Three Thousand Miles (25 page)

“Michael, what are you doing here?” I ask in a kind tone. He smiles deeply at me as he takes the seat next to me. As I stare at him, I am reminded of my dream. The fluid dancing and his gentle words are plaguing my mind. I look into his piercing blue eyes and my heart races a little at the sight of them. I try to shake these thoughts from my mind, as I hate it when they take over me.

“I am here on
business, my father sent me. What are you doing here?” He says in his alluring British accent. I stare more at him and my eyes feel as if they might fall out of my head. His crisp black suit fits him like a glove and I cannot believe his beauty. I again try to focus my mind onto his words and not his looks.

“I am here with Adrian, where is Katharine?” I ask trying to remind myself that he has girlfriend and that I have a boyfriend.

“Katharine is here, I think she went to the ladies room. Where is Adrian?” I stare franticly around but Adrian is nowhere in sight and I am worried about what he will think of Michael being here. I bring myself back into the moment and I turn back to Michael.

“How have you been,” I ask. Michael gently laughs at me and I feel a little insulted by his actions.

“Oh Alanna
,
why do you care, golden boy is back, so why bother with me?” He says very smugly. I feel uneasy by his words and I am not sure how to respond. I take a deep breath and I begin to tell him how I feel.

“Michael what did I say about the rude comments about Adrian?” I protest as I remind him of our deal. I watch as he rolls his eyes at me. I frown
at him and he laughs again
.

“Okay I am sorry, but I couldn’t resist that one.” He says as he holds his hands up apologetically. I lightly smile at him and despite my annoyance with him, I am still glad that he is here.

“So how do you like Miami?” I ask him. He smiles at me and says.

“Lots of hot girls in Miami,” I again frown at him.

“May I remind you that you are with Katharine?” He smiles at me and then he leaps out of his seat. I quickly turn around to see what has him rattled and that is when I notice Katharine standing behind me. I glance at her as she tightly grips onto Michael. It is almost as if she is staking her claim on him and that he belongs to her. I try to shake off my annoyance of her as she begins to talk.

“Alanna, it’s nice to see you. I had no idea that you would be here tonight. Did you come alone?” I feel even more annoyed with her now after hearing her tone. She stands smugly in a floor length gold ball gown, her hair is high in a tight bun and she is dripping in diamonds. I force out a smile and glance around again in search of Adrian. I still do not see him and I realise that my pause is lasting too long.

“I am with Adrian,” I say smoothly. Katharine flashes me a fake smile as she stares me up and down. I must say that I do not really care for this side to her. She is very smug and I feel that she thinks that she is better now that she is with Michael. If only she knew that, he does not really love her. I hate myself for thinking like that Katharine is my friend and I care about her. However, what I am thinking is true and I perish at the thought of it. I stand awkwardly as Katharine gently kisses Michael. I shift myself around until she breaks free of him. I glare at her and then I see Adrian walking towards us. I smile at the sight of him as he glides over to me. Adrian immediately greets me with a kiss as he pulls me tightly towards him. I watch as Michael grips Katharine tighter, his eyes are intense and I feel as if it is almost a competition for him. Adrian
reaches out his hand and Michael quickly shakes it. I take a deep breath as I watch
the two
executives.

“I wasn’t aware that you would be here this weekend. Did Charles send you?” Adrian asks in a smooth tone. Michael stands motionless as he responds.

“Yes my father instructed me to come this weekend. Have you spoken to him
,
lately?” Adrian’s grip on me tightens and I gaze up into his green eyes. They look intense and I can tell that something is troubling him.

“I briefly spoke with him but given the circumstances it’s difficult right now.” I quickly glance at him and I cannot hold in what about I am about to say.

“Adrian, what circumstances?” He turns to me but he does not say a word. I flash him a look of despair but he still does not respond. Adrian turns back to Michael.

“Adrian, you know that my father does not blame you for what happened. I think it is time
that
you went to London and sorted everything out.” Michael says firmly. I stare at them and I soon realise what cir
cumstance they are referring to -
the shooting. My heart begins to pound and cannot shake of this feeling. It never crossed my mind that Mr Jenkins would be upset with Adrian after all he does know what he has been through and he was the one that helped Adrian get through the rough times. I really hope that their relationship is not strained because of this. Mr Jenkins means so much to Adrian and I would hate to see that compromised.

“Yes
,
well I am returning to London shortly and I will mend things with Charles.” Adrian replies. We stand briefly in a moment of awkwardness until I break the silence.

“So how have you two been?” I glare at the gorgeous couple that stands before us. Katharine beams as she begins to tell me all about her and Michael’s recent dates.

“We have been great; in fac
t things couldn’t be better. This
gorgeous man has took me everywhere in the last week from Broadway to Fifth Avenue. We have had
r
omantic dinners at the Plaza Hotel and ice skating in central park.”
Michael really knows how to treat a girl right, babe?” Katharine stands smugly as she gazes at Michael. I am happy that she is having a gr
eat time with him
but I am still a little worried about his true feelings. I look into her blue eyes and I see happiness and this is the first time
that
I have ever seen her so in love. I look at Adrian and I realise that he is all that I want and that Katharine despite her annoying behaviour, really does deserve to be with Michael. Katharine’s life
,
was not g
reat before and now look at her, s
he is dripping in diamonds and totally infatuated by Michael. I smile at her and I do feel happy for them, but I gaze at him and something in his eyes screams out that he does not feel as strongly as she does. I watch as she leans in and kisses him, his eyes stay open and he barely even notices the affection from Katharine.

“I am happy that he is treating you so well.” Adrian quickly says. I feel that I should say something positive to Katharine, as I know that she is craving it.

“Keep it up Michael; you don’t know how lucky you are to be with my friend
-
Katharine. Most guys would kill to be with her, you make sure that you do treat her well.” Michael smirks at me and he pulls Katharine towards him.

“I made the stupid mistake of letting her go once before, don’t worry I won’t do that again.” Adrian clears his throat as he turns towards me.

“Baby, would you like to dance?” He says as he holds his hand out to
me. I smile at him and I look at
Michael and Katharine.

“Off course, will you please excuse us?” I say. Michael’s smile quickly fades as Katharine’s appears.

Adrian takes my hand and he leads me onto the dance the floor. I look into his green eyes as he pulls me close. I gently place my hand onto his back and the other in his. He slowly begins to move as the music plays. He leans down to me and whispers.

“I adore this song,” I adjust my ears and I pull back from him. He looks into my eyes and I smile.

“So do I, I love Michael Bublé and this song is captivating.” I take in the words of the song and I cannot tear my eyes away from Adrian.

“Alanna, sing it to
m
e.” He whispers as he slides his hand down my waist. I glance up at him.

“Your hand is a little south of my waist,” he smirks and I gently pull his head towards mine.

“Let me go home, I’m just too far from where you are I wanna come home.”
I sing gently into his ear. Adrian rests his head on my shoulder and I continue to sing to him.

“And I feel just like I'm living someone else's life It's like I just stepped outside When everything was going right, and I know just why you could not Come along with me, that this was not your dream but you always believed in me."

Adrian leans in and kisses me softly. I gaze at him and I know that I love him. Adrian seems different and I love this new side to him. I feel that he is letting his guard down more and he relaxes in knowing that I am safe and that I need him. I perish every time I think back on those awful days that we spent apart and I will do everything in my power not to feel like that again.

“You have a beautiful voice and I could listen to you sing forever and baby, my home is in your arms.” I cannot respond to his romantic words, I just glare at him. His lips are mouthing the words and I know that this is our song. I watch as Adrian considers something in his head and I wonder what is on his mind.

“Adrian is there something bothering you?” I ask kindly. He briefly shakes his head and he quickly lets go of me. I stand back a step from him and I look wide-eyed at him.

“Baby let’s get out of here.” He says fir
mly. In an instant, Adrian grabs
my hand and he is escorting me out the door. I briefly look back at the other guests and I notice Michael staring at us as we glide out the door. We walk out into the warm air and Adrian turns to me and wickedly pulls me towards him. I flinch slightly at his roughness and I wonder what has made him so passionate. He pulls me closer and he kisses me rather roughly. I bask in it for a moment but then I begin to feel a little uncomfortable. I open my eyes and I slightly push him away. He ignores me so I push him harder. He instantly draws back from me and stares freely at me.

“Did I do something wrong?” He asks and I feel guilty for my actions. Perhaps I was a little hasty in pushing him so hard.

“No it is me, I am stupid. I ruined a perfect night and I am sorry.” I say weakly. Adrian brushes against me and he gently cups my face. He looks down at me and I feel like an utter idiot for the way
that
I acted. I wish that I could take back my actions as I wish that he were kissing me right now. The look in his eyes is startling and I cannot stop staring at him.

“Baby, I am sorry that I was rough with you. However, you have to understand that you are irresistible to me. When I was holding you tightly and dancing with you to that music I melted. I wanted nothing more than to get out of there so that I could kiss you.” He says in a smooth slow voice. I lightly smile at him and I look down to the ground. He quickly lifts my head up so that I am staring at him.

“Adrian, I want to hear you say that you love me.” I whisper. My words are shallow but I crave him and I want to know how he feels about me. He slowly strokes my hair with his long thin fingers and my heart races as I hear his cool British accent.

“Alanna Hart
,
I love you.” He slowly and gently leans in and kisses me.

Eleven

I sit in Adrian’s white, convertible Bentley and I f
eel as if
I could explode from happiness. I look out onto South Beach and the view is spectacular. The warm air is rushing through my hair and Adrian’s hand is intertwined in mine. I love this night and I love this time with Adrian, I almost never want it to end.

Adrian loosens his grip on my hand and with one swift movement and he pushes on the radio. I welcome the music that is playing with a smile but Adrian obviously does not care for it as he quickly changes the station. He flicks through several others until he settles on one. I turn to him and I say.

“Adrian I love this song.” I smile at him and I begin to sing along.

“I can’t keep up with your turning tables under your thumb I can’t breathe. I won’t let you close enough to hurt me. No, I won’t ask you, you to just desert me. I can’t give you what you think you gave me, it’s time to say goodbye to turning tables.”  

I glare at Adrian as the music fills the car. We stop at a red light and I lean and kiss him. He speeds off and I turn the up volume. He smiles heavily at me and I bask in this moment.

We arrive back at the hotel and Adrian walks me into my room. He gently kisses me on the forehead and he instructs me to go to sleep. I try to protest but Adrian insists. I finally give
in
and I watch as he leaves my room. I quickly brush my teeth and get ready for bed all the while I am thinking of Adrian. I vividly remember his green eyes as we danced. I close my eyes and I remember the scent of his cologne as he rested his head onto my shoulder. I take a deep breath and I
am
back in the room. He griped me tightly and I loved every touch, his eyes were glowing and his smile was enchanting. He is my prince
charming, I admit he is a little rough around the edges and he does have some family issues. However, I would not change him for anything. I love who he is and I adore what he is. He came from a broken home and he had nothing, now he has everything. His whole world has changed but he remains
humble. Adrian is a self-made m
illionaire that went through hell to get where he is and I will always respect him for that.