Leslie Kelly - All She Wants... - Oh, Naughty Night! / Nice & Naughty / Under Wraps

Frankly, Lulu loved the effort Chaz had gone to for them. Her heart had melted a little bit when she’d arrived and seen him putting a pristine white tablecloth over the huge table, setting it with new dishes he’d picked up just for today. He’d shoved a bunch of mismatched chairs, including outdoor ones, around the table, determined to make it a great holiday, not just for his friends, but also for his bratty little sister, spending her first holiday away from home.

How many guys would go to so much trouble? Not many, she knew. That was just one thing that made Chaz so special.

If Heather didn’t see and appreciate that, she didn’t deserve him. Hell, she didn’t deserve him period!

And somehow, no matter what it cost her personally, Lulu hoped Chaz found out the truth about the other woman, and realized she was not worth his time and trouble. He deserved better.

* * *

ALTHOUGH CHAZ HAD worried a lot about the presence of both Sarah and Lawrence at today’s holiday dinner, his sister and Lulu’s brother managed to surprise him. They’d apparently seen each other on campus and now were both perfectly cordial, if not exactly warm. The younger pair had finally grown up. So in that respect, things were going great.

The problem had come from an entirely different direction. Chaz found his peace of mind most disturbed by having both Heather and Lulu here.

It was crazy. He and Lulu were old friends; they’d both agreed that’s what they would remain. End of story. And Heather was a woman he’d just started dating who was new to town and had nowhere else to go. It had seemed perfectly natural for them both to be invited. But now that they were both here, sitting at opposite ends of the Ping-Pong table ignoring each other easily in this big group, he couldn’t help comparing them—and realizing he’d made a mistake. Possibly a big one.

Heather might be the woman whose memory had tantalized and tormented him for weeks. She might be the one who had flooded him with want and erotic fantasy.

But she sure didn’t feel like it.

They’d gone out twice before today, and while he thought she was attractive, he hadn’t experienced that out-of-breath, heart-pounding, palm-sweating, pant-tenting excitement, not even when they’d kissed. Nor had his usually subtle, but sometimes direct questions about whether she was the one he’d met on Halloween night yielded any definite answers. She hadn’t said yes. She hadn’t said no. She’d hinted and hemmed and hawed. His sexy witch had hidden her name from him on Halloween night, so she obviously did like being mysterious. But he’d never felt like she was playing games. He wasn’t so sure about Heather, who, he suspected, could be a game-player. The only thing he knew for sure was that he felt not only confused but untouched.

Nothing about Heather touched him at his most basic, elemental level, the way it had on Halloween.

He’d invited her for Thanksgiving before he’d come to the realization that she was probably not his mystery/fantasy woman. But since he was no closer to finding that woman, and since Heather was attractive and interested, he had decided to play this out with her.

All that had seemed smart.

Until he’d spent much of the day with Lulu.

Lulu was a brat from his past, the girl next door, the little witch who’d busted his ass, literally.

She was not supposed to feel so natural by his side. She was not supposed to inspire thoughts of hot kisses and sweaty sheets. Her hair wasn’t supposed to feel so soft and sensuous against his skin. The sight of her hands shouldn’t make parts of his body tense in anticipation of her touch.

What the hell was happening here?

“I still can’t believe the parents all went on a cruise for Thanksgiving. But I have to say, you did a really good job today, big brother.”

Chaz tore his mind off the confusing women in his life— woman, one, Lulu is not in your life, not as a woman anyway —and smiled at his kid sister.

“Thanks. I couldn’t have done it without Lulu.”

“Well, thanks to you, too, Lulu,” Sarah said, sounding sincere and being nice to Lulu, with whom there was usually tension. Then she ruined it by smirking. “I guess we should all just be glad you both survived it. With the track record between you, and all those sharp objects in the kitchen, it’s lucky nobody was scarred or maimed.”

Lulu picked up her wine glass, bringing it to her lips. “The night’s still young,” she mumbled before sipping.

“Were these two really nemeses like we’ve heard?” asked Peggy, who was rubbing her full stomach with one hand, while patting Marcia’s with another.

Lulu’s kid brother, Lawrence, who looked as a young man exactly as he had when a young boy—a little small, angular face, deep, soulful eyes, and kind smile—answered. “Only because they were in love with each other.”

Chaz dropped his fork. It landed with a clatter on his plate. But even that wasn’t loud enough to cover Lulu’s immediate exclamation.

“That is crazy!”

She sounded like somebody had just accused her of robbing a church, which wasn’t exactly flattering.

Of course, his vehemence probably didn’t make her feel any better when he snapped, “I doubt Lulu was in love with me when she cut off all my hair with her Fiskar scissors during recess.”

“It grew back,” she sniped. “And I doubt you were in love with me when you told all your friends that I wet the bed.”

“You did.”

“When I was three!”

“Nobody ever asked for clarification,” he said, his smile taunting. “I never lied.”

“No, you never do, Saint Chaz.”

“Whoa, whoa, sorry,” said Peggy, holding up her hands, palm out, to each of them, acting as referee. “I didn’t mean to start a war here.”

“Wow, it sounds to me like you two can’t stand each other,” said Heather, whose sweet smile didn’t quite hide the gleam of happiness in her eye. He had to wonder if the redhead had picked up on some of the vibes between him and Lulu.

“Okay, subject change,” said Marcia as she licked the last of her mashed potatoes off her fork. “Lulu, I’ve been meaning to ask you, how’s work going? Has our donation been distributed yet?”

“Donation?” Heather asked.

Chaz listened, too. Lulu had never really talked about her job, and he honestly didn’t know what she did, beyond working in an office up on Massachusetts Avenue. Her master’s degree was in political science, so he assumed she was doing something connected with one of the many embassies up in that part of the city.

“Yes, it has,” Lulu said, smiling at Marcia.

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