Something About Eve (An Eve Sumptor Book 1) Page 11
“Nothing. It’s just that “boyfriend” sounds so high school.” Her smile faded. “It bothers you that I’m seeing Adam.”
“No. Why should it?” Lainey lied. Studying the painting she had just unpacked. “Dali is one of my favorites,” she said quietly. “His work is ever changing. Every time you look at them you see something different.”
“Yes, you do,” Eve said, looking at Lainey not the painting. “Don’t do this, Lainey. Don’t close yourself to me now,” Eve pleaded softly.
Lainey turned to Eve. “I have to take a step back, Eve. I can’t breathe when I’m this close to you.”
Eve closed her eyes. “If that’s what you need.”
What she needed was Eve. Instead Lainey said, “Last night you offered to come to my house and help me with Jack. Is that offer still open?”
Eve took a deep breath. “Of course it is.”
She built the wall around her heart as a defense to the hurt she was feeling. If Lainey needed to space, that’s what Eve would give her.
“Where do you think this should go?” she asked Lainey, pointing at a small piece that featured the twisted figures that was signature Dali.
Lainey walked over to the wall next to the arched window overlooking the streets which were, like Dali’s paintings, ever changing. “I think it should go here. The view would be a nice compliment to complexity of the piece.”
“I agree.” Eve walked up behind Lainey and placed a hand on her arm. “I think we should let Mikey put it up for us. We don’t have to let him know we both have a fear of heights. He’s getting us coffee right now.”
With perfect timing Mikey stepped out of the elevator, hands full. He handed the women their coffee and donuts.
“Your change is in my pocket, Ms. Sumptor.”
“Keep it,” Eve told him. “Thank you for the coffee.”
“But, you gave me a twenty,” he protested.
“Keep it,” Eve repeated. “He’s a good kid,” she told Lainey as he strutted off with a toothy smile. “I have a few things I need to take care of in my office. If you need anything, just come and get me. Have Mikey help you with that painting.”
Eve read the confusion and emotions on Lainey’s face.
“I’m stepping back, Lainey, but I’m not going anywhere,” she said as she looked into Lainey’s eyes. “I’ll be in my office.”
Eve sat behind her desk with her head in her hands. If she didn’t figure out what was going on between her and Lainey soon she was going to go crazy. Taking a deep breath, she pushed Lainey out of her mind, picked up the phone and dialed, tapping a finger on her desk as she waited for an answer.
“It’s me,” she said when the other end picked up. “The game has begun. Are you ready to play? Good. I need you to be my eyes and ears for right now. I want to know everything that Tony is doing. I also need you to find out everything he’s been doing since he’s been released from prison. I want to know if he’s violated any rules of his parole. Anything. If he’s littered by throwing a gum wrapper on the ground I want to know about it. If I can get him put away again that would be a point for me. I’m not going to lose this time.” She paused and thought of Lainey. Eve wouldn’t put her at any risk. “If he comes near the gallery I want to know about it,” she continued. “He may keep a low profile, but he’ll come up soon and make his presence known to me. I’m counting on you to keep me informed on everything that goes on where Tony is concerned. I know we couldn’t get everyone to play on our team, but I know I can do this with those we have. As soon as we have any kind of evidence that can put him away again, without implicating you or anyone else in the process, we will move on it. I’ll wire the money to the account I had set up for you tomorrow morning. If anything happens, contact me. Until then, I’ll be in touch.”
Hanging up, she opened a file and took out a surveillance photo of Meredith. “Now. What to do with you and Katherine,” she said aloud. “Maybe I should just let Tony deal with you himself. It would save me the trouble and be less messy for me.”
She sighed and rubbed her temple where the beginning of a headache was brewing. “We’ll see,” Eve said, putting the file away. Now that the ball was in motion, she could go back to focusing on the grand opening of the gallery. Putting everything else out of her mind, Eve set in to making arrangements for the big event.
Lainey was putting the finishing touches on a display over which Eve had given her full creative control. When she stood back and critiqued her work, she knew it wasn’t her best, but she hadn’t been able to concentrate. Thoughts of Eve kept distracting her every time she let her mind wander for inspiration. She hadn’t seen Eve since that morning and was beginning to think that she was avoiding her. Not that she blamed her. She had basically told Eve to leave her alone and Eve was just doing as she asked.
Irritated, she busied herself with making changes in the display, and didn’t hear the elevator opening or the man walking towards her until he was right behind her.
Eve descended the stairs just in time to hear a man’s voice raised in anger, and felt her own temper rising with each step that she took.
“Look, you little nothing bitch,” he shouted. “I don’t know who you think you are, but if you want to keep your job, I suggest you go and get Ms. Sumptor for me now!”
“Mr. Palmer.” Eve’s voice was as icy as her stare as she walked up and stood toe to toe with the short, pudgy man wearing a bowtie. “My gallery is not open yet. What are you doing here?”
“Ms. Sumptor. I came for a sneak peek,” he told her, exasperated. “But this woman tried to stop me.”
“There are no sneak peeks, Mr. Palmer,” Eve told him. When the man tried to move past Eve, she moved with him, her eyes never leaving his.
“I’m the most influential art critic in this city, Ms. Sumptor, as you well know,” he threatened her. “If you want a good review, I suggest you let me take a look around.”
Eve could feel her temper snap, but she kept her voice cold and under control. “What you are, Mr. Palmer is an arrogant son of a bitch,” she said icily. “If you want to see the pieces so you can write your little column, then you will have to wait until the opening. And, if you want to keep writing that little column of yours, then you will give the gallery a fair and just review because I will not tolerate fallacious reviews of any kind. Do you understand? If you come back here before the opening, I will have you thrown out.” Eve took a step closer to the man and dropped her voice. “And if you ever talk to my assistant like that again, I will personally throw your ass out. And I won’t be gentle. Is that clear?”
The art critic opened his mouth to say something and shut it again when Eve raised an eyebrow. On a less than confident huff, he spun around and stalked out.
“Are you okay?” Eve asked Lainey.
“Yes. Thank you. What an asshole,” Lainey said, trying to check her own anger. “I’m impressed with how you handled him.”
In fact, Lainey had been a little frightened by the coldness of Eve’s voice, and more than slightly aroused by her pure authority. It was an odd combination of feelings, one she had never felt before.
“Don’t be,” Eve told her indifferently. “He’s just a small time art critic who has an ego the size of Texas. He’s more of an idiot than I thought since he knows that I’m friends with his boss and I could have him fired with one word.”
Eve looked past Lainey at the display she was working on, frowning slightly.
“It’s not done,” Lainey said hurriedly. “I was just re-doing it.” Her voice trailed off when Eve walked past her.
“Is this how I make you feel, Lainey?” Eve asked.
“I-I don’t understand. What do you mean?”
“Frustrated. Confused. Sad. The colors you’ve chosen don’t compliment one another. You’ve created a sense of chaos instead of serenity and the pieces you’ve chosen represent repression. Sexual repression. There’s anger and sadness in this display. Is this how I make you feel?”
“That’s what you see?” Lainey studied the display again herself. It was exactly how Eve had described it. It was as clear to her now as it was to Eve. “It’s not your fault, Eve,” she said. It was all true. Since the moment she met Eve her emotions were uncontrollable. It scared her. It excited her. “It’s me.”
Turning away, she walked to the stairs to sit down.
Ignoring the voice that told her to stay away, Eve went to Lainey and sat next to her. “Talk to me, Lainey,” she murmured. “Tell me what you want from me.”
“I don’t know.” Lainey crossed her arms on her knees and laid her head down. “Maybe this is all too much for me. Life was so much simpler when all I had to do was be a mother and a wife. Now, I’m more confused than I was when I set out to ‘find myself’. I don’t know what to do, Eve.”
“Do you want to quit?” Eve asked her quietly. “Do you want to go back to being a mother and wife and forget about this? And me?”
Her heart was racing with the fear that Lainey would say yes. But she couldn’t let what was happening between her and Lainey destroy Lainey’s talent or her peace of mind.
“No. I can’t go back,” Lainey told her. “And, I could never forget about you, Eve. You are in me now. In here.” She placed her hand on her heart. “I just don’t know what to do about it yet, and it scares me to think about what I could, and want to do.”
“Lainey, look at me.” Eve waited until Lainey focused on her. “Whenever and whatever you decide, I’ll be there for you. I’ll never pressure you to do anything, never expect anything from you. I’ll just be here. If you need time to sort out what’s going on inside, I’ll give you that time. I’m sorry that I’ve put you in this position and made you feel this way, Lainey. That was never my intention. I’m just as confused about this as you are.”
“I don’t want you to be sorry, Eve,” Lainey said quietly. “You didn’t do this to me. Things happen and we have to deal with what comes our way. But, I’m glad you are as confused as I am. That makes me feel a little better.” She gave Eve a small smile, then it disappeared again. “You don’t have to come over tonight. I never considered your feelings about helping me with Jack. I’m sorry. That was selfish of me.”
“No,” Eve said. “You did nothing selfish. I told you I wanted to help you. If that means I have to help you fix your relationship with your husband, then so be it. I’m willing to do that. All I want, Lainey, is for you to be happy, and I’m ready to do anything to make that happen.”
Eve stood up and held out her hand to Lainey. “Come on. Let’s get you home and get you laid,” she teased with a wink. “Tomorrow you can work on that display again and see if you can come up with something a little less - repressed.”
“What if it doesn’t work? What if Jack isn’t what I need right now?”
“Then you’ll tell me what you do need,” Eve told her. “And what you want from me. I’ll do my best to give you everything.”
Eve didn’t pull up in the drive way behind Lainey, opting instead to park on the curb. She turned the car off and sat for a moment, her head resting back against the seat. “You can do this,” she told herself. “Do it for Lainey. Are the boys here?” she asked as they met at the front door.
“They’re staying next door with friends,” Lainey told her. “I made the arrangements so that I could have tonight to be alone with Jack.”
“It’s okay Lainey,” Eve said when Lainey stumbled over the name. “I’m perfectly aware that you are married and that you love your husband. Let’s go make you irresistible. It shouldn’t take that long,” Eve said with a wicked grin.
Lainey opened the door and readied herself for the attack she knew Rufus had in store for her. But, instead he jumped on Eve, hard enough to make her lose her breath.
“Rufus! Down!” Lainey took Rufus by the collar.
“Déjà vu,” Eve laughed.
“I’m sorry,” Lainey told her. “And actually, I’m a little pissed off. He usually does that to me, but now that you’re here he picks you. I’m the one who feeds you and takes care of you, damn dog.”
When Lainey returned from letting Rufus out into the back yard, she found Eve grinning. “Sorry,” Eve said. “Must have been that bacon scent perfume I wore today.”
“Shut up,” Lainey laughed. “You can’t help it that you’re alluring to every living soul on this planet.”
“Including you? Sorry. I didn’t mean to say that,” Eve said as she followed Lainey upstairs to her bedroom.
Lainey stopped midway on the stairs to turn back and look at Eve. “Including me,” she answered honestly, and then continued up to her bedroom. “Now, where do we begin?”
Eve smiled at Lainey. “Well, let’s see. Let’s start with what you’re going to wear. We want something that is going to give Jack easy access.”
“Eve!”
“What? We don’t want to make this complicated, right?” Eve said innocently. “Show me what you’ve got.”
Lainey opened the top drawer of the dresser and began digging through it. When she pulled out old, ugly flannel pajamas and held them up in front of her, Eve gave in to a fit of hysterics.
“Please tell me you’re kidding,” she managed to say while trying to catch her breath. “Keep digging.” Eve took the flannel pajamas from Lainey and threw them over her shoulder. “These we’re throwing away.”
“But, I like them. They’re comfortable,” Lainey protested.
“You know what else is comfortable? Sleeping in the nude. That thing is going in the trash,” Eve told her.
“Is that how you sleep?” Lainey asked, envisioning the image of Eve completely naked in her huge bed.
“Every night.”
Lainey looked at Eve. She knew how sexy Eve was with clothes on and could only imagine how incredible she looked naked. Lainey cleared her throat and looked away, not catching the knowing look on Eve’s face. “So, why am I not just doing that?” Lainey asked. “Why not just be naked?”
“Hmm. Well, I, myself, would enjoy that if I were sleeping with you. But, you’ve tried that with Jack. It didn’t work. At least not how you wanted it to. So, we’re going to try something a little more subtle.”
“How about this?” Lainey said and turned holding up a black lacy teddy.
Eve raised a brow. “Why Lainey, I didn’t know you had it in you to buy something that slutty.”
“Slutty? Why do you say that?”
Lainey turned to examine herself in the mirror with the teddy held up to her. She noticed that the hem of the thing didn’t even go down far enough to cover anything.
“Okay, never mind. It’s slutty. Don’t ask me where that even came from,” she said as she threw it over her shoulder to join the flannel PJs on the floor. “What about this one?”
She dug a long, white flowing gown out of the drawer and held it up to her for Eve to assess critically.
“That’s the one,” Eve said quietly. “Put it on.”
Lainey saw the look of appreciation and desire in Eve’s eyes and her pulse began to race. Instead of leaving the room or making Eve turn around, Lainey began to undress there in front of Eve.
As much as she wanted to watch, Eve turned around. “Let me know when you’re ready,” she said, closing her eyes to imagine what was happening behind her.
“You don’t have to turn around.”
“Yes. Believe me, I do.” For your sake, and mine, Eve thought.
Lainey sighed, knowing why Eve wasn’t looking at her. Part of her was disappointed while the other part was grateful. If something were to happen between them right now, she was not sure she would have the courage to see it through.
“Ready,” Lainey said softly.
Eve caught her breath at the sight of Lainey standing there in a satin gown that clung to Lainey’s body like a second skin. “My God, you’re stunning,” she murmured. “Absolut
ely stunning.”
Eve ran a fingertip across Lainey’s bare shoulder and leaned closer, her lips a breath away from Lainey’s. “Tell me to stop, Lainey.” At that exact moment, they heard the front door slam shut.
“Shit! He’s early. You have to hide, Eve,” Lainey said to her in an urgent whisper. Damn it, why did he have to be early? Just when she was about to fulfill the dream that had invaded her sleep every night since meeting Eve.
“Hide? Why?” She had been so close to getting everything she wanted. Instead, she was being told to hide like a mistress. Eve supposed it was a sort of poetic justice.
“He can’t know that you’re here. Especially with me looking like this. Just, please, trust me.”
“Where am I going to go, Lainey?”
Lainey looked around frantically. “In the closet.”
“How cliché,” she mumbled closing the door of the closet behind her.
“Lainey?”
“Hi,” she said breezily. “You’re home so early that I didn’t get to finish getting ready for you.”
“What is this? What’s the special occasion?”
“No special occasion, Jack. I just wanted to surprise you.”
It was an impossible situation. What had she thought she was doing with Eve? What would have happened if Jack had arrived five minutes later? And what kind of chances was she taking with her marriage?
“Well, I’m certainly surprised. You look great.” He turned towards the closet.
“Wait!” She yelled and then laughed. “I mean, come here.”
“Let me hang up my clothes, Lainey. You know I like to change as soon as I come home.”
“Can’t you just, for once, do something spontaneous?” she asked him. “Throw your damn clothes on the floor, Jack. I want to make love to you. Now.”
Lainey took his hand and pulled him to the bed, making sure his back was to the closet as she pushed him down on the bed and straddled him. When he made a move to position himself on top of her, she stopped him. “No. Like this,” she said and unbuttoned his shirt. She undid his pants and pulled them off, taking his boxers with them. “Close your eyes,” she told him.