Remembrance: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series Book 4) (56 page)

“Will you, Janie?” he whispered and opened the box, showing an antique platinum ring with a single diamond in the middle encircled by small rubies.  The band was encrusted with tiny diamonds.  She was openly crying at this point, shaking her head in disbelief. 

He apparently misunderstood her head movement.

“It’s crazy fast, I know.  We’ll wait.  We will, if you want, if it’s too fast –”

She tackled him and landed them on the floor.  She kept crying then began kissing him, his chin, his lips, his eyes, his forehead.  He was laughing and holding her hair off her face.

“I need an answer,
mi reina
.  I want to tell the world that you’re going to marry me, that you’re going to be my wife.  So, I need an answer.” He held her face still so she was looking down into his eyes.

“Yes,” she whispered, her lips quivering.  “Yes, yes, yes, yes.”  She continued peppering his face with kisses.  “Luke!” she laughed with happiness and hugged him tight.  He laughed with her and pulled her up to sit next to him.

He took her left hand and kissed it.  “There’s an inscription.”  He gave her the ring.

She took the ring and looked on the inside circle. 
Para mi Janie, mi reina.  You’ve set me on fire.
Her hand was shaking like a leaf and she connected her eyes to his. 

She took a deep breath
with tears streaming down her face.  He took her hand and slid the ring onto her finger.  It was perfect.  She looked over at the fire extinguisher and giggled out a sob.

“It was my grandmother’s,” he whispered as she stared at it in awe, admiring the ring.

“It was?”

He nodded.  “My mom’s mother from Spain.  She passed away before I came to America.  The center diamond is from her ring but the rest I designed.”

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered reverently.  “I love the rubies.”

He pulled her close and kissed her temple.  “You’re my fiery redhead.  They seemed appropriate,” he chuckled, then looked up as if he was thinking.  “I knew there was a reason why I always went for the redheads.”

She went to tickle him.  “Oh, is that why?” she laughed.  “You could’ve skipped all of them and just made your move with me, you know.”

He stopped her hand and pushed her to her back, now leaning over her.  “That’s why I’m making up for lost time,” he teased.  “Fastest engagement known to man.  I got skills, baby.”

She looked at the ring again, feeling the weight of it on her finger.  “You definitely do, Daniels.”

He watched her as she admired the ring some more. 

“Did you talk to my parents about this on Friday when we went over for dinner?”

He shrugged.  “Yes and no.”

“What does that mean?”

“I talked to them before Friday,” he said, now smirking.  “I actually first talked to them last Wednesday morning.  Spoke with my parents too.  My mom cried, and my dad said that it was about time I’d woken up.”

She laughed then a realization hit her.  “Wednesday?”

He nodded, an innocent expression on his face.  “That’s also when I got the ring from my mom.”

“Wednesday was the day I went out with Chaz.  We hadn’t even slept together yet!  I wasn’t even talking to you.”

He settled in and got her attention.  “I know.”

She blinked.  “You told our parents you were going to marry me before we slept together.”

He continued smirking, nodding.  “I went to your parents
’ in the morning, before you stopped returning my calls,” he said dryly.

“Holy shit.  No wonder my mom was so happy when I was there.”  She continued looking at him in disbelief.  “You’re one cocky, confident Spaniard, you know that, Daniels?”

He smacked his lips and shrugged.  “I was going after you.  When Mike and I talked when all of the guys went out, we made an agreement.”

She cocked an eyebrow.

He smiled.  “He said he didn’t want me going after you unless I was ready for the real deal.  I told him I was.”  He lifted his eyes to meet hers.  “So whether you were talking to me or not, I was going to have you.  I told you Wednesday night that I had plans for you.  We may have had a rough start that day, but regardless of how we got there, I knew no matter what, I was going to have you,” he said confidently.

“Holy shit,” she murmured again.  “You really knew you were go
ing to marry me before you slept with me?”  She still couldn’t believe it and muttered at the unbelievable news.  “I hadn’t called you back all day.”

“I
told
you that night that I was going to marry you,” he said drolly with a dramatic eye roll.  “It’s not my fault you weren’t paying attention.”

“I know, but still.”  He’d really been serious.  “I thought maybe you were just, I don’t know, being sweet or joking around,” she said half serious and half kidding.

“Do you actually think I’d joke about something like that?”

“I wasn’t sure if you were serious or not.  The thought had crossed my mind that maybe you were just impressed with my mad skills in the bedroom,” she teased, loving this conversation.

“You do have some pretty mad skills,
mi reina
,” he murmured sexily and kissed her soundly on the lips.  Then he said quietly.  “But I knew you were the one I wanted to come home to.”  He let a moment pass then he grinned.  “And there was shit to do, woman.  On Thursday, I had to clean out the closet to get ready for you to move in, drop the ring off at
AnNo
’s with my instructions.  I was a busy man.”

She just stared at him in the silence, the sound of the fire in the background only adding to the romantic moment.  Then she let out a dreamy sigh.  “You’re pretty incredible.”

“What can I say?” he teased with a smug look. 

“Nothing.  Just kiss me.”

He did.  And then some. 

…
Four!  Three!  Two!  One!  Happy New Year!!  

Luke grabbed Janie, dipped her dramatically, and kissed her into the New Year.  When he finally brought her up for air, they were laughing and hugging, beginning to dance to U2’s
New Year’s Day.

They had all let Ryann choose the venue for the evening, and whenever Ryann chose anything that had to remotely do with pop culture, it always had to do with the 80’s.  The popular nightclub dedicated to all things ‘totally rad’ was definitely hopping that New Year’s Eve. 

Other than Tiffany and Drew, the entire crew was there to celebrate.  After much angst and attacks of panic, Tiff had finally called Drew to say she’d go to his party sponsored by the hospital that night.  Janie hoped she was having fun and couldn’t wait to catch up with her to see how the evening had gone.

Even Mo was able to come out that night and brought along the girl he’d met while salsa dancing.

Mike and Emily had moved into their new apartment just the day before and were thrilled to climb out from the boxes in which they’d been buried. 

Jonathan’s brother, Mark, and Emily’s best friend Taylor from Boston, had both come down to join them in the celebration.

And all of them were whooping it up over the two engagements among the friends.  Even Jonathan was out on the dance floor, and that man absolutely despised dancing.

Jeremy and Ryann twirled over to where Luke and Janie were moving with the music.

“I think I’m getting too old for this shit,” Jem yelled over the bass shaking the room. 

“Pussy,” Luke yelled back with a grin.

“How old do you have to be before you can just stay home and watch the ball drop with Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper?” Jem continued yelling in order to be heard.

“Eighty!” Janie yelled with a laugh.  “Old man!”

Jem pushed his cousin playfully.

“Hey, keep your hands off my fiancé,” Luke yelled and pushed him back.  They all smiled liked the happy idiots they were and continued dancing as the music morphed into Prince’s
1999
. 

Mike and Emily sang the opening lyrics loudly, then Mike began wiggling his eyebrows to the woman he loved when he sang ‘I got a lion in my pocket and baby he’s ready to roar.’  Janie laughed at her brother’s antics and watched as Emily danced back into him so he could hold her hips and push into her behind.

Ayanna was working poor Jonathan the entire length of the dance floor.  Even though he wasn’t much of a dancer, he allowed Yan to pull him this way and that while she rubbed her girlie parts all over him.  He looked like he was ready to take his woman home and rub his parts all over
her.

They screamed some more as Foreigner’s
It Feels Like the First Time
came on, and Luke pulled Janie into his arms, slowing their movements.  He began singing the words in her ear, crooning the verse, ‘And I know it’s just the woman in you, that brings out the man in me’ then ground his hips into her when he sang ‘I know I can’t help myself, you’re all in the world to me’. 

In the midst of the gyrating bodies of all of their friends, they found their own little space and when the song reached the chorus, they both started laughing, now slow dancing to the song while everyone else continued boogying and spinning more appropriately to the rock ’n roll beat.  All of their friends enjoyed the song with robust singing and moving, but Luke and Janie only had eyes for each other, and whispered the words as Foreigner belted them out. 

“I love you,” Luke whispered into her ear.  She wound her arms even tighter around his neck and pressed her body into him as they sang the words to each other.

It feels like the first time
Feels like the very first time
It Feels like the first time
It Feels like the very first time

I have waited a lifetime
Spent my time so foolishly
But now that I've found you
Together we'll make history
And I know that it must be the woman in you
That brings out the man in me
I know I can't help myself
You're all that my eyes can see
And it feels like the first time
Like it never did before
Feels like the first time
Like we've opened up the door
Feels like the first time
Like it never will again, never again
 

Janie and Luke looked into each other’s eyes, noise all around them, friends laughing and
couples twirling, then fell into their own quiet world.  They’d known each other forever, yet it did feel like the first time, like it never did before. 

Smiling brightly at each other, they enjoyed their own private moment; remembering their own precious memories of how things had been, the wonder of how things were now, and the excitement of the new memories that were still to come.

Luke kissed her, letting his lips rest on hers.  Then they swayed gently to their own music, the music of love, of promise, and of remembrance.

Read Tiffany and Drew’s story in Book 5 of the
Iris
Series,

RENAISSANCE

coming in the Spring of 2015!

*****

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Please go to Amazon.com now to review
Remembrance

and our other books in the
Iris
Series,
Release
,
Redemption
and
Revelation
!

*****

Connect with Rebecca Lynn:

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Thank you once again to our incredible Beta Readers who are forever indispensable; brutally honest, gracious, and encouraging.  Many thanks to
Doreen, Sue, Marcy, Jennifer, MaryEllen
and
Elisha
for catching our grammar mistakes and offering thoughts on plot and character development.  We are eternally grateful for your feedback. In all honesty, we could not do this without your help!

And where would be without our fans?!  Thank you for all of your reviews, Facebook comments, recommendations to friends, and overall support.  We thoroughly enjoy reading your thoughts on our books.  Keep ’e
m coming - the good, the bad, and the ugly!  

Finally, we would be incomplete without our home base and the love of our husbands.  They are often times our first sounding board and help to give us perspective when we’re in the midst of this crazy journey.  Thanks for speaking truth when we need to hear it, lending a shoulder when it’s necessary, and loving us when we have our meltdowns.  You two truly are the best.