Remembrance: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series Book 4) (15 page)

“How can I forget that list?  It’s a doozy.”

“I just hope you can find me a man with all those qualities.  It’s go
ing to be quite a Christmas present.  I can’t wait.”  She made a point of shivering with delight and anticipation.

He shifted and gave her a sexy smile.  “Shall I wrap him up with a nice little bow, too?”

“Ooh, depends on where you’re going to put that bow.”

He shook his head again at her comments.  “That mouth,” he murmured. 

“You’re going to put it on his mouth?”  She purposely misunderstood him.  She loved toying with the man.  “I can certainly think of a more creative place to put it.”

He moved quickly so that she wasn’t prepared and before she could get her bearings he was leaning in close, merely inches from her mouth.  A small gasp escaped before she could catch herself.

He put his arm up on the back of her seat and touched her hair.  “I just thought of something to add to your list,” he whispered.

She couldn’t believe how close he was.  She’d almost thought he was going to…

“What’s that?” she responded in a breathy tone.

The side of his mouth kicked up and he zeroed in on her mouth.  “Well endowed,” he whispered back, taking his time with each syllable.

Holyshitholyshitholyshit.

A nervous sound formed at the back of her throat.  He cocked his head, letting his slumberous eyes bounce between hers and her mouth.  She swallowed and held her breath. 

Are you gonna kiss me?

“Mmm.  I think that’s a good one,” she murmured.  She couldn’t seem to keep the breathiness from her voice.

“I thought so,” he added with a shrug, his eyes now staying on her mouth.

“Yeah.  I mean,” she cleared her throat, “like I said earlier, a woman has needs after all.”

“She does, doesn’t she?  I’m going to make sure all of them are met.”

Yes.  Major needs.  Right now.
 

“Luke?”

“Yeah?”  His hot gaze moved to her eyes.

“How
are you going to gather that information, I wonder.”  She was still whispering.

He looked momentarily confused, then flashed a grin in understanding and chuckled.  “You know what they say about men with big feet?”  He leaned back a little, his hand letting go of her curl, but she leaned forward with his movement so they were still close. 

“Mmm.  And what size are yours, Luke?”

He was silent momentarily, then muttered, “You’re shameless, you know that?  You
don’t
talk to other men like this, do you?”

She let a playful grin rest on her lips.  “Why does that bother you so much?  I’m a 28 year old woman.  I can talk anyway I want to.  And if I’m go
ing to find a man, I need to flirt.”

“A man gets ideas when a woman talks like that, Janie.  You’re not stupid.  You know what you’re doing.”  She had to strain to hear the last sentence and he sat there, waiting for that statement to sink in. 

Digging deep for the courage, she asked, “Do you get ideas when I talk to you like that?”  Her eyes probed into the windows of his soul, daring him to answer her question.  She couldn’t figure out what he was thinking, his face an unreadable mask.  She let the comment sit between them waiting for him to pick up the volley.  He wasn’t going to disappoint, apparently, because he took a breath to speak.

However, at that moment the limo slowed to the curb as they pulled in next to Luke’s building where his executive offices commandeered the top half of the structure.  She took a huge but quiet gulp of air to calm her racing heart. 

He pointed at her.  “Watch that mouth of yours.  I need you to focus.”

“I’m very focused,” she said, then let the tip of her tongue flick out and touch her lip.  She did love playing with him.

He gave her a dry look.  “Yeah, well focus your mouth on the wine.  Not on making men,” he nearly sputtered, “come in their pants.” Before she could react, Kenneth opened the door and Luke stepped out reaching his hand back to help her.  She was stunned at what he’d just said.  He’d never been that explicit with her before.  Ever. 

After Janie said goodbye to Kenneth, Luke took her elbow to escort her to the doors. 

“I can’t believe you just said that to me,” she said in a whispered scream.

He threw her a challenging look.  “You said you could play with the big boys.  Is that not the case?”

“I can.  And I have to say I’m feeling very pleased with myself right now.”  They finally got out of the cold and walked into the foyer, with Luke saying hello to security then leading her to the elevator. 

“I’m almost afraid to ask why,” he muttered.

“Because you’re finally talking to me like I’m a woman.  Like I’m a normal person.”

He whipped his head around with a questioning look.  “What does that mean?”  The elevator dinged and they got on.

“You’re not talking to me like a ‘baby girl’.  You actually said something dirty to me.  This is a momentous occasion, and I like it.”

He turned to her as the doors closed, put his key card in, and pushed the button for the twentieth floor.  Then, once they were moving he stepped closer backing her into the wall of the elevator.

“I always knew you had a feisty mouth, but I didn’t realize –” He stopped himself.

“Didn’t realize what?”  Her body was vibrating with sexual awareness.

“I think I need to add another quality to the list,” he smiled.

“Yeah?” He was so close, she could feel his heat.  “What’s that?”

He pulled a curl that was resting on her shoulder then let it go.  “You like to be a little naughty.”

Her face flushed. “I –”

“We need to find you someone who can talk dirty to you.”  He moved his weight to the other foot shifting him closer.  He scrutinized her with his eyes.  “Would you like that?”

She couldn’t believe the conversations she’d been having with him this last week.  Not only were they off the charts hotter than hell, but she never thought in a million years he would ever talk to her this way.  She took it as a good sign and couldn’t seem to speak so she just nodded her head yes.

His stare was resting on her lips.  “Hm.”  Then as if to himself he said, “Somehow, I thought so.  Someone who can tell you in great detail what he wants to do to you.”

She swallowed and met his eyes.  “I’m beginning to wonder if this man exists, though.  The list is gettin
g pretty long.”

He smirked.  “I have no doubt he’s out there.  I’ll find him.”  He tweaked her nose and stepped back.  She nearly growled in frustration.

It’s you, you friggin’ idiot.

The elevator dinged and they arrived to the top floor of the building, a small party now in full swing.

“There he is,” Janie heard and finally saw Carolyn walking toward them.  “Hi, Janie.”  Carolyn gave her a hug and a kiss.  “I’m so glad Luke was able to get you.  He was worried you had a job tonight.”

Janie turned to give Luke a pointed look.  “Not a job, no.”

“Let me take your coats,” Carolyn said, helping them off with their outerwear.

They both thanked her.

“I’ll introduce you around,” Luke said taking Janie’s arm and walking her to a group of people.

“Luke,” a voice boomed.  “Now we can get down to business.” 

“Mr. Gastaldi, thank you for waiting.  I’d like you to meet Janie Callahan.  She’ll be catering our event next weekend.”

“Miss Callahan, it’s wonderful to meet you.  Luke speaks the world of your talent,” the middle aged man said to her.

Janie beamed.  “Well, thank you.  Luke is a great supporter of mine.”

“Mr. Gastaldi owns a vineyard upstate.  It’s his wines we’ll be tasting,” Luke explained.

“Great,” Janie smiled.  “I’m looking forward to tasting them.  And please, Mr. Gastaldi, call me Janie.”

“Wonderful!”  The older gentleman turned to some younger people near his elbow.  “Janie Callahan, these are my children, Lana and Miguel.”

Miguel put his hand out first.  “So nice to meet you, Janie.”  He was a handsome man who smiled devilishly at her.  “I look forward to hearing your thoughts on our wines.”

“I’m looking forward to trying them out,” Janie smiled back just as she felt Luke move around her.

“Miguel,” Luke began.  “Good to see you again.”  They shook hands.

“Hi Luke,” Lana finally spoke.  Or should she say
purred
.  Janie could tell she wasn’t going to care for Lana Gastaldi.  Her eyes were all over Luke.

“Hi Lana,” Luke said politely, putting out his hand to shake hers.

“I was hoping you were coming back,” Lana said.  “We didn’t have nearly enough time to chat,” she said coyly.

“Well, I needed to grab Janie.  I wanted her here for the tasting.”  He turned to Janie and smiled with a funny look in his eyes.  “Janie, this is Lana.”

Janie put on a bright smile and put out her hand.  “Hi Lana.  Nice to meet you.”

“Same here,” she nodded. 

“Let’s get some drinks poured,” Mr. Gastaldi said as he led them to a table that had been set up with glasses.  “Why don’t you two mingle while Luke, Janie and I get to know each other a little better?” he said to his kids.  They said their goodbyes and left to talk to the other people who were in the room.

Others were milling about, giving the two powerhouses their time to make a deal.  While Mr. Gastaldi readied the table, Janie looked up to see Lana across the room staring at Luke.  She was sipping her wine and dissecting him like a science project.

Janie caught her eye just as Lana saluted her with her glass.  Janie smiled at her then cleared her throat and turned her body toward Luke.

When he saw where she had been looking, he said quietly, “She’s the heiress to the Gastaldi Vineyards dynasty,” he said dryly. 

“How lovely for her,” Janie mumbled.  Lana.  Geez.  And she was a redhead, a dark lush one with brown eyes as opposed to Janie’s girl next door variety.  Janie sighed.

Within the next couple of minutes, the wine tasting began, with discussions of flavors and luscious velvety finishes, descriptions ranging from crisp to smoky, bright to buttery, acidity levels and complexities.  The wines were delicious and Janie had to pay close attention to which ones she’d pick while fighting off the effects of the alcohol.

After close to an hour of tasting and talking, Mr. Gastaldi turned to Luke.

“Well, Luke?  What are your thoughts?”

“I think it’s going to be great doing business together.”

“Just what I wanted to hear!” Mr. Gastaldi shouted with a laugh.

“I’ll give you a call on Monday to discuss the specifics, but before we talk about what we’ll need for next weekend’s event, I’d like to talk to Janie first.”

“Of course.  I’ll leave you to it,” he said with a smile and left the two of them alone to talk. 

When Luke looked over to her, he got a cute glint in his eye.  “Uh, oh.”

“What?” she blinked.

“You’re eyes are a little glassy.  You feeling a little tipsy?”

She nodded sleepily, feeling a silly grin form on her face.

He chuckled.  “Okay.  Do you have a good idea of what wines you’ll want?”

“Uh, huh.”  She managed to get the names out of the ones she was recommending for the party.  “And the Merlot will be perfect with the chocolate soufflé desserts.  I’ll make a note to have a tray near the tasting table.  Now,” she slurred slightly, “I need to hit the restroom before I float away.”

He smiled sweetly at her.  “Let me help you,” he said helping her up.

“No,” she waved his hand away.  “If people see you helping me, I’ll look like a lightweight.”

“You are a lightweight.”

“I’m a
Le Cordon Bleu
trained chef with a booming catering business serving the best city in the world.  I’m no lightweight.”  She punctuated the statement with a hiccough.

He chuckled some more.  “How about we just stroll toward the bathroom and you can hold on to my arm.”

“Nope, I’m fine.”  She had to fight hard to stop the bout of giggles about to overtake her.  “I got it.”

“Be careful.  Don’t take a face plant.  Your mom will kill me.”

She waved away his comment and walked slowly toward the restroom near the elevators.  She’d almost made it but a young Italian man stepped in her way and she nearly collided into his chest.

“Excuse me,” he said, steadying her with his hands on her arms.  “Hello there.”

She looked up into his eyes. 

Mmm.  You’re cute. 
He was very handsome.  Yeah, she definitely liked that dark and dangerous look.

“Hello,” she said, trying to stay as focused as possible.  She put out her hand.  “Janie Callahan.”

He laughed lightly.  “Yes.  We met earlier, remember?” Miguel Gastaldi reminded her.  “I’ll try not to let my ego be bruised at the fact that I was so unforgettable.”  He shook her hand anyway then held it while continuing to speak.  “I’ve been waiting to talk to you for the last hour, but Luke and my father stole you away so quickly,” he smiled charmingly.  “I understand you’re a family friend of Luke’s.”