Renaissance: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series Book 5) (6 page)

“Yeah.  I’ll have more info in the coming weeks.”

“Great.”

More silence as they looked awkwardly at each other.  Then with a smile, she leaned up to kiss him on the cheek.  He grabbed her and hugged her tightly. 

“You’re a good friend, Drew.  Thanks for everything,” she whispered. 

He didn’t say anything back.  Just hugged her.

Tiffany swallowed and made an ‘uh huh’ sound, as if to say, ‘well, then.’  With that, she disengaged herself from the hug and walked out of the cafeteria.

……

“Deep breath.”

Tiffany took one and scrunched her eyes shut as her new gynecologist removed the ring from her clitoris.  She felt the final tug, then opened her eyes and looked down between the stirrups.

“Done,” the female doctor declared then grabbed some ointment to apply.

Tiffany let go of a huge sigh of relief and before she could stop herself, felt the drop of tears spill onto her face.  She should have done as soon as she separated, but since her previous doctors had been chosen by her ex, the thought of someone new knowing what she’d done to herself had stopped her.  Given who her parents and ex-husband were she was well known in the media, and she had been constantly worried that the information would make it out there. 

Had she thought she could do the removal herself she would have.  But she knew she couldn’t finagle the contraption by herself, and all of her research had said to seek a doctor who could check for scar tissue and infection.

“Did it hurt?” the doctor asked, concerned, obviously misunderstanding the tears.

“No,” Tiffany smiled and reassured her.  “I just can’t tell you how relieved I am that it’s out.”

The doctor nodded sympathetically.  “Nothing is infected, so everything looks good.  Have you lost any sensation?”

“No.”

She looked closer.  “It doesn’t look like there’s any scarring.”

“Thank you so much for taking it out.”

“You’re very welcome.”

While the doctor continued her examination and began the pap smear, Tiffany’s mind wandered.  She’d been an avid runner before she’d gotten the piercings.  But she discovered, especially when her genitals had been pierced, it had altered that routine, not to mention how she had walked.  Everything was too over stimulated all of the time, and it was just one more reason to hate her ex-husband.

She couldn’t wait to throw on some running shoes and jog around Central Park.  Her walk wasn’t the only thing that had been altered, though.  The nipple piercings caused stimulation as well, and for whatever reason, she had grown used to it, to like it actually.  But because any observer could see the outline of the nipple rings through her clothes, she had changed all of her bras to have a little padding to hide the impression.

She happily thought about the upcoming jog.  What she wasn’t happy about was the fact that Drew was no longer available.  She had spent the last half hour telling herself it may be for the best.  It was good to spend some time on herself, right? 
Yeah, but you’ve been spending time on yourself for close to a year already.

She lay there analyzing his reaction to her announcement, and wondered how serious he was with Katrina.  In thinking back to the previous hour, she realized she hadn’t really come out and told him her feelings.  It had seemed pointless once the conversation had been underway, but she figured he was smart enough to figure out what she’d been trying to say to him given the looks they’d given each other.

The fact that Katrina had been a friend of his for years made her pause. 
And
she was pretty and sweet.  Tiffany sighed.  She didn’t want to be the femme fatale, but she couldn’t help thinking of ways to manipulate a time to see him again, and was mentally beating herself up for taking too long in getting her shit together. 

Once the doctor was done with the examination, Tiffany removed her feet from the stirrups and began to dress.  They had a generic conversation about birth control, which Tiffany was already on, and talked of scheduling her next appointment twelve months from then.  Once the doctor had left and Tiffany was pulling the dress over her head, a thought hit her out of the blue.

She remembered when all of the friends had gone out Salsa dancing back in December, she’d had a conversation with Drew about his sister.  Tiffany had already begun looking into hiring a consultant to help with fundraising and development for the foundation, and she knew that Drew’s sister was a Director of Development in Baltimore for a non-profit. 

I could kill two birds with one stone.  This just might work.

She finished getting dressed and finally made it to the street to find a cab.  Once on her way, she worked through her guilt of trying to get Drew’s interest back.  She knew she needed to draw the line somewhere, because she really didn’t want to blatantly pull him away from Katrina.  She just wanted to stay on his radar.  Just in case.  Was that wrong of her? 

She texted Drew before she lost her nerve.

TIFF: 
Sorry to bug u, especially since I know you’re probably in the middle of saving someone’s life. When u have a chance, would it be ok to send along your sister’s contact info? I would love to pick her brain for some ideas about the foundation if she’s willing. Thx in advance either way.

She hit send before she changed her mind, then leaned back in the cab to rest her head on the seat.  She moved her butt slightly to feel the new sensation between her legs.  She was thrilled to have herself back to normal again, with no piece of metal pinching or stroking where she didn’t want to be pinched or stroked; at least not by a piece of metal. 

That part of her life was over.  She was glad to be starting the new one, one where she had the control, and found her purpose again.  She turned to look out the window and watched the streets blur by.  Her mind drifted back to two months earlier, and the toe curling kiss Drew had given her on New Year’s Eve.  She sighed.  She’d thought about his lips many times over the last several weeks.  God, the man did it for her.  Yes, he made her nervous as hell, which she was still trying to figure out.  She couldn’t remember a time she’d ever reacted that way toward a man, even Richard.  There was just something about Drew that pulled at her and made her all jumbled.

He was a gorgeous man, but so was her ex.  Drew was kind and compassionate, a brilliant surgeon which made him attractive to her all the more because of his intelligence.  But it was something more.  He had a quietness about him, an intensity.  He chose his words carefully and didn’t feel the need to fill space with idle chatter. 

Unlike her.  Well, she only did when she was nervous.  And quite frankly, the only time she could recall babbling uncontrollably in the recent past was within the last year whenever she was in Drew’s presence.  It was like her body was so attracted to him, that it truly went on the fritz because of sensory overload.

She was lost in thought until her text went off.

TODD: 
Hey.  I have a couple of places in mind for tonight.  How about I pick u up at 7:30 and we’ll discuss then?

Tiffany blinked, forgetting for a moment that she’d made plans with Todd that evening.

TIFF: 
Sounds good.

She finished the text by typing in her address then hit send.

Time for that new life to begin, Tiff.

……

Tiffany had decided on a pair of nice jeans, brown heeled boots and a long fitted sweater in gold for her drinks with Todd.  A few minutes before he arrived, she finally got a text back from Drew, much to her delight.

DREW: 
Holy shit.  This is twice you’ve contacted me in 2 days, Ms. Daniels.  I can hardly believe it. 

She chuckled, feeling a current of arousal course through her.

TIFF: 
Ha ha.
 

DREW: 
You’re in luck.  My sis is coming to visit this wknd.  We’re going to the Coldplay concert at MSG.  Maybe u guys can meet.

Tiffany smiled.  She would love to meet his sister face to face but felt guilty stealing her away from him.

TIFF: 
That would be great, but I don’t want to take her away from u if you’re having a bro/sis wknd together.

DREW: 
She’s coming in Fri pm, concert is Sat pm, then she’s leaving Sun am.  I can bring her by the warehouse on Sat or we can do dinner before concert? She would love to meet u.

Tiffany was trying not to let the giddy flush take over her body.  Had he told his sister about her?  Maybe he mentioned the foundation to her or something.

TIFF: 
Let her make the decision.  Again, I don’t want her fun wknd to be taken up w/ shop talk.

DREW: 
She won’t care.  I’ll get back to u after I talk to her.

TIFF: 
Thanks so much for doing this.  And thank her too, regardless.

DREW:
My pleasure. I’ll call u after I set it up w/ her.

TIFF: 
:)

She took some deep breaths, already feeling the energy in her body crackling like she’d been struck by lightning.  They’d only been texting and she was already a wreck.  She went to the bathroom to put some cold water on her cheeks and noticed the brightness in her eyes. 

Thankfully, she had finally reached normal breathing levels by the time she’d heard from Todd.  When he arrived, she buzzed him in on her call box, opening her door a little so she could hear when he was approaching in the hallway.  She grabbed a coat and put it on, just as he tapped on her door.

She turned to look at him and smiled.  He was handsome, his burnished blonde hair shone, and his five o’clock shadow played over his features while he threw her a panty melting smile.

He really was a cutie.

“Hello there, sir,” she said.

“I guess this is the right place.”  He looked at her appreciatively then around the foyer and living room area.  “This is nice.  The building has great bones.”  He gave her a quick once over.  “As do you, I might add.”

She rolled her eyes at him good naturedly.  “I fell in love with this place as soon as I saw it.  I love the old architecture,” she smiled.  “You ready to go?”

He nodded and put out his hand to let her go through the door first, then she turned and locked up.

“So,” she continued as they took the elevator to the lobby.  “Where did you have in mind?”

“I was thinking of a place on 79
th
Street.  It’s not that far.  Do you feel like walking or should we get a cab?”

“Let’s walk,” she said, already excited about moving without the ‘hardware’.  Her jog in the Park had been so liberating, she wanted to continue enjoying the feel of her new gait.  She actually felt sexier without the damn thing between her legs.

“Perfect.”

They exited the lobby, said goodbye to the doorman, and headed down the street toward their destination.

“Tell me something, Ms. Daniels.  What’s a girl like you do with her spare time?”

“That’s a great question,” she laughed.  “But since I haven’t had much since moving to New York, the answer is I don’t do anything because I don’t have any.”

“If you had it, what would you do?” he smiled as they walked.

“Well,” she thought for a moment, “I like to read, cook.  I love to run.”  She smiled to herself at the knowledge that she’d be returning to her favorite past time.  “I’ve always been involved with charity work because of my upbringing in a political family, and being married to a politician.  But I think what I’m most looking forward to doing is using my brain again.  I have a degree in Business and I’m really excited about finally using it.”  She looked over at him briefly, then finished by saying, “For years, I had enough spare time to last me a lifetime, and honestly, I’m really looking forward to working, getting my hands dirty.  Making a difference in some little girls’ lives if I can.”

He tapped her shoulder with his as they got closer to the popular cocktail bar.  “You’ve got a good heart.”  His hazel eyes twinkled at her.  “I know your divorce wasn’t a good one,” he said under his breath, as if he wasn’t sure if he should broach the subject.

She figured it was time to put that chapter behind her and talk about it non-emotionally.  “That’s putting it mildly.  But you live and learn, I suppose.”

“I was married for a short time about ten years ago.”

She looked over at him, doing the calculations in her head.  He appeared to be in his mid to late thirties.  “You were young.”

He nodded.  “Too young.  Twenty five, she was twenty three.  We were in graduate school together.  Puppy love, really, now that I look back on it.  We just didn’t know what we wanted and it fizzled and died quickly.  We’re still friendly, but she lives in a different state so we don’t talk much.  There’s no reason to, I guess,” he shrugged.  “But for you, I imagine after spending so many years with someone, and then in such a public way, it couldn’t have been easy to go through what you went through.”

“It wasn’t, but I’m determined to pick myself up and move on, be stronger than I was.”  She was wondering where this was going.  “So, what do
you
do with your spare time?”