Remembrance: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series Book 4) (27 page)

“Thank you,” she said, taking them and handing him a tip.  After she closed the door she opened the card.

…Wild flowers for the woman who made me wild within mere seconds of seeing her.  Have dinner with me tomorrow.  I’ll pick you up at seven.  Say yes.  We’ll talk tomorrow morning about details.

-Eric Weston

Holy shit.  Her heart pounded.  He was a persistent bugger, wasn’t he?  The line about being wild was a little cheesy, but his confidence was certainly attractive if not a little pushy.  She was absolutely going to take him up on his offer.  Anything she could do to speed Luke along in his realizations, she was game for.  And somehow, she didn’t think Eric would mind.

Hmm, decisions, decisions.  What was a girl to do when so many were throwing themselves at her, she thought dryly.  She quickly put the flowers in a vase and made it back just in time to answer Kenneth’s buzz on the call box.  Once she’d locked up, she ran down the stairs into the snow that was still coming down, to see what awaited her in the limo.

“Hi Kenneth,” she said happily as he stood at the car door.

“Good morning, Miss Callahan.  Are you ready to be pampered today?” he smiled at her.

“Yes,” she squealed like a little girl.  “I can’t remember the last time I went to a spa.  Thanks so much for the ride.”

“My pleasure,” he chuckled and opened the door for her. 

Janie climbed in and gasped, squealing some more.  There in the car sat all of the girls: Emily, Ryann, Ayanna, Tiffany, even Catherine.  “You’re all coming?!  Ahh!  I’m so excited!” she laughed.

They all laughed with her, all of them talking at once taking turns explaining how the day had come about with them joining her for the spa day.  Apparently, Luke had been in cahoots all week with the other guys, letting them know of his idea.  Tiffany’s appointment was a birthday gift from her twin, and Ayanna’s and Catherine’s were as a thank you from him, as well, for the holiday party.

The
men were having their own guys’ day out, meeting for brunch first, then playing some basketball at a local college gym with another group of guys.

Janie settled back into the plush leather seat, sighing with contentment.

“So, we’re all dying to know how last night went!  After the food was served, that is.  Ayanna and Catherine filled us in on the dinner part already,” Ryann said with excitement.

“I made a ton of connections.  Yan,” Janie said, turning to her soon-to-be partner, “I handed out all of the business cards.  We need to talk about how we’re go
ing to address all of the incoming business.”

“We will,” she said, reaching her hand out and squeezing
Janie’s hand. “We can talk about that later.  Tell us how the other stuff went last night.”  She gave an eyebrow wiggle.

Janie sighed and leaned back against the seat with a smile.

They all laughed and Tiffany said, “Oh, my.”

Janie looked at all of them and decided not to hold back.  “I kissed Luke last night.”

There was a beat of silence then the car erupted into screams.  The car lurched slightly and Kenneth’s voice came over the speaker.  “Everything alright back there?”

“Yes, Kenneth.  Sorry!” Janie said during bouts of laughter.  “We’re all just a little punchy this morning.”

“Just checking,” he said with humor in his voice.

Once he was gone from the discussion, Ryann, who was blushing red finally removed her hands from her cheeks and yelled, “What happened?”

“I can’t believe this.  I can’t believe this,” Tiffany was babbling then singing.  “Janie and Luke sittin’ in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…”

Janie pushed her over in her seat then said, “Well, first I met this guy when I came out of the kitchen and he totally came on to me.  Asked me out, sent me flowers this morning –”

“What?!” Ayanna interrupted.  “This was before Luke found you?”

Janie nodded with a giggle.

“That’s so funny because he texted me last night after you’d left the kitchen and wanted to know how much longer you’d be getting ready.  I texted him back and said you’d left five minutes earlier and that you were already out there,” Ayanna laughed.  “So this guy found you in those five minutes before Luke?”

Janie nodded again with a laugh.

“Priceless.”

“He sent you flowers already?  Who is he?” Ryann asked.

“I don’t know.  Some guy named Eric Weston?”  She looked around at all of them, then shrugged.

“Weston?  As in
Weston Watches
?” Tiffany asked.  “Hold on,” she said grabbing her phone and Googling him.  “If he was at the party, it might be him.  They’re part of
GSoul.
”  Apparently something appeared on the phone that looked yummy, because Tiffany made an appreciative sound, raised an eyebrow and looked up.  “Not too shabby.  Meet Eric Weston of
Weston Watches
, everyone.”

She held it up to Janie to confirm and when Janie said, “Yup, that’s him,” all of the girls leaned over to see his picture.

“Ooh, he’s cute,” Catherine cooed.  “He sent you flowers already?  He works fast!”

“He was definitely persistent.  He asked me out right in front of Luke.”

They all cackled and Tiffany laughed, “Holy shit.  I wish I could’ve seen that.  Tell us!”

Janie spent the next couple of minutes telling them of the moment with Eric and Luke, and then about the flowers and card that had come moments before they had arrived.

“What are you gonna do?” Emily asked. 

“Well,” Janie said with humor, “Luke and I, we kind of have an agreement. 
After the wine tasting he joked about how he needed to make his own list for finding the right woman.”

“Did he?” Tiffany asked, delighted.

Janie nodded and continued.  “And so we agreed that I could date other men until he’ll be hand delivering me my dream man on Christmas.”

“He’s letting you date other men until then?”  Tiffany was frowning and looking a little confused.

Janie cleared her throat.  “Well, there are two conditions.”

“Which are?” Tiffany smiled.

“I have to tell Luke if I’m going on a date, and I’m not allowed to have sex with whomever I go on the date with.”

Loud guffaws ensued.

“Janie, he’s totally keeping you all to himself,” Ryann said.  “He’s going to use this list that you guys have come up with as an excuse to keep you single.”

“And are you thinking of going out with Eric Weston?” Tiffany asked.

“Yeah.”

“Oh, this is go
ing to get good,” Luke’s sister smiled.

“I told Luke I was go
ing to keep my options open until he found me my man.  I think I’m going to have dinner with Eric tomorrow night.  He asked on the card with the flowers.”

“You absolutely should!  And I’m glad you’re not sleeping with him.  I’ve been there, done that.  Casual sex is not a good road to go down,” said Ayanna.  “Besides, you’re better than that.”

“Luke already told me he was a player.  I’m only going to have dinner with him.  Nothing more.”  Then she whined.  “I’m just trying to get Luke to make a move already.  I mean, he made a move last night, but I mean a
real
move.”

“What
do you mean he made a move last night?” Tiffany asked.

Janie made eye contact with all of the girls, biting her lip and blushing.  “He kissed me when he dropped me off last night.”  She flopped back against the car seat and sighed.  “Sorry, Tiff, but it was
so
hot.”

“Holy shit.”  Tiffany threw her hands up.  “Something is definitely go
ing to happen between you guys.  He wouldn’t have done it if his mind wasn’t moving in that direction.” 

All of the girls were giddy with smiles.

“So, do the same rules apply to Luke until Christmas?”  Ryann looked like she wasn’t sure about this.  “He can date, but just not have sex?”

Janie giggled some more then shook her head.  “I told him he’s already dated enough women to last him a lifetime, so he can’t date or have sex until I find him his woman at Christmas.”

A myriad of compliments flew her way. 

“Only ’til Christmas,” Janie reiterated.  “When I give him
me
wrapped up with a nice little bow.”

“I seriously can’t believe he agreed to that.  He’s a total goner,” Ayanna chuckled.

“He’s got almost two weeks and he said he already knows someone who’d be perfect for me.”  She fell back into the seat again and said quietly, “I’m going to be seriously pissed if it’s not him.”

“All the signs seem to be pointing in his direction,” Ryann said hopefully.  “But I guess you’ll need to be prepared for anything.”

“Yeah.”

“Shit on a stick, we got distracted!” Ayanna practically screamed as if remembering something.  “First you said you kissed him last night, then that he kissed you when he dropped you off.  Start talking.  We got waylaid by the watch guy and we want all the juicy details.”  She turned to Tiffany.  “Sorry, Tiff.  You may need to close your ears for this part.”

She waved her hand.  “I’m good.  Start talking, Janie.”

Janie laughed and bit her lip.  “At the end of the party, we were sitting on a sofa in this corner of the venue and there was mistletoe above us.”

They all sighed romantically, then chuckled at themselves.

She told them of her kiss and then being interrupted by Vanessa.  Then she told them how the rest of the night unfolded, skipping the details of him unzipping her dress and all that.  She didn’t want to share everything.  “But that’s when he kissed me.  He said we’d been interrupted earlier, so…”

“This is looking better and better every day, I must say.  And my mother will be ecstatic.  She adores you,” Tiffany said to Janie.  “I’m so torn because I don’t want to get your hopes up, but this is just so wild how this is unfolding!  I mean he’s always loved you, just like we’ve all loved each other.  Our families have always been close.  But this?  It just feels so different to me,” Tiffany said looking sweetly at Janie.

“Does it?” she asked hopefully.

None of them responded verbally, but reached out their hands to touch her. 

“We’ll just have to wait ’til Christmas, I guess,” Janie murmured looking down.  “And meanwhile, I’ll keep my fingers crossed…and date.”  She smiled impishly, her eyes sparkling.

“We’ll all keep our fingers crossed,” Emily said, everyone making sounds of agreement.

Janie let out a sigh.

The girls spent the next several hours getting primped and preened, waxed and massaged, mani-ed and pedi-ed.  It had been one of the best days ever.  There was a hair salon as part of the spa, so Janie had her hair trimmed and a hot oil treatment afterwards.  By the time they’d stopped for dinner and had gotten dropped off, it was well past eight in the evening and Janie was ready for bed, the excitement and hard work of the weekend having caught up with her.

She went inside and looked at the two vases of flowers on her table right next to her Christmas tree, shaking her head at the craziness of it all.  She needed to thank Luke for such a wonderful day, so she took a picture of his flowers with her phone as well as her newly pedicured feet with their blood red painted toes nails, and sent them to him with the following text:

JC:
My happy feet (and the rest of my happy body parts) thank u.  The flowers are gorgeous and the massages were divine.  I didn’t even embarrass myself and scream with pleasure.  U would’ve been proud.  If u were here, I’d give u another thank u kiss, but alas…  Hope u had a good day with the boys.

She smiled after hitting send and collapsed onto her bed, turning on the TV and queuing up her favorite movie.  Just as she heard the opening music to the BBC’s six hour version of
Pride and Prejudice
, she snuggled into her pillow only to doze off moments later.  Her short lived nap was interrupted by a text just as she heard Lizzie Bennett and Mr. Darcy meet for the first time.

LD:
Which comment should I respond to first?  I can’t wait to say hello again to ur newly painted cute toes, I’m proud when u DO scream with pleasure which shouldn’t embarrass u in the least, and any time u want to give me another thank u kiss, u just lmk.  My day w/ the guys was great.  Had a very enlightening discussion w/ ur bro.

She smiled at his message, her breathing kicking up with excitement even in her
lethargic state.  She texted back.

JC:
What did u and Mike talk about?

LD:
  Guy stuff.

She sighed, wondering what that meant.  Instead, she focused on his other comments in the text.

JC: 
Ur birthday is in two days.  Maybe I can give u a combo thank u/bday kiss.
   

LD:
If we’re talking a combo kiss, I will definitely need that fire extinguisher.

She chuckled.  She had a feeling she’d need the whole damn fire department.