Revelation: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series) (55 page)

They directed their attention to Mark, who was standing over with Jon and Mike. 

Taylor’s eyes gleamed as she responded.  “Yeah, he’s been a great mentor.  We’re lucky to have him.”

Emily had been dying to ask Taylor about the sleeping arrangements from the weekend. They all didn’t get home on Saturday night until the wee hours of the morning and Mark was still sleeping when she’d left to go shopping with Em the day before.  Emily was dying to know how Sunday night had gone.

“You guys are leaving later today, I assume?” Mo said to Taylor, bringing them back to the present.

“Yeah.  Our train leaves at three.”

He nodded.  “Well, next time you’re down, we’ll have to hang out some more.”

Taylor smiled.  “Definitely.”

Mo gave her a look of interest.  “I’m grabbing another slice of pizza.  Anyone want anything while I’m over there?” he asked them.

They both said no and watched him leave.

“Well, well.”  Emily looked at her friend, noting with her eyes that Maurice was definitely showing some interest.

“Yeah, yeah,” Taylor said with a smirk.

“I wanna know how last night went in the apartment.”

“You mean you wanna know if I had wild monkey sex with your cousin?”

“Did you?!” Emily practically screamed.

Taylor snorted.  “I’m beginning to wonder if your cousin really is a ladies man after all, or if it’s a hoax.  He may dance a good game and certainly knew how to grind on me Saturday night, but when things are quiet and it’s just the two of us
and
I practically throw myself at him, he stutters like a twelve year old.”

“What did you do?” Emily whispered, her eyebrows shooting up.

“I just pretended the master bathroom was out of soap and went into the hall closet to get more while he was watching TV in the living room.”  Her eyes sparkled.

“And what were you wearing?”

“That slinky short robe I bought yesterday.”

“Did you have anything else on?”

She rolled her lips in over her teeth and shook her head.

“Holy shit, what did he do?”

She gave an exasperated look.  “Like I said.  He kind of sputtered and yelled that I shouldn’t be walking around like that.  That he would’ve been happy to get soap for me if I’d needed it.  And I said, ‘Mark, it’s just you.  Calm down.’  To which he said, ‘You still shouldn’t be walking around men in that thing.’  So I was like, ‘I’m not walking around men in this thing, I’m walking around
you
in this thing.  And since I’m completely covered and you’re not interested, I think I’m safe.’”

“And?”

“And then he just mumbled something about women, went back to watching TV, then I showered and went to bed.”

Emily rubbed her hands with glee.  Taylor laughed.  Emily got serious.  “That was a big deal for you.”

Taylor sighed with a little trepidation.  “I know.  I had to build up my nerve to do it.  Was it wrong?  Was I teasing him?  I start to sink back into that thinking from, you know, afterwards.” 

Emily knew after the rape that Taylor thought she couldn’t be or act sexy for a very long time, especially when she hit her late teens and early twenties.  She’d spent years working through the feelings that she’d somehow asked to be raped on that date when she was barely fifteen.

Emily grabbed her hand, “Tee, you’re allowed to be a woman.  Playful, sexy.  It’s not like you don’t know Mark and he doesn’t know you.  And you weren’t naked and straddling him for cryin’ out loud.  Did you tease him a little?  Yes.  But if anything, you were just giving him something to think about.”

Taylor sighed again.  “Yeah.  I don’t ever want a man to think I’m a tease though.”

“If he had made a move last night, would you have said no?”

“Hell, no,” the Taylor she knew and loved said, with some sass. 

Emily chuckled.  “Then I hardly think that qualifies you as a tease.”

Taylor nodded, somewhat relieved.  “I’m gonna grab a water.  You want one?”

“Nah, I’m good,” Emily said, getting up as well so she could mingle.  Heading over to Tiffany, she pulled her aside.

“So, you’ve been holding out, I think.”

“In what way?” Tiffany asked innocently.

“What’s going on with Dr. Drew, my friend?”

“Nothing.” She may have said ‘nothing’, but there was definitely something.  “We’ve talked on the phone a couple of times.  That’s it.”

“Uh, huh.  I notice you’re not a babbling mess around him as much.”

“I’m getting better.  But man, is he hot.  I’m not kiddin’, I get all jumbly inside whenever he’s around,” Tiffany said under her breath.

Emily laughed.  “I’m glad you’re getting to know each other.”

“We are.  And,” she said more forcefully and took Emily’s arm, “I’ve been thinking about the charity I wanna start.”

“I have too.”

“You have?  What do you think I should do?”

“No, you go first.”

“Ever since you mentioned a sister program to the one you have for the boy students, it’s all I’ve been thinking about.”

“Me, too!”

“Yeah?!  Okay, so here’s what I think.”

They spent the next several minutes discussing what a sister program would look like, how they could create something where little girls could not only learn a version of Krav Maga, but also build up their mental strength as well.

“I’ve had my realtor looking for some commercial space, like warehouses.  She showed me one in Harlem yesterday.  Maybe we could open up a full service place for girls.  Like have the Krav Maga component, but maybe counseling available or after school programs, stuff like that.  Maybe a smattering of classes, like Janie and Ayanna can come in to teach them some basic cooking, you teach them Krav Maga, Ryann some painting.  I could teach some business classes.  Maybe get the boys involved in some way.  We all have so much to offer.  Jon with his finance skills, Jem with his woodworking.  Mike could talk about police work.  What do you think?”

“I
love
this idea.”

“Sort of like a boys and girls club, but for girls.  Teaching them how to be a renaissance woman.”

“Hey!  That would be a great name for it, too.”

Tiffany practically squealed with excitement.  “Or maybe it could be for both boys and girls.  I don’t know, but let’s set up a time to really talk it through.”

“Awesome.”  Emily thought for a moment then said, “
Renaissance Kids.
”

Tiffany squealed again.

“Something smells like it’s burning over here with all of this thinking.  Should we be nervous?”  Dr. Drew came over to talk.

“We’re just coming up with ways to solve the world’s problems.  Nothing big,” Emily shrugged with a smile.

Drew turned to Tiffany.  “You know, we never did have that dinner to talk about your charity idea.”

Tiffany immediately began to move her mouth like a fish out of water.

“Yeah,” Emily interjected trying to help her out, “now that you’re feeling better, you guys should definitely do that.”  She gave Tiffany a pointed look.

“Let’s get together this week,” Drew said to Tiffany.  “I know Saturday night works for me.”

“I’m pretty sure that works for me too, but I just need to check my calendar,” Tiffany said coyly.

Oh, brother.  Although Tiffany still looked star struck, it was obvious her nerves were currently under control.  And she was pretty sure Drew didn’t stand a chance.

……

“And what date were you guys thinking?” Janie was saying to Luke, writing things down on a piece of paper as Emily entered the kitchen to grab another slice of pizza.

“We always do it the second Saturday night in December,” Luke said then smiled at Emily as she appeared.  He turned his attention back to Janie.  “If you remember, I wanted you last year, but you blew me off.”

Janie gave him a surprised look and nearly fell over at his words.  When he realized what he’d said, he clarified with a smirk, “The catering company, Janie.  We asked you to do the party last year, remember?”

“I remember,” she said, regaining her composure.  “But I wasn’t ready for something that big yet.  Now that I have another year under my belt and I have Ayanna, I think we can swing it.”

“Of course you can swing it.  You could’ve handled it last year.  You just needed a little more confidence.”

“Is this for your big holiday party?” Emily asked.

“Yeah.  It’s a huge bash each year.  Brings all the important and beautiful people out to play,” he said dryly.

“It would be great for the business, that’s for sure.  But it’ll be the biggest we’ve ever done,” Janie said.  “We’ve never done more than a 250 person wedding reception.  And you’re talking about a
lot
of people, Luke.  I’ll have to bring in more help.  It ain’t gonna be cheap.”

“Money isn’t an issue.”

“Money is always an issue,” Janie snorted.

“Not for this shindig.  And you’re right.  Five hundred is a lot of people.  So if you guys just wanna do one portion of it, like the appetizers, or just the entrées or desserts, we can do that if that makes you more comfortable.  But whatever you decide, I want the bacon wrapped dates, both recipes, the French toast appy, and the Thankgiving one on the croissant.  I’ll have Carolyn get in touch with you,” he said, referring to his personal assistant.

“Is the party just for the employees, or are there others that go?” Emily asked.

“Employees, designers, models, the higher ups.”

Janie pointed her pen at him.  “It’s gonna cost you, buddy.  I’ll be sure of that,” she said with a smile, dollar signs already appearing in her eyes.

“I would expect nothing less from you.  You’ve always had good business sense,” he complimented.

She smiled at that.  “Thanks.  That was awfully nice to say,” she gushed.

“I don’t know why you sound so surprised.  I’ve always been proud of how much you’ve accomplished.  You’re gonna go far, baby girl.  And if I can help push that along, then all the better.  There are gonna be a ton of big names there, so you should plan on meeting some folks
and doing some networking.  I’ll introduce you around.”

“Nice!  I can change after all the food’s gone out.”

“You can stay in your chef’s jacket.  Changing won’t be necessary.”

“Are you kidding me?  This’ll gimme an excuse to go shopping for a new dress.”

He chuckled and said in a wry tone, “I can recommend a few places.”

“And shoes,” her eyes gleamed.  “I’ll need some of those too.”

His own eyes sparkled.  “Of course you will.  What woman doesn’t need more shoes?”

“If my time wasn’t going to be taken up with working half the night, I would bring a date,” she pouted giving him a pointed look.

His eyebrow lifted at her comment.  “Then it’s a shame you’re gonna be working.  Oh, well.  No date for you.”

“Jerk,” she grumbled.  “I’ll have to find a dress that’ll knock some guy’s socks off.  Maybe I’ll find someone while you’re introducing me around,” she teased.

He mumbled something in Spanish but neither of them caught it.

“Alright, Daniels.  Let me talk to Yan and see how we can make this work then we’ll talk about menu, etc.”

“Sounds good,” he said grabbing another slice of pizza then leaving the two girls alone in the kitchen.

They both gave each other knowing looks for a moment then Janie spoke.

“I’m gonna make him take me clothes shopping.”

Emily bit her lip to hold back her chuckle.

“And then I’m gonna torture him with every skimpy outfit.”

“You’re awful.”

“Hey, I’m done playin’ around.  Ayanna said he needs to see me as a woman, not as a little sister.  No more ‘baby girl’.  That’s my plan.  Show him I’m a woman.”

“He looked like he was looking at you as a woman on Saturday night,” Emily pointed out.

Janie bit her smiling lip.  “I was working it all over him on the dance floor.”

“Yes, you were,” Emily chuckled.  “Did he say anything to you about,” she flitted her hand in the air, “you know, anything?”

“Just that he’d rather me shake it around him than the ‘predators’ at the club,” she said, putting up her fingers to place quotations around the word.  “That way I’d be safe.”  Janie laughed and shook her head at the absurdity of it all.

“He’s protective of you.”

“Yeah, yeah.  But not like a man is to a woman.”

Emily shrugged.  She wasn’t too sure about that.  “And what about Vanessa?” Emily said, lowering her voice.  The woman in question had been in the living room mingling while Luke had been in the kitchen.

Janie blew out her breath and made a raspberry sound with her mouth.  “What about her?  I’ll never be her.  She’s all tall and willowy, sophisticated.  I bet she never has flour on her face or nicks on her hands from cutting vegetables.  She’s a model after all.”  Janie’s face took on an expression of determination.