Breakfast at Tiffany’s (2 page)
He knew Marcus was right. Between her getting into shape, graduating from University, and immersing herself in Smoothies 101, she didn’t have as much time for them. Which is why they jumped at the chance to come over, despite not knowing a single thing about how a smoothie should taste.
The signal changed and they started up jogging again. Shane couldn’t let go of how little Tiffany dated. “Girl has got to be in a serious state of need.” He could only imagine how tight her pussy was and wondered how often she got herself off. “If we were any kind of gentlemen, we’d do something to change that.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“I don’t know.” Shane slowed his gait, and then stopped altogether. “I mean, we’ve talked about this before. If given the chance we’d show her one hell of a good time. But we’re both too chicken to fuck things up. It could backfire and then our friendship would be screwed. Which only further proves that Billy Crystal knows what he’s talking about.”
Marcus jogged in place. “Hm. She’s not even seeing
one
guy. What do you think she’ll do if
two
hit on her at the same time?”
“Freak out. As I see it, she needs to make up for lost time. It will take two guys to satisfy her. That way she’ll be taken care of in all the right places. She deserves nothing less.”
“I’m all for it. We’ve wanted to seduce her for a long time. The question is, when?”
A wicked idea came to him. “Why not this morning? Her mind will be focused on her interview tomorrow, so let’s have a little fun.”
Marcus stopped jogging. “I like the way you think, my man.”
“It’s going to be fun.” He could picture her all doe-eyed and innocent, lips trembling as they simultaneously brought her to a thunderous orgasm. “Now, I’d never share a woman with just any guy, but
you
I can stand.”
“Thanks?”
“Sure thing. You’re like an extension of me, minus the hard body.”
His friend crossed his arms. “You didn’t just go there.”
“Yeah, I went there. Did you forget who got the most votes on that popularity poll we sent out online?”
“Dude, I didn’t want to say anything at the time, but I checked the ISP afterwards and guess which one came up for over half the votes. You totally rigged it.”
Shane felt his face turn red hot. “What, you’re a computer geek now?”
“Nope, but I knew you didn’t get those votes fair and square.”
“I’ll never confess,” he said with a wry smile.
“Good thing you’re not my brother.”
“Why?”
“I’d disown you.”
“Ouch.” Shane checked his watch. “We should head back so there’s enough time to get cleaned up. If we’re late this morning Tiffany will never forgive us.”
“I’m proud of our girl for going forward with this business venture. Of anyone I know I’ve always thought her destined for big things.”
“And two of those big things could happen today.” Shane couldn’t wait to see how far their sexy siren would let them go.
Marcus groaned. “Man, you’d be wise to make your shower a cold one.”
“You might be right.”
“There’s no might about it.”
They turned around and started a light jog back.
“Race you to the apartment,” Marcus challenged. “Winner makes the first move on Tiffany.”
Shane liked the sound of that. “You’re on.” In fact, the words motivated him to run harder than he ever had before.
Tiffany took a step back and smiled at the colorful display on the big island in her kitchen. Pineapple, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, watermelon, oranges, lemons and more. Everything had been measured, cleaned, sliced, and cut up into bowls just waiting to be whipped up and blended into scrumptious smoothies. The pleasant aromatic mix of citrus fruits and berries wafted throughout the kitchen, her favorite room in the whole house. It was also the room she spent most of her time in.
The two-bedroom cottage style home had been a bit big for just one person, but she couldn’t resist the openness of the kitchen, all the counter space, the large island and brand new stainless steel appliances. She’d worked her butt off to afford the down payment and manage the monthly mortgage. If everything worked in her favor, she’d be paying back her student loan and getting caught up on bills in no time. She had a good chunk in savings as a reserve for her business, just in case.
After a quick check to make sure she had plenty of soymilk, sorbet, yogurt, ice, and her usual spices, she released a held breath. Everything was in place and ready, the only things missing were the boys.
Restless, she decided to sit and read a magazine when the doorbell rang. Tiffany stole a sidelong glance at the clock and almost did a double take. It would be a first if they were early. Unheard of, even.
A smile worked its way on her lips as she opened the door, only to freeze midway at the sight of her sometimes friend-sometimes acquaintance, Jordan.
“Hey Tiff.”
She struggled to not show total disappointment. “Oh, hi
They stood and stared at one another until the platinum blonde broke the silence. “Can I come in a sec? I can’t stay or anything. Lots to do. Never have time to sit around for long.”
“Yeah, sure. That’s cool. Come on in.”
Tiffany stood back to let her in and then stuck her head out the door. She scanned the street from both sides, but didn’t see any sign of Shane or Marcus. Other than a dog barking off in the distance, the neighborhood was quiet. She bent down and picked up yesterday’s newspaper, impressed the paperboy got it on her porch this time.
With a sigh she closed the door and plastered a smile on her face.
Tiffany smoothed down her skirt and sat across from her unwelcome guest on the loveseat. “So, are you on your way to work or are you off Sundays?”
“Neither. I quit my job yesterday,” she answered without looking up.
“Ah, so heading anywhere special?”
“Yeah. Shopping. Gotta drown my sorrows somehow.”
It amazed her how nonchalant she spoke. “So you’re upset because you quit your job?”
Another wave of confusion hit her. “Didn’t you just start last week?”
“Four days ago to be exact, and I knew it wasn’t for me within the first hour. I have standards and I’m not going to work just anywhere. What’s with all the questions?”
She had no idea. Nervous energy? The questions made her sound like she cared when she didn’t. “I’m just making conversation.”
“Anyway. Shopping is my stress reliever.”
Tiffany nodded. She loathed shopping and avoided the mall unless she had no other choice. Which after the underwear situation this morning, she was going to have to go shopping soon.
A long silence followed that made things awkward. If only Marcus and Shane would stop by. They’d put her right at ease.
“So,” she started, not sure what else to say.
Her jaw almost dropped off from opening it so wide. “Me?”
“Sure. Why not?”
Again there was the lack of any kind of emotion. “I don’t think you’ve ever asked me to go shopping in all the time I’ve known you. I’m flattered.”
She ignored the diva remark. Nothing had changed since graduation.
“So, did you want to go?”
Tiffany tried to think of a polite way to decline, but decided the truth worked better. “Much as I’d like to, I can’t. I sort of have a big day tomorrow and need to prepare for it.”
“Sounds stressful.”
“Yes and no. Tomorrow will be stressful. I’m hoping today will be fun.”
She considered making up a story to sound more important but decided that was immature. She was twenty-five, not fourteen. Big difference. Though around
“I just have some stuff to do.”
“Like what?”
She sighed.
“Do you remember when I talked about opening my own shop one day?”
Funny considering she mentioned it at least half a dozen times every week for the whole of high school. “Well, I’m finally doing it. Or at least I’m in the stages of making it happen.”
“What kind of shop?” A small pique of interest dotted her face.
“I want to open my own smoothie bar. Now that I’ve finished my college courses in business, I have everything I need to get started. I have the location picked out, and today I’m going to narrow down the recipes I’ve created to the top five.”
“Yeah. It’s healthier than ice cream, coffee drinks, and sodas.”
“And it’s all the rage?”
“Mm hmm. I mean, I don’t know to what extent, but they’re in demand.” Tiffany had never been one to follow fads and didn’t expect to ever change.
“And you’re going to open your
own
shop?”
“Yes.” She couldn’t help but smile with pride.
“Shoot. I could do that. How hard can it be?”
Leave it to
“A business degree is helpful too,” Tiffany added dryly.
The blonde snorted. “Those are so nineties. Money is all anyone needs to do whatever they want. A smoothie bar is a fantastic idea. I’m totally jazzed about it. Thanks a bunch for cheering me up.”
She jumped up from the couch and tossed the magazine on the coffee table. “Sorry you can’t come with me, but I should get going so I don’t miss the sales. See ya around.”
Her throat went all cottony. “Yep, see ya.”
She watched the door close and tried to figure out what the hell just happened. In less than ten minutes, the cloud she’d been floating around on all morning had turned black and poured rain on her parade. How nice that
she
was left in a foul mood. And here she didn’t think anything could ruin her day. Had she known the diva would stop by, she might have gotten a head’s up.
Ugh. She wanted to punch something. Or break something. Or…
She stomped into the kitchen and pressed a series of buttons on the empty blender. Loud as possible, she screamed as the blade made a hideous grinding noise. She pictured