From Heel to Heart Read online

  “Hey, babe, didn’t get enough of me at work today?”

  Lana laughs as her face spreads into a huge smile. “Hey, I’m in a predicament and need your help.”

  “What the hell did you do now?”

  Lana laughs again at the question and the mock-tone of disappointment in Asia’s voice. “I’m trying to decide if I should bring a bag with a change of clothes or come home to change.”

  “What the hell are you talking about, honey?”

  “Tomorrow night – my shoemaking and dinner date with Elli. I got the bag all packed to change there and then realized it looks like an overnight bag. I don’t want to come off looking like a horny creep.”

  “Oh, there are so many things I could say to that last statement.” Asia laughs before she continues. “Bring the damn bag and just relax. For one, it will show you’re not a moron expecting to make shoes in a designer suit and stilettos. And second of all, it will show her that you were anticipating the date and planned for it – she’s not just a second thought.”

  “Very excellent points. See, I knew it was best to leave this decision in your hands.”

  “Agreeing so easily? Are you still drinking, honey?” Lana releases a childlike giggle, making Asia burst with laughter. “See, we should have just gone to Blu. I’m on my second martini now. How about you?”

  “Same. So, are you going to give Justin a second date this weekend?”

  Asia releases a hissing groan and Lana can hear her rolling her eyes in her tone. “I don’t know. We talked briefly yesterday and he made an open invitation, asking if I’m free this weekend, but I haven’t decided.”

  “You said you had a decent time on the date. Why are you hesitating on a second? Still don’t want your mom to have the satisfaction of setting you up with someone you actually like?”

  “That might be a part of it, but I’m also not sure I’m attracted to him. He’s cute, but I didn’t have a moment of damn I can’t stop looking at him. You know what I mean?”

  “I know exactly what you mean.”

  Asia laughs at the day dreamy way Lana responded, making Lana smile as she lifts her martini to her lips.

  “You are so smitten with this shoemaker. Maybe I will give Justin a second date so we both can spy on each other’s dates. I need an unbiased opinion.”

  “I like that plan. I’d like to meet the guy your mom thinks you could fall in love with.”

  “Love? Oh, hell, don’t talk about love yet. You might be dating to find your soulmate, but I’m not. I mean, if it comes along, then great, but I don’t go into a relationship with expectations of it being anything more than a dinner.”

  Suddenly feeling deflated and insecure, Lana quietly asks, although afraid to hear the answer, “So, are you saying I’m too hopeful and shouldn’t expect this to last?”

  “No, babe. You’re in a different place in your life than I am. The way you’re approaching this relationship is what’s right for you and I am one-hundred-percent behind you. And if that bag you packed ends up being an overnight bag, then you better tell me all of the juicy details in the morning.”

  Lana laughs as her cheeks blush beet red. She knows Asia is only joking to help put her back in a good mood again. But the comment also causes a spark of excitement in her groin that causes her a bit of shame. She’s been in relationships that moved quickly and ones that moved slowly. Moving quickly hasn’t always been a bad thing, meaning – it wasn’t a factor in how well the relationship got along or how long it lasted. But Elli seems like a traditional woman – not one to jump into bed easily or without feeling like a future exists with a woman. Although a quickly progressing sexual relationship would not negatively affect the way Lana sees Elli, she doesn’t want to risk Elli losing respect and interest by trying to advance too quickly.

  “Okay, babe, I’m going to get a shower and try to go to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Okay, goodnight.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “Hello, Sunshine. Come on in.”

  Elli’s warm smile and twinkling ocean blue eyes chase all of Lana’s nervousness back into the alley as she steps over the threshold into the work studio. Lana leans in to embrace Elli with her free arm, and Elli wraps both arms around her, meeting her halfway without hesitation to share a soft full mouth kiss.

  As they pull apart, Elli nods down at the leather bag in Lana’s hand, and asks, “Change of clothes for your first day as a shoemaker?”

  Elli’s intuition causes relief to settle warmly in her chest and she nods. “Yes. I thought we’d lose less time if I came here to change instead of going all the way home and then coming back.”

  “Good plan. Come, you can change upstairs.”

  Elli slips her hand in Lana’s free hand and leads her upstairs to her apartment. She bypasses the living room and walks down the short hall leading to the bathroom and her bedroom.

  “The bathroom is here, or you can use my bedroom.”

  Elli leads her forward and turns the light on in the bedroom, which causes hot distraction to cloud both of their minds. They’re both very aware of the feeling of each other’s skin as they stand side by side with their hands clasped together. The inviting, perfectly made up bed tugs at barely controlled threads of yearning in both of them, but neither yield to the untimely impulse.

  “If you’d like, you can hang your suit on the suit rack in the corner by the window.”

  “Thank you, Elli.”

  She nods once and slowly releases Lana’s hand. “I’ll wait for you in the living room. Take your time.”

  As Elli walks out, she pulls the door closed, giving Lana privacy to get changed. Feeling a little awkward to be alone in Elli’s most private room, Lana takes a few tentative steps towards the bed to set her bag down. As she pulls her blazer off, she walks across the room and hangs the jacket from the glossy dark wooden suit rack.

  Curious of the view, Lana pushes the curtain aside and eases two flexible blinds apart to take a peek out the window. The window overlooks the street that the shop’s front entrance is located on. There’s a strip of two to three level brick and mortar stores with second and third level apartments directly across from the shop. Then to either end of the street, the city skyline rises with skyscrapers reaching up towards the sky.

  Lana’s apartment building sits in a residential area of the city, so she’s surrounded by more apartment buildings and brownstones with very small patches of grass masquerading as “front lawns.” It’s quieter where Lana lives, but the noise outside is muffled and not at all jarring to her senses. This is a more interesting view than the one from her bedroom – a parking lot.

  After carefully fixing the blinds and closing the curtain, Lana strips down to her underwear and bra. She places her high heels in front of the suit rack, then walks back to her bag sitting on the bed. She sits down next to the bag to open it, and the cool soft fabric of Elli’s comforter against her naked skin causes her to intake a sharp breath and her eyes close to slits. She runs her hands over the fabric and slowly lays back.

  The bed is comfortable and the bedding is dense so it hugs her body. As she opens her eyes, her smile widens and she tilts her head as she sits up to get a better view of the ceiling. The white tiles look like tiles she has seen in old fancy buildings, like opera houses and restaurants that cater to the wealthiest in society. Each tile is bordered with two twisted rope patterns, one larger than the other, and has an intricate circular piece in the center with a rounded point that reminds her of a drop of water frozen in time.

  As she begins to get lost in the details, she realizes she is taking far too long to change and quickly hops off of the bed to get dressed. She spritzes her shirt with perfume, then quickly walks out of the bedroom to find Elli in the living room.

  “Your bedroom ceiling is gorgeous. Are they original tiles?” Lana sits down next to Elli on the couch, who smiles and nods as she accepts Lana’s hand to hold.

  “Aye. The ceiling tiles
used to cover the entire upper level, but in 1957, there was a fire that destroyed most of them. What’s in the bedroom is all that survived. It was too costly to replace them all, but I think it makes the bedroom a bit more special to stand out from the rest of the apartment.”

  “I agree. It’s beautiful and elegant. It made me feel like I should be in a silk gown sipping on a vintage cocktail.”

  Elli laughs and licks her lips as she glances back towards the bedroom for a moment. “Well, then you would have fit in splendidly when that was the nightly scene the ceiling gazed down upon.”

  Lana grins with a pinched brow, and asks, “What do you mean?”

  “The shop has a secret salacious history.”

  Lana’s smile and eyes widen as she extends an intrigued, “Really?”

  “My family were drink-indulging and God-fearing Catholics not to be bullied by prohibitionists.”

  Laughing, Lana asks in surprise, “No way, your family ran a speakeasy?”

  “Aye, and I have to say that I’m damn proud of it.” Elli laughs a little before continuing. “The shop ran as usual downstairs during the day, then at night, the upstairs became a lively club filled with well-dressed men and women sipping illegal libations, flirting, and dancing.”

  “Do you have any pictures from back then?”

  “My parents do. I can borrow them some time.”

  “I would love to see them. There must be so many fascinating stories.”

  “Aye, there are.”

  “I guess I should hold my questions till we’re able to borrow the pictures from your parents.”

  “Okay, Sunshine. Would you like to make dinner first or start on your shoes first?”

  “I’m kind of hungry, but I’m excited to start on the shoes.”

  Elli smiles as she leans forward to grab the binder of shoe designs off of the coffee table. “How about we start here? This is a collection of all of the shoe designs my family has created over the generations. I bookmarked ones that I think will be the simplest for you to try to make, but if you see something else that you prefer, we can make those instead. I want you to be able to make a pair of shoes you actually like.”

  Lana accepts the binder with wide eyes and her mouth agape. Stuttering on her words, she asks, “You’re seriously going to allow me to look at this?”

  “How else will you pick a pair of shoes to make?”

  “So, you’re going to help me make a pair of shoes from scratch… for me?”

  “Aye.”

  “Wow, this is…”

  Lana trails off as she is at a loss of words to describe how touched she is that Elli is trusting her with something so important to her family and her family’s business. She slowly opens the binder and her admiration for Elli’s family increases. Each page contains sketches with each piece of the shoe broken down, measurements, instructions, and pictures of the finished product. The oldest designs are all sketches, but the newer designs have photographs of the final product – most just in black and white, but there are some full color images as well.

  “This is incredible. Did you create any of these?”

  “Aye, a few. The creator of the design is listed in the bottom left corner.”

  Lana glances down at the bottom left corner and starts flipping the pages looking for Elli’s name. She smiles as she comes to the first one and places two fingers over the name to trace it before she scans the page, studying the design of the men’s ankle boot dress shoe.

  “This is really nice, like something you’d see in a fashion magazine. Did you create this based off of something you’ve seen like those boots your family has been reconstructing for over a decade?”

  “Yes and no. I created this while I was still living in Wembley. Our England locations do much more custom-made products than we do here because there’s a higher demand for it there. A very wealthy client came into the shop every few months to order shoes. He had a handful of designs he was partial to, but one day he decided he wanted something new, something fresh. He wanted dressy ankle boots that were unlike anything currently available in stores. I had to study store displays and catalogues to familiarize myself with the styles so I wouldn’t accidentally replicate a mass-produced product.”

  “Was he happy with them?”

  “Aye, he was very pleased with them. He ordered several pairs in three colors.”

  Lana smiles as she begins flipping pages again to find the other designs Elli made. The second one she lands on is a woman’s shoe that isn’t marked with a bookmark for Lana to try to make and she can see why – it looks very complex, but she’s in love with the design.

  “I love these. Wow, you designed this? Elli, these boots are gorgeous.”

  “Thank you.”

  They’re riding boots that reach just below the knee and zipper along the side, but the zipper is hidden by an overlapping layer with four half-inch thick straps with beautiful copper snap buttons that secure along the back of the calf. The leg comes down to fit the calf like a glove, then the leather cuts at the base of the shoe to look like tight pant cuffs over the shoe.

  “How long do these take to make?”

  “For me, probably about seven to twelve hours, depending on interruptions. For you, a bit longer.”

  “So, if I pick these, it would guarantee me at least twelve shoemaking sessions with you?”

  Elli laughs a little and nods as she places a hand on Lana’s knee. “Aye, but you haven’t finished looking through the options. You might find something else you like better.”

  “I’m pretty hooked on these, but I’ll keep looking. How many more of your designs do I have to find?”

  Elli’s smile fades as sadness fills her chest and eyes. With her voice hushed by her sudden emotions, she answers, “Just one.”

  Lana places a hand on her cheek, lifting her face to meet her eyes, as she asks, “Are you okay? Should I not look at the last design?”

  Elli takes a deep breath and she shakes her head. “You may look.”

  Elli reaches out and flips a thick stack of pages over, then a few more before she places a finger on the right page. It’s a shoe for an infant.

  “Oh, these are…” Lana’s chest tightens as she realizes that a deep pain of regret or loss, or maybe both, are attached to this design. “Elli, did you…? I mean… Did you lose a child, like your mom?”

  “No, I never had the chance, or rather I waited too long. This was part of a dream that died.”

  Lana studies Elli’s face, wanting to ask her what she means, but she can see that Elli is closed and guarded against this conversation.

  “A story for another time?”

  It was the same thing Elli told her when she asked what had caused her to go into menopause so young, and she senses the statement applies now.

  Elli nods, and quietly confirms, “Aye, another time.”

  Lana can see Elli is trying to put on a brave face for her as to not ruin the date, but Lana doesn’t want to be insensitive and gloss over the moment and whatever Elli is feeling. She sets the binder down on the coffee table and gently tugs Elli forward into her arms. As their breasts press together and Lana’s hand finds the back of Elli’s neck, gently encouraging her to rest on her shoulder, Elli releases a deep sigh of relief. Lana’s touch is comforting in a familiar way, but also invigorating in a way only a lover’s touch can be. The way Lana’s hands cradle her back and head feel like they’ve done this a hundred times. The way Lana’s fingers lightly brush through the short hair at the base of her skull is so soothing and wonderful. This is the touch she needed last night. The sentiments and emotions Lana offers are what she needed last night. This is what she needs all nights and all days.

  Elli lifts her face from Lana’s lightly sweet-scented neck, and as she brings her face within alignment of Lana’s, both women feel a tingling burst of heat radiate through their bodies. Their lips press and part, nibble and massage, while their tongues dip and glide, tasting and savoring each other. The ki
ss is tender and passionate, speaking volumes of the depth of how much both women want to build a life together.

  As Lana’s hand firmly combs up into Elli’s short blonde hair, Elli’s hands press into Lana’s back, pulling her in tighter. Her hands run up and down Lana’s slender back, feeling every curve and the thin muscles lightly padding her ribs. As Elli’s hands separate, one to rest on the dip of her lower back, and one to comb up through Lana’s silky brown hair, Lana releases a quiet whimpering moan and leans into Elli even more, causing Elli’s back to strain to remain upright.

  Their body temperature is rising, the passion flowing through them is becoming more intoxicating than an aged bottle of wine, and every fear and insecurity they’ve been battling with since they met are being scorched in the heat of their kiss. This kiss is answering the questions they feared to ask. They both want each other in every selfish and unselfish way possible. They both want to allow this relationship to grow however it may manifest in the moment without fear of losing a future together.

  The passion melts the muscles in Elli’s back, and as one, they fall horizontal on the couch, mouths still locked in a wonderful dance. The feeling of Lana’s body lying on top of Elli’s causes both women to release moans and their bodies shudder from the sensations the contact ignites.

  Lana shifts her hips to straighten her legs out, causing Elli’s hand to glide off of her lower back and over her jeans, onto her hip, eliciting another moan from Lana. Taking the reaction as an invitation, Elli traces her fingers over the waist of the jeans and down over Lana’s small firm round bottom to rest on the rounded underside of her right cheek.

  The heat of Elli’s strong hand on her sensitive bottom causes Lana’s head to swim and her breathing increases. The bundle of nerves between her thighs is pulsing like a beating heart and the stiff zipper seam pressed against her outer lips is amplifying the sensations, making it harder to ignore. She wants to grab Elli’s hand and guide it below the waist of her jeans, but she doesn’t want her first time with Elli to be rushed or driven by lust. If she makes a move like that, it will kill the incredible organic passion and affection that is dominating this moment between them. Playing the role of a good submissive to the dominating passion, Lana resists her carnal needs and focuses on the kiss – the amazing kiss that makes the memories of all of her kisses with prior lovers seem insignificant.