Redemption (Iris Series)

by Lynn, Rebecca

“Yeah,” he muttered. “So.”

  “My small waist and my what?” Janie wasn’t going to let that comment lie.

  Luke rolled his eyes. “Your derriere, Janie. Okay?” He sounded exasperated.

  “And the shoes? What do you think of the shoes?”

  Janie lifted her leg and wiggled her foot closer to Luke. The nude strappy heels had gold metal decorative pieces by the buckle, and she had on a matching delicate gold anklet, showing off her slim ankle.

  “They’re great. Good height with that skirt. Make your feet look...sexy.” Poor Luke. He looked extremely uncomfortable.

  “Alright, that’s enough, Lucas,” Michael interrupted. “This is Janie you’re talking about for fuck’s sake. I don’t need to know how sexy she looks to the male population out there, especially with Fernandez sniffin’ around her.” He turned his head. “Did he ask you out?” Mike asked Janie.

  “As a matter of fact, he did,” she said flippantly.

  “Dude, you’re gonna let one of those asshole detectives paw your sister? What kind of brother are you?” Luke interjected.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll talk to him,” Michael said.

  All the girls jumped in at once. “You will not!” “Stay out of it, Mike!” “It’s none of your business, Neanderthal.”

  That last comment came from Emily. She was looking at Michael with her finger pointed at his face. “Your sister can date whomever the hell she wants. She’s not a ‘baby girl’ anymore,” she said, giving a pointed look to Luke, referencing the name he used moments earlier when talking to Janie. “And we just taught her how to kick some ass, so she’ll be fine.”

  “Are you gonna go out with him?” Luke asked in a casual tone.

  Janie looked at him for a moment and raised her eyebrow in challenge. “Yup,” she said, allowing her mouth to pop on the ‘P’.

  Michael and Luke looked disgruntled, while Jeremy and Jonathan simply looked amused at the exchanges in the limo. Either way, the conversation came to a halt as the limo arrived at the restaurant.

  ……

  Everyone got out and filed into the tavern which had been voted the most popular restaurant in New York City by Zagat’s at least six times since it’s opening in the Flatiron section in 1994. The group spilled into the dining area where they were promptly shown to their table toward the back of the room. They immediately decided on ordering the tasting menu so they could sample the delights.

  Once everyone was served their drinks and began the first tasting, the conversation melded into the comfortable banter of good friends.

  Emily and Luke were laughing about the most recent episodes of The Daily Show which were being hosted by John Oliver while John Stewart was away. Their favorite bit had been the jokes about Anthony Weiner, who was running for mayor of New York City. They kept singing Oliver’s ‘Danger!’ bit, then cracking up referring to Weiner’s twitter name ‘Carlos Danger.’

  Ayanna and Janie, on the other hand, quickly began strategizing and commenting on the food. It was obvious to everyone that they were in their element. They shared their good news regarding the new venture they had embarked upon together, and everyone at the table raised a toast in their honor.

  Ryann commented on Emily’s ease in kicking Michael’s ass and everyone laughed, giving Mike a hard time. He rolled his eyes.

  “When did you start learning all of that stuff?” Ayanna asked Emily.

  “I told you about my friend from high school, remember?”

  “Ah,” Ayanna said in understanding.

  Emily turned to the rest of the group and told them the story of her friend.

  “I remembered thinking I never wanted to be in a situation where I couldn’t protect myself. Considering my stature, or lack thereof, I thought it would be smart. So I had a long talk with my parents, and they enrolled me in a generic self-defense class. Which then morphed into Judo, then Krav Maga. Before moving to New York, I had been teaching at a Krav Maga place in Boston on the weekends.”

  Michael sat there shaking his head. “I wouldn’t wanna find myself in a dark alley with you, Counselor,” he muttered light heartedly. “Unless of course it was for more pleasurable reasons,” he said, his voice laced with sensual challenge.

  Emily smirked and cocked her head. She didn’t take the bait.

  “You just didn’t like having your ass kicked by a girl, did you, Mr. Big Strong Detective Man?” she asked sympathetically. “Poor baby.”

  “A pip squeak is more like it,” he grumbled.

  “Somebody get him a towel to wipe up his tears. He’s cryin’ all over the table,” Emily said with an eye roll.

  “I’ll be practicing for my rematch,” he said, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

  “Practice all you want, sweetheart,” she said with an eyebrow raised as she sipped at her wine. “I’m still gonna kick your ass.”

  “You can try.” He licked his lower lip as he zeroed in on her.

  The sexual tension between them at the table caused everyone to chuckle as they watched their exchange.

  “Well, I for one would love to be there to watch. Any woman who can beat the great Detective Michael Callahan in hand to hand combat is worthy of a toast,” Luke said raising his glass.

  “Hear, hear,” Jonathan said, and they all drank from their glasses.

  “So,” Luke said, clearing his throat and turning to Janie. “When are you going out with the detective? What was his name, again? Rodriguez?”

  Janie turned her full body to Luke and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. Her boobs pushed up.

  “It’s Fernandez, Lucasito,” she said with a cute smile.

  Ayanna loved watching her work him. Especially when she called him her pet name. It was so fucking sweet to watch the very handsome and manly Luke Daniels get pink in the face when she did. Ayanna could tell he liked the intimate and childhood references she used with him, but that he didn’t know what to do with it when said in public.

  “I want to hear this ‘Lucasito’ story,” Ryann began, obviously thinking along the same lines as Ayanna.

  Janie laughed. “When I was in high school, I needed help with my Spanish class. Since Luke and Tiffany are half Spanish and grew up speaking it with their mom, Luke would help me with my homework when I was struggling. ‘Lucas’ is his Spanish name, so I would call him Lucas, and he would sometimes call me by my Spanish name…”

  “Which is?” Ayanna asked.

  “Juanita,” Janie chuckled and looked at Luke.

  “Says the girl who will never in a million years look like a ‘Juanita,’” Luke said dryly. Then he turned to Janie. “But sometimes I would call you ‘Nita’ for short. Remember?”

  She nodded then smiled. “Or ‘Nee Nee’. When you wanted to annoy me.”

  Luke gave her a quirky smile then turned back to Ryann who asked the original question. “And to annoy me, she would basically start calling me ‘Lukey’, or in Spanish theoretically is ‘Lucasito.’ So, there you have it. And let me tell you, those junior and senior years were rough.”

  “Please. You loved tutoring me and you know it,” Janie said dramatically.

  “You were impossible,” he grumbled good-naturedly. “An absolute pain in my ass. I don’t know how you teachers do it,” he said to Jonathan and Ryann.

  Both of the teachers at the table looked at each other and laughed.

  “It ain’t easy at times, that’s for sure,” Jon added.

  “Especially when all of the girl students are hitting on you,” Ryann jabbed with a smile.

  “You should talk, Thornton! The boys always looked at you all googlely eyed,” Jonathan shot back laughing.

  “She doesn’t see it, man. I’ve already tried to explain it to her,” Jeremy said shaking his head. “She’s a lost cause,” he said pulling Ryann close and laying a huge kiss on her in front of everyone. Ryann turned beet red. Ayanna loved it.

  “So, back to the question at hand. When are you going out with Fernandez?�
�� Luke asked, emphasizing the detective’s name.

  “We haven’t picked a day yet. We just exchanged numbers.” She raised her eyebrow at him. “Shall I call you when he contacts me?” she asked in an innocent tone.

  Luke gave her a dry look.

  “Well, seriously, Luke. You act like I’ve never been on a date before or something. I hate to break it to you, but I even have sex occasionally,” she smirked.

  “Geez!” “Shit, Janie!” “I so don’t wanna hear this, thank you!”

  Luke, Michael, and Jeremy all screamed out their reactions to Janie’s comment. The girls just laughed and shook their heads.

  “What is it with you guys?” Ayanna asked in an exasperated tone. “Look at her! She’s gorgeous with a body that doesn’t quit, her hair is to die for, she has great boobs... I mean the girl is the package, has a great sense of humor, is an accomplished chef and business owner,” Ayanna was ticking off Janie’s attributes on her fingers. “She’d be a catch for any man. Not to mention that the woman has been of age for nearly 10 years now, boys. You need to get over it.”

  “Listen, just because she’s gorgeous doesn’t mean we want to think about her having sex,” her brother said, his face scrunched up.

  “I didn’t realize the idea of me having sex was that disgusting,” Janie said drolly, directing that comment right to Luke.

  “Janie, it’s not that. You’re like the little sister, that’s all. It’s hard for us to think of you that way,” Luke responded to her look.

  Oh, dear.

  “Well, I’m not your sister, Luke Daniels, but rest assured that if the thought of me having sex is so disgusting to you, I’ll never again put you in the awkward position of having to painfully think of me ‘that way’ again,” she finished, rolling her eyes and sighing. She placed her napkin on the table and stood up. “Excuse me for a moment. I need to use the restroom.” Then Janie left the table.

  “I didn’t say that I—” Luke started to say as she walked away, but she was already gone.

  After an awkward moment of silence, Luke looked at everyone and asked, “What the hell just happened?”

  Ayanna sighed and thought, idiot, but also wondered what he was about to say as Janie was leaving the room.

  “I don’t know,” Michael grumbled, rubbing his hands through his hair. “Maybe she’s on the rag or something,” he muttered.

  Before the rest of the girls could even react, Emily had already smacked him in the back of the head.

  “Ow!” he yelled then looked around at the other patrons looking in their direction. “What the fuck is with you, Counselor?” he said, his voice now lower. He was rubbing at his head. “I know you wanna get your hands on me and all, but there are other more enjoyable ways we can do this,” he mumbled.

  “Why do you men always think when a woman is angry it automatically means she’s got her period?” Emily began. “Does it even occur to you that a woman could have a legitimate gripe and express her anger, and not be on the rag? Maybe Janie,” she continued in her best lawyer voice, “who happens to be in all of our age brackets,” she said pointing to all of the women, “is tired of the men in her life treating her like some 15 year old who has no experience in the world. I mean the woman has studied in Europe, for Pete’s sake. You guys need to start treating her like the accomplished woman she is and show her the respect she’s earned and deserves.”

  “Wait a minute now. Of course we respect her. Don’t even go there. She knows we love her,” said Michael.

  “Then you need to start showing her in a different way, Mike,” Ryann interjected quietly. “There’s no doubt you guys love her. You just need to start treating her like an adult now. I mean she does have sex, guys.”

  Michael groaned.

  “Okay already, Ryann,” Luke said pressing at his eyes.

  “Well, she does Luke,” Ayanna chimed in.

  “I know.” He paused. “How much sex is she having exactly?”

  Ayanna chuckled. “Why does it make you so uncomfortable? She’s not family. I can maybe understand Mike and Jeremy, but why you?” Ayanna pushed a little further.

  “I don’t think of her as a sister, necessarily. It’s just hard on a guy when all of a sudden little Janie has turned into this gorgeous beautiful woman who’s starting to wear all sexy clothes, and shoes, and whatnot,” he stammered all flustered. “And having sex. Shit.”

  Tiffany looked at him with raised eyebrows.

  Yup. Just as she thought. Luke had the hots for Janie. And it appeared he didn’t know what the hell to do about it.

  “Well,” Ryann continued from before, “I’m sure it’s not an easy transition for you guys, but it’s time to make it. Ease up on the Caveman behavior a little.” She looked at Jeremy, then at Luke. “Women like to feel protected to a point, but when it starts to make us feel like you guys think we’re babies who can’t take care of ourselves, that’s when it starts to piss us off.”

  At that point, Janie was making her way back to the table and Luke stood to pull out her chair for her. Janie looked up at him warily, then sat at the silent table with a questioning look.

  “What’s this all about?” she asked as she sat and thanked Luke.

  “The women at the table have been showing us that we’re often times a bunch of idiots when it comes to the women we love,” Jeremy said, stroking Ryann’s hair.

  Michael got up to hug Janie when she was seated in her chair and she hugged him back.

  “I love you,” he said, his voice muffled in her hair. “We’re gonna try to stop being cavemen. Be patient with us.”

  Janie chuckled. “You’re forgiven. I know it’s out of your love for me,” she said, looking at Luke. Then she looked away. “I can’t wait to try the next dish,” she gushed.

  The men seemed to sigh with relief that the matter was settled.

  Jonathan and Michael talked briefly about Michael’s younger brother Robbie, who Jonathan and Ryann, coincidentally, had taught at the Academy a couple of years before. While they were talking, the girls started asking Tiffany about the new chapter in her life and what her plans were.

  “I don’t know,” Tiffany hesitated. “I finally found a place, so I’ll be getting out of Janie’s hair soon,” she said in Janie’s direction, with an affectionate smile. “She keeps trying to get me to start a charity or a foundation, or something like that. Whattaya think?”

  Ryann spoke first. “I think that’s a great idea. It’s right up your alley.”

  Jeremy broke in next. “It really is, Tiff. With your business background and your money, not to mention your big heart, it would be perfect for you.”

  Luke smiled, and said, “We’d all help you if you needed it. You know that.”

  “I know,” she said with her eyes getting teary.

  Luke continued talking to his twin. “It’s been a hard year for you, sis. But this is a new chapter and you have new friends. The sky’s the limit. I think this move to Manhattan from Boston is gonna make a world of difference for you.”

  “It is, you’re right. I’m excited about it,” she smiled.

  “As you should be!” Ayanna exclaimed. “And Luke is right. If you need anything, just let us know. Even if it’s just to be a sounding board or something like that.”

  Another tasting came out and after they had eaten a bit, Ryann got the whole table’s attention.

  “I think some of you know that the Institute does a big art showing at the end of the summer each year. At the end of August, there’s going to be a showing of all of the students’ art that’s been created over the summer semester. It will all be for sale with a portion of the proceeds going back to the Institute to help future student artists, but the majority will go to the student artists themselves. I think you guys would really enjoy it. And the art is outstanding. Plus, it’ll give us all an excuse to dress up again,” she winked with a smile. “Whattaya think?”

  “Sounds great. I’m looking for some stuff to dress up the apartme
nt,” Ayanna said.

  “Me, too,” Emily said. “My place is still looking a little empty.”

  “Awesome! I’ll send out details to everyone as it gets closer,” Ryann beamed.

  “Jeremy, Ryann, and I were already going to be there, so it’ll be nice to have the whole crew coming,” Luke added.

  “Hey! Look who’s here!” Ryann exclaimed.

  Everyone looked toward the entrance and saw Dr. Drew Huntington, the doctor who had patched Ryann up after the shooting. He worked out of Beth Israel Medical Center and they’d all gotten to know him a bit over the past couple of weeks.

  He stood a couple of inches over six feet and was built like a linebacker. In his mid to late thirties, he was a solid wall of muscle without an ounce of fat on him. Charming, with a brilliant white smile that lit up his handsome face, Ayanna had always thought of Lenny Kravitz when she saw him. That night, he was dressed in a light gray suit and his only ‘accessory’ was draped on his arm in the form of a curvy brunette. The woman’s outfit, a feminine off white chiffon sundress, only added to her fresh girl next door look and she appeared very pleased to be clinging to the doctor’s side.

  Ayanna turned to look at Tiffany, wondering about her reaction since there was a bit of attraction on Tiff’s part toward the doctor. At least it had seemed that way at the last gathering a week or so earlier when Ayanna saw the two of them together. Interestingly, Tiffany immediately excused herself to go to the restroom while Ryann and Jeremy had already gotten up to say hello.

  Ayanna was about to say something to Jonathan, but the look on his face stopped her cold. Emily was talking to him.

  “Jon?” Emily asked quietly.

  His jaw was clenched. “Yeah, I see.”

  “What’s the matter?” Ayanna asked.

  He looked at her and was about to speak when Ryann and Jeremy, along with the doctor and his date, arrived at the table. Jonathan grabbed her hand under the table.

  “Hey guys,” the doctor said good naturedly with a smile. “Long time, no see.”

  Ayanna noticed immediately that the doctor’s arm candy had zeroed in on Jon, and just like that the date got a startled look on her face.