Jaded Hearts (2 page)

*

After our meal I rode downtown with Jackie
to visit the boutique she ran.   La Carra was located in
Soho and fairly well known for its glamorous one-of-a kind dresses.
As one of my clients, my job was to make sure they were very well
known. After seeing their inventory, I knew I was well on my way to
getting my closet filled up as well as boosting the boutiques
success. Jackie was pulling some dresses from the stockroom in the
back so I continued to browse the racks of tempting fashions. I dug
into my large leather tote for my phone so I could text Colleen,
and was startled as I abruptly bumped into someone. I looked up to
see a pair of deep green eyes blazing at me.

Unable to look away, I blinked once, gulping
down the gasp that crept up my throat.

"Oh, excuse me."  His voice was deep
and sultry with a slight Spanish accent.

Omg!

He was a God. A tall one with dark spiky
hair and biceps to die for. His eyes seemed almost out of place
with his otherwise average looks, but there was something more to
him. Nothing I could put my finger on. Just something more. My
whole entire body vibrated with excitement at the sight of him. He
was undeniably male, with a presence that was palpable.  I
gaped at him, frozen in a trance as his hands came towards me. My
pulse was racing, and I swore my heart was beating out of my chest
like it did in cartoon characters. He just flashed me a sly
grin as he merely nodded his head, and gently moved me to the side
and continued his way to the exit.

I tingled, again, at the brief contact of
his hand on my arm.

"No, excuse me," I whispered breathlessly as
I watched as his fine, fine ass walked out the shop.

I stood frozen, in the same stance and
staring at the now empty doorway, when Jackie returned, twirling
over with a few things for me to try on.

"Hello? Earth to Jade. Have you not heard
anything I was saying to you?"

Shaking myself out of my fog, I turned to
face my cousin and instantly frowned at her selections. Everything
was too bright, too shiny, or too small for my taste.

"Jackie. I thought you were back there
pulling outfits for me to wear. Not RuPaul," I teased.

"Oh, shut the hell up! You always complain
when I try to dress you," she snapped playfully.

"Because, you always seem to forget that I
have a plain, understated style that I prefer. You know I'm not
flashy," I argued.

"I know, I know. But you need to try new
things. You're in New York now, the fashion capital of the friggin
country. Trust me, this is what I do. Now go try these on. I have
some work to do now since my boss caught me slacking," she
huffed.

"Your boss? When was she here?"

"He was here when we came in, and he noticed
that there was a new shipment in the back that needed to be placed.
So off to placing I go." She buzzed off, or pranced away to
complete her task.

Hmmm. So Mr. Sex On Wheels is her boss. Now
that was interesting. He looked so young to be the owner of a
Manhattan boutique. Oh well. I dashed away thoughts of the sexy
stranger, filing him into the probably gay category.

After kissing my cousin goodbye, I jumped in
a cab, and headed home to finally see my place.

Was it possible to live a dream? Because
that was how I felt when I walked into my new place. After properly
introducing myself to Donovan, the doorman, he informed me that my
bags had already been placed in my apartment. Donovan was a
friendly older gentleman with a lilt to his speech that I could
tell was from one of the islands. He filled me in about my new
neighborhood and also informed me that I was one of the six tenants
who resided in this building.

Only six tenants for such a large
building?

When I stepped onto the large industrial
elevator that had been recently remodeled and now resembled the
lounge of a trendy new club. I noticed that there were only six
floors.

I have my own floor?

I knew that my new digs were top of the
line, but I had no idea what that meant in a city like this. When I
stepped off the elevator I stepped into a small hallway with one
large door. I unlocked the door to my apartment and was frozen with
disbelief.

The first thing I noticed was the space. Our
condo in Miami was a closet to this place. The second thing I
noticed was the luxurious decor. I wandered around my new home in
amazement. My loft was two and a half levels. The half being an
area in-between the first and second level where my hot tub was
located in a glass enclosure with one hell of a view. The first
floor was divided into 3 large sections. The foyer led into either
the kitchen or living room. I made my way into the large state of
the art kitchen and stared in awe at all of my new stainless steel
appliances. I couldn't wait to put my cooking skills to work.

The living room wasn't any less impressive.
A large u-shaped cream colored leather sectional was the focal
point.  There was also the plum colored velvet chaise that was
custom made. I also saw the two abstract paintings that I had
chosen hanging on either wall framing the large glass cube window
that had a not so distant view of the Henry Hudson River. This was
surreal.

I meandered towards the half spiral cherry
wood staircase that matched my floors and took the wide steps up to
my bedroom.  There were two bedrooms upstairs, a master
bedroom and a guest room that would also serve as a home office. I
smiled at the full sized futon and the thought of Andrew or Colleen
sleeping on it when they visited.  

I followed the plush runner rug down the
hall passing the moderate guest bathroom towards my bedroom. It was
amazing. My platform bed was in the center of the large 20x by 14x
room. I'd never seen a room so large. The bed linens where lavender
and sage colored that coordinated with my sage green accents. One
entire wall was a large floor to ceiling window with the same view
of the River as the one in my living room.

I pulled out my smartphone to take pictures.
If nothing motivated my bro to get on an airplane this would. After
I sent my pics to Drew, Evan, and Colleen, I walked over to the
walk-in closet that was the same size as the guest bedroom. Sweet!
 I was going to have to buy more clothes in order to make good
use of my favorite part of my new place.  There where racks on
both sides for my clothes, a wall of shelves for my shoes and a
dresser with various compartments for my accessories. I was in
love. I continued into my bathroom that could be accessed by either
the closet or the bedroom. Even more spectacularness! The shower
doubled as a steam room and was separate from my large roman-style
bathtub. Just like the kitchen everything was top-of-the line.

I really owed Vivian for this This was more
than a dream come true because I never imagined anything like this
in my life. My phone buzzed with a text message from Drew.

Drew: Dude! Get my room ready. I'm on my
way!

Tossing my phone onto my new bed, I finished
up the tour of my amazing new home and got ready for bed. Visions
of everything I left behind began to flash through my mind.
Blissful sleep rounded out my first night in my new home.

My next two weeks in New York were a
whirlwind. Jackie made sure to show me every angle of the city. We
shopped in the funky boutique shops of the Village, and the upscale
shops of 5th Ave. Any restaurant that was trendy, whether it was in
Harlem or Soho was visited. I couldn't believe the diversity. How
she managed to run the boutique, and know where every hot spot in
town was located was beyond me. She also packed in all the
traditional tourist spots so that I could become an 'Official New
Yorker'. Tonight would be my first night club experience since she
was hosting a party for the owner of the boutique. I couldn't
wait.

My buzzer rang at exactly 10:00pm that
night. Jackie had to be at the club early to set up, so she sent a
car to pick me up. I slipped on my strappy stiletto heels, and
checked myself in the full-length closet mirror. I couldn't help
but beam at my reflection. The black and silver sequined sleeveless
dress that Jackie picked out from the boutique fit me perfectly,
even though I had balked at the shiny effect. My thick hair hung
flatiron straight around my shoulders with a deep side part, and my
makeup was flawless. I put another coat of baby pink lip-gloss on
and dropped the tube into my new leather wristlet.

The ride to Club Echo was about twenty
minutes with the light after-hour traffic. My excitement was laced
with a swirl of butterflies in my stomach. I was ready to enjoy the
New York party scene. It seemed like it took longer for the car to
pull up to the front of the huge club than it took to drive to it.
I spotted Jackie instantly; with her dazzling red Marilyn Monroe
inspired dress, and her wild auburn curls blowing in the slight
wind. My driver opened the door and I gracefully exited the town
car.

"Jade!" Jackie cried out as if she hadn't
seen me in years.

"Hey Jacks!" I managed to reply as she
pulled me into her all consuming hug.

"Honey, you look stunning! These men can't
take their eyes off of you. Come, let me introduce you to the
owners!"

She pulled me into the club and I noticed
the appreciative glances and smiles I received as we passed the
other patrons. I could hear the thump of the sound system from
inside the town car, and I could feel it as we went inside. The
upbeat Tonight I'm Lovin' You made me shake my hips as we moved
through the crowd. We approached a table in the VIP section with an
older, very attractive woman who looked to be of Latino descent
with dark hair that fell in voluminous layers around her round
olive toned face. Her eyes were large and the color of Chinese jade
pools. She was engaged in an animated conversation with the two men
who shared the table with her.

One of the men looked up at us as we
approached the table. I stopped dancing when I immediately
recognized my hunky Spanish daydream from the boutique. He was
smiling in recognition at Jackie, and rose to greet us. His
expression flipped to quizzical as he eyed me curiously. My insides
froze. He was by far the sexiest man I had ever seen in person.
Seriously sexy. His deep green eyes where accented by his pan
arched eyebrows and long lashes. And his mouth.... Kissable; full,
luscious lips parted to expose a broad dazzling smile. His slender
but sculpted six-foot frame was draped in designer threads. Black
long-sleeved button down shirt rolled up to the elbows covered a
broad defined chest. Perfectly fitted designer denim jeans housed
his crafted legs and thighs, and black Gucci loafers on his feet. I
loved a man that could dress his ass off.

Jackie gave him a quick hug and turned for
introductions. "Jade; this is Julian, Ana, and Edward Garza."

Julian stepped forward to take my extended
hand. The heat from his touch melted my frozen insides. I noticed
the expression of shock that threatened to overcome his cool
composure when our hands touched.

"Jade," he said in a deep husky tone as he
pulled my hand to his lips for a kiss that caused my mouth to go
moist at the contact, as well as another area. I was very conscious
of the surge that was happening below my navel. Everything Vivian
said was wiped clean from my mind.

"It's a pleasure, to finally meet you
formally,” he said.

He remembered me too!

His emphasis on the word pleasure made so
many parts of me tremble involuntarily that I lost count. I tried
to snatch my hand from his grip thinking for sure that he would be
able to feel my internal mechanical failure.

What was wrong with me?

I managed to remember my manners and turned
to introduce myself to the remaining party. Ana Garza wore a
knowing look on her face as I finally broke my attention away from
her son. She grabbed my hand away from his, releasing me from his
unrelenting grip and pulled me into a double kiss hug.

"It's so good to finally meet you Jade. Your
cousin has been talking of nothing but you for weeks now. I'm so
glad she will finally get the help she needs to promote the
boutique." Her warm, slightly accented tone put me at ease, and I
smiled at her welcome.

"Thank you Ms. Garza. I look forward to
helping expand La Carra's client base." I was proud of how
professional my tone was. Who would guess that I was a complete
novice to the PR industry?

"This is my younger brother Edward. La Carra
has been his baby and you will be working mostly with him."
 She introduced Edward who rose with a sly grin. He was only
slightly older than Julian, but the resemblance was striking. The
only difference was that Edward's features were less pronounced and
his hair was lighter. He and Ana looked just alike so Julian must
have inherited those darker characteristics from his father.

"Good to meet you Jade. It looks like all
you need to do is wear our clothes and we should be in business.
That dress was made for you!"  His compliment made me blush
and my gaze involuntarily landed on Julian for his reaction. He was
openly admiring my dress, or body with a flirtatious twinkle in his
eyes. I felt naked.

Jackie furthered my embarrassment by
twirling me around to show off my dress from all angles.

"I know!" She exclaimed as she showed my off
like a prize from the Price is Right.

"I told Jade that she was a perfect model
for our dress line. I knew she was meant to wear this dress
tonight."  She raved on.

The three Garzas nodded in agreement. I hid
my total embarrassment by playing up my momentary role as fashion
model.

"It's the dress really. It's an incredible
design,” I gushed.

A waitress came to take our drink order.
Just in time. I was running out of lines. We all sat down as
champagne and Grey Goose La Poire was ordered for the table. I was
relieved when Ana directed the attention to Jackie to discuss the
turnout of the event. Even though I was only too aware of Julian's
constant scrutiny of me, I dared to look in his direction.