Remembrance: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series Book 4) (7 page)

Her body began to hum with awareness.  “How do you see me, then?” she asked quietly. 

He took a deep breath and looked out the window as the City passed in a blur.  It appeared they were heading back to Tribeca, where they both lived.  She waited patiently for him to answer her question.  Just when it appeared he wouldn’t answer, he turned back and pinned his eyes on her.

“I don’t see you as a little girl, Janie.”

Terror, surprise, and excitement all coursed through her.  She wanted to push a little further.  “A little sister?”

He continued staring into her eyes, causing her heart to pound even more.  Then he slowly shook his head no, “I wouldn’t say that.  No.”

She sighed and pushed the hair that had fallen on her forehead behind her ear, then she adjusted herself in her seat.  His stare was beginning to cause her body to overheat on the brisk November day.  She almost let out a sound of exasperation before asking, “Well, how do you see me then?” she asked impatiently.

The side of his mouth moved into a semblance of a smile, his eyes glittered, and he whispered, “As a woman, Janie.  Is there any way a man could look at you otherwise?”

Her breath caught at his words, but she tried to play it off and gave him a saucy wink.  “Hence the reason why I need a protector?”

He let his mouth finally form a gorgeous satisfied grin while he nodded and said, “Hence the reason why you need a protector.  Especially in that dress. 
Dios Mio
.  Sinful.”  The last word came out of his mouth in a raspy tone.  Like roughened velvet.  “I’m going to have to keep my eye on you all night.”

She laughed nervously.  “Well, don’t blame me.  You agreed on the dress and heels, and you chose the jewelry.
  So, if you’re tortured by my sparkle, then it’s your own damn fault.”

“There’s nothin
g I’d enjoy more than being tortured all night by your sparkle, Janie,” he said quietly, sending her a lazy smile.

Was this conversation really happening?  Were they really flirting?

“Well, let me state for the record that you better give Vanessa a heads up.  I don’t want her to be pissed at me because I’ve taken you away from her for half of the night.”

His eyes went flat.  “You don’t need to worry about Vanessa.  She’ll be fine, I’m sure.”

“I’m just saying,” Janie shrugged.

The limo slowed as they pulled up outside a popular café in their neighborhood.  Janie looked out the window.

“We’re stopping for food?” 

“Yeah.  Where’d you think we were going?”  He seemed surprised.

“I thought you were taking me home.”

“I told you I was hungry.  Why?  Did you have to be somewhere?” he asked her as Kenneth opened his door.

“No.  I just didn’t realize what we were doing.”

“Now you do.”  And with that, he scooted out of the limo and reached his hand back in to help her out. 

As they climbed out of the limo, there was one photographer off to the side who got off a shot, but Luke was able to get her inside quickly.  The café was known for attracting celebrities who called New York their home so it wasn’t uncommon to see one or two of the paparazzi outside the popular hangout.

They found a table and once they were seated, began looking at the menu.  Janie immediately started counting calories.  She couldn’t help it; it was just part of her lifestyle now.  She never wanted to go back to being that woman she was for the first 25 years of her life, and even after three years, she was still meticulous about keeping a food journal so she could keep her daily intake of calories within the number she wanted to maintain.

When she’d finally decided to lose the weight, she immediately began researching the best way to go about it.  It turned out that it really did come down to eating healthier and smaller portions, and being more active.  At least, that’s what it had come down to for her.  Even though she knew she’d be going to Paris for culinary school, she’d done a complete overhaul with her food choices and habits.

Knowing she’d need to taste all kinds of delicacies while preparing them in her classes, she still made a conscious effort to avoid meat and poultry as part of her regular diet.  Becoming a vegetarian not only helped with her cholesterol, but with dropping the weight as well.  Her exercise regimen started out with speed walking, then moved to Yoga and Pilates which she still did
4 to 5 times a week as her primary form of exercise.  Running proved to be too hard on the girls, so she stuck with low impact cardio and strength training most of the time.

It worked for her and was now part of her daily routine. 

“What are you going to get?” Luke asked while looking at the menu.

She put the menu aside.  “The veggie burger.  How ’bout you?”

“The shrimp diablo.” 

She smiled then leaned back.  She had no idea why, but she was hit with a flurry of nerves.  Even though they’d known each other for twenty years, this was the longest they’d been alone together.  Certainly the first time they’d been out together by themselves.  In the past, family and friends had always been with them.

“Thanksgiving was great together, don’t you think?” he asked after the waitress had put nachos on the table, taken their order, and brought them their drinks.

“It was.  Lots of cooking,” she said with a happy smile.  “It was good to see your parents.  I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve seen them.”

“Well, it’s been a few years at least.  With their travel schedule, they hadn’t seen you since you’d lost the weight.  They couldn’t stop fawning over you,” he smiled.

“I don’t know that I’d say
fawning.”

“No?  I swear if my dad wasn’t a married man, he would’ve put the moves on you.”

“Shut up,” she laughed.

“Then add in the fact that you made Mama’s tapas and he couldn’t stop talking about what a catch you were.”

“Uh, huh.  That’s me,” she said.  “I’m sure I’ll be fighting them all off at your party.”

He gave her a look, then continued.  “Did you take yesterday to relax, I hope?  I know you did a lot of the cooking.”

She nodded.  “It never hit me how much my legs and feet would ache in this profession.  Or my shoulders from leaning over counters for so long.”

“You’re go
ing to be tired after all the work’s done at the holiday party.  You sure you’re going to be able to make it with meeting all the people afterwards?” he asked.

“Yeah.  Ayanna runs a tight ship.  Plus, Catherine will be with us, so I know things will run smoothly.”

“How is Catherine?”

Catherine Diaz, owner of
Chez Catherine’s
in Manhattan, had experienced a devastating fire on the opening night of her restaurant several months back.  It had been discovered that the fire had been set by a mentally unstable woman who’d had it in for Ayanna, of all people.  The woman had known that Ayanna would be at the restaurant the evening of the opening and she’d set the fire. Janie and Ayanna’s mom had been at the restaurant that night as well.  Ayanna’s mom had suffered a broken ankle while trying to escape the blaze.  All three of them were the last to get out of the restaurant and had spent the night in the ER.  It had truly been the scariest night of Janie’s life, but in some ways the best, since Luke had stayed with her at the hospital for the entire night. 

Catherine’s restaurant was set to reopen in February after its six month closure and during that time, Catherine helped out occasionally and took other catering gigs while waiting for the construction to be completed.

“She’s doing great.  Excited about the restaurant getting back up and running.  Having her with us for the party will be a tremendous help.  Not to mention the team of sous chefs that will be there.  You know.  The ones I’m charging you out the wazoo for.”  Her eyes twinkled and she grabbed a nacho.

“So Carolyn keeps telling me,” he said dryly.

She shrugged.  “I don’t want to hear any complaints, mister.  You knew what you were getting yourself into when you hired me.  I ain’t cheap.”

He leaned back in amusement and crossed his arms over his chest.  “Why is it you can take thousands of dollars from me without blinking, but when I w
ant to get you a pair of boots that are a couple hundred bucks, you have a hissy fit?”

She gave him a look of frustration.  “Because that’s different and you know it.  Any money that’s coming into the business to make it grow, I’m all for.  Getting something for me personally,” she said, then halted.  “That’s just different.”

“So let me get this straight.  If I want to get you things for the business, you’ll accept them?”

She looked at him warily. “Why?”

“Just getting clarification.”

“Yes, if it’s for the business.  But there’s nothing I need, so don’t worry about it.”  The thought of him getting her something did all kinds of things to her.

The waitress showed up with their food and they took the next several minutes eating and talking about inconsequential things.  Eventually, talk circled back to her business.

“Having Ayanna join you as a partner in January is a good move,” he said in between bites.

Janie looked up from her food and nodded. “I love her to death.  We’re both super excited.”

“You should be.  Look how far you’ve come since coming home from Europe.  You’ve done well for yourself,” he said proudly.

She beamed under his praise.  “Thanks.  I didn’t do it alone, though.  I have a ton of people to thank for helping me along the way.  You, for instance.  And not to mention all of the silent backers.  Without them, I couldn’t have gotten the loft, the van…”

She’d completely lucked out with her accommodations, which Luke had found for her since he lived in the same neighborhood.  She made her home in a roomy loft in Tribeca which was zoned both commercially and residentially.  The selling feature of the space was the state of the art commercial kitchen.  In addition to that, it had a huge elevator lift for the seven stories in the warehouse, with each loft having its own floor.  Janie’s loft was on the first. 

The exposed brick and pipes added to the appeal, as well as the nine foot windows around the perimeter of the apartment.  Even though it was all one big open space, she had all of her ‘rooms’ cordoned off with funky room dividers, fabric, and large bookshelves.

The parking lot right next to the warehouse was perfect for the catering van and the kitchen in the loft was just the right size for all of the prep work before transporting food to the party locations.  She’d built up some great relationships with vendors in the City, allowing her to be a true local yokel, just like the name of her business implied.  The majority of the food used was grown locally and organically, supporting her philosophy of giving back to the community and feeding her clients healthy
, great tasting produce and the like. 

“The
backers are following your accomplishments, I’m sure.”

“And Greg is wonderful,” she said, referring to Luke’s personal lawyer whom he recommended when she opened the business. She took another bite of her burger.

“Good.  I wanted to make sure you had the best and I trust him completely,” Luke said, taking a sip of the locally brewed beer.

“Yup.  He’s a keeper,” she said, sipping her own drink of ice
-water.

“He wrote up the contract with Ayanna?”

She nodded.  “Yeah.  It’s all good.”

“So,” he said, changing the subject, “I’m thinking since the party starts at 8, I’ll just keep checking on you to see when you’re ready to go out and meet people.”

“Okay.  You know where to find me.  The venue looks great, by the way.  Have you ever been before?”

“We’ve had the party there for the past two years.”

“It’s sorta like a pre-birthday party for you,” she grinned.

“That’s what happens when your birthday’s a week before Christmas.  Plenty of parties to go to.”

“You’re gettin’ up there, buddy.  What are you going to be now?” she teased, knowing exactly how old he’d be.

“33.”

“Old man.”

“Don’t you worry about me, sweetheart
.  All my parts are still working just fine,” he said, giving her a look before taking another bite of food.

She swallowed hard, feeling her own food almost lodge in her throat at his comment.  She played it off as she did most of his comments like that.  “I’m sure they are.  When you’re pictured with half the women of New York on the entertainment sites, there’s no doubt that your parts are workin
g,” she said slightly annoyed.  “Overtime, if you ask me,” she muttered.

He chuckled.  “What was that?  Overtime, did you say?”

“And you asked me how many people
I’m
sleeping with?” she snorted.

“You’re assuming I sleep with every woman I go out with.”  He said it as a statement.  She looked up at him from her plate of food and shrugged like,
well yeah
.  “You don’t?”

“No.  What kind of guy do you think I am?” he laughed, seeming to enjoy their conversation.