Revelation: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series) (11 page)

Today was definitely one of them.

Not only would all of the friends be in attendance along with potential dates for some of them, but all of the parents of Jeremy, Ryann, Michael, Ayanna and Jonathan.  In total, they were expecting 20-25 people.

When Emily and Mike pulled up outside the brownstone, Jeremy was at the door having just let in Janie, as well as her date, Detective Danny Fernandez.  Jeremy, with his chiseled good looks and dark hair, continued to stand at the door as he watched the two of them get off the bike with his green eyes.  Humor played on his lips.

“How’d the rematch go?  Did she kick your ass again, Mikey?” he asked with relish.

Emily fluffed out her hair after taking off the helmet and looked at Mike who beamed out a happy “Yup.”

“Emily, if I wasn’t already happily taken and madly in love with the woman of my dreams, I might have to ask you to marry me.  That way, I’d be guaranteed a front row seat at every family gathering to watch you keep this idiot in his place.”  Jeremy looked over at Mike as they made their way up the steps to the front door.  “Maybe we can get Robbie to propose to her,” Jeremy said, referring to his younger cousin who was in college.

“Fuck off,” Mike said good naturedly, then gave his cousin a one armed man hug.  “The counselor needs a real man, not a baby.  Someone who can handle her.”

“Really?  I didn’t realize I needed to be handled.”  Emily stared down at the detective who was a couple of stairs below her.

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean ‘someone who can handle you’.  I meant someone who could ‘survive’ you.”  His sarcastic tone made her shake her head.

Emily smiled and kissed Jeremy hello, giving him the wine then walking in ahead of them.

“And you will?” she heard Jeremy ask him after she walked in. 

She kept walking and pretended not to listen, but heard a ‘definitely’ followed by a chuckle, as well as a ‘I can
handle
her too’.  She glared back at him and he simply threw her a panty melting smile.

Cocky pain in the ass.

Although the living room was filled with friends she knew, the first people she zeroed in on were her Aunt April and Uncle Ethan, Jonathan’s parents.  She left the men at the door and practically squealed, running over to her aunt and giving her a huge hug.

“Oh, Emmie.  It’s so good to see you!”  Her aunt, with whom she was extremely close, had survived a heart attack several weeks before and they clung to each other longer than usual.  “You look wonderful.  So cute.  Love the shoes.”  Her aunt didn’t have daughters, only her two sons, so any time Emily or her mom were near she delved into girl talk immediately to combat the overload of testosterone.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Emily gushed.  “You’re feeling okay?”

“I feel great.”

She seriously loved this woman. Her aunt was funny as hell and as a middle school math teacher with years of experience dealing with teenage angst, April had always been her go-to person growing up whenever she’d needed to talk about life.  After the Scott debacle a few years ago, she’d helped her tremendously.  “Hi Uncle Ethan,” Emily continued, giving him a hug.  “How are the parent ‘meet and greets’ going?”

“Perfect,” her uncle answered with a smile.

“We all had dinner with Ayanna’s parents last night and had a great time.  Such a shame about her mom’s foot, though!” April exclaimed.

Ayanna’s mom had broken her foot as a result of a restaurant fire that she, Ayanna, and Janie had escaped from a few weeks earlier when they had been out to dinner.  Ayanna’s mom was still on crutches.

“When I think about Jonathan and Ayanna almost losing each other so soon after they’d found each other, it kills me.  Thank God they were all okay.”  Her aunt crossed herself, sincerely thanking the Lord.  “What a horrific experience that must’ve been.”

“I know.  It was definitely a scary night,” Emily said.

“So.”  April took a deep breath and a twinkle came into her eye.  “Don’t think for a second you’re gonna walk into this room and not tell me who that ‘hot slice of yum’ is you came in with.”

“That’s my cue to go get some beer,” Uncle Ethan smiled.  “I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t get any ideas there, Aunty dear,” she joked. “That hot slice of yum is nothing but trouble.”

“Did you come with him?  It looked like you walked in together.  Who is he?”

She hesitated then said, “Yeah, he drove me here but it’s nothing.  He’s Jeremy’s cousin, an NYPD detective.  You’ll meet his parents and,” Emily interrupted herself to look for Janie, “that’s his sister over there who just walked into the kitchen.  She’s the one who owns the catering company, the woman who Ayanna works with.”

“Oh, he’s Janie’s brother?!  How great!  Yes, we’ve met Janie.  She’s wonderful,” her aunt gushed.

“He’s just part of the group of friends here.”

“Uh, huh.  And he’s nothing but trouble because…?” She let her voice go up in question.

“Because he’s a playboy.”

“And you let him drive you here because…?”  Her aunt was on a roll.

“He offered and I accepted.  He has a Harley,” she finished, as if that was answer enough and knowing she didn’t need to say any more.  Her aunt knew she was a sucker for that kind of stuff.

“Oh, my.  And is there anything…?” Again, she let the statement hang.

Emily chuckled.  “Stop matchmaking.”

“He’s shaking hands with Ethan.”

Emily looked over and sure enough, Mike was talking to her Uncle Ethan.  She knew they’d have plenty to talk about given her uncle was a judge in Boston.

“Don’t get any ideas.  He likes to play around and to my knowledge is not a one woman kind of guy.  He’s actually a lot like Mark.”

“Well, I don’t know if that’s going to continue to be true about Mark much longer.”

“
What?!
Ooh, this sounds good.  Do tell.”

They sat down on the sofa and April smiled, lowering her voice co-conspiratorially.  “You know he’s been spending a lot of time with Taylor because of your mentoring program at Taylor’s school.  Any time I ask him about it, he clams up.  Whenever I ask how she’s doing, it’s like he starts to stammer a bit.  It’s interesting.”

“Really?  That
is
interesting. She hasn’t said a word to me about him.  I mean, she absolutely had a crush on him in her late teens and early twenties, but we haven’t talked about him in ages.”

“She’s a sweetie, that one.  If I could pick a girl for him, it would be her.  And maybe she hasn’t said anything because she knows you’ll discourage her from him.”  April gave her a look.

“You know I love him.  But don’t you think Taylor’s going to need someone dependable and trustworthy when it comes to sex and stuff?  She’s worked through her baggage for sure, but she’ll need someone who can understand her if there are obstacles along the way.”

“Honey, you’re not giving Taylor enough credit.  That was a long time ago.  We all have obstacles and baggage.  It might not all look the same, but we all have them.  And when Mark finds the right woman, you don’t think he would be dependable or trustworthy, or understanding?”  Before she could respond, her aunt continued.  “Trust me, Em.  Men who are used to playing the field fall hard when they find the one who changes it all for them.  When they find the right one, they’re loyal to the bone.  And Mark will definitely be one of those.”

Emily knew her aunt was right.  Mark was extremely loyal when he loved someone, and was truly a wonderful man.  She mused on that a moment.  Her mind wandered to Ryann and Jeremy.  Jeremy had fallen hard and fast when he met Ryann.  Before her, he had been a notorious ladies’ man in the art community.  He was the owner of the prestigious
M Gallery
as well as the son of a famous New York painter, forever surrounded by models, socialites and artist types so she’d been told.  Emily remembered witnessing Jeremy unravel when he’d thought he’d lost Ryann and thought she’d no longer wanted him.  He had been beside himself, absolutely determined to convince her they were right for each other.

She supposed the theory mentioned by her aunt could also apply to the detective and wondered what kind of woman would make him change his womanizing ways.  The thought left her depressed.

“Emmie,” her aunt said quietly, taking her hand.  “We haven’t had a good girl talk in a while.  But listen, I know that ass of a boyfriend from law school made you cynical towards men.”  Using her other hand, her aunt crossed herself.  It was part of their family joke that April felt like she could curse as much as she wanted as long as she crossed herself afterward.  She was a devout Catholic.

Emily began to defend herself against her aunt’s comment, but immediately shut up when she saw April’s look.

“And I’ve never known you to have another serious boyfriend since.  Please don’t let that one experience make you think all men are not able to change or be better, or be trusted.  You need to open up a little to them.  You’re always so strong.  Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable.  It’s only when you’re vulnerable that you’re able to feel.”

Yeah.  And get hurt.

April took a deep breath.  “I don’t know one thing about this detective, but I do know
you
.  And I know that you would never have ridden over here with him if you weren’t thinking something.”  April raised her eyebrow.

“I go places with guy friends.”  Her voice took on a whiny defensive quality.  “It’s not like this is the first time I’ve gone somewhere with a man since Scott, Aunt April,” she said exasperated.  “In fact, I went to an art showing a couple of weeks ago with a guy from work.”  She said it then crossed her arms as if she were a kid sticking her tongue out.

“Uh, huh.  And did he look like that and drive a Harley?”  She nodded over to Mike who was still deep in conversation with her uncle.  What the hell were they even talking about for so long?

She smirked at her aunt.  No.  Ollie most certainly did not.

“That’s what I thought,” she said dryly.  “He totally fits your type, too.”

Emily looked up surprised.  “Do I have a type?”

“Well, I just mean you’ve always been drawn to excitement.  Given his career choice and the fact that he has a motorcycle, it kind of fits in with you, don’t you think?  When I think of all of the speeding tickets Ethan had to help you with,” April chuckled.

“Only the first three.  Then he sat me down and yelled at me,” Emily laughed at the memory. 

“And when we found out you went skydiving?  Dear Lord, it was a good thing none of us knew about it ahead of time.  Oy.  That’s when your mother and I started coloring our hair,” she joked, fluffing her hair.  “We had to cover up all of the gray you were giving us,” her aunt huffed.  “So, has this detective ever seen you do your thing?  You know, with your Krav Maga?”

Emily couldn’t fight the heat that came to the surface of her skin.  Her aunt definitely saw it.

“You’re blushing.”

“We’ve had a couple of run ins.”

“What does
that
mean?”  She smiled, her eyes sparkling.

“Sorry I was gone so long.”  Uncle Ethan had finally made it back with his beer and the water for his wife.

And apparently, he’d picked up something else along the way.

“Honey, this is Detective Michael Callahan.  Mike, this is my wife April,” Ethan said with a smile.

Both Emily and April stood up.

“April, it’s so nice to finally meet you.”  Without hesitation, Mike leaned in and gave her a big hug as if they’d known each other for years.  Her aunt returned it with gusto.  “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Uh, oh,” she chuckled.

He laughed.  “It’s all good, I promise.”  He sobered quickly.  “A bunch of us were out to dinner with Jonathan and Emily the night they heard about your heart attack.  I saw firsthand how much they love you and how scared they were.  How are you feeling?”

“Better than ever, thank you.  I know it wasn’t easy on the family, but we got through.”  She reached over and put her arm around Ethan’s waist.  “I’m lucky to have them all harping at me,” she laughed.  “So you were out to dinner with Emily?” she asked nonchalantly.

Friggin’ A.
  Her aunt wasn’t going to let this go.

“Yeah, a group of us went out that night.  We were actually doing some self-defense training with the girls at my precinct gym beforehand.”

“Is that so?” she said, sneaking a look at Emily.  “I suspect all three of you and Ayanna’s mom could sit down and talk to your hearts’ content.  Although, maybe not.  Two lawyers, a judge, and a cop walked into a bar…”

They all laughed. 

“Did your niece tell you that when we were teaching the girls self-defense, she wiped the floor with me?” Mike said then turned to Emily.  “She neglected to tell me of her skills.”

“Hmm.  No, she hasn’t told me about this yet,” April laughed, then gave Emily a pointed look.

“He asked for it.” Emily shrugged.  “Your problem, Detective,” she said to him, “is that you’re always so sure of yourself.  It was bound to land you on your ass one of these days.”

“So true, Counselor,” he smirked.