Tiffany

 

 

 

“Damn, that’s cold,” Morgana said as she lifted the teacup to her lips.

“I know, right. Even I wouldn’t be that harsh,” Aria said taking a bite from a small pastry with a strawberry on it.

“What about you, Evaleen? Am I that terrible?” I asked knowing Evaleen would have my back.

It had been two days since I’d left Jagger on the sidewalk outside my building to get my son from his sleepover. I knew how I reacted to that kiss wasn’t right.

Ahh, that kiss. It was even better than I fantasized it would be. And I had imagined Jagger’s lips on me a lot over the last few weeks. That man knew what to do with his mouth. And the way he untangled my hair . . . I thought I was going to orgasm right then and there.

Who knew taking out a braid could cause all the blood to race down to my vagina waiting for action?

“Did he say something bad to you after the kiss?” Evaleen asked as she nibbled on a chocolate chai scone.

“No. He only said something when I asked if he was feeling well enough to go home.” I reached over and took the delicate white teacup with a brown design covering the top half, and took a sip.

“Hmm,” Evaleen said as she sat back in the creamy upholstered seat. “What did he say?”

“I guess,” I said before lifting the tea to my lips again and wondering how long she was going to stare at me. How long they all were going to stare at me.

“You guess what?” Aria asked.

“No, that’s what Jagger said, ‘I guess.’”

“Oh,” they all chimed in at the same time.

“Then what do you think, Evaleen?” I asked noticing how much she wasn’t looking at me now.

Evaleen went through a range of facial expressions. Some I had never seen on her before. She finally settled on one—pity.

“You should have at least asked if you could talk to him later. Even if it was to let him down.”

Darn it to heck.

I felt bad with how I reacted to Jagger. There had barely been a free moment of time that I hadn’t gone over my lack of response, or the kiss before it, in my head. I was hoping when I came to Morgana’s bridal shower at The Lemington for afternoon tea today that my friends would tell me I did the right thing. Even lie if they had to.

“Ugh, I knew it. I got worried.”

“About a kiss? Or was there something wrong with David? That would explain why you ran off,” Aria asked after she swallowed the last bite of her pastry. “You know what? These are really good.” It was hard to understand her with her mouth full of confection.

“No, not about the kiss. And, there was nothing wrong with David. He only needed to be picked up from the sleepover. I guess it was about everything. How long it’s been for me and he’s a government agent,” I said.

“Was. Was a government agent. He’s a free player now.” Evaleen winked at me.

Everyone went silent at the table.

“Evaleen, did you just wink at Tiffany?” Morgana asked.

“Yes. There’s nothing wrong with winking at someone,” she said picking some pieces off her scone and popping them in her mouth.

“Edgar is rubbing off on you.” Morgana chuckled.

“Anyway, Drake. Where’s your mom and grandmother? I thought for sure they’d be joining us,” Evaleen said.

Morgana shook her head. “Mom said she’s too busy giving the baker specific instructions and tutorials about my upcoming wedding cake.”

She shook her head laughing before growing serious. “Grandma’s RVing again. She’s in the Upper Peninsula now. She promised she would be back for the wedding and told me she had a big surprise for me she wants to give me before the wedding.”

“Let me guess, a female blowup doll?” Aria chuckled.

Morgana’s grandmother, despite much evidence to the contrary, believed Morgana was a lesbian. Actually, it wasn’t so much belief, more like intense desperation. She wanted Morgana to be a lesbian so she could prove to her knitting group that she had a diverse family. There was some fierce competition in that knitting group.

“I don’t know. I just hope she doesn’t interrupt the wedding when the minister asks if there is anyone that has reasons why the bride and groom should not be married to speak now or forever hold their peace,” Morgana said as she grabbed a scone.

“I’m sure it will be a nice gift. She does love you,” I said having met the woman at a dinner Henrik had a few weeks after their engagement.

“Enough about me, how about that kiss,” Morgana said wiggling her eyebrows.

“It was just a kiss,” I said and it felt like the biggest lie of my life.

It wasn’t just a kiss. When he touched my lips, my toes curled and heat crawled into crevices I never imagined I had. The potency burned and his tongue had yet to leave his mouth. I felt sure that kiss had the capacity to produce an orgasm. Because if David hadn’t called, I might have climaxed, standing half on my gray rug and half on the wood floor. I relished every second of that off-kilter kiss.

“Whatever you need to tell yourself, Blackburn. But understand that safety is fine, but risk is the only thing that will bring reward,” Evaleen said.

There was silence again.

“Edgar has been rubbing off on you. Either that or this pregnancy has changed you,” Morgana said.

“And how have I changed?” Evaleen narrowed her eyes at Morgana making me believe there was plenty of the old Evaleen around.

“You’re more . . . uh, how do I say this without sounding like a jerk?” Morgana tapped her chin.

“You’re squishier,” Aria added.

“What?” Evaleen said before snorting.

“You know, softer . . . with emotion. I think you’re still badass, but your kickass-ness has some suppleness to it.” Aria nodded, satisfied with her response.

“Now that’s settled. Blackburn, you need to talk to him. Even if it’s to say goodbye.” Evaleen reached over and placed her hand on mine.

“You’re right. It had been so long since a kiss happened to me. Afterward, I thought, well, I thought a million different things. None of them good. And in any of my thoughts, not once did he let me know that he wanted me. That he might want more.”

Aria growled and everyone sitting at the table, and a few others nearby, turned to look at her.

She lifted her finger and pointed at me. “No. No, you don’t. Tiffany, you are gorgeous. You are stronger than any of us. Sorry, Evaleen, you might be badass, but Tiffany has the inner strength of twenty buffalo.”

Evaleen nodded. “It’s true. As Dixon pointed out earlier, I’m squishy. But seriously, Blackburn, how you managed to handle losing your husband the same night you almost lost your son, it’s humbling that you made it through without losing your mind. And on top of that, you have spent the last decade being your son’s body, his voice, his caregiver, and his only parent. I’m nothing compared to that.”

She squeezed my hand as the tears began to roll down my cheeks.

“I hated you when I first met you,” Morgana said, and I glanced up to find her reaching for my other hand.

“You were beautiful and nice and were hanging on the arm of the man I wanted. I’m ashamed to say it, but I took my anger for how Henrik ran from me and directed it to you. But it took less than an hour when I sat with you during one of our first SWIM Meets to realize I could never hate you. You’re the person every woman wants to be.”

I knew my face was a mess with tears and I had to let go of Evaleen and Morgana’s hands to grab a tissue in my purse.

“I thought this was Morgana’s day?” I said in between sobs.

“No, Tiffany, it’s our day. I wanted my bridal shower to be us ladies. You three have been here with me through all the ups and downs with Henrik. It wouldn’t feel like a bridal shower if I wasn’t celebrating my ladies!” Morgana said and then stood. She started to shake her hips as if something more contemporary than Mozart was playing.

“I’m afraid there’s no dancing here, miss.” A server rushed over and spoke directly to Morgana, “If you insist on dancing, I must ask you to leave.”

Morgana turned toward the short man with matching red hair. “Fine. We’ll just take it to my room. Send your best champagne to the Eternity Suite.”

The man’s eyes widened as he stood a little taller. “Of course. Right away.”

“You got a room?” Evaleen asked as she stood from her chair, grabbing the gift bag for Morgana she brought to the bridal shower.

“Actually, Alex got us a room. He wanted all of us to have fun for the day,” Aria said with a smirk. “And we are going to have so much fun. In fact, there might be a surprise waiting in the room.”

Aria clapped her hands and headed toward the elevators. In her enthusiasm, she forgot about the rest of us.

She ended up in the elevator before us and we finally met up on the twelfth floor.

“You ready, ladies?” Aria asked in front of the door to the room.

“Yes,” Morgana said as Evaleen and I nodded our heads.

Aria knocked on the door.

“Don’t you have the key—” Evaleen was cut off when the door opened and standing there was a gorgeous, half-naked man. All he wore were jeans. No shoes, no socks, and definitely no shirt.

“Please, ladies, come in. Your room is ready.”

We walked through the large entryway with marble tile floor and a round glass table with a beautiful flower arrangement on it filled with lilies. Putting our purses and Morgana’s presents down on the table, we walked in awe into the next room which was a huge living room with a wall of windows overlooking the Chicago River.

“Oh my God! Is that a yellow grand piano?” Morgana shrieked before turning toward us. “Quick, does anyone here know how to play piano?”

“I know chopsticks,” Evaleen said.

Morgana turned to Aria. “Where is the surprise? I mean, other than this amazing room, but Alex got us that. You said you had something.”

Right at that moment, a different tall man, ripped with muscles, only in jeans came up to Morgana. “May I offer you some cake?”

He was British.

“Here is your gift, Morgana. He will be your personal servant all night, and that includes overnight. So—” Aria said before Morgana cut her off.

“If I wake up in the middle of the night and want cake, he would be there to serve it to me?” Morgana said with a tremble in her voice as a lonely tear slipped out of the corner of her eye.

“Yes,” Aria said and was instantly seized by Morgana in a bear hug.

“This is my dream come true,” Morgana said in a half sob.

I smiled and was thankful Henrik said he would look after David tonight. I think he was going to invite Edgar over, make it a guy’s night.

The man who opened the door and two more men, all dressed only in jeans, came into the room.

“Tiffany, meet Lagi. He will be your server for the evening.” Aria brought over a tall man with thick, curly dark brown hair and deep caramel skin. He looked like a model who would be advertising the islands of the South Pacific.

I blushed and gave a small wave. “Hi.”

Aria said with a sly smile, “Why don’t you two stand next to each other so I can take a picture.”

This was weird and exciting and uncomfortable. I wasn’t used to being waited on and to have half-naked men paraded around in front of me didn’t feel right. But, if it made Morgana happy, I would try my best to have fun.

I scooted closer to Lagi as he wrapped his thick arm around me. His touch was soft, gentle, as if he knew I wasn’t comfortable with all this.

“Now smile.” Aria held up her phone and the flash went off. “Perfect. I’m totally posting this.”

Aria tapped at her phone a few times and just before she turned to Morgana to take her picture, she leaned toward me. “My followers are so used to me posting my art. But, I’m sure they won’t mind seeing some man candy.” Aria winked at me.