Revelation: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series) (12 page)

“And did you take it like a man?” Ethan asked.

“Of course.  I did what any guy would do and challenged her to a rematch.”  Mike was completely enjoying himself.

“That’s testosterone for ya,” April said, barely keeping her laugh inside.  “And when’s the rematch gonna be?”

“That would’ve been three days ago.”

“And how’d you do?” Ethan asked already chuckling.

Mike sighed dramatically and looked at Emily, his eyes heating up.  “She beat me, of course.  It was awesome.  She’s got moves on her like no other woman I know.”

“Dork,” Emily muttered with a light smile playing at her lips.

Knowing this conversation was venturing into territory she wouldn’t be able to control,
Emily politely excused herself as she hadn’t had a chance to see the girls yet.  She found them all in the kitchen which was off of the large living room and part of the entertainment area.  They were all overseeing the appetizers and drinks.

“Hello, girls,” Emily sang out while walking over.

She was met with a chorus of ‘heys’ and ‘how long have you been here?’

Before her stood Ryann, beautiful and sweet in a pair of fitted boot cut jeans, a pair of her trademark designer heels, a funky burgundy top, and her auburn hair up in a messy stylish knot on her head.  Her hazel eyes were sparkling with happiness while she organized the catered side dishes over their sternos along the counter.

Behind her, stirring batter in a bowl, was gorgeous Ayanna with her long silky black hair, latte colored skin and exotic light brown eyes.  It appeared she was making her special chocolate cupcakes with caramel icing, if Emily guessed correctly.  In between stirring, Yan blew her a kiss over her shoulder and wiggled her skirt encased ass in hello.

Voluptuous Janie stood next to her, her long curly strawberry blonde hair back in a ponytail, her green eyes lit with mischief so like her brother.  Mike’s sister was marinating steaks for the grill and yelled out a ‘hey you!’ when Emily entered.  She was gloriously endowed, which she hated, but was otherwise a slim woman and looked great in a pair of kelly green Bermuda shorts, madras wedges and a fitted button down denim shirt that showed off her double Ds and small waist to perfection.

Lastly was sophisticated Tiffany.  She was the tallest in the bunch, with a willowy model build, black hair and blue eyes.  Recently divorced, she was a brilliant woman who was always dressed to the nines in perfectly tailored clothes as if she was waiting for someone to take her picture; understandably so since she’d been photographed for years as the wife of a well-known politician up in Boston.  Both she and Emily had moved down to Manhattan at pretty much the same time and even though Emily hadn’t known her personally when they lived up north, she’d certainly heard of Tiffany’s philandering ex.  He’d unfortunately made many headlines so everyone was thrilled Tiffany was now free of him.

All noise stopped when Janie turned from the steaks and whispered furiously, “Um, excuse me here.  But did I see you pull up with my brother?  On the back of his bike?!  You better start talking, and
now
.”

Ryann, Ayanna, Janie and Tiffany all had astonished looks on their faces.  However, they quickly turned into knowing smirks and wagging eyebrows soon after.  They’d all seen firsthand that she and the detective always had sparks flying around them when they were together.

“Everyone just calm down,” Emily began, putting her hand up to stop the wheels in their heads turning.  She looked back into the living room to make sure no one was listening.  Mike was still with her aunt and uncle, along with Janie’s date, Jeremy, and her cousin Jonathan.  She looked back at the girls. “He offered me a ride and I took it.  I like motorcycles,” she muttered with a shrug.

“Uh, huh.  And how did this happen?  He called you, or what?  We need the deets, Em,” Ayanna began.

“We had our little rematch at the precinct on Friday –” Emily began.  They’d all been there at the self-defense class and had known that a second match between the two of them had been imminent.

“Yeah, that’s right!  Danny told me you stopped by.  So, please tell me you whooped his ass again.  I just love knowing a girl can bring my caveman of a brother down,” Janie said.

“Of course I whooped his ass.”  Then she was met with hollers and high fives.  She laughed. 

“So keep going.  What else?” Ryann asked.

Emily rolled her eyes.  “So he said since we were both coming today, he’d pick me up.”

All the girls looked at each other and Ryann continued.  “Why do I feel like you’re leaving something out?”

She was so busted.

“Like?” Emily was looking away.

“Like last time you threw him on a mat he looked like he was ready to fuck you afterwards,” Ayanna said dryly in her typical colorful language.

“Lalalalalalala,” Janie was yelling, plugging her ears with her fingers.  “Sister.  Standing right here.”  People in the living room looked over but were too deep in conversation to hear what was going on, especially with the stereo on in the background.

The doorbell rang and Ryann looked around the counter to make sure Jeremy was going to answer it.

“You know I’m right, too,” Ayanna said, pointing the batter covered spoon at her.  “He had that look even when he had an audience.  This time he didn’t have one, I presume.  So what happened after you beat him?”

She blushed to the roots of her hair.  “Nothing.”

They all smiled at each other and then Janie said, “I think you’re lying.”

“Think what you want,
baby girl
,” Emily said using the nickname Luke used for her at times.  She knew Janie sometimes hated it and thought that would stop the questions.  “There’s nothing to see here.  And how’s Danny, by the way?”  Emily gave her a look.

Janie looked disgruntled and let go of a deep sigh.  “He’s fine.”

“Yes, he
is
fine, but how are things going with you two?”

“Just…fine.”  Janie said.

There was a burst of laughter in the living room causing the girls to turn and see Luke Daniels walk in with a pretty redhead.

Luke was a tall man, equal in height to Jeremy and Mike’s 6’3” frames.  Due to his mother’s Spanish coloring and his father’s British heritage, he and Tiffany had beautiful olive toned skin which only made their black hair and blue eyes that much more arresting.  Emily always thought of a tall, darker version of Jonathan Rhys Meyers mixed with Matt Bomer when she saw him. He was impeccably dressed as always and considering he was the CEO of a huge fashion conglomerate in the City, it was expected.  In his early thirties, he was the same age as Jeremy and was an old family friend. 

“Who’s that with your brother?  She looks familiar.” Emily said to Tiffany. 

“I think her name’s Vanessa.  They met at the art showing a few weeks ago.”

Emily looked over and noticed Ryann and Ayanna staring at Janie.  Janie, however, was ignoring the scene in the living room all together and marinating the hell out of the steaks.  If the meat hadn’t been dead already, it certainly was now, considering how she was stabbing it to death with the fork.

“Your parents are coming today, right Yan?” Emily asked, trying to move the subject further away from her.

“Yup.  They’ll be here closer to six.”

“Have things been going okay?”

“Actually, they’ve been going better than okay.  It’s almost eerie.”  All the girls knew that Ayanna hadn’t grown up with the best of relationships with her parents.  It was only in the last month that they’d begun to patch things up.

“My aunt and uncle are the easiest people in the world to get along with,” Emily said.  “It doesn’t surprise me how well things are going.”

“They absolutely are the best.  Everyone’s getting along great.  It’s a little scary.”

“And when are your parents getting here, Ry?” Emily continued.

“Their train should’ve arrived a couple of minutes ago.  Manny’s picking them up.”  Ryann’s mom and stepdad lived in Connecticut and Manny was Jeremy’s driver.

“Well, it looks like the gang is almost all here, then.  Who are we still waiting for?”

“Just Janie and Mike’s parents.  Oh, and Dr. Drew.  He’s coming too.”

There was a clatter as Tiffany dropped one of the utensils she was putting out on the counter.

They all smirked.

“You alright, Tiff?” Ryann asked.

“Yup, couldn’t be better.  I just have butter fingers today.  Sometimes when I’ve had too much coffee and not enough food in my stomach it makes me a little jittery.  Does that ever happen to any of you?  I’ve been thinking that maybe I’ll cut down on the caffeine a little,” she yammered on quickly, her hands fluttering.  “Sometimes I feel like my heart’s racing and I’m going to have a heart attack or something.  Maybe I’ll just have a couple of chips.  I think I just need some carbs.” 

Tiffany’s mouth was off and running, a natural occurrence when she was nervous.  She babbled uncontrollably.  And it usually happened whenever Dr. Drew Huntington was around.  The crew of friends had gotten to know him after Ryann had been hurt as he had been her doctor.  Probably in his mid to late-thirties, Lenny Kravitz with his sensual charisma had nothing on the good looking M.D.  Tiffany had all kinds of physical reactions to the biracial doctor with a body that rivaled most NFL players.  

“Do you mind if I just make myself a small plate, Ry?  I know we haven’t started yet, but -”  Tiffany took another breath to continue, but instead Ryann interrupted.

“Tiff.”  Tiffany stopped and looked at Ryann who’d just spoken.  “Take a breath, hon.”

“Right.  Yeah.  I’m good.  On second thought, I just need to use the bathroom.  I’ll be right back.”  She made a beeline out of the kitchen.

“She’s so friggin’ adorable.  And entertaining.  I almost feel guilty because sometimes I wanna make her nervous just so I can watch her talk.  It’s amazing,” Ayanna chuckled.

“You’re horrible.”  Ryann was shaking her head at her best friend since grammar school.

“I know.”  Yan turned to Emily.  “And yet your cousin still loves me.  Go figure.”

“Yes, he does.  Speak of the devil,” Emily said, watching Jonathan enter the kitchen and walk over. 

Jonathan White stood just over six feet and was dressed conservatively in his khaki shorts, loafers and button down shirt.  His smart glasses highlighted his baby blue eyes and his close cut blonde hair was the complete antithesis to Ayanna’s Sri Lankan coloring.  When one looked at them next to each other, one wondered how Ayanna’s natural flamboyance and Jonathan’s quiet and dry humor got together.  But the two proved t
he old adage ‘opposites attract’.

“Hello ladies.”

“Hi baby,” Ayanna said.  “How’s it going out there? Do we need to freshen the drinks yet?”

“Yeah, we need another bottle of red.”  He walked over to her back and kissed Yan on the side of the neck.

“Okay,” she murmured with her eyes closed.  She reached her leg back and wrapped it around his so he didn’t move away.  “Do that one more time on the other side and I’ll get it for you.”  She offered the other side of her neck and he obliged her taking a little nibble in the process.

“Mmm.  You taste good,” he murmured under his breath, but loud enough for those in the kitchen to hear.  He wound his arms around her waist.

“Can we get you a room, perhaps?  Jeremy’s wood shop is just behind the kitchen.  There’s a nice sturdy bench you can use in there,” Ryann said innocently, batting her eyelashes.

They actually looked like they might be contemplating it, with Jonathan pursing his lips. 

“And how do you know that, you little nympho?” Ayanna asked.

Ryann just smiled brilliantly and bit her lip.

Ayanna turned to Jonathan.  “What do you think, big boy?”

“Nah, we better wait till we’re home,” Jon mused aloud.  “You can be a bit noisy.”

“Poor Mrs. Holland,” Ayanna said with a chuckle, referring to her elderly neighbor who’d had to live through both Ryann and Ayanna as next door neighbors.  Ryann had bought the place first and had started her romance with Jeremy there.  Once she moved in with Jeremy, she’d rented it to Ayanna who had been looking for an apartment.  Their ‘love grotto’ was known to give an earful to the old woman. 

“At least she’ll have a reprieve for a few nights with Jonathan’s parents staying there,” Ryann laughed.  Ayanna was staying with Jonathan who happened to live in the same apartment complex a couple of floors up.

“I’m not so sure about that.  I imagine April’s pretty raucous,” Ayanna said dryly.

Both Jonathan and Emily groaned simultaneously, not wanting to picture their older family members having sex.

“Alright, people.  Out of the kitchen.  Let Janie and I work our magic,” Ayanna continued.  “We’ll yell when things are ready.  Here’s the wine, champ,” she said, handing the bottle to Jonathan with a big smooch.  “And Janie, you’re on grill duty, right?”

“Yeah.  And everything will be good if you guys can keep Luke away from it.  It’s like he’s offering a burnt sacrifice up to the gods every time he’s near that thing,” she muttered.

They all filtered out of the kitchen and began to mingle.