“She does, doesn’t she? I’m going to make sure all of them are met.”
Yes. Major needs. Right now.
“Luke?”
“Yeah?” His hot gaze moved to her eyes.
“How are you going to gather that information, I wonder.” She was still whispering.
He looked momentarily confused, then flashed a grin in understanding and chuckled. “You know what they say about men with big feet?” He leaned back a little, his hand letting go of her curl, but she leaned forward with his movement so they were still close.
“Mmm. And what size are yours, Luke?”
He was silent momentarily, then muttered, “You’re shameless, you know that? You don’t talk to other men like this, do you?”
She let a playful grin rest on her lips. “Why does that bother you so much? I’m a 28 year old woman. I can talk anyway I want to. And if I’m going to find a man, I need to flirt.”
“A man gets ideas when a woman talks like that, Janie. You’re not stupid. You know what you’re doing.” She had to strain to hear the last sentence and he sat there, waiting for that statement to sink in.
Digging deep for the courage, she asked, “Do you get ideas when I talk to you like that?” Her eyes probed into the windows of his soul, daring him to answer her question. She couldn’t figure out what he was thinking, his face an unreadable mask. She let the comment sit between them waiting for him to pick up the volley. He wasn’t going to disappoint, apparently, because he took a breath to speak.
However, at that moment the limo slowed to the curb as they pulled in next to Luke’s building where his executive offices commandeered the top half of the structure. She took a huge but quiet gulp of air to calm her racing heart.
He pointed at her. “Watch that mouth of yours. I need you to focus.”
“I’m very focused,” she said, then let the tip of her tongue flick out and touch her lip. She did love playing with him.
He gave her a dry look. “Yeah, well focus your mouth on the wine. Not on making men,” he nearly sputtered, “come in their pants.” Before she could react, Kenneth opened the door and Luke stepped out reaching his hand back to help her. She was stunned at what he’d just said. He’d never been that explicit with her before. Ever.
After Janie said goodbye to Kenneth, Luke took her elbow to escort her to the doors.
“I can’t believe you just said that to me,” she said in a whispered scream.
He threw her a challenging look. “You said you could play with the big boys. Is that not the case?”
“I can. And I have to say I’m feeling very pleased with myself right now.” They finally got out of the cold and walked into the foyer, with Luke saying hello to security then leading her to the elevator.
“I’m almost afraid to ask why,” he muttered.
“Because you’re finally talking to me like I’m a woman. Like I’m a normal person.”
He whipped his head around with a questioning look. “What does that mean?” The elevator dinged and they got on.
“You’re not talking to me like a ‘baby girl’. You actually said something dirty to me. This is a momentous occasion, and I like it.”
He turned to her as the doors closed, put his key card in, and pushed the button for the twentieth floor. Then, once they were moving he stepped closer backing her into the wall of the elevator.
“I always knew you had a feisty mouth, but I didn’t realize –” He stopped himself.
“Didn’t realize what?” Her body was vibrating with sexual awareness.
“I think I need to add another quality to the list,” he smiled.
“Yeah?” He was so close, she could feel his heat. “What’s that?”
He pulled a curl that was resting on her shoulder then let it go. “You like to be a little naughty.”
Her face flushed. “I –”
“We need to find you someone who can talk dirty to you.” He moved his weight to the other foot shifting him closer. He scrutinized her with his eyes. “Would you like that?”
She couldn’t believe the conversations she’d been having with him this last week. Not only were they off the charts hotter than hell, but she never thought in a million years he would ever talk to her this way. She took it as a good sign and couldn’t seem to speak so she just nodded her head yes.
His stare was resting on her lips. “Hm.” Then as if to himself he said, “Somehow, I thought so. Someone who can tell you in great detail what he wants to do to you.”
She swallowed and met his eyes. “I’m beginning to wonder if this man exists, though. The list is getting pretty long.”
He smirked. “I have no doubt he’s out there. I’ll find him.” He tweaked her nose and stepped back. She nearly growled in frustration.
It’s you, you friggin’ idiot.
The elevator dinged and they arrived to the top floor of the building, a small party now in full swing.
“There he is,” Janie heard and finally saw Carolyn walking toward them. “Hi, Janie.” Carolyn gave her a hug and a kiss. “I’m so glad Luke was able to get you. He was worried you had a job tonight.”
Janie turned to give Luke a pointed look. “Not a job, no.”
“Let me take your coats,” Carolyn said, helping them off with their outerwear.
They both thanked her.
“I’ll introduce you around,” Luke said taking Janie’s arm and walking her to a group of people.
“Luke,” a voice boomed. “Now we can get down to business.”
“Mr. Gastaldi, thank you for waiting. I’d like you to meet Janie Callahan. She’ll be catering our event next weekend.”
“Miss Callahan, it’s wonderful to meet you. Luke speaks the world of your talent,” the middle aged man said to her.
Janie beamed. “Well, thank you. Luke is a great supporter of mine.”
“Mr. Gastaldi owns a vineyard upstate. It’s his wines we’ll be tasting,” Luke explained.
“Great,” Janie smiled. “I’m looking forward to tasting them. And please, Mr. Gastaldi, call me Janie.”
“Wonderful!” The older gentleman turned to some younger people near his elbow. “Janie Callahan, these are my children, Lana and Miguel.”
Miguel put his hand out first. “So nice to meet you, Janie.” He was a handsome man who smiled devilishly at her. “I look forward to hearing your thoughts on our wines.”
“I’m looking forward to trying them out,” Janie smiled back just as she felt Luke move around her.
“Miguel,” Luke began. “Good to see you again.” They shook hands.
“Hi Luke,” Lana finally spoke. Or should she say purred. Janie could tell she wasn’t going to care for Lana Gastaldi. Her eyes were all over Luke.
“Hi Lana,” Luke said politely, putting out his hand to shake hers.
“I was hoping you were coming back,” Lana said. “We didn’t have nearly enough time to chat,” she said coyly.
“Well, I needed to grab Janie. I wanted her here for the tasting.” He turned to Janie and smiled with a funny look in his eyes. “Janie, this is Lana.”
Janie put on a bright smile and put out her hand. “Hi Lana. Nice to meet you.”
“Same here,” she nodded.
“Let’s get some drinks poured,” Mr. Gastaldi said as he led them to a table that had been set up with glasses. “Why don’t you two mingle while Luke, Janie and I get to know each other a little better?” he said to his kids. They said their goodbyes and left to talk to the other people who were in the room.
Others were milling about, giving the two powerhouses their time to make a deal. While Mr. Gastaldi readied the table, Janie looked up to see Lana across the room staring at Luke. She was sipping her wine and dissecting him like a science project.
Janie caught her eye just as Lana saluted her with her glass. Janie smiled at her then cleared her throat and turned her body toward Luke.
When he saw where she had been looking, he said quietly, “She�
�s the heiress to the Gastaldi Vineyards dynasty,” he said dryly.
“How lovely for her,” Janie mumbled. Lana. Geez. And she was a redhead, a dark lush one with brown eyes as opposed to Janie’s girl next door variety. Janie sighed.
Within the next couple of minutes, the wine tasting began, with discussions of flavors and luscious velvety finishes, descriptions ranging from crisp to smoky, bright to buttery, acidity levels and complexities. The wines were delicious and Janie had to pay close attention to which ones she’d pick while fighting off the effects of the alcohol.
After close to an hour of tasting and talking, Mr. Gastaldi turned to Luke.
“Well, Luke? What are your thoughts?”
“I think it’s going to be great doing business together.”
“Just what I wanted to hear!” Mr. Gastaldi shouted with a laugh.
“I’ll give you a call on Monday to discuss the specifics, but before we talk about what we’ll need for next weekend’s event, I’d like to talk to Janie first.”
“Of course. I’ll leave you to it,” he said with a smile and left the two of them alone to talk.
When Luke looked over to her, he got a cute glint in his eye. “Uh, oh.”
“What?” she blinked.
“You’re eyes are a little glassy. You feeling a little tipsy?”
She nodded sleepily, feeling a silly grin form on her face.
He chuckled. “Okay. Do you have a good idea of what wines you’ll want?”
“Uh, huh.” She managed to get the names out of the ones she was recommending for the party. “And the Merlot will be perfect with the chocolate soufflé desserts. I’ll make a note to have a tray near the tasting table. Now,” she slurred slightly, “I need to hit the restroom before I float away.”
He smiled sweetly at her. “Let me help you,” he said helping her up.
“No,” she waved his hand away. “If people see you helping me, I’ll look like a lightweight.”
“You are a lightweight.”
“I’m a Le Cordon Bleu trained chef with a booming catering business serving the best city in the world. I’m no lightweight.” She punctuated the statement with a hiccough.
He chuckled some more. “How about we just stroll toward the bathroom and you can hold on to my arm.”
“Nope, I’m fine.” She had to fight hard to stop the bout of giggles about to overtake her. “I got it.”
“Be careful. Don’t take a face plant. Your mom will kill me.”
She waved away his comment and walked slowly toward the restroom near the elevators. She’d almost made it but a young Italian man stepped in her way and she nearly collided into his chest.
“Excuse me,” he said, steadying her with his hands on her arms. “Hello there.”
She looked up into his eyes.
Mmm. You’re cute. He was very handsome. Yeah, she definitely liked that dark and dangerous look.
“Hello,” she said, trying to stay as focused as possible. She put out her hand. “Janie Callahan.”
He laughed lightly. “Yes. We met earlier, remember?” Miguel Gastaldi reminded her. “I’ll try not to let my ego be bruised at the fact that I was so unforgettable.” He shook her hand anyway then held it while continuing to speak. “I’ve been waiting to talk to you for the last hour, but Luke and my father stole you away so quickly,” he smiled charmingly. “I understand you’re a family friend of Luke’s.”
“I’m so sorry. Yes, I do remember you. And yeah, our families grew up together,” she smiled back, trying not to pee her pants and clamping her legs together. She pulled her hand away. “I don’t mean to be rude, but,” a giggle escaped, “I really do need to use the restroom,” she laughed. “All the wine –”
He let out a huge laugh and smiled appreciatively at her. “Please don’t let me stop you. I completely understand. I’ll wait right here for you. I’d love to continue our conversation.” His voice took on a hint of anticipation, then he stepped aside so she could walk to the bathroom.
“Thank you,” she waved and made a funny face. “I’ll be right back.”
She practically ran into the bathroom, finally finding relief. While finishing up using the toilet, she heard women coming in and caught the tail end of a comment just as she was exiting the stall.
“…to take a bite out of Luke Daniels,” a husky voice said. “He’s finally alone, so –”
Janie appeared at the sinks where the two women stood.
Lana Gastaldi. Janie tried not to sigh and put a smile on her face. Lana, who recognized her immediately, almost stammered but caught herself. “It’s Janie Callahan, right?”
“Yes,” Janie smiled at her in the mirror while she washed her hands. “Hi Lana.”
Lana’s girlfriend jumped into the conversation.
“I’m Renatta.” She put out her hand and Janie shook it after she toweled off then threw the woman a smile and a ‘nice to meet you’.
“Did you enjoy the tasting?” Lana asked.
“Very much. The wine is delicious. Your family should be very proud.”
“Thanks. You’re a family friend of Luke’s, I hear?” she asked, smiling brightly.
She was probing for information.
“Yeah, we go way back.”
“Listen,” she began, looking like a woman who was about to launch into a gossip session. Janie could already guess where this was going. “Is he seeing anyone seriously?” Lana didn’t look embarrassed in the slightest for asking a complete stranger such a personal question about a friend. In fact, she fluffed her hair with her perfectly French manicured nails as she said it. “I know there’s that model,” she said. Apparently Lana Gastaldi wasn’t afraid Janie might be seeing him since it didn’t stop her from asking the question.
You are not a catty bitch, Janie. You don’t like catty bitches. Ergo, don’t be a catty bitch.
How should she respond? She could say he was serious with Vanessa, but if Lana found out that wasn’t true, Lana would just be waiting in the wings to pick up where Vanessa left off.
She could tell her it was none of her business, but that would sound rude.
She could say she didn’t know, but then the woman would make it her mission to find out. And Janie got the distinct impression this was a woman who wouldn’t stop until she got her claws into what she wanted. She did say she wanted to take a bite out of him, after all.
So, Janie in her slightly inebriated state said the only thing that any woman trying to waylay another woman from her man would say, and blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.
“I’m sorry,” Janie began, then lowered her voice. “Were you asking for yourself or for your brother?”
“My brother?” Lana asked, dumbfounded. Then she laughed as the light bulb went off in her head. “Miguel’s not gay.”
Janie nodded, waiting for Lana to catch up. When she did, her eyes nearly popped out of her skull.
“Luke Daniels is gay?”
Janie gave her a smile and a shrug.
“He’s gay?” Lana asked again. Her face was priceless.
Janie smiled as if to say Sorry, Charlie.
The two girlfriends looked at each other, crestfallen.
Janie, you’re going straight to hell and if Luke ever finds out you started this rumor, he’s gonna be the one to send you there.
“But I thought he was dating that model,” she asked confused.
Janie shrugged sympathetically. “Sorry. Well, it was nice to meet you two,” Janie said.
The two of them were barely paying any attention to her, but as if remembering at the last minute that Janie was still there, Lana turned to her and said, “Yeah, take care.”
Janie practically ran out of the bathroom, holding onto the wall to keep her balance. A giggle erupted from her mouth and she began to make her way back to the table only to be sidelined by Miguel, whom she’d completely forgotten again.
“There she is,” the good looking man said, holding out his hand to s
teady her. “You feeling okay?”
“Yeah, I feel fine. I think I may have had too much wine though,” she said, her eyes still sparkling with humor.
His eyes twinkled. “That happens, especially at wine tastings.”
“So, tell me about yourself, Miguel Gastaldi. I assume you’re a part of the family business. What’s your role?” She hiccoughed and he laughed.
“I’m VP of marketing.”
“Great. Do you enjoy it?”
He nodded. “Very much. It definitely feeds my creative side. I’m sure you know all about that as a chef.”
“I do,” she smiled. Then as the thought popped into her head, she asked, “How about your sister? Is she involved with the business as well?”
“Lana?” He seemed surprised at the question. “Well, not really. Lana doesn’t exactly like getting her hands dirty,” he said affectionately. “She’s on the board, but doesn’t necessarily have a role in the day to day running of the business.”
So, basically Lana just enjoyed the spoils of everyone else’s hard work. Why did that not surprise her?
“You’re catering Luke’s event next weekend.” He wasn’t asking but rather stating a fact.
“Yeah. It’s going to be pretty huge,” Janie said. “We’re really excited about it.”
“I guess that means you’ll be pretty busy this week?” His brown eyes were lit with appreciation as they skittered down to her neckline then back up.
Oh, boy.
“Yeah.” She cocked her head at a flirty angle. “Why do you ask?”
He smiled and got straight to the point. “Are you currently seeing anyone?”
“I’m –” she began.
“Because I’d really like to take you out sometime.”
Just as Miguel spoke, Janie’s spine began to tingle. She didn’t need to turn to know that Mr. Luke Daniels, the man of the hour, was about to sidle up next to her.
Chapter 7
Right in the middle of Miguel’s proposition, Luke approached, his hand resting on the small of Janie’s back and now moving in close. So close that her breast was nearly smashed into his side.
“Hey you two,” he said.
“Luke,” Miguel nodded. “Janie and I were just getting to know each other.”
Remembrance: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series Book 4) Page 11
