*Lily*I took his hands in mine. I felt the slightest hesitation about what I knew was coming. I wanted to believe his story about Grace and give myself to him fully, but I worried. I didn’t know him yet, and could I ever really?Despite this, I felt a strong visceral pull, a chemical imbalance; every time he entered the room, yet in my heart of hearts, I wasn’t sure I trusted him completely, not yet. His history with Grace threw me, and my shield wall went up. I didn’t think there’d been anything between them but a professional relationship.But just because I didn’t trust him entirely didn’t mean—‘Ahh,” I moaned as he lifted my dress and ran his fingers up between my legs. His other hand touched my breast, pulling the straps down on each side. His mouth found mine, and we kissed again, though it was slow and tender.I turned away from him so he could unzip my dress from the back. He moved my hair away, kissing the back of my neck and then down to my shoulder. William
*William*I sipped my cappuccino and shot David a sidelong glance. “Come on, David. You know Victoria won’t be happy with Lily’s art when she finds out she’s with me.” David shrugged and looked at Lily. “That might be true. Victoria helped me get my start as an art curator. So, I really owe my career to her.” ‘And to me,’ I wanted to say, but I left it alone. If he wanted to shower my ex with unadulterated and unwarranted praise, I couldn’t stop him. I wanted him to like Lily even more and knew he would if he saw her work in person. Then I watched Lily win him over all on her own. “How did you and Victoria meet?” she asked. “We met at Brown,” he said. “I knew her before this lug met her. We all ran in the same Manhattan dinner circles, and my wife, Joy, and Victoria had Eva and my daughter, Samantha, at the same time. Don’t look so surprised, dear. Yes, I was married once before I could face my father’s wrath. My father owned a major telecommunications company before it w
*Lily*“What’s wrong with her?” I asked. “What did Victoria know?”William paced the room, running his hand through his dark hair. “She said she got a call from one of Eva’s friends who said she was complaining about stomach pains and couldn’t get out of bed. They took her to the ER there, and that’s all they know. I’ve got to make some calls. We’ll have to leave tonight.”I nodded. “Of course.”While William was busy making calls to Steven, Grace, and his international contacts, I changed and packed our things. I’d never seen William so distraught. He’d been on the phone for twenty minutes, raising his voice, making demands, then trying to reach Eva, but his calls went straight to her voicemail.As we waited for Steven to come around with the car, I received a text from Tony Gold about doing a new show. He said he knew I worked for William now but wanted to see if I might be interested. It was just a few weeks away. I wasn’t sure how William would feel about me returning to
*Lily*Once in New York, I went back to work at a frantic pace trying to get ready for Tony’s show. I hoped that when William returned to the city, he could help me decide which one to send to David in Vancouver, which he wanted, and which would be good for the new event.Tony’s theme was “I Happened to Be in the City.” I told him about my latest collection, City on Fire—with the Manhattan skyscrapers, ships along the canal, and Coney Island. He said he wanted to see them right away.Inspired by the Vancouver trip, I wanted to incorporate some sunsets over the water. Tony said he wanted them all unseen, and I had to convince William to let me show them. The only problem was that William had the first say. He might want them all, leaving me to paint others for the show. I really didn’t know until I talked to him.I knew William had been busy with Eva, and it could have been my imagination, but I felt him pulling away. I worried about his time with Eva and her influence. I was co
*William*As I caught up with an old acquaintance of mine from my days at Yale Business School, I saw Lily and Eva talking. At first, I didn’t think anything of it, but then I grew concerned. Lily’s face turned the color of schoolboard chalk. She eyed frantically for me over Eva’s head. As hard as I tried, my old buddy, Frank, would not take a hint. He brought up story after story from college, most containing excessive amounts of alcohol.I had spent the past week and a half by Eva’s side, more or less. Her surgery and recovery threw me for a loop. All through Eva’s younger days, she had been blessed with perfect health, not even a broken arm or sprained ankle. The worst illnesses she faced were chicken pox and a bout of mono in high school.When we arrived back in New York from Belize, she’d done a quick stint at Mount Sinai, followed by checkups at the penthouse with our primary care physician, who said she was finally cleared to return to her regular routine.Victoria an
*Lily*The moment Eva turned around, fueled with such hatred, I knew she would never accept William and me together. I was foolish to ever think a relationship could work with him. He’d been distant since returning from Belize. Even after Eva had recovered from her surgery, William still hadn’t come to see me. Maybe it was time to accept that things were over.I stood with Tony and Eric on either side of me. William had just walked out, and I had to compose myself. Tony said a man from Greece was interested in buying my work. Since I didn’t know what William wanted, I had to relinquish them all to the possible buyer. I guzzled the glass of champagne Tony gave me. Hannah came over and patted me on the back. Despite the loud music in the place, word had spread about William and me and the embarrassing scene with Eva quicker than a lit fuse.“I’m so sorry, Tony, for the scene,” I said. “It was William’s daughter. Needless to say, she is unhappy with us.”“Needless to say,” h
*William*I held the bridge of my nose while the four analysts in my office read off our recent numbers. Then we rehashed why the deal was taking so long to close in Toronto. I wanted concrete solutions, and all I was getting was excuses.Grace interrupted the meeting to let me know I was meeting with my marketing executive and friend, Jim, at 11:00. “Okay, we are done here!” I said. “Team, I want this closed by the end of the month.” They all began talking at once, and I almost slammed my fist on the desk. Instead, I said, “That will be all.” I rarely lost my temper at work, but the evening with Eva and Lily still had me rattled. Neither of them had reached out to me so I thought I would give it time and try calling them in a few days. The event forced me to involve my ex-wife, something I desperately tried to avoid, but Eva was unpredictable. I had to tell Victoria what happened and explain to her about Lily. I didn’t think it would be too serious, but I needed someone to keep
*Lily*Was this classy woman some real estate agent asking me about the apartment?“I’m Victoria Shaw,” she said, turning to face me, and my eyes bulged.Oh, shit. What had I gotten myself into now?With her handbag strapped to her arm, she leaned toward me, not waiting for me to recover. “May I see your work?”Stunned, I nodded. “Yes, certainly. Of course, my latest pieces were still at Tony’s gallery.” Thank God she wouldn’t be able to see the ones of William. His portrait was in the bedroom closet since it was too painful to look at.“That’s all right. I just want to see what all the chatter is about. Everyone has been talking about your art.”I took her over to what I had been working on. The truth was that I had lost my mojo, my inspiration. I couldn’t seem to get excited about anything—still, she lauded me.“These are lovely,” she said. “Honestly, when David, my friend from Vancouver called me, I wasn’t sure, but I really love your technique. He said he wants to c
*Lily*With the wedding day already here, I felt jittery as I prepared to walk down the aisle toward my beloved, William. It had been a busy morning filled with preparations for hair and makeup and I was more than ready to get the show on the road. I could feel the excitement in the air surrounded by our friends and family. My excitement was apparent too, with adrenaline pumping throughout my entire being.My heart had been pumping fast as I stepped into the foyer, waiting for the doors to open so I could make my debut. My heart was also overflowing with love for William and the joy he brought me. As tradition usually went, we hadn't seen each other that day yet and I missed seeing his face. I couldn't wait to embrace him and marry him. I heard the organ start its tune, the music carrying to the foyer where I was waiting. We had picked out our songs together and I recognized it immediately. The doors opened slowly and I saw the audience members stand and turn to face me. Holy sh
*Lily*Sometimes life just needed a welcome distraction. I knew my life had been a roller coaster lately, and I gladly jumped at the chance for a change in routine. My mission today was to find a wedding dress.This was all surreal to me. Little old me marrying a handsome and amazing man like William. I needed to find the perfect dress!I couldn't keep our engagement a secret with the tabloids already running many heated articles about us. I had called friends and family to tell them of our engagement, hoping that I’d reach them before the news articles had. I would have rather them hear from me or William directly. I wasn't sure if I'd ever get used to this much publicity.Having run to a nearby coffee shop to meet my dear friend, Farrah, I awaited her arrival sipping on a caramel latte. I had been apprehensive to look up on Google what the current fashion wedding dress trends were. I wasn't the most fashionable person in the world, and Farrah had helped me often in this realm
*William*After spending the night together making love, I found myself at work the next day still somewhat happily in shock. On Lily's finger rested the ring that I had given her when I asked her to marry her. I was lucky to find a woman like her at my age. She was everything I wanted and more. The second my foot stepped over the office threshold, Grace Kim smiled over at me with a knowing look. She had known about the dinner plans, but she must have found out either from Lily or Jim about our engagement with the way she grinned at me. She licked her lips and had just finished up a phone call placing the receiver back in its holder.She stood and greeted me, smoothing her dress. "Mr. Shaw, congratulations are in order! I've heard the wonderful news about your engagement to Ms. Lily Matthews. I hope you both are happy and spend many long years together. I had a feeling she was the one the minute I heard about her.""Well, thank you very much, Grace. Your kind words mean a lot
*Lily*As we walked into our front foyer, we kicked our shoes off and William eagerly watched me as I took my jacket off. He seemed to groan out loud watching me stretch out of the fabric and before I could hang it, he pushed me up against the wall groaning against me. His erection was thrust hard against my soft thigh as he breathed in my ear.Whispering softly he said, "I have to worship you, my love, stay right here. My new little fiance.""But William, I want to make you happy too," I whined but he shushed me holding a finger to my lips.I gasped as he encouraged me to flatten against the wall behind me and then seized my lips with his own, roughly kissing me. I kissed him back feverishly, placing my hands on his pecs, starting to feel his muscles and massage him. He felt amazing with his sexy, hard body against my own. I wanted him badly and wondered what plans he had in store for me.William pulled my dress over my head and continued kissing me. He kissed down my neck a
*Lily*Looking into William's eyes I could hear his voice trembling with anticipation. No wonder he had been so distracted today. He slowly brought a velvet-covered box out of his suit pocket and my eyes widened in shock. This was it, it was really happening. It had to be exactly what I thought it was, a marriage proposal.I couldn’t believe my eyes. He wanted to marry me? Little old me?William smiled at me as he spoke, "I've often wondered what our future would hold. And then I realized we have power over our future, and I took control of it. Lily, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want your love, support, and time. I want to be with you forever."My heart seemed to jump in my throat as I eyed the box and looked back at him. My mouth opened incredulously. I was at a loss for words, the joy exploding in my chest."Lily Matthews, will you do the honor of marrying me? Would you be my wife? Would you spend the rest of your days with me?" William asked as his voice
*Lily*The fall of my footsteps clicked on the pavement as the sidewalk lay before me. I was on my way to meet William and was excited to share the news. The interview I had with the magazine was finally published! It had been released today and potential client inquiries had come pouring in through my phone. It was an amazing day, I couldn't help but feel thrilled that my work inspired others and caused them to reach out.I clutched a copy of the magazine in my hand proudly. I felt like I was on top of the world, or rather on cloud nine. I couldn't wait to show William the magazine article.I stared into the tall windows of the Italian food restaurant where William said he'd meet me. It was extremely elegant with long tall blue curtains swept off to the side. I could hear the typical Italian music playing and it sounded so romantic. The wait staff bustled around inside with pressed white and black uniforms with a professional air about them. This was a stunning and fancy restaur
*William*After arriving back in New York, Lily wanted to focus on her paintings. I could do nothing but oblige because it must have come as a welcome distraction. Paris had been a dream until Jean Laurent ruined our visit. That mother fucker got what was coming to him. I was glad to put even more distance between him and Lily. I'd protect her with my life if I had to, I wouldn't lose her again.Pretty much the second we were back in the States, my friend Jim asked me to go golfing with him. Jim and I had been longtime friends, practically since young teenage boys. We had been through some interesting times together pranking classmates, causing mayhem for our parents, and throwing some wild parties. Now that we were older we mainly smoked cigars or played golf. We weren't as wild as we had been once upon a time.I owed him after the favor I called in while I was in Paris. I knew he’d risked a lot by sharing information with me but it was what helped me confirm Jean Laurent’s iden
*Lily*I fully submerged myself in the warm water to wash the slime out of my hair. Having no shower or real toilet for those hours I was with Jean had taken its toll on me. I squirted a large amount of shampoo and conditioner into my hair, scrubbing hard. William swatted my hands away as he began to massage my scalp and temples.."I said I want to help, I'm not leaving you alone another second," he said sitting on the edge of the tub focused entirely on me.I blinked with surprise and dropped my arms back into the warm, bubble-filled water. I hadn't taken him seriously but I chastised myself now knowing when William said something he meant it. I felt spoiled knowing most men just said whatever women wanted to hear, while William always followed through with his words and put them into action. I sighed feeling his fingers scrub away, and I could finally rest comfortably."I'm so happy you are back with me," he said, plunging his hands into the water to wash away the suds. "You
*Lily*I sighed with relief hearing Jean Laurent being placed into the cop car. I didn't register what all of the voices were saying around us. Only William. His hands hadn't left my body, touching me everywhere as if to make sure I was actually there. We hadn't said a word about our previous fight, it had been forgotten.I still couldn't believe I was out of the basement. I had been rescued by the exact person I had wanted to see. William and I were finally reunited, our embrace had offered me a sense of safety and solace in the midst of the chaos. His arms had felt so large as they tucked me closer into his body. I was safe again.I frowned trying to remember what had happened, like the trauma was already being blotted from my memory. From what I could recall, William had thrown Jean off of me in a fit of pure rage. I had never seen William like that and if it had been a different circumstance I would have been shocked. I realized now how much William cared for me the more time