Indelible Love Series + Entwined Bundle

by DW Cee

  “Let’s talk.” I faced him, serious in my demeanor.

  “Not now, Lady Jane...I know the inevitable...just give me tonight...” was all he said as he turned me around and buttoned up the rest of my dress.

  I suddenly felt bereft. All joking aside, Donovan was a dear friend and a one-time, long-time “love” of mine. After tonight, I knew I’d have to let go completely, and he, too would let go of me. Sigh, again!

  Carriages lined the block and waited their turn in front of the stately mansion in Pacific Heights. A cotillion dance was already in play when we stopped at the top of a double curved staircase. We were announced by the butler as Lady Jane and Earl Donovan to the crowd. The ball was a crush, as the old English would call it, with hundreds of people crowding the ballroom, sipping champagne, dancing, and telling Banbury tales to one another. Le Beau Monde Ton Ball was magnificent. The earl and I visited the card room where ladies played whist and piquet. We tried our hand at vingt-et-un in the men’s card room but had no luck winning a pound or a shilling.

  “Come, I think your surprise is here.” Donovan put my gloved hand in the crook of his arm and led me out of the card room.

  The entire ballroom was in a tizzy, excited about the newest arrival. I looked up to the top of the staircase as the butler was announcing Almack’s Patroness, Countess Estelle Cowper Reid—my grandmother‼!

  I ran to her as soon as she got safely down the steps. “Gram! When did you get to America, and what are you doing here?”

  “Hello, Sweetheart! I just got in yesterday. I was going to go straight to LA but Roland told me you’d be in San Francisco so we thought it’d be fun to see you at this Ball. Isn’t it marvelous?”

  Hugging her, I answered, “I’m so happy to see you. You’ve been gone too long. Didn’t you miss us?”

  “Of course I missed you and the family, but it’s James and Ellie I missed most. If it weren’t so hard for me to go back and forth on a plane, I would’ve come back sooner. I’ve kept in touch with Emily and the twins through video chat, but it’s not the same as being with them and holding them.”

  “You heard the big news?”

  “Yes. Emily was in a state of shock when she called me from New York.”

  “Hello? Where’s my welcome, dear Janey? I’m the one who brought you your Gram and planned this surprise.”

  “Hey, Gimpy. Thank you for bringing Gram back to us.”

  “Hello, Grandma Reid. You look as lovely as ever.” Donovan bowed over my grandmother’s hand, then kissed it.

  “Hello Donovan. So good of you to escort my granddaughter to the ball. Are you two enjoying yourselves?”

  “We are, Gram. What a hoot to be at such a spectacle.”

  “My lovely Estelle, I hear the instruments getting ready for a waltz. Would you care to join me in this dance?” My Gimpy still had it. Even at his age, he was the charming English gentleman.

  “You silly old coot. I can’t do any revolutions at my age,” Gram admonished lightly.

  “Come on, Estelle. Let’s pretend like we’re back in Paris and you’d just accepted my proposal. Let’s go back to that night, before that rogue of a suitor of yours stole you from under my nose.”

  Gram laughed. “I think it was you who stole me from under Jerry’s nose. All right. Let’s try it, but slowly.”

  “May I have the pleasure of this dance, Lady Jane?” Donovan graced me with the same charming ways.

  “Well, I don’t know, Sir. My dance card seems to be filled already, and your name is not on any of the lines.”

  “I shall have to usurp one of the dandy’s turns. I am an earl! Who dares to challenge an earl?”

  “Ah-hem!” The butler cleared his throat again for another arrival. “The Duke—Maximillian Arthur Davis!”

  Max??? Where did he suddenly come from, and how did he appear in this fantasy storyline?

  Waltz! Tango!! Foxtrot‼!

  Jan. 21, 2013 Circa 1814 Part 3

  “I believe this is our dance?” Max, looking every bit the English Duke, politely demanded a waltz with me.

  Donovan held on a bit longer than comfortable, raised my left hand, and gently kissed the exposed sliver of skin on the inside of my wrist, where the edge of my glove met the edge of my sleeve. I wanted to swoon on the spot—first, because that was undeniably romantic and a ten on the hot-o-meter! And second, because I saw the ring of fire in Max’s eyes. I quickly put my hands on Max, in waltz position, as Donovan conceded this dance.

  “Are you mad?” I squeaked.

  “...as hell,” he said with a begrudging smile on his face. “You look stunning, my lady Jane—a little too fetching for public viewing.” He pulled me scandalously tight into his body and whispered in my ear, “This...” Max’s index finger started at my collarbone. “Neckline...” Then it slowly inched down. “Is...” It then lightly grazed over the top swell of my breast. “Dangerously...” And soon followed the curve of the swell. “Low....” Finally his finger reached where the heart-shaped bodice met—right at center point. Damn, talk about hot. THAT was off the hot-o-meter chart, hot! “And there seems to be too much clothing underneath this dress,” he continued to whisper, seduce. This time, he used his hand to do a slow S revolution from the top of my back to as far down as his hands could reach. All of a sudden, I was weak in the knee. “You, my lovely, are truly a diamond of the first water. After this dance, I’d be honored to take you home.” Yes! Home! Bed! Goodness, I was a trollop.

  Somehow, by following the couple next to us, we did a decent imitation of the waltz.

  “How’d you end up here, and how do you know the Regency lingo?” He held me tighter and didn’t say anything else till the waltz ended.

  “Where’s Gram?” He asked while looking around the ballroom.

  “Right behind you,” Gram answered. “What an entrance you made, Monsieur Le Duc.”

  “Hello, Gram!” He gave her a warm hug and kiss on the cheek. “Did you have a comfortable flight here?”

  “I did. Nice of you to join us, Your Grace. You came to keep an eye on your wandering beloved, I assume?” She winked at him.

  “Wandering, being the key word, Gram. I’m going to have to keep a tight leash on this granddaughter of yours.”

  “You can always get leg-shackled to her, my boy. Then, you’ll have no worries of cicisbeos stealing her from under your nose. That theme runs in this Reid family.”

  “Hello. You must be Sir Roland Ascot. It’s an honor to meet you.”

  “And you must be the young man courting our Lady Jane?”

  “I am.”

  “There appears to be more than one of you courting Lady Jane.” Now Gimpy was putting me on the spot.

  “I’m sure I don’t know why this spinster is so popular,” Gram uttered.

  “Gram! Did you really call me a spinster?”

  “At your ripe age, you’d be considered an ape-leader.”

  “Oh my gosh. I always knew Jake was your favorite, but I thought maybe I was your favorite granddaughter.”

  Both Gram and Gimpy laughed at me.

  Max placed my hand in his arm. “With your permission, Gram? Sir? We’ll see you tomorrow?” He was making me leave the ball already?

  “Will you join us for an early breakfast before you go back to LA, Your Grace?”

  “It would be my honor, Gram, I mean, Countess. See you in the morning.”

  I waved goodbye to Gram and Gimpy, and to Donovan who was walking towards them.

  “Come on you light skirt. Let’s get you home.”

  Max didn’t have time to rent a carriage, so we took a regular San Francisco cab and were back to reality. My one night of living in Jane Austen’s world was done. I should be grateful that Max and Donovan didn’t get into fisticuffs, or worse yet, take out their dueling pistols to meet at dawn.

  “What has you shaking your head, Lady Jane?”

  “You and Donovan meeting at dawn with your swords or pistols.”

  “Oh yes, t
he minor earl. I believe I bested him in all ways tonight—the title, the property and money that assumedly comes with the title, the tempting woman. You, my lovely Jane, and I have a bit of unfinished business when we get back to your manor. I’d like to get you and our loose ends, all tied up.”

  Damn! The heat was rising and I was hot everywhere. It didn’t help that I decided to be as true to this era as possible and wore a lady’s unmentionable, or underdrawers, rather than underwear.

  “What will we be tying up?”

  “You...if you’re lucky.”

  What the hell did I say to that?

  “You’re blushing, my fair maiden.” Max pulled me onto his lap and we gave the cab driver a show. It wasn’t indecent, but the tension that built up spoke of indecency to come.

  “I’m really curious to know how you ended up in San Francisco today.”

  “Deuce take it! I’m trying to seduce you, and that’s all you can think about?”

  “You’re so funny! How’d you learn this lingo? It’s not like you had sisters who read this stuff.”

  “Your sister emailed me a copy of a Regency glossary and era description and told me to learn it before arriving in the city.”

  “Emily?”

  “Yes, Emily. Who else? She spoke with your grandmother yesterday and I guess Gram told her about tonight. She called me immediately and forced me up here.”

  “How about your outfit and...”

  “All Emily. In between suffering from morning sickness and throwing up, she reserved everything, down to the plane ticket, and told me to come up here and declare my intentions. She thought you might ‘get swept away by the whole mystique of the night and romanticize Donovan as your true love.’ Those were her exact words.”

  I was slightly pissed that Emily thought so little of me, but also a bit embarrassed that she was correct. I did get carried away like some ingénue chit.

  “Cat got your tongue?”

  “Only if the cat’s name is Max.” That made him laugh. Sassy tongue—that’s me!

  “Lady Jane, I want you to know that I was in the middle of exams while you were off frolicking with another man, and I still have one more exam left tomorrow. I haven’t slept in almost three days, and memorizing all this Regency information on the hour-flight was worse than studying for medical exams. I kept nodding off, but couldn’t fall into a deep sleep between Emily’s voice in my head imploring me to know the information, and terrifying visions of your wayward ways.” He broke into that beautiful smile. If Donovan had that Bradley Cooper / Henry Cavill good looks, Max could be liken to Josh Duhamel / Americana boy-next-door good looks. I was a lucky girl!

  “Are you leaving tonight?”

  “I will be no further away than right behind you, on top of you, and / or under you, in bed tonight.”

  Aieee! Mamamia! Muy Caliente! I am en fuego!

  “But, I have to leave right after breakfast with Gram. My last exam starts at 8:00am, but your brother—forced by his wife—got me into a later exam that takes place in the evening. He was not happy about asking his colleague for a favor.”

  I laughed out loud. I’d have to pay my brother back, somehow. “What’d he tell his colleague?”

  “Emily came up with the excuse of a family emergency.”

  “My sister’s resourceful.”

  “She sure is. Now, let’s get to bed, wench. We’ve got a lot of making up to do.”

  Rather than joining Max in the shower as he suggested, I took care of some business. I dug up all our devices and turned them off. No call, text, voicemail or ill baby, was going to disturb us this time. I also dug up all the candles from the kitchen. And lastly, I dug up a sexy negligee I purchased a long while back, but never got to use. We were going to finish what we started in New York. Once Max got out, I decided to jump in the shower, too, before jumping my boyfriend. After bumping into hundreds of people in that crowded ballroom and caking on the make-up and hair spray (yes, I know that they didn’t wear make-up and hairspray back then), I felt gross. A happy whistle came out while I washed myself clean. Woo-hoo! I did a little jig in the shower thinking about all that was going to go down in bed. After blow-drying my hair, I walked into my bedroom and wouldn’t you know it...

  Candles to set the mood—lit

  Boys to Men Acapella on iPod shuffle—on

  Red naughty nightie—donned

  My half-naked boyfriend—SNORING!

  He was completely passed out.

  LOL! Good night!

  Jan. 24, 2013 Donovan and Who???

  “Should we go watch a movie, then have a late dinner?” Max was off for a few days before his next semester began, so he called me at the office more than usual.

  “You gonna fall asleep on me again?”

  “How long am I going to pay for that?”

  “Until my ego is pieced back together! Did you notice any of my effort?”

  “You know I did. I tried to show you how much I noticed, but you stopped me mid-demonstration.”

  “Sure. Blame it on the girl who wanted to rush out to meet her grandmother for breakfast—especially when we were already more than twenty-minutes late! I don’t think you even took a good look at the nightie. Did you even appreciate it?”

  “Since I doubt that nightie was purchased with me in mind, I don’t know how to answer that question. And for the 100th time, I’m sorry. I told you I hadn’t slept much days prior, and if it wasn’t for your wayward ways, I wouldn’t have flown up and wasted valuable study time.”

  “Did you just tell me you wasted your time?”

  “You know what I meant. Should I put you on the spot and ask why there was an indecent negligee in your possession when you had no idea I was coming up?”

  “For your info, I bought that about a year ago when we were supposed to spend a weekend up north. But instead, we got into an argument and didn’t see each other again till about a month ago. So there!”

  “Well...then I guess it’s my bad again, huh? Are we going to a movie tonight or do you want to get off the phone and not see each other again for a while?”

  Jerk! UGH! I hate it when he corners me. This was reason #1 why I ended our relationship the first time. I never had the upper hand. He was somehow always right. Even when he was wrong, and we both knew he was wrong, he was right. When did I become the submissive woman?

  “All right. A movie it is.” I pouted on the phone. “Pick me up from home?”

  “Ok. See you soon, my precious gem.”

  “Yeah, Sleepyhead. See you soon.”

  A few days ago, we wrapped up our deal with the Mitchell Group, and I flew home with Gram and Gimpy. They fought off Emily’s insistence and chose to stay at my parents’ place, arguing that Emily needed rest and privacy during her first trimester. Because she’s been sick so much, we’ve had the twins over every day, and Gimpy and Gram are in LOVE not only with each other, but with the twins as well.

  “Good afternoon, Sir, Gram.” Max greeted.

  “Good to see you again, Monsieur Le Duc.” Gram teased. “Where are you and my granddaughter off to tonight?”