tightly. The time spent apart has taken its toll on our relationship. It's as if we can't get enough of each other.

Chapter 3

A sense of nervousness engulfs me. I remember today is
the
day we go back to the office. I can't help but feel worried about how he'll react. As a matter of fact, I can't help wondering how I'll react too. I hope I'm able to help him through today. He's not had a lot of contact with his father. I know he's harboring resentment, which I cannot blame him for. I feel it's my responsibility to make sure that he gets back on the right track with his father. Somehow I want to see their relationship improve. It seems that, since he met me, his relationship with Alistair has been rocky, at best. Every argument has been about me. Every upset word seems to somehow relate back to me. I feel responsible.

He slowly pulls me closer to him, kissing me on my shoulder. "Morning, beautiful."

"Morning."

"Let's quit work and stay in bed forever. What do you say?"

"But how would we pay for food, bills, gasoline and—"

"Okay, okay. I get it, spoil sport."

I giggle and kiss him gently on his soft lips. Just because it's not a logical idea doesn't mean I don't like it.

"First day back at work, how do you really feel about it?"

"I'll be alright as long as I know you're there to keep me focused. How are you feeling about it?"

"Don't worry about me. I wasn't the one they took away in handcuffs."

He leans over me and kisses me gently. "I'm fine. Nothing to worry about." He tries to reassure me. I sit up in our bed, sigh and fake a smile. I get up and head to the closet and pull out our clothes for the day. I choose a gray suit with a white shirt and gray tie for Aiden and a black skirt and white top for myself. I place them on the bed as he slowly gets up. I swear I don't know how he managed to get up for work before I came along. He stands in front of me in all his naked glory. He smiles at me, knowing that I'm staring at his masculine physique.

"Liking the view?"

"Loving it."

He moves closer and pulls my body against his. He moves my hair from my shoulder and gently kisses my neck. My eyes close in reaction to his touch. My lips part as I start to feel an ache in my core. He slowly kisses up my neck to the edge of my jaw and then across my cheek until his lips meet mine. His kiss is slow and tender. He holds me around my waist, tight, so tight. Every part of my body is against his. I feel his erection starting to grow against me while we kiss softly.

"Babe," I whisper through muffled kisses.

"Mmm," he moans back.

I move my arms so they're gripping his strong biceps, and I slowly push him away from me. "We have to get ready for work."

He looks at me pouting his bottom lip, making me giggle. I roll my eyes at him and kiss him once more quickly on the lips.

"Tease," he whispers into my mouth.

"You think that was teasing? Wait for this." I push him onto the bed. He grins and raises his eyebrows. I crawl on top of him, kissing from his hips up his stomach to his collarbone, along his jaw, and finally making my way to his mouth. I straddle him. I kiss him, forcing my tongue into his mouth. He groans loudly. His hands make their way to my ass as I sit atop his groin. I feel his erection growing again beneath me. I start to move my hips slowly, grinding circles on top of him. He moans deeply in response.

"You still think I'm a tease?" I ask seductively, kissing him stronger. His breathing starts to quicken as I move my hips a little faster on top of him.

"I think you're beautiful," he says breathlessly.

I take my lips from his and sit up, still straddling him. He looks at me intently.

"We have to get ready for work now," I say with a smirk.

"Are you kidding me?"

I get off him, stand up, and walk to the end of the bed. I dress while he stares at me. He finally smiles and sits up.

"You. Are. Trouble. Jenifer Taylor, I'm going to be horny all day now because of your little stunt," he says with a slight chuckle.

"I know, but you love me anyway."

"Yeah, I suppose I do." He walks over and kisses me on the cheek.

Once dressed, we walk to the kitchen, eat breakfast, and then make our way down to the parking garage, where Mike awaits us patiently.

"Morning, Mike."

"Good morning, Miss Taylor, Mr. O'Connell," he says, dipping his hat.

***

On arrival at the office, I feel my nerves wash over me. I stumble from the car. I'm shaking all over. Aiden must be really good at hiding his stress. Either that or he really isn't feeling stressed at all.

"You ready?" he asks, taking my hand.

I gulp a lump down my throat, and I don't answer him.

We start to walk. I feel my breathing becoming shallow, almost non-existent as we walk up the stairs. He looks down at me and stops.

"Are you okay?"

I try not to show him how scared I am, so I nod.

"Jeni, talk to me. I can tell that you are not alright."

I turn and look at him.

"I know you're scared, but nothing is going to happen. We're both safe, and no one is going to hurt you."

"It's not that I think someone is going to hurt me. It's the memory of you being taken from me that's distressing."

He pulls me into a tight embrace.

"I know it was terrible, what I put you through. I'm never going to leave you again, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I'm not going anywhere, Jeni." He kisses me and takes my hand. We continue up the stairs. Walking through the sliding doors, we enter the reception area where Josie and the other girl sit at the main desk. We walk to the elevators and I notice Josie eyeing Aiden lovingly. I really don't know what her problem is. She seems as though she's really after him, but he seems oblivious to it.

"Glad you're back, Mr. O'Connell," she says, fluttering her eyelashes.

"Thanks, Josie, glad to be back."

We enter the elevator.

"It's good to know someone still loves you, huh?"

He pulls me close to him while the doors shut. He turns to face me and gently kisses me again.

"I love you, Jenifer Taylor. Only you."

"I love you too," I murmur back to him.

The doors open, we quickly separate from each other and walk into the main area. My breath catches and I bite my bottom lip seeing the dead flowers on my desk. He puts his arm around me, and we continue toward his office.

I notice that his name plaque has been removed from his door. "Why is your name plaque gone?"

"I have no idea."

He opens his office door, and we walk into a completely empty space. Everything has been removed. It's a room, a vast, empty room. I look at him to see if he's as shocked and confused as I am. He walks back out toward my desk.

"Everything is gone from here as well." He picks up the phone and dials. "Hey, it's me. What's going on with my office?" He sounds angry. He listens to the voice on the other end of the line; I've no idea who he's talking to. "We'll come up now." He puts the phone down.

"Who was that?"

"Father. He wants to talk to both of us in his office."

I look at him and fake a smile through my rising fear. "Guess we'd better go see him then."

"Wonder what's going on," he says, sounding worried.

We walk into the elevator, and Aiden pushes the button. The soft music playing in the elevator turns to a somber, slow violin solo, which doesn't help my anxiety levels. He takes my hand while we ride the elevator in silence. The doors open. I've never been to this floor. It has the two main offices opposite each other. The two PA desks sit at the front, like on our level. The whole floor is more sophisticated, way more sophisticated. The wood is so polished I can see my reflection, and there isn't an ounce of dust to be seen anywhere. Brielle sits at the desk on the left.

"Hey, Bree," Aiden says loudly. She looks up from her desk, jumps out of her chair, and runs over.

"Oh, big brother, it's so good to see you and to have you here. I'm so glad you're out of jail." She hugs him tightly.

"This place is kind of like a jail, just a bit more posh." She hits him on the arm letting him go. She turns to me and lunges into another embrace.

"Oh, Jeni, I'm glad you're here too. We're going to have so much fun."

I look at Aiden, confused; he shrugs.

"You're here, good," Alistair says as he walks out of his office. He notices Bree still hanging from me. "God, Bree, act your age."

She instantly lets go of me and walks back to her desk. She looks at me behind her father's back and sticks her tongue out at him. Alistair starts to talk and I try to hide my smile.