Renaissance: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series Book 5) (2 page)

Plants and flowers have been given as gifts for ages. “...While other plants are used to communicate very specific messages,

the iris can be seen to symbolize the act of communication itself.” 
http://www.flowerexperts.com/meaning_of_the_iris.asp

Traditionally the Iris flower has been chosen to symbolize faith, valor, wisdom, hope, inspiration, cherished friendship, my compliments and promise in love.

[Other meanings include] kindness, passion, peace of mind,

admiration and courage.

White Iris flowers symbolize purity and kindness,

Yellow Iris flowers symbolize passion,

Blue Iris flowers symbolize hope and faith, and

PUPRLE Iris flowers symbolize wisdom and compliments.

http://www.iris-flower.net/iris-flower-meaning

RENAISSANCE, n.

1. a renewal of life, vigor, interest, etc.

2. rebirth; revival: 
a moral renaissance.

dictionary.com

*****

Fix You
by Coldplay

When you try your best, but you don’t succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can’t sleep
Stuck in reverse
And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can’t replace
When you love someone, but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
And high up above or down below
When you’re too in love to let it go
But if you never try you’ll never know
Just what you’re worth
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face
And I will try to fix you

New Year’s Eve

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

Tiffany Daniels nearly clutched her stomach at the flutters that took over the center of her body.  She looked up into Drew Huntington’s gorgeous face smiling down at her with its dazzling white grin.

He’s gonna kiss me.  Holy shit, he’s gonna kiss me. 

You
want
him to kiss you.  What the hell is wrong with you these days, Tiff? You’ve been wanting him to kiss you since the first time you met him in July.  Hell, let’s be honest.  You’ve been wanting him to do a lot more than kiss you.  If you weren’t such a chickenshit…

“Well, there you have it,” she said lightly with a breathy laugh, already feeling the abundance of nervous words bubbling up into her throat.  “Another new year to celebrate.”  She took a deep breath and continued talking.  “And thank you for inviting me tonight.  It was great to meet so many of the people who work with you at the Medical Center.  I’m sure their names will come in handy when I’m looking for donations for the foundation,” she chuckled then swallowed around her tongue which felt like it was swelling in her mouth.  “The rest of the crew is at
Culture Club
tonight, did I tell you that?  Ryann wanted to go because she loves everything from the 80’s, and since they play all 80’s music there, they decided to go,” she said letting go of a nervous sound.  “So.”

Drew’s mouth was kicked up into a sexy smile with an expression of fascination in his eyes as the words continued tumbling from her mouth. 

Shut. Up. Tiffany. How can you be so intelligent and still not know when to shut up?

“And I’m so happy for her and Jem, you know?  And my brother and Janie?  I can’t believe how fast he moves!” she laughed anxiously.  “Janie’s been like a sister forever, so it’s perfect and we’ve all been hoping for years, but still.  So many changes since the summer,” she exclaimed, her hands fluttering.  “Everyone seems to be getting engaged all of the sudden.  Now we just have to wait and see what’s going to happen with Ayanna and Jonathan, and Mike and Emily. Right?” She smiled then tried to calm her breathing, fighting the desire to fill the space around them with more words already adding to the surrounding noise in the festive atmosphere.

Drew’s eyes watched her with a soft, yet heated expression.  His body shifted closer.  The speed at which she was speaking went into overdrive.

“I mean now that Mike and Emily have gotten their place together it seems like they may be close behind with wedding nuptials.  And Ayanna and Jonathan, well they were dating before Mike and Em, so,” she stammered.

You’d been doing so well the last few weeks around him, Tiff.  Now it’s back to verbally throwing up all over him.

“Tiff,” he said quietly, immediately causing her words to halt.  His milk chocolate brown eyes looked down into her light blue ones with humor.  “I’m going to kiss you.”

Her mouth opened and shut like a fish struggling for air and she stopped breathing for a moment. Then his head moved closer to hers as his beautiful skilled hands cupped her face gently and his eyes moved to her lips.  Slowly, he leaned his face closer, then melded his lips firmly yet softly to hers.

Time seemed to stop.  As they experienced their first kiss together, the party noise whooshed loudly away from them as if being sucked out of the room by a vacuum.  All sound disappeared, leaving only the melody of Tiffany’s heartbeat pounding out of her chest and the catch that came unexpectedly from her throat. 

And it said,
Thank God, you’re kissing me.

He pulled back only slightly to re-angle her head, then plundered some more, this time licking at the seam of her lips, entreating for entrance.  She complied and opened her mouth so he could stroke his tongue with hers, causing a sigh to escape from her at the same time.

He growled lowly while moving his hand back from her jaw to grip her hair lightly, pulling at her long, dark hair then stroking his thumb behind her ear.

When she was touched there, she purred.

He smoothed his hand down the length of her to settle at the small of her back, where he pressed her closer.

She was tall, like her twin brother, Luke.  Standing at 5’10” with a slim willowy build, she had felt gawky and huge next to most men her whole life.  However Drew’s football player body coupled with his muscular size brought him a few inches above her own frame, and made her feel small and dainty next to him.  She loved that.

She’d been out with the doctor several times whenever all of their mutual friends had gotten together.  Two and a half months earlier they’d been out to dinner alone and it had been a wonderful night.  It had ended platonically, due mainly to her nervousness around him and the fact that he sensed she wasn’t ready for anything romantic, but they’d talked for what felt like hours.  Due to their schedules, they’d only seen each other a couple more times since then, always with friends.

Tonight, though?  Tonight was definitely different.  There were no two ways around it.  Tonight was a date.  He had asked, she had said yes, and here they were on New Year’s Eve.

She sank more into his heady kiss, allowing him to taste her like no man had done in ages.  He took his time, was patient and sensual in his movements, feasting slowly on her, savoring each lick and nibble.  Her body began to hum, vibrating with restrained passion.  God, she wanted this to go on forever.  She hadn’t felt this aroused or safe in a man’s arms in over a decade.  Had she ever?

Her nipples tightened and she felt the pull of the rings that were pierced through them.  That feeling brought her back to the present quickly.  She needed to stop this before it went too far.

What will he think of you?

He nibbled one last time on her bottom lip, then pulled away to kiss her jaw, then the side of her lip, then her nose. 

She let out a long satisfied sigh and met his gaze, her nerves making her hands sweat.  His smile nearly caused her heart to stop.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time, Tiffany Daniels,” he said with his rich deep voice near her ear. 

“Yeah?” she whispered.  She couldn’t help the surprise that hit her and her heart fluttered.

“Oh, yeah,” he looked at her and smiled softly.  “Happy New Year,” he whispered while giving her an intense look.  His mouth moved closer, getting ready to kiss her again.

“Tiffany Hewitt?!  Is that
you
?” a woman screeched from behind her.

Tiffany tensed and whipped her head around to look into the eyes of none other than Deanna Love. 
Shit.  What was she doing in New York?
  On her arm was apparently her latest sugar daddy.  She’d never seen him before.

“Well, look at you!” Deanna bellowed, with her fake blonde hair, her fake boobs, and her fake everything else.

“Hi, Deanna.  What brings you up from DC?” Tiffany asked politely, feigning interest.  Deanna marched right over to give her air kisses.

Tiffany had lived back and forth between Boston and the nation’s capital for ten years while married to her cheating politician of an ex-husband.  Deanna Love was one of those daughters of rich parents who were politically connected, and Tiffany had seen her at many a political function over the years.

“I came up for Donald.  He’s one of the major donors to the Medical Center.  Donald Martin, meet Tiffany Hewitt.”

“It’s Tiffany Daniels now.  Nice to meet you, Donald,” she smiled, shaking his hand.  She turned their attention to Drew.  “This is Dr. Drew Huntington.”

Drew reached out to take his hand as well.  “I’ve heard many good things about you, Donald.  Nice to meet you,” Drew said with a smile.

“Likewise.  You’re a doctor at the hospital?”

“A surgeon, yes,” Drew nodded.

“So you went back to your maiden name?” asked Deanna, interrupting. “Not a lot of name recognition that way,” she tsked.  The woman had the social graces of a slug. 

Tiffany just nodded.

“I couldn’t believe it when I heard about your break up with Richard.  You must’ve been so embarrassed to have all of your dirty laundry aired like that in public,” Deanna clucked her tongue.  “I wouldn’t want to be seen after something like that.  How tragic.  And he’s still with her!  In fact, I just saw in the news that an engagement may be in the near future.  Well at least he won his seat again.  Given the headlines, it’s a miracle, isn’t it?” she shrugged.  “Voters are suckers for a pretty face, I guess.  And with that beauty at his side and all the salacious gossip thrown in, I suppose his reelection was inevitable.  But still,” she pouted, a glint to her eye.  “How horrible it must have been for you.”

The room seemed to shrink in on itself.  The girl just wouldn’t shut up.

“I don’t mean to interrupt, but I’m afraid you’ll both have to excuse us,” Drew said abruptly.  “We have some other plans and need to get going.  Have a good rest of your night,” Drew said to Deanna, then looked at Donald and nodded politely.

And just like that, Drew skillfully extricated them from Deanna’s clutches, put his hand on Tiffany’s back and walked them away from the piranha.  “Hold on,” he murmured under his breath.  “Almost there.”

She was trying to control herself, but she was close to screaming her head off with the anger she was now feeling.  She’d worked so hard to overcome the rage and shame she’d felt after her ex-husband’s extra-marital affairs.  To have it thrown in her face so unexpectedly and on her own turf, caused her world to feel like it had been knocked off its axis. 

Someday she’d feel whole again.  Although her marriage had been over for a long time, the divorce had only been final since the summer.  She’d feel fixed and ready for another relationship soon, right?  This sweet and gorgeous man who led her to a quiet corner was the kind of man she could see herself with, one with whom she would desperately want to try again.  She just needed to build up her courage, to convince herself she could be worthy of a man’s love.   

And figure out what to do with the piercings, Tiffany.  Men will get all kinds of ideas about you with those things.
She wished she’d never let Richard pressure her into getting the things.

They arrived to the lobby of one of Manhattan’s grandest hotels, and she turned abruptly.  She needed to get out.  She needed to breathe.  It was killing her to leave,
killing
her.  As politely and controlled as she could, she said good night to Drew.

“I’m going to get going.  Thank you so much for everything, Drew,” she began.

“No,” he shook his head.  “You’re not leaving.  Not like this.”

“Please, Drew,” she whispered, trying to keep it together.  “I’m no fun right now, and you’re the last person on earth I want to be a grouch to,” she said, still fighting back her emotion.

“Your ex-husband was an asshole, Tiff, not to mention the stupidest man alive for giving you up.  Don’t let him take anymore away from you.”

She smiled softly at him.  “You’re such a good man, Drew.”

He pressed his lips in annoyance, but touched her face gently.  “But?”

She shrugged, struggling for words.  “I’m a scarred woman, mentally and emotionally right now.  I’m,” she could feel her nerves getting the best of her and her diarrhea of the mouth hit her full on.  “I’m a screwed up mess, Drew.  I’m just not good enough for you right now.  You deserve so much better than what I am.”  She shook her head, trying to stop the tears hovering near the surface.  “I’ve got to go.  Please just let me go.”

“Tiff, someday you’ll realize how wonderful you are, and that you already
are
good enough.”

You don’t know what I’ve done…what I let him do to me.

He continued so sweetly, rubbing her cheek.  “I’m here to be your friend.”

“You are my friend.  Such a great friend, Drew.  Thank you so much for tonight.”  She leaned up and kissed his cheek.

“Let me get you a cab,” he growled in frustration.  “No ifs, ands, or buts.”  He walked her to the coat check so she could get her things then walked her outside.  She got into the cab, and as it started to pull away, she turned back to see him standing on the curb, watching her disappear into the night.