This man obviously wanted her, and she had to admit she was terribly attracted to him, with an intensity she hadn’t felt before. And that was why she needed time to process this. It scared her to death, and she was overcome with guilt.
And she wasn’t sure she liked how he manipulated her and the situation.
“I was just telling Jeremy that although I appreciate his gracious offer for a ride home, I’ll be calling for a car. There’s no reason for him to take such a long trip. I live in New Jersey, after all.” She gave him a look.
“The longer the ride, the better,” he murmured so only she could hear him.
“Nonsense!” Mrs. Callahan exclaimed. “Of course Jeremy will take you home! I can vouch for him. He’s a complete gentleman. You’ll be in good hands,” she said affectionately.
Ryann nearly choked. She had no doubt those hands would be good. At that moment, those hands began stroking her back.
“Now, Tabby’s right over there finishing up with Juliet, the gallery manager. Let’s finally introduce you two.”
Mrs. Callahan took Ryann’s hand and walked her over to where Tabitha Lowe was standing. Jeremy made his way over with his uncle, then stood on the other side of Ryann, and returning his hand to her back, began to lightly run his nails between her shoulder blades.
He just wouldn’t stop touching her.
And at that moment, if she had been a cat, she’d be purring. She couldn’t imagine herself getting any wetter than she already was, but right then, she could feel another rush of creaminess drench her panties once more.
God, she wished he would stop touching her! Why couldn’t the man just keep his hands off of her? She wasn’t complaining, but after the heated discussion they’d just had, she really needed a moment to compose herself, otherwise she’d be lost. Every time he touched her, her brain went on the fritz.
She finally set her eyes on the woman she had been trying to meet all evening. Standing at five feet, eight or nine inches tall, Tabitha Lowe was a statuesque bohemian beauty in her mid to late 50’s. Long graying wavy hair, capped a beautiful open face with blue eyes and long eyelashes. She was dressed in a multi layered and colored dress that hugged her figure and came all the way to her ankles, where metallic strappy sandals encased her feet. Finishing off the outfit, were long gold earrings, a silver and gold knotted long necklace, and silver and gold bangles.
Her stomach was already in knots thanks to Tabitha’s infuriating son, and her constantly aroused state. Had she ever been this aroused for such a long period of time? The nearness of Jeremy had her stomach in a bunch, but now her stomach fluttered for a different reason. She discovered that although she was excited about meeting Tabitha Lowe, she was also nervous. Knowing now that she was Jeremy’s mom seemed to add to the already complicated situation.
“Baby! You’re here!” Tabitha exclaimed. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d forgotten about me tonight,” she smiled up at Jeremy lovingly, and reached out her hand.
He released Ryann’s back long enough to lean in and give his mom a big hug. Looking down at her in adoration, he said, “I’m sorry Mom. I had a meeting in Newark after the one at the Institute, and then I got caught in traffic.” He turned and gave Ryann a look.
“Did everything go ok?”
“Yup. You just need to sign the papers.”
“Excellent.”
“I texted you to tell you I was on my way, but I imagine you didn’t have your phone on.”
“No, I’m sorry honey. I left my phone in my purse which I had locked away.”
“Tabby,” Mrs Callahan interjected, “we wanted you to meet, Ryann Thornton. Ryann, this is Tabby.”
“Hi, Ryann. So nice to meet you,” Tabitha said with a smile.
“Tabs, remember Robbie always talking about his English Lit teacher from the Academy? The one he said was his favorite teacher? Well, this is her…this is his teacher! And she’s a huge fan of yours. Isn’t that a coincidence? You couldn’t imagine my surprise when we saw her here tonight!”
“Well, isn’t this wonderful! It is so great to finally meet you! Robbie always spoke so highly of you when he had your class. What a testament to your love of the kids, and your subject matter. Thank you for all that you did for him, and continue to do. You’re still teaching at the Academy?”
Ryann flushed at the praise, then beamed. She jumped slightly and tried to pull away when she felt Jeremy’s hand return to her back. Tabitha looked at her son, then back at Ryann. Her eyes began to twinkle.
“Yes, and thank you, Ms. Lowe. That’s kind of you to say. It is such an honor to meet you. I’ve been following your career for a couple of years now, and was so excited to be able to come tonight. This is my first time at one of your art showings, so I’m thrilled to be here.”
“Please, call me Tabby. I feel like I already know you, with all the stories Robbie’s told. I’m so happy to hear you’ve been following my journey. What did you think of the showing tonight?”
“Well, first of all I wouldn’t even have to see the pieces to know that I would love them. But frankly, I got here later than I had anticipated, and haven’t had much time to see the exhibit. I was hoping to be able to walk around before everything closed up.”
She looked around noting how much the gallery had emptied out. The wait staff was bustling around, picking up glasses and dishware.
At that moment, they all spotted Robbie coming toward them. “Ok, I’m all set to go,” he said when he arrived. “My feet are killing me!”
“Aww, baby. Well, you did a fabulous job, honey. Thanks for working so hard, and being a part of my special night.” Tabby leaned up and kissed his cheek.
“You’re welcome, Aunt Tab. You met Mrs. Thornton?”
“I did! Isn’t it great that she’s here tonight? It’s so nice to meet her after hearing you talk about her for so many years.”
Robbie blushed beet red. “Yeah, well.” He cleared his throat. “Mom, I’m done. Are you guys ready to go?”
“We are. We just wanted to make sure the introductions were made, and now that they have, we can get going. I know you must be exhausted. You can sleep in the car.”
Robbie turned, and smiled sheepishly at Ryann. “It was good to see you again, Mrs. Thornton.” He looked at Jeremy, then back at Ryann. “Maybe we’ll see you again.”
“I hope so.” Then she added dryly, “And I’m so glad you didn’t spill anything on anyone tonight.”
Robbie looked down with an embarrassed smile, then cleared his throat and chuckled. She was still slightly annoyed that neither Jeremy, nor Robbie had come clean about being cousins.
She gave him a mock serious look. “I’m not laughing, Robbie,” she smirked but shook her head. “You could’ve said something,” she said, slightly exasperated.
The adults looked between the two of them with interest.
“What’s going on?” Mrs. Callahan asked.
Robbie continued talking to Ryann. “I couldn’t help it. I was having too much fun watching you put Jeremy in his place. I’ve never seen a woman do that before. It was awesome. I’ve only ever seen family members do it,” he smiled.
Jeremy looked at him with an expression that said he was doing an inward eye roll.
“Oh, now, this I gotta hear,” Tabitha said with anticipation.
Jeremy cleared his throat. “There’s nothing to hear…”
“Basically, I was serving Mrs. T, and Jeremy was with her, and neither of us mentioned that we were cousins. Then Jeremy was giving me a hard time about not spilling anything on anyone, and Mrs. T totally defended me, and yelled at him. It was priceless,” he smiled triumphantly.
Ryann looked away embarrassed, while Tabitha looked at her son with absolute glee. “That is priceless.”
Mr. Callahan laughed loudly. “Well Jeremy, it looks like you’ve finally met your match.” He rubbed his hands together. “And Robbie, I’m certainly glad you didn’t spill anything. Your sister would’ve killed you.” M
r. Callahan chuckled. “Not to mention, she’d fire your butt, and you wouldn’t have a job to save up your money for that car you want.” He slapped Robbie on the back, and said, “Let’s walk out through the kitchen so we can say goodbye to your sister.”
He turned to Ryann. “It was great to see you again, Ryann. Maybe we’ll see you again soon, huh?” Glancing at Jeremy, he smiled, then gave Ryann a wink.
Mrs. Callahan smacked his arm, then rolled her eyes at his innuendo. “Take care, Ryann, and we’ll look forward to the next time we get to see you.” Then she turned to Jeremy. “Good night, sweetie. Make sure Ryann gets home safe and sound, ok?” she said with a pointed look.
“No worries, Aunt Heidi. She’s safe with me.”
“No doubt,” she said. “It looks like you’re the one who’s not safe.” She laughed lightly, then looked up at Jeremy with affection, and gave him a hug goodbye.
While Mr. and Mrs. Callahan turned to say goodbye to Tabitha, Ryann turned to Jeremy and said quietly, “Did you see your uncle wink at me? What was he thinking? How will I ever control my urges?” she asked dryly.
Jeremy took hold of the back of her neck, and leaned down to her ear. “Smart ass.” Then he said, “I promise you this, baby. When I wink at you, you won’t want to control those urges.”
Yeah. That was what she was afraid of.
…..
Tabitha joined them after saying goodbye. She looked between the two of them, smiled, and said, “Okay, you two. Will is still with Jules,” she said referring to the gallery manager, “so why don’t we take a look around.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Jeremy said.
“Who’s Will?” Ryann asked.
“He’s my husband and manager.”
Ryann nodded.
Tabitha began to lead them through the exhibit, stopping at paintings along the way. Ryann commented on a few of them, until Tabitha said, “Your observations are really intuitive, Ryann. It gives me such joy to show my paintings to someone who connects with them so deeply.”
“Ryann and I looked at the ‘Release’ painting earlier. She agrees with me, by the way. Definitely chocolate.” Jeremy had a mischievous glint in his eye. He looked at his mom knowingly.
Oh, shit, Ryann thought. Where was he going with this?
“Oh, Jem, you didn’t!” she said with a typical mother’s exasperation.
“What? She does agree,” his look innocent. He turned to Ryann. “You thought the woman looked like she had been thinking of chocolate. I’m sure I remember you agreed with me.”
Tabitha shook her head, and looked at Ryann with amusement. “The very first time he saw that painting, he said ‘I don’t know what you were going for with this one, Mom, but she’s definitely thinking about chocolate.’”
Tabitha chuckled. “Now for you to appreciate the meaning of that statement you need to know the backstory. When Jeremy was nine, he heard his friends talking in the playground about sex. So naturally he came home to ask me for an explanation on what he’d heard. After using the scientific terms to explain the birds and bees to him, he was horrified...he was like, ‘People actually like doing that?”
Tabitha was laughing over the memory. It was obvious she was enjoying the story, and a bemused Ryann listened intently, imagining a nine year old Jeremy hearing about sex for the first time. She chuckled, and couldn’t wait to see how the story would end.
“So then I told him, ‘Honey, I know you don’t get this yet, but someday when you’re older, it won’t sound so icky. And yes, people actually like doing that. It’s sort of like chocolate is to you. You know how you feel after you’ve had a bunch of your favorite chocolate?’ Jeremy has always loved chocolate. So, I said, ‘Just like you love your chocolate and you feel kind of good after eating it, that’s how good people feel when they’re doing that.’”
Tabitha continued to chuckle. “So now the word ‘chocolate’ has become the euphemism in our family for ‘sex.’ We can’t ever say the word without the conversation digressing into some dirty jokes, I’m embarrassed to say.”
Jeremy had a lazy smile on his face while his warm gaze landed on Ryann. Ryann just shook her head and laughed.
“Well,” Ryann smiled at Tabitha, then turned her gaze to Jeremy, “just so we’re clear, I’m not certain I did agree with you.”
“I seem to recall the conversation very clearly. Should I recount it for my mother?”
Ryann looked at him in panic, and Tabitha interrupted. “Alright, Jeremy. That’s enough. You’re embarrassing her.” Tabitha smiled reassuringly at Ryann, and took her arm to finish out the tour of the exhibit.
“Ryann, have you ever thought of studying art? I was serious when I said before that you have an intuition I don’t often hear when people make observations.”
“Actually, I’m finishing up my masters in Art and Design right now.”
“Really? That explains it! Were you planning on using your education for anything in particular, or are you studying it for the pure enjoyment of it?”
“Well, I dabble a little in painting myself. My medium is watercolor, but my focus in education and research is in Contemporary Art. I just paint for myself though, not to show it or anything. So I guess I started studying it primarily for my own love of it, but I hope to, someday, use it in a career.”
“Have you ever shown it to anyone? Your art, I mean,” she asked gently, seeming to know the answer before Ryann even responded.
“No. Somehow the thought of showing my artwork to people terrifies me.”
“As it should. It takes a lot of courage to share a part of your soul. You ask yourself, why would anyone even care about seeing what I’ve created? But I promise you honey, after the first time you open yourself up that way, there’s a freedom which allows your creativity to thrive. You’re not painting for anyone else but yourself. But when your creation can give joy to someone who observes it, what a beautiful and humbling thing it is. I, for one, would love to see your work when you’re ready to share it.”
Ryann looked at this woman who understood her so well, and blinked back an unexpected rush of tears. She hugged Tabitha, and said, “Thank you. I promise you, you’ll be the first.”
“It was such an honor to meet you, honey. Thank you for coming tonight, and allowing me to share a bit of my soul with you. I’m humbled you find such joy in my creations.”
“I do, Tabitha. And thank you, again. It was an honor to meet you as well.”
Ryann struggled for a second with whether she should tell her that she would be doing her internship at the Institute starting within the next week. But before she could speak, Jeremy stepped into Ryann’s line of vision after having given her and Tabitha that private moment.
“Ryann, I only need three minutes to have my mom sign some papers, then we’ll be on our way.”
God, she was torn. She wanted to go with him, and at the same time didn’t want him to take her home, because she knew damn well what would happen if he did. The thought left her both terrified, and electrified at the same time.
“Jeremy…” she stammered.
Her hesitancy was obvious, because he said quietly so his mother couldn’t hear him, “We’ll talk about this after the business with my mom is finished.”
Ayanna’s voice was screaming at her again. You’re not some 16 year old virgin, Ry. You’re a grown woman! What on earth are you waiting for?! He’s a gorgeous, juicy, DELICIOUS man…just get in the car and let him have his way with you already!
She said under her breath, “Jeremy, I’m going to call for a car. Please. Let’s not argue about this.”
His eyes burned into her. “This will only take a minute.”
He turned to his mother. “Mom, why don’t you sign the papers now, since I have them, and then it will finally be settled. I left them back in the kitchen with Janie. I’ll go and get them.” He gave Ryann a look that said Wait here, then went to get the papers he was referring to.
There was a moment of si
lence, and Ryann turned to smile at Tabitha. Tabitha, who looked so content in that moment, said, “You know, I wouldn’t be where I am today in my career if it weren’t for Jeremy.”
Ryann looked at her inquisitively.
“He’s been a tremendous support to me... such a strong man… a lot like his dad.” Pause. “Did you know he lost his father at 15?”
Ryann, shocked, shook her head.
“Cancer.” She sighed. “Jim was my rock. He was, well, he was awesome.” Her face took on a wistful look. “He was such a funny man. And he was so…sexy.” She laughed appreciatively. “He loved chocolate, too,” she winked with a naughty smile. “I still miss him. After he died, Jem and I both looked out for each other. Here he was a young man himself, grieving the loss of his father, me grieving the loss of my first love…but Jeremy remained so grounded. He was very protective of me… But I was able to find love again. And even though it took a bit for him to warm up to the idea of me marrying Will, who had been a family friend for years, he was in full support of seeing me happy again. Now he and Will adore each other.”
She took a deep breath, then continued. “I hope you don’t mind me mentioning this but when I was saying goodbye to my sister, she reminded me of your history. I remember when Robbie talked about your loss a couple of years ago.” She reached out and took Ryann’s hand. “It will be my hope and prayer that you’ll be able to find love again, too.”
As if they were in a performance, Jeremy made his entrance at that moment and looked between the two of them. “What have you two been talking about? Should I be nervous?” he asked dryly.
“Not at all, sweetie. We were just chatting. Let’s get this done, ok? As much as I’ve enjoyed being the VC at the Institute, it will be nice to focus solely on my painting. You’re going to be a wonderful replacement, baby. You’re knowledge of the art world will definitely come in handy.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Ryann started. She began to hear a buzzing in her ears, and was feeling lightheaded.
Had she heard correctly? Was Jeremy taking over his mother’s spot on the board at the Manhattan Institute for Art and Design?! She was momentarily stunned. Discovering at that moment that he was potentially no longer available to her, hurt her more than she would’ve thought.
Release (Iris Series) Page 5