Sway (3 page)

accommodate everyone’s schedule.

More than just a woman who

loved to cook who made dinner for

her

friends,

Mary

had

turned

Delicious into a hot secret everyone

knew. And everyone wanted in. So

much so that people paid a yearly fee

for supplies and they’d be invited at

random to a certain number of

dinners or afternoon events.

Their

friends,

the

core

of

Delicious, were always on the guest

list. But for everyone else, it was an

event to get their number called to

attend a dinner.

“Yeah, probably. She’s not one for

coy, our Gillian. But this guy is good

for her. He’s been on her to set a date

for the last two months. I can’t

imagine she’s going to be able to

hold out much longer. Especially

now that the renovations on their new

house are in full swing.”

“Been a long time for her. I’m

happy. Gillian deserves her happily

ever after. And it’ll be a great job for

you too.” She tipped her glass of

cider in Mary’s direction.

“He might want some big wedding

with a crack catering staff instead of

his new wife’s friends.”

Daisy snorted. “Yes, I’m sure.

After one look at Adrian and his

family you can totally tell they care

about the thread count of the napkins

and your china pattern.”

A joke of course, as Adrian and

his sister, also a rock star, had

multiple tats and his brother ran a

tattoo shop. Their friends were a

wild assortment of awesome jobs,

hair colors and wild backgrounds.

Above all they were down-to-earth.

They fit with Gillian’s friends

perfectly.

“I just want her to be happy.”

“Of course you do. Jules will

make the cake and you will make the

food. That’s Delicious.”

It had been Daisy who gave the

name Delicious not only to the

weekly gatherings but also to her

group of friends, the sexiest, funniest,

most awesome women she knew.

Women who were always there for

each other. Whether it was to kick

someone’s

ass to

make

them

straighten up, or to defend and

protect. They were part of her family.

They were delicious in every way

and it pleased her that it had stuck.

Daisy waved a hand at all the

food. “This is awesome. More cumin

in the meatballs maybe?”

“I was thinking the same thing.

Maybe the sauce needs a tweak

instead? What do you think of the

cheese straws? Those I just made up

a batch for because I know your

grandma

loves

them

and

she

promised me some jam if I made her

some.”

Daisy laughed. “She’s greedy for

your treats.” She bit into one of the

lighter-than-air straws. “So good. Oh

what’d you add?”

“I used a new kind of cheese. It

had black peppercorns in it. I’m

going to premiere them at dinner.

How was your day?”

“I finished a new piece. Want to

see?”

Mary jumped up eagerly. “I can’t

believe you need to ask.”

Other than her grandmother, Mary

was always the first person she

showed her new work to. Daisy

knew she’d tell the truth.

They went through the small house

to the studio out back. Daisy and her

grandmother shared the space, a

garage converted to a workspace for

her grandmother and then when the

time came, they added a kiln and

space for Daisy’s mixed media work

as she’d begun to truly explore art

professionally.

Suddenly nervous, she stopped

Mary at the door. “Okay so this is

something a little new for me.”

Mary took her hands. “Hush you.

Let me see it.”

Daisy pushed the doors open and

pointed. Mary took a few steps and

halted, sucking in a breath as she took

it in. “Wow. This is…wow.”

Crimson and vivid green mosaic

created the outline of a woman’s

body. Paper and pen and ink gave her

more detail. Her arms arched above

her head, wrists bound.

“Good wow?”

Mary turned. “Yes. Really good

wow. Daze, this is crazy good. Hot.

Gorgeous. I love it.”

She grinned and hugged Mary tight.

“Thank you. I don’t know. It’s not my

usual thing but it…it just came out of

me.”

“When the others see this, there

will be a fight to see who gets to buy

it. I’d try to snag it now but then

everyone

would

whine.”

Mary

winked.

“I really do need to have more

buyers than you guys. Not that I don’t

appreciate it and all.”

Mary laughed. “Girl, you think we

pity-buy your art? One of these days

the stuff we snagged at a bargain will

be worth enough to get our kids

through college. We’re smart. And

lucky to have such a talented friend.”

Pride warmed Daisy. She was

lucky in her friends. “You’re

fabulous. I’m going to enter it for art

walk.”

“Oh! Such a great idea. If they turn

you down, they’re idiots.”

Art walk had started as an

informal thing some local artists had

started five years before and now it

was a regular event. Each quarter

they had a themed one with specially

chosen pieces on display in front

windows all over town. Daisy had

been dreaming about her work being

in one of those windows ever since.

She’d

grown

up

in

her

grandmother’s shadow. Which was

overwhelmingly a blessing. She’d

had a great example to follow.

Wonderful advice. A teacher, a

critique partner at times. Her biggest

cheerleader and also her harshest

taskmaster.

But sometimes people seemed to

believe she was only doing well

because her grandmother opened

doors for her. They took one look at

Daisy, noted her age and wrote her

off.

She wanted her successes to be

something she made on her own. She

appreciated her grandmother’s help

and advice a great deal. Never felt a

need to apologize for it. But she

craved independence in so many

ways, having people take her

seriously for her work was one of her

ultimate goals.

Levi wandered through the store.

Dumb to go grocery shopping when

he was hungry, he knew. But he’d

been in one meeting or hearing after

the next and his fridge was bare. He

avoided the frozen aisle, saving it for

last when he wouldn’t fall on the

jumbo boxes of popsicles like a

starving man. Or maybe he would. At

least he didn’t have to cook

popsicles.

The last week had left him a little

ragged. Familial obligations right and

left. A luncheon for his mother’s pet

project—a program to provide pro

bono legal services for survivors of

family violence. There had been

many just a decade before, but

continued cuts to social programs had

devastated most and left the very few

limping along on triage with long

wait lists for women who didn’t have

the time to wait.

And then more wedding stuff for

Mal. Dinners and fittings. Silly things

he could have done on his own but

for whatever reason Gwen made into

one event after the next.

The

thought

of

his

brother

kowtowing to the woman for the rest

of his life made Levi tired. Malachi

was smarter than this usually. She

was a beautiful woman, but there

were other beautiful women out

there. She was shallow and petty.

Their mother despised Gwen, which

might be part of her appeal to Mal.

All in all, dealing with any of the

wedding stuff took a few stiff drinks

and cotton in his ears to drown it all

out.

Work of course. His uncle was

nearing retirement. He had no kids of

his own so the work was being split

between Levi and his oldest brother

Jonah. He’d been part of several

different

meetings

with

myriad

clients to introduce himself and begin

that handoff.

It was Friday night and he planned

to make some soup and a sandwich

and watch
Doctor Who
on the DVR

while he polished off a few beers.

And then he planned to sleep until at

least ten the next morning.

A fine plan.

The produce section loomed to the

left. Yes, apples and some bananas

for smoothies. He grabbed them by

rote.

Then he stopped dead in his tracks

to admire.

A woman in formfitting yoga pants

was bent at the waist, peering at

something. She also had on a scoop-

necked T-shirt and bent the way she

was, her tits mounded up at the top of

the shirt as he could also see the edge

of her bra. It wasn’t as if he was a

pervert, but a woman with that much

lush beauty on display wasn’t

something he’d feel bad looking at.

Her eyes were closed as she held

a piece of fruit to her nose and

breathed it in. Her nails were done a

shiny red and then he realized who it

was when she opened her eyes and

her gaze locked on his as she

straightened and stood.

“Hello, Levi.” She put the fruit in a

brown paper bag and tucked it into

her basket.

“Daisy.”

They stood close, just staring at the

other.
Goddamn
, she was hot. In the

dress she’d worn in the dance class

the week before she’d been sexy and

retro. But formfitting worked for her

just as well.

“Like a bad penny.”

He had to tear his attention from

her breasts to figure out what she’d

said. “What?”

“You keep turning up. Like a bad

penny. Have you never heard the

saying?” She cocked her head and he

flushed at the long expanse of her

neck, wanting to touch.

“How old are you?” He actually

blurted this and then was horrified.

Her head tipped then, her hair

falling back as she laughed.

“God, that was rude. I’m sorry. It’s

just…” He licked his lips. What the

hell did he think he was doing?

“I’ll answer your question. On one

condition.”

He stepped a little closer because

he wanted to so badly. “And that is?”

“I’ll only answer if you’re

attempting to ascertain my age

because you’re going to ask me to

dinner or drinks.”

He liked how bold she was. Liked

the way she flirted.

“But not otherwise?”

Her smile brought out her dimples.

She shook her head slowly.

“Otherwise it’s not your business.”

“All right. Point taken. How old

are you?”

“Twenty-four.”

Christ. Twenty-four? She was

nearly twenty years younger than he

was. He needed to turn around and

walk away. And yet he continued to

stand

there.

This

couldn’t

go

anywhere. She was too young. Too

everything.

And damn if he didn’t want a taste.

Damn if he didn’t want to see if that

submission

she

showed

while

dancing with him could extend into

other parts of her life.

“And so?” She blinked up at him

with a challenge.

He was about to say no thanks, or

still trying to talk himself into saying

it when he said, “Can you cook? I

can’t except for sandwiches.” He

sighed. “What I mean is, I’m starving

but I’ve eaten out for the last week

except for a family dinner over the

weekend. I’d like home cooking but

the best I can offer you is soup and

grilled cheese. If you cooked well,

I’d prefer that.”

She laughed again. “I’m not the

best cook in the world. But lucky for

you, my friend is one of those

talented cooks and she brought me a