Willow

Chapter 42

When the door opens, Lily's breath catches as there stands the most beautiful man she has ever seen. Eric is in a dark suit, which is tailored to fit him perfectly, and makes his blue eyes shine. Everything about him is in place and perfectly put together. He looks like a page from a catalog, and when he smiles at her, she almost melts into the floor.

"Wow." He says as he steps up to her. "Thank you." "No really, wow." He makes a motion for her to turn and when she does, he makes a growling sound. Damn, he really knows how to make a woman feel awesome.

"Be a gentleman." Kristen warns. "Are you kidding? She would kill me if I wasn't." "She would, then I would be next." Kristen teases. "Yes, I know." Eric kissed Kristen's cheek before taking Lily's hand and walking her down the steps.

"I cannot wait to show you off." He growled as he looked her over again. She could not believe this was the same man from a few weeks ago. It was almost as he couldn't get enough of her, and she found it amazing.

When they are almost at the curb, she looks around for his car. "No Vette?" "No, not tonight." He unlocked the car that was sitting there in front of her, which is not his car. "Whose car is this?" "Mine. I bought it today. You like it?" He looked hopeful.

"You just went out and bought a Maserati?" "My favorite girl told me my other one was dull and boring." "She must be a smart one." "She is." "Well, then keep her around, this is a fucking hot car." She growled, making him laugh.

She gets into the car, and immediately relax into the seat. She had never been in one of these, and it still has that brand-new car smell. Oh, the fun they could have in here, she giggled. She could not stop smiling.

"I like that dirty mouth of yours." He leaned over and kissed her before starting the car. "You just went up a notch on the hotness scale with this car." She looked it over. "I knew you would like it." "I do. Now, take me for a ride." "With pleasure."

Lily notices how carefree and playful he was as he raced them around in his new car. He was extra adorable, and she was laughing enough to lose her breath, when he finally got to the restaurant.

"Ok, now we behave." He put on his suit jacket, straightened his tie, and then kissed her deeply. He offers his arm, which she takes, and he leads her into the restaurant. She tries to be graceful and poised, but the smiles on their faces were hard to miss.

When walked into the back-banquet room, there were at least twenty men and their women, and not one of them looked out of place, but her. And she felt it, as they all turned to look at her when they walked through. Awesome.

She exhaled loudly and leaned into him, whispering without breaking her smile. "I hate this already." He gave her a sexy smile, and she almost whimpered. "I know, I can feel your uneasiness. Just hang in there, I have you." His hand moved over hers, which was on his arm, and she felt better instantly. 

"Eric, we were wondering if you got lost." A man walked over and shook his hand, then eyes me. "Sorry, I seemed to have gotten a little sidetracked with time." Eric grinned her her, making her feel shy. "Mr. Stewart, this is my girlfriend..." "Lily." She holds out her hand, letting Eric's arm go, but his hand then slides around her waist and she feels his fingers tighten on her. Did she do something wrong? Or was he just being touchy feeling tonight too?

"Pleasure to meet you Lily. Welcome to the party. Can I get you a drink?" He smiled and she wonders if she should drink. "Wine?" Eric asked, saving her. "I was deciding on white or red." She winked. "Red it is." He nodded, then excused himself, leaving her with Mr. Stewart.

"I apologize for the shocked look, but I had no idea Eric was dating again." He looked her over again and she fidgeted. She felt so out of place with these people for some reason. It wasn't like they were better than her, but she was not a fancy person, and they were, 100%

"Eric and I have been friends for a while, but we recently decided to take it another step. He is a wonderful man, and I thought I would give him a chance. You know, since he hasn't stopped asking." She grinned and Mr. Stewart laughed out.

"She's funny too." He slapped Eric's shoulder as he walked away. Eric handed her a glass of wine and looked back at the man. "That is my boss, so please go easy on me." "Don't leave me alone again." She growled. "Scared?" Eric takes a drink of his cocktail. "Yes."

"Well, well, if it isn't the one and only Lily." She heard Mark, and turn to see him with his arms out. "Whoa mama, look at you." He laughed as he hugs her. "Stop it. And you look pretty handsome yourself." She tugged his tie.

"Melody. Nice to see you too." Lily hugs her, but she just pats her shoulder in her gentle semi-hug way. These people and their weak hugs. "You too." She smiled, then Mark disappeared to get her a drink.

"I had no idea you would be here. When did you two start real dating?" She looked right at Lily, making her slightly uncomfortable. "About 24 hours ago." She looked at her watch. Melody was looking around, then looked back at Lily and gave a sweet fake laugh. "That's cute." She patted Lily's arm and then walked off to say hello to another girl who was clearly a model too.

"I have no idea what he sees in her. She has the attention span of a nat." Lily exhaled."She has a large fake chest and..." He leaned into her ear. "Apparently she can suck a ping pong ball through a straw." Lily looked at him in shock and he held up his hands in defense. "Just what I have heard." His eyes shine in the lights and Lily just wanted to grab him and kiss him.

The next hour was spent mingling with the others before they sat while Mr. Steward announced some statistics from the month. They waiter laid a salad in front of her, and she listened as Eric's name was called and he stood.

He apparently had the highest new investment amount, and something else she did not understand, and Mr. Stewart handed him an envelope and shook his hand.

"Don't let her spend it all in one place." Mr. Stewart pointed to Lily, and she must have looked as offended as she felt, because Eric quickly took her hand and sat closer. Everyone laughed, and she smiled, but wow, he seriously did not say that to her. 

Eric slipped the envelope into his inside jacket pocket and he leaned over to her ear. "Sorry." "Uh-huh. Guess I am going shopping later." She grinned at him. "Have at it. It's only about $12,000." He winked and she almost choked on her salad.

"Only?" She groaned. "I didn't look." He took it back out, slid it open and nodded. "Ok, $14,000." He ginned as Mark patted his arm when he was called up for largest number of new clients. She could tell Melody was giddy as she watched him open his envelope.

A few others are announced and then Mr. Stewart thanked everyone for their hard work, told them to enjoy dinner,  and that they would do it all again next month.

"Next month?" She whispered. "Yes, this is our monthly bonus meeting. We get a percentage above what we normally earn, if we are the top in each of the four categories. I was the highest in new investments." Holy shit, every month? She was almost sick as they all just casually opened envelopes with checks worth thousands.

"What was the other thing you earned?" "Top in Stale Investors. Meaning I brought the most previous clients that were stale, or not investing, back to invest in something new." "Wow, that is awesome Eric, congrats. I bet you are proud." She smiled at him as the waiter took their plates.

"It's been four months in a row, so I am working on a record now." "Well, I am proud of you. That is amazing. How many people are there in the firm?" He looked at her and tilted his head, studying her.

"There are forty-six of us, and you are?" He blinked. "Yes, I am. You are number one out of forty-six, that is impressive." She smile shyly at him, unsure of why he was looking at her like that. Without warning, he leaned over and kissed her, right on the  lips. "Thank you." He whispered, then started to eat his meal, but he looked back up at her and smiled widely.

She wondered if people did not tell him they were proud of him often. She bet that witch never did. That bothers her. He was a good guy, that worked hard and deserved someone to support him too. She made a mental note to tell him again later. Every man should have that in his life.