Remembrance: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series Book 4) (54 page)

He really was a condescending arrogant asshole.  She waited a beat then looked him in the eye and said, “Eric?  Go fuck yourself.”  Then she grabbed the scarf off the rack she’d been looking at before he interrupted her and walked to the cash register.

While standing there on line, her phone rang again.  She answered and said, “I’m paying for a scarf right now,” walking up to the register and smiling at the sales clerk apologetically for being on the phone, “and I’ll call you from the car in like two minutes.”  She disconnected before Luke had said anything, paid for the scarf, then went to the car where Kenneth was waiting. 

Once inside, she dialed Luke.

“That’s twice you hung up on me, Janie.  Don’t you dare do it again,” he growled in a low voice.

“I’m in the car on the way home right now, so calm down.”

“What did he say to you?”

She tried to shake the adrenaline pumping through her veins.  “Asshole things.” 

Luke let go of loud exhalation.  “Like?”

“He’ll be happy to work you out
of my system when you tire of me.”

Luke swore a blue streak, half in English, half in Spanish.  He was so worked up, she had no idea what he’d said.

“I told him to go fuck himself, so don’t worry,” she chuckled, trying to calm him.

He was still silent, seething, then, “Are you okay?”

“Of course.  Don’t worry, alright?  But I do think you need to address his place in
GSoul
.  I don’t trust him.”

“I’m taking care of it.”  Then he muttered, “Fuckin’ asshole.  I love you,” he said vehemently right after that.

“I know you love me, and I didn’t listen to him.  I told him to go fuck himself, remember?”

He sighed.  She could almost picture him running his hand through his hair.  His tone changed immediately, making her think of hot, grinding sex.  “I want you here, all mine for the rest of the day.  How far away are you?”

“I’m about 15 minutes out.  I’ll see you soon, then we need to go to my place.  I need my coffee maker.  Yours is for shit, Daniels.”

She heard him chuckle.  “Call me when you get here.  I’ll meet you downstairs.”

“Got it.”

“Hey,” he said before she could hang up.

“Yeah?”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

She melted a little.  “I’m fine, baby.  But it’ll be nice to get a big kiss when you get in the limo,” she smiled.  “See you in a few.”

A few minutes later,
she turned down Luke’s
street, now
their
street, and texted him.  When she arrived he was waiting at the curb.  He got into the limo telling Kenneth to head to her loft then without waiting a second longer he hauled her into his arms and kissed her.

His hands were in her hair, his lips were dominating hers, his tongue was plundering and demanding her response…and her only response was that her senses were reeling.

The man knew how to kiss and at the moment she wanted to tear his clothes off, but merely two minutes later they were already pulling up outside her loft.  When he finally moved away from her lips, he said, “Don’t hang up on me again.  I don’t like it.  And if he comes anywhere near you again, please Janie, just walk away, okay?  I don’t want him anywhere near you.”  He dropped his forehead to hers.  “Promise me.”

She touched his lips.  “I hung up on you because I didn’t wan
t to get into it with you while he was standing right there.”  She held his face.  “And I promise I’ll walk away if I bump into him again.”

Luke kissed her softly then they got out of the car.  They spent the rest of the day getting some items and clothes from her place so she wouldn’t have to keep going back and forth to get stuff for a few days.  By the time they got back to their place, they grabbed some takeout for dinner, unpacked and finally cuddled up on the sofa in front of the fireplace to watch a movie.  Janie’s eyes were already closing, while
her head was on Luke’s lap and he played with her curls.

It was early still, only 10 o’clock, but
she let out a quiet sound, snuggling more into him.  He chuckled softly.  “Just go to sleep,” he said, scratching lightly at her scalp.

“If you say so,” she smiled, so tired.  And she did.

The next few days were like a dream, the two of them spending more time together.  On Sunday, they had brunch with Luke’s family after Maria had come back from church.  His parents were of course thrilled about their dating status.  They discussed Christmas morning and how schedules were now changing due to all of the relationships of people in their group of friends.  Decisions were made to have Christmas lunch with Janie’s family, then dinner with Luke’s.  

Later on Sunday, they got more of Janie’s things from her loft, and Monday, Luke headed back to work.  This gave Janie
extra time to gather more of her things and update the girls on some of the changes from the last few days.  When she spoke with Ayanna, they talked about the loft now being used for the catering business, the potentiality of joining
GSoul
, as well as what had happened with Miguel and Eric.

“I’m so friggin’ excited you moved in with him!  Jon and I keep saying we need to officially make the switch with me moving into his place, but I haven’t gotten around to doing it yet.  I should probably do that soon so Ryann can rent out the apartment if she wants.”  Ayanna was renting an apartment in Chelsea belonging to Ryann who no longer needed it after moving in with Jeremy.  “So,” Ayanna began, “how are things going?  Gimme deets,” she laughed.

“I can’t even explain how awesome it is,” Janie said.  “It’s like nothing has changed at all, but yet everything has at the same time.  We’ve known each other for so long that it’s familiar, you know?  But then there’s this edge to it now, this different energy that takes it to a whole other level.  And the sex,” she stuttered then blew out a breath.  “I’m so happy, that all I’m doing is walking around with this annoyingly goofy smile on my face.”

Ayanna laughed.  “You deserve this.  You’ve waited a long time for him.  All of us are thrilled for you two.  You’re perfect together and with your history of friendship, it just makes sense.”

“He’s been hinting at things,” Janie began.

There was a significant pause.  “What kinds of things?” Ayanna asked with anticipation.

Janie relayed some of her conversations with Luke and his comments, mysterious as they’d been, about marriage.

Ayanna squealed.  “Ahh!  Why does this not even surprise me?  He
is
33.  It’s not like he needs to date anymore to figure out what he wants.”  She sighed.  “And what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking, well, ‘Holy Shit’ is what I’m thinking.”

They both laughed. 

“Sweetie,” Ayanna said, “you’re ready for whatever he throws at you.  You’ve wanted him forever, and now he wants
you
.  Enjoy this thoroughly.”

“I am, trust me.”

Christmas Eve finally arrived on Tuesday.  The Callahans, McCallisters, and Daniels families, with the new addition of Ryann and her parents, and Emily, all went to the elder Daniels’ home for dinner.

While at dinner, Janie noticed Mike, Luke and Jem doing a lot of back slapping and speaking in low tones off to the side.  Janie, Tiffany, Ryann and Emily all found a corner of the kitchen to hug and laugh about the many life changes that had happened to them since Thanksgiving; Ryann with her engagement, Ayanna with her
new partnership to start with the catering business, Emily with her impending move into her new apartment with Mike, Janie with her dating Luke and her address change, and Tiffany with her foundation being established.

“Well, Tiff.  You’re finally getting your life back on track.  It must feel good,” Janie said.

“It does.”

“Anything new with Dr. Drew?”

Tiffany swallowed, looking a little green.

“Did something happen?”

“What’s going on, Tiff?  He asked you out ages ago and you said no.  So what’s making you drag your feet with him?  Is it mainly issues you’re still dealing with from your ex?” Ryann asked sincerely, reaching for her hand.

Tiffany let go of an enormous sigh.  They all knew she’d suffered some mental and emotional damage from the ex-douchebag politician who’d cheated on her with a woman practically ten years her junior.  What had made the situation even worse was that it’d been plastered all over the news.

They also knew that during her marriage to him, he’d convinced her to get various ‘hidden’ piercings on her body to, according to him, heighten the pleasure during their sexual experiences.  She hadn’t wanted to get them, had told him so, but her controlling husband had made her feel like she wouldn’t have been a good wife if she hadn’t gotten them.  She’d complied with his demands thinking that her actions would keep his wandering eye from looking at other women.

It hadn’t. 

And now she was stuck with piercings she didn’t want along with her unhealthy belief that the next man she was with would think she was a doormat who had slutty tendencies or something ridiculous like that.  She had once admitted that the piercings added to her sexual pleasure, but she was so completely confused about her feelings, she didn’t ever do anything about them.

“I just know that if we start to go out, it may eventually lead to some romantic things,” Tiffany said, getting worked up and waving her hand in the air, “and I’m still not sure how to explain everything.  I don’t know what he’d think of me.  What if he thinks I’m the biggest idiot for even letting some guy talk me into getting the piercings when I didn’t even want them?”

“That guy was your husband, and he was manipulating you, not thinking of your wants at all.  We know this.  And as I’ve said before, you could just get them removed,” Emily said.

“I know, I know.  How ridiculous am I being when I don’t even want to get them removed because then someone else would have to see them?  I thought of doing it myself, but
they’re tricky how they’re in there,” she mumbled, sounding embarrassed.  “I was thinking of having a doctor remove them, but even that,” she stammered.

“Tiff, come on,” Emily rolled her eyes.  “You don’t think doctors have seen piercings?  They won’t care about that stuff.  I know you feel weird about it, but they wouldn’t think anything of it.  You’re well known up in Boston, and people know of your family here, but I don’t think a doctor will even blink over it and it would be kept confidential anyway.  Have you gotten a gynecologist or GP since you’ve moved down here this past summer?”

“No.  I know I need to get my shit in line.  Now that I’ve got a place to live and I’ve found the warehouse in Harlem for the foundation, I’ll start getting more settled.  I’ve just been pushing it off.”  She paused.  “Did you know Drew used to be a medic in the army before he was a surgeon here?”

All of the girls looked surprised and shook their heads no.

“He was deployed to Iraq and was there for a year about ten years ago,” Tiffany said.

“Wow.  I had no idea,” Ryann said, who’d met him first as his patient, and had known him the longest.  He was the one who’d been her surgeon when she’d been shot.

“Yeah, he told me when we all went salsa dancing,” Tiffany said.  “He said it was a life changing experience, obviously.  It’s why he wanted to specialize in gunshot wounds when he came back.”

“Huh.  That makes sense,” Ryann said.  “He’s lucky he only had to be there for a year, with so many others who’ve been deployed so many times.”

“Yeah,” Tiffany thought.  “I should’ve asked him about that.  I wonder if he was wounded there or something.”  Tiffany’s face took on a look of concern.  “Well,” she hesitated.  “I guess I can ask him next week,” she said with a pointed look at the girls.

“What’s next week?” Janie asked with anticipation.

Tiffany paused.  “He asked me out again.  To go to a New Year’s Eve party given by the hospital.”

All of the girls began chattering at once.

“And you said yes?” Janie asked, excited.

“I told him I’d get back to him.  I just need to think through what I’ll do if things move in a certain direction.  I’m so frickin
g nervous around him all of the time, I know I’ll babble like a freak and I want to make sure I’m calm.  But every time I think about kissing him, I seriously start to hyperventilate,” she said already breathing heavily.

“Okay, calm down,” Emily said. 

“Say yes to him, Tiff.  You can do it.  He’s a great guy and he’s kind, but still a guy’s guy.  Just go out with him. This is the second time he’s asked and you know you’re dying to say yes,” Ryann said. 

“I know, I know.  I’m thinking about it.  I told him I’d let him know after Christmas.”  Tiffany began taking deep breaths and all of the women laughed a little at her reaction to the gorgeous doctor.

“Breathe, Tiff,” Ryann said.

“I know, I know.” 

They all helped with putting food away and cleaning up, then they all left to get ready for the 11 o’clock service at church.  Janie was excited that Jonathan and Ayanna would be going.  She knew that Jon had grown up a devout Catholic, so it was important to him to attend service on Christmas Eve.  They had an hour or so before they had to head out again so everyone went home to change into their Christmas garb.