by Lauren Dane
Elise laughed and Marti did too. “Down, please.”
Erin kissed her one last time and put her down. With one wave over her shoulder, she headed toward where Alexander and Rennie were playing with Ben.
“He’s on his way up. He’s bringing the pies and some other stuff. He and Todd met in the lobby and there was secret stuff happening.”
“Halloween stuff most likely. You’re coming, right?” Erin turned to Raven.
“Uh.”
“Miles and his band are playing. There’s going to be a little Halloween parade thing.”
Raven groaned. “Miles doesn’t need me there.”
“Pfft. Alexander does. And Marti. And Rennie. And of course, me. Plus, Gillian and Elise and Brody.”
“You already used that one for Thanksgiving.”
“It’s all-purpose.”
“You’re coming to Thanksgiving?” Elise’s bright smile was genuine and Raven relaxed.
“Yes.”
“That’s wonderful. I’m glad you’ll be in town this year.”
“I’m planning on bugging her relentlessly until she agrees to make cinnamon rolls.” Erin flashed a grin and Raven groaned.
One of the only happy memories Raven had from her childhood was of her great-grandmother teaching her to make cinnamon rolls. She was too old to do much more than sit in the kitchen and tell Raven what to do. But on those rare visits once she’d gotten a little older, Eula Mae’s kitchen would be filled with scents that still made Raven smile to that day.
“Maybe. If you ask nicely.”
“I should ask Jonah too.” Erin fluttered her lashes.
“His daughter is coming home for it. She’s in Europe on some study-abroad deal. I’m guessing there’ll be some big dinner at the manse with Ma and Pa Kettle.”
Elise laughed. “The stories I’ve heard about his mother scare me. But she seems to like Daisy so she can’t be all bad.”
“In any case, he’ll be otherwise engaged.”
“You can go over there. I’ll give you a day pass for that.”
“I am still vexed I allowed you to guilt me into Thanksgiving day with you. I’m sure as hell not going over there. Plus, we’re not at the meet-the-parents stage. We’re just dating. Or whatever.”
He’d want to spend time with Carrie and there was no way Raven would get between them. The girl needed her dad and she had no doubts how much Jonah adored his daughter.
Elise sent Erin a look and Raven kept her head down, biting her tongue. See? She was learning.
11
Raven looked at her phone and saw Jonah’s number. Smiling, she answered. “Yes?”
“That’s what I like to hear. Just yes. All the time. No matter what I ask.”
“It does me no good to encourage you in any way.”
“Oh, but it does.” His voice went all low and silky and she shivered. “I remember you encouraging me just fine the other night.”
“To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”
She sat on her small deck, the rain falling, though she was dry beneath the overhang.
“What are you doing right now?”
“I’m sitting on my deck, drinking a beer, wrapped in a blanket, listening to music.”
“Damn, that sounds pretty nice. Wish I was there with you but instead I’m going into yet another meeting shortly. What are you doing Saturday night?”
“Nothing yet.” She’d been invited to dinner with some friends visiting from out of town, but anything he’d be offering would be better. She was officially at the stage where she turned down things with friends to be with a guy.
Man.
“Good. Come out with me. Be my date to a benefit. We’ll dress up, drink champagne, eat appetizers, and afterward I’ll take you to sushi.”
“Um.”
“Too late. You already agreed.”
“Um is not agreement. What benefit is this?”
“It’s a museum benefit. Daisy will be there. Levi too.”
“I’m not really benefit date material, Jonah.”
“Bullshit. You’re beautiful. I know you can dress up. Don’t forget I saw you all fancified Monday night. You don’t pick your nose or spit on the floor. You are indeed benefit date material.”
Against her better judgment she accepted it in her head. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to drill him for more information and make him work for it. “Is it like formal?”
“I sent you something. I’d bring it myself but I have a meeting in a few minutes and then tomorrow I’ll be slammed all day and into the evening. It’ll arrive at the shop since I didn’t want it sitting around on your doorstep all day.”
“What did you do?”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re a very suspicious woman? It’s a dress. I saw it and I wanted to see you in it. Wear it for me and I’ll show you why doing what I tell you to is always in your best interests.”
“I don’t know, Jonah. I’m not much for society stuff.”
“I know you like art. I know you like me. I know you like doing some good. I already bought the tickets. I already have a driver. I already bought the dress. Oh, and some shoes. It’ll be fun.”
“You have a strange idea of fun.”
“I want you there with me. This is important to me.”
She sighed. “All right.”
She knew he was grinning, though she couldn’t see his face. “I’ll pick you up at seven. We’ll get drinks first with Levi and Daisy.”
“Okay.”
“See how easy that was?”
“Hm.”
“You know what that sound does to me.” He paused a moment. “You doing okay? I miss you.”
“You just saw me on Monday.”
“But that was three days ago.”
She smiled, flattered. “Yes, well. I’m good. Busy. Worked ten hours today so my back is killing me and my wrist is messed up. You all right?”
“Better now. I’m talking to Carrie later on tonight. I like to catch her first thing in the morning, before her classes start. She’s actually off to Paris in a few days so I want to check in.”
“Have a good talk with her.” She knew he missed his daughter.
“I will. Sweet dreams. I’ll see you in a few days.”
He hung up and she was still smiling to herself when she went inside nearly an hour later.
Jonah stood when his mother approached their table. He pulled her chair out and then settled, ordering her a glass of wine.
“You look handsome today.”
Of the brothers, Jonah was closest with his mother. Mainly because she’d tried to break him multiple times as he was growing up and she’d never succeeded. She liked to make a joke that he was the most stubborn being she’d ever known, but really, all she had to do was look in the mirror. He came by it honestly.
Still, she could be a stone-cold bitch and a pain in the ass, especially when it came to how people might perceive what her sons did and how that might reflect on the family and their position.
“Thank you. Carrie gave me the tie for Father’s Day last year.”
“She’s got good taste. Thank heaven she takes after you and not her stupid twit of a mother.”
“So.” He moved on, not wanting to get into a bash-Charlotte conversation. It wasn’t that he still cared, but that he didn’t. He didn’t want to spend any time on her. “I’m seeing someone.” He figured it was best to just get it out there. Not present it like it was an issue, but a done deal. He was mainly telling her because he wanted to answer in the affirmative if Raven asked if he’d told his family about them.
His mother gave him a look as the wine was delivered to the table. “Do I know her?”
“No.”
She narrowed her gaze. “Well, stop evading. Did you get some girl pregnant or something?”
He laughed and they held off discussing it further until after they’d ordered.
“I know how to use birth control and I wasn’t evading.
I’d only gotten a few sentences in. No you don’t know her. Her name is Raven. She’s an artist.”
“An artist? Well, with a name like Raven I guess that’s appropriate. Who does this girl come from? Where did you meet her? She’s not twenty or anything, is she?”
Jonah laughed. Everything was going to be just fine.
She gave herself one last look in the mirror on her way to the door. The dress he’d sent, she had to admit, was perfection. Black. Simple but elegant.
She’d worried her ink would show too much, but the sleeves, though sheer, gave her enough cover to feel comfortable and yet not that he’d wanted her to hide.
The bodice had pretty beading to add some shimmer, but not so much it looked tacky or shouted “hey, look at my boobs.” Though the cut was generous, she also wasn’t concerned she’d be having a wardrobe malfunction. It was figure hugging without being tight.
The material was gorgeous. The dress was really well made. It was clear he’d paid a pretty penny for it. But at the same time, also clear he’d really given thought to what her personal style was.
In short, instead of feeling bought and paid for, she felt treasured. Spoiled even.
She’d done her hair in a chignon at the base of her skull. One of the first hairstyles she’d learned when she came out to Los Angeles and one she had used time and again.
He’d also sent along shoes. Shoes she’d actually drooled over a few months before so she knew how much they’d cost because she’d said to Erin that she couldn’t, in good conscience, pay that kind of money for a pair of shoes.
She smiled, looking at herself one last time. She was still Raven. Only fancified, as he’d said. And the shoes were a dream and made her legs look a million miles long.
Partial payment for the hell she was sure to endure at this thing.
He knocked again. Impatient.
She opened the door and he sucked in a breath. “You look magnificent.”
She blushed but got a load of him while she did. “Says the gorgeous man in the tux standing in my doorway.”
He handed her roses. “Just because. I saw them and knew you needed them.”
She took them, burying her face, inhaling. “Thank you. Come in while I get them in water.”
She grabbed a vase and got the roses settled, taking one, trimming it and adding it to her hair.
“Oh, I like that.” He took her hand, kissing it. “Do you have a wrap?”
“Yes. Thank you for the dress and shoes, by the way.”
He looked her up and down. “I really have to take credit here because you look so good. I had to guess on the sizes.”
“You know women’s bodies well. Though that’s not really a surprise.”
He took the wrap she’d picked up after she’d unwrapped the dress and put it on her shoulders.
Outside, at the curb, a sleek black car waited with Daisy and Levi already inside.
“Hey, Raven. Wow, you look fabulous.” Daisy smiled and Raven couldn’t help but smile back.
“Thanks. You too.”
“I think it’s necessary to say just what good taste the Warner men have.” Levi tipped his chin at his brother. “Evening, Raven.”
They drove to the hotel where the benefit was being held. “We can get a drink here. The bar at the top is quite lovely.” Jonah helped her out and then kept his hand at the small of her back as they went up.
“I’m really glad you’re here tonight.” Daisy sipped her martini. “These things were fun before I got together with Levi. But usually I was working at them.” She laughed and Raven relaxed a little. “Being here as Levi’s fiancée is different. It makes me nervous because they’re always sizing me up.”
Jonah and Levi had excused themselves to hit the men’s room so it was just the two of them at the table.
“Who sizes you up?”
“All the women who figured they’d be making a play for Levi.”
“So there you are all vibrant and young and really hot. My god, they must flip out.”
“You’re really good for my ego.” Daisy grinned. “The artist thing helps. I know many of these people in my own right. But the whole society thing? That’s Levi’s neck of the woods.”
“Which makes you . . . What do they call it? A power couple. I mean, he’s the money and you’re the talent. Both of you are easy on the eyes. You’re all charming in that way only a very few people are.”
“I am?”
“Um, yes. Unlike me. I’m just going to try really hard not to say anything at all tonight.”
Daisy’s eyebrows flew up. “For god’s sake, why?”
“Look, I like Jonah. He’s a lovely man and he’s good to me. I know I’m . . . an acquired taste. I don’t want to embarrass him.”
Daisy’s expression softened as she reached out to pat Raven’s hand. “You’re who you are. More than anyone else I’ve ever met. And that’s a good thing, believe it or not. I’m just saying, sure, sure, don’t blurt out that such and such has clearly had her lips done no matter how much she tells you she’s just got that youthful glow or whatever, but you’re not going to embarrass Jonah. He wouldn’t have invited you if he’d had any worries at all.”
The ballroom was glittery and lit with what seemed like a zillion candles. The awesome thing was that candlelight hid a multitude of sins and made everyone look lovely.
Jonah handed off her wrap and his overcoat to the person at coat check and they waited for Daisy and Levi to do the same. She’d never admit it out loud, but having Daisy there made it better. Oh, not by comparison, because Daisy wore a bright smile and waved at people who seemed delighted to see her.
That wasn’t Raven’s wheelhouse. At all. But she knew Daisy, and Daisy had been very nice to her. Raven didn’t feel so totally alone.
People did look though. In fact many of them did a double take when they noted she was on Jonah’s arm. Inside she told herself, “You are Raven Smith. You are beautiful and amazing and these people can fuck off sideways.” As affirmations went, it was useful and one she used more than once. It helped her keep her back straight and her eyes up off the floor. She’d vowed a long time ago that she’d never let anyone make her avert her gaze again.
Daisy seemed to float through the crowd and Levi followed, nodding and saying hello.
“Usually Carrie is my date for these things. It’s nice because I can use it being a school night or something like that to leave early. But there are definite plusses to you being my date instead.”
She paused as he grabbed a glass of champagne for each of them. “Yes? And those would be?”
“Well, when I get bored and start to daydream I can imagine all the things I’m going to do to you later. Also, I can laugh inside and be smug every time one of these men looks at you and has to stop themselves from drooling. Oh, and I like to imagine your mental dialogue. I’m guessing it’s priceless.”
Off balance, she laughed. “You’re trouble.”
“I am. I didn’t get kicked out of as many schools as Levi did but I had my share of trouble.”
“And yet you went to college and law school and now you drive a sleek black car with heated leather seats.”
It was his turn to laugh. “I know. It’s pretty awesome.”
He nodded at a passerby. “That’s my brother Mal’s mother-in-law. Want to meet her?”
“Do I?”
He shook his head. “You really don’t.”
She clinked her glass to his. “All right then. No.”
“That’s her, by the way. Gwen, Mal’s wife.”
She was beautiful on her husband’s arm. Mal was certainly Jonah and Levi’s brother. A younger version, yes, but he had the same masculine features. Handsome. He wore his tuxedo perfectly. As perfect as the champagne-toned cocktail number his wife wore. Gwen clearly knew how to look pretty. Her hair was done well and her makeup job—most likely a professional had done it—was exactly right for the evening and her outfit.
Her ring was s
o huge Raven could see it from where they stood.
And then she noted Gwen’s expression when she caught sight of Daisy. Her eyes narrowed and her lip curled. She really, really didn’t like Gwen Warner. Not one tiny bit.
They moved through the crowd, Jonah introducing her here and there.
And then there was Liesl.
“Ah, Jonah, there you are.” The Warner matriarch paused to kiss her son’s cheek and then turned to Raven. “You’re Raven.” She held a hand out and Raven took it, shaking, hoping she wasn’t too soft or too rough or wrong in any way. She wanted to be perfect for Jonah.
“I am.”
“I’m Liesl Warner, Jonah’s mother.” The older woman gave her the once-over. Jonah moved closer to Raven, putting an arm around her waist.
“Raven Smith.”
“I know Smith is a common name, but I can’t tell you the last time I actually met someone with that name.”
“I took it on when I emancipated myself from the state. I was seventeen and had been bounced around from home to home for so long I didn’t really belong to anyone or anything and had no affinity with the people whose biological stock I carried. I figured Smith was generic enough so I took it on. I belong to myself.”
Liesl drew herself back, narrowing her gaze for a moment.
“I apologize. I meant no offense.” And it was genuine; though she had when she said it, she was sorry at that moment and that was what counted. God knew Raven said things all the time that offended people.
Raven nodded. “I’m probably the one who should apologize.”
Jonah squeezed her to his side. “No, you aren’t. It’s fine now. We’re moving on and changing the topic.”
Liesl actually smiled at Raven and then her son. “Indeed. Jonah tells me you’re an artist.”
Raven laughed. “Well, I’m not like Daisy. I do tattoos.”
She’d half expected Liesl to frown, but she didn’t. Instead she nodded. “Daisy is one of a kind, I agree. As for art in general? One of the pieces on sale this evening is made of spit and gum. Art comes in many forms. Jonah says you’re doing one on his whole back and that it takes several sessions, each taking many hours. He wouldn’t show me what you’ve done so far, but he assures me you’re quite talented.”