“Don’t stop now,” she quipped. “Tell me more,” Janie teased.
At least twenty friends and relatives were packed into the West Village brownstone belonging to her cousin, Jeremy, and his girlfriend, Ryann Thornton, for Thanksgiving dinner. Although the closeness of their families kept Janie in communication with the elder Daniels through phone and email, it had been a couple of years since Janie had seen Luke and Tiffany Daniels’ parents due to their work schedules which often took them overseas. She was thrilled to reconnect with them now that they were back in town.
“The tapas with the Manchego cheese were perfecto. Lucas and Tiffany raved about them when they mentioned them a couple of months ago. I was hoping you’d make them today.” Mrs. Daniels, otherwise known to Janie as Maria, reached across the table to squeeze Janie’s hand.
“Well, that’s high praise coming from you,” Janie smiled. “I wanted them to be just like yours.”
Whenever the Daniels had come to a holiday gathering, Maria had always brought the tapas. Born and raised in Spain, she was an outstanding cook and her tapas were always much anticipated at family dinners. The ones that always caused a stir were dates stuffed with chorizo, then wrapped in bacon. They were, quite simply, orgasmic. Even the diehard vegetarian Janie Callahan gave up her plant eating ways when the delectable appetizers were in her presence. Maria had brought hers today, while Janie made the same recipe with her own twist. Rather than stuffing hers with chorizo, she’d used Manchego cheese instead.
“Lucas tells me they’ll be part of the menu at his annual party for GSoul,” Maria said, always referring to her son by his Spanish name.
Janie nodded and looked over at Luke who was deep in conversation with her younger brother home from college. “Yup, that’s the plan. The menu is finally coming together. I’m nervous, but excited.”
“You have nothing to be nervous about. It’s going to be great,” Janie’s mom, Heidi, said. “This will be so good for your business, hon. It’s a big one, I know, but you can totally handle it now that you have Ayanna on board.”
“Thanks, Mom. Yeah, we’re really stoked about it.”
“I’m so glad we got to meet her. I hear she brought some caramel chocolate something or others for dessert?” Matt asked, his gorgeous blue eyes twinkling, just like the ones he passed down to his children. The man was a sucker for food but could barely boil water. He passed both of those traits to his son as well. Thankfully, Tiffany got her cooking skills from her mother.
Janie nodded. “Yeah.” She made eye contact with her close friend, Ayanna, across the room. They both smiled at each other and Ayanna made a silly face at her. Her parents were with them this Thanksgiving and there was much for Ayanna’s family to give thanks for, having recently healed the estranged relationship between them.
Janie’s brother Mike had his girlfriend, Emily, with them for the first time along with her family down from Boston, too.
Most people needed a Venn diagram to follow the swoops and turns that connected their circle of friends. It all started with Janie’s cousin Jeremy McCallister and his girlfriend, Ryann Thornton. Ayanna Sarin, who had grown up best friends with Ryann, was soon to be Janie’s partner in her catering business, and was dating Jonathan White who used to work with Ryann. It was through Ryann that Ayanna and Jonathan met. Janie and her brother Mike Callahan, being cousins with Jeremy, or Jem as the family called him, met Ryann, Ayanna and Jonathan through him. Then Janie’s brother Mike met Emily White, Jonathan’s cousin, and they were now seriously dating and were scheduled to move into their new apartment together in the next month.
Trying to keep all the connections straight was exhausting for the average outsider.
“And I was so happy to meet Emily. She’s been such a help to Tiffany with her new venture,” Matthew said. “The new foundation has already given new meaning to her life. Tiff’s almost back to being that girl we knew before her marriage,” he said poignantly. “I’ve missed seeing that confident Tiffany,” he said quietly.
The older Daniels looked at each other and smiled. “It’s so perfect for her, isn’t it, mi rey?” Maria asked her husband quietly. “Helping young girls, giving them self-esteem. And it’s just great that you all have such wonderful connections with each other,” she said to Janie with an excited smile. “And Emily now with Mike? I love seeing how completely smitten he is,” she chuckled. “And Jem with Ryann?” She sighed contentedly. “Such a joy to see you all finding your loves.”
Janie smirked, but remained quiet.
Maria was the consummate romantic. True to her Spanish heritage, she was a passionate woman. For years now, Janie had heard Matthew and Maria refer to each other as ‘mi rey’ and ‘mi reina’. It came out sounding mee-ray and mee-rayna. It meant ‘my king’ and ‘my queen’ in Spanish. Janie thought it was so precious. One would rarely find a couple calling each other those terms of endearment, but in the Spanish culture, it didn’t seem so odd. She certainly hadn’t known anyone in this day and age who would refer to their partner in that way. But between Matthew and Maria, it was the most beautiful and sweet of nicknames, and so completely Latin.
Maria’s beautiful dark hair and coloring, not to mention her curvy figure, caught the eye of Matthew Daniels early on while he served as an American diplomat in her country. A brilliant mind in her own right, Maria had been a Communications Director in his sector and it was while working together that their love bloomed. With Matthew’s fair complexion, blue eyes and tall stature, he and Maria made a striking couple.
With no segue at all, Maria continued. “So your mom tells me Lucas will be taking you around to introduce you to some of the important people at his party. You’re going to find some new clients for your business, I’m sure.”
Janie nodded, a glint in her eye. “That’s the plan. Right after all of the food is out, he’ll walk me around. I still need to get a dress. Gotta start working on finding that love,” she said wagging her eyebrows at Matthew.
Matthew guffawed. “I don’t think that’ll be too difficult. Luke will have his hands full keeping them at bay. I almost wish we were going just so we can watch.”
“Why don’t you?” Janie asked. “It would be fun to have you there!”
“We already have plans that night, and it’s for his company people anyway. So onto other important topics. When are you getting the dress?” Maria laughed.
“Actually, I’m going shopping this weekend. I’m dragging Luke with me. We’re going on Saturday before we all go out Saturday night,” she said waving her hand to the group of friends gathered in the room. It wasn’t every day that everyone was together, so they were all going out dancing. Janie turned back to Luke’s parents. “I figured it’s his party, and given his artistic eye and career choice, he’ll be the perfect one to help with picking the perfect dress,” Janie said, then added dryly, “I’m not sure I know what I’ve gotten myself into, though. I hear he can be quite something when shopping for clothes.”
Maria’s eyebrows shot up. “You don’t know the half of it. He definitely has his opinions. Well,” she said with a smile and settling back into her chair, “that oughta be fun.” She gave Janie a pointed look.
Janie smiled. Yup. Definitely fun.
……
“Why can’t you just zip it up, Luke? What the hell’s the big deal?” Janie asked in exasperation through the door of the dressing room while trying on another dress.
“Just hold on a sec and I’ll get Carolyn –”
Janie completely ignored him and opened the dressing room door, holding the cocktail dress over her ample bosom while the back gaped open waiting to be zipped.
Luke stopped his movements, and then stood frozen before her, his jaw clenched while he looked at her. His 6’3” framed towered over hers and he finally rolled his eyes in annoyance.
His eyes moved down her body briefly then he sighed. “Turn around. You’re such a pain in my ass.”
She tried to hold in the giggle
, but it escaped nonetheless. She couldn’t help it. She had him just where she wanted him.
This was the dress; she felt it in her bones. It had a 1950’s vintage look to it and was perfect for her figure. After dropping nearly 50 pounds, she still had a voluptuous form given her double D’s standing at attention. And the neckline on this number accentuated her girls to perfection.
The emerald green dress was sleeveless with a plunging V neck, a wide corset-like band just under her breasts, and then soft folds that fell to her knees. The clingy expensive fabric skimmed over her slim waist which looked even smaller with the cinched style, especially when seen in comparison to the corset-like structure encasing her boobs.
Yeah, this was exactly the dress to show off her best assets. And she planned on torturing Luke with every inch of them. She was determined to get some kind of reaction. She’d been at it for an hour now, trying on dresses.
Once he was in the dressing room, she turned her back with an impish grin on her face, and let him zip the dress up while she adjusted her braless tatas in the bodice as they both faced the mirror.
“Cristo,” she heard him mutter. He always swore in Spanish. “You didn’t need my help with the last one,” he muttered.
“The last one didn’t have a zipper. And you’re the fashion guru. I need you here to check it out. That’s why you took me shopping, remember? Now stop complaining and pay attention.”
Once she was zipped up, he stood back from her and she examined herself in the mirror. Her golden red curls spilled down her shoulders and back. With green eyes sparkling, she made eye contact with him in the looking glass.
“Whattaya think?” she asked saucily. She thought she looked pretty good, but she still had a bit of body dysmorphia when it came to seeing herself realistically in the mirror. Sometimes the size 6 label on her jeans didn’t process correctly in her head and she’d spend several minutes trying to convince herself that it really was her she was looking at in the mirror; not some other woman who had her face with a smaller body.
Three years after losing the weight, she was still trying to get used to her new physique.
Luke was looking at her from behind, his eyes clashing with hers. A lazy smile sat on his lips, but he looked like he was desperately trying to stay focused on her face and not her breasts spilling out of the dress. “You know you look good,” he finally said.
She sighed in annoyance. “No, Luke,” she said, showing her exasperation. “I don’t really know I look good until someone tells me I look good. I’ve said this to you before.”
“Janie.” He put his hands on her bare arms and forced her to look in the mirror. “Look. You have eyes, don’t you?” He looked huge standing behind her. It made her breath catch in her throat.
She blushed a little at his backhanded compliment. “Yes, but it’s true,” she grumbled, looking at herself and him. Seeing them both in the mirror made her stomach flutter. They looked good next to each other. “I still have a hard time seeing what I really look like sometimes. I mean I think it looks good, right?”
He swallowed, his eyes softening. “The dress looks great. You look,” he paused, then finally whispered with another hint of exasperation, “you look fantastic, Janie.”
She almost blushed again, but caught herself. “Then why do you look like it looks disgusting? You could smile while saying it, you know.”
His eyebrow went up in annoyance at her tone and his lips pressed together.
She looked down at the girls. “Do you think I’ll need a bra after all? You don’t think they look too big in this dress?”
She saw movement in the mirror and looked up only to see him pinching the top of his nose. “Is this a trick question?” he asked.
“No. I’m serious,” she said looking back down at them and pushing them up adjusting herself again.
He looked heavenward, put his hands on his hips then glared back at her. As if catching himself, he schooled his features before asking, “What do you want me to say, Janie?”
“I want you to tell me if they look too big in this dress,” she said patiently, as if speaking to a child. “They actually hold up pretty well without the bra,” she said a little surprised, “with this corset band of fabric under them. It supports them really well,” she finished, enjoying his discomfiture.
“Trust me. They look fine,” he said dryly.
“I don’t want them to look fine. I want them to look spectacular.” She looked back down at her chest, noting the deep V of fabric between them and the glorious cleavage that showed. “I’m trying to snag a man at your party. I want to look good. Aren’t you paying attention? Stay with me here,” she said, snapping her fingers at him.
He shook his head. “No, you’re supposed to be networking, not snagging some schmoe that I’m going to have to beat up after the party. And what kind of question is ‘do they look too big’?” he muttered. “Is it even possible for a woman’s boobs to be too big?” he asked rhetorically, trying to keep his eyes above her neckline.
“Of course they could be too big. Duh. I don’t want to look like a freak show like when I was in high school,” she said, even though she was thrilled at his comment.
“Oh, stop. You’ve never looked like a freak.”
She just gave him a look.
“You’ve always carried yourself beautifully, in every stage of your life, baby girl. You have great style.” He looked her up and down casually. “You’ve always looked good.”
She nearly fell over at the compliment and him looking her over. “You think so?” she asked quietly, gnawing on her lip.
“I know so. I’m the fashion guru, remember?”
She sighed. “Well, thank you,” she said offhandedly, getting a hold of her emotional reaction to his words. She waved her hand in the air letting him know she was done with the conversation. “I think this is the dress.” She smiled and twirled around looking at herself at different angles. “You agree?” she smiled up at him.
He smirked at her. “Yes, I think this is the one. If one of your goals is to turn heads then,” he paused and let his eyes move over her figure staring back at them from the mirror, “you won’t have anything to worry about. That’s for damn sure,” he murmured the afterthought. “You turn heads regardless.”
“Well,” she sighed, feeling giddy at his comments and the perusal of his light blue eyes. “I’ll never be thin like Vanessa.” Janie tried to hide the annoyance from her voice while talking about the tall and willowy redheaded model Luke had been seeing for the past few months. “I got what I got, and that’s that,” she said, running her hands over her hips and turning to the side to inspect her body again.
He watched her hands skim down her hourglass shape then brought his eyes up to meet hers again in the mirror. “Why would you want to be Vanessa? You want to be you. Besides, men like curves. It gives them something to hold onto.” His eyes skittered down her figure again.
Now it was her turn to raise an eyebrow. She wanted to scream, then what the hell are you dating Vanessa for if men like curves?!
Idiot.
As if realizing what he’d just said, he cleared his throat just as Janie spoke. “Okay, so now I need shoes and jewelry.”
“Nude or gold toned peep toe pumps with some embellishment on them. Maybe a choker and some solid looking gold dangly earrings,” he said almost immediately. His hand reached up and pulled at one of her curls. She didn’t think he realized how often he absentmindedly touched her hair.
A shudder passed through her just as it did every time he touched her, but she laughed to cover it up. “I knew there was a reason I brought you.”
“You could probably borrow a pair of shoes from Ryann,” he pondered, looking at her feet while referring to her cousin, Jeremy’s girlfriend. Ryann had a serious shoe fetish and had an incredible collection of footwear.
“I think I want to get my own,” Janie said looking at her feet and wiggling her red painted toe nails.
“Okay
.” He looked back into her eyes. “Get changed,” he said, turning to leave the dressing room. Before he closed the door behind him, Janie stopped him.
“Wait, I need you to unzip me,” she said, trying not to laugh at what she knew would be his reaction.
With his back to her, she couldn’t see his face but watched as he took a deep breath.
Ayanna, Janie’s soon-to-be partner in her catering company, The Local Yokel, had been telling Janie for months now that Luke was interested in her. Ayanna’s argument, and Ryann’s for that matter, was that he probably couldn’t reconcile himself to the fact that he no longer saw her as a little sister and therefore wasn’t sure what to do about it. In fact, not only did Ayanna and Ryann think this, but Emily, her brother’s girlfriend, and Tiffany, Luke’s own twin sister thought the same things.
Probably the biggest surprise of all were the encouraging comments and knowing looks she’d also received from the males in her family. Her brother, Mike, actually hinted at being okay with the potential match, if indeed anything happened.
The problem? Luke. He was absolutely clueless. And for being one of the most sought after bachelors in the City, it was amazing he didn’t see all of the signals she was throwing at him.
So, without trying to hope too much, Janie had spent the last couple of months showing the man that she was no longer a ‘baby girl’, but a grown woman. He still called her by her nickname often, but now she was determined to show a different side to him. She dated other men around him, flirted at parties he attended, listened to him bitch about her lack of discernment concerning men, and argued with him whenever he yelled at her regarding her sex life. In short, she had tried everything besides maul the man to raise his awareness.
Among other things.
When he’d hired her to cater his company’s annual holiday party, she knew roping him into this shopping excursion to get a dress for the big night would be a golden opportunity to exercise her feminine wiles and see what stuck.
Remembrance: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series Book 4) Page 2
