Friends and Lovers Trilogy 02 - Charmed by Beth Ciotta Read Free Book Online Page A

was ridiculous, and she refused to wallow.
    She bolted upright, the faded brown bear clutched in her lap. She could either curl up on the sofa and watch a movie, or, like Sofie, meet up with a friend. Except this was Saturday night and most of her friends were performers so they’d be gigging. She could call Jean-Pierre except he’d mentioned something about taking Rudy dancing. She enjoyed dancing, but wasn’t crazy about feeling like a third wheel.
    Well, crap.
    The phone rang and she instantly brightened. Maybe it was a potential client. “Lulu’s Loonytales. Lulu speaking.”
    Silence.
    “Hello?
Is someone there?”
Stupid question. Someone had dialed. So, what? Wrong number? Crank call?
She narrowed her eyes. “Chaz?”
    Chirp.
    Releasing a shaky breath, she tossed the phone on her pillow. If it was Chaz, he wasn’t talking. At least not to her. “That’s a first.” Sofie’s exes
always
wanted to talk to her, assuming she had some sort of influence over her sister.
Sof,
she told each and every one,
has a mind of her own.
Most of the guys gave up pretty easily, which told Lulu they weren’t
really
in love with her sister. Maybe Chaz was different.
    So why the creepy feeling?
    Anxious, she pushed off the bed and padded barefoot to her mirrored-dresser to twist her unruly hair into two funky pigtails. She should have questioned Murphy instead of kicking him out. He probably had the answers she was looking for, or could have at least shed some light. She’d assumed he was working for Chaz, an assumption he hadn’t confirmed or denied. Why hadn’t she probed? Why had she been so desperate to show him the door?
    She braced her hands on the dresser top and stared at her rosy-cheeked, wide-eyed reflection. “Because he threatens your safe world. Because he’s hot, and you’re …” she turned away from the mirror as she shrugged out of her robe, “flawed.”
    She tugged on a pair of lime-green cotton briefs, a far cry from that pearl thong. A thong that had incited a sexy glimmer in Murphy’s smoldering brown eyes. A glimmer that had spurred a naughty fantasy in her normally squeaky-clean mind. But instead of enjoying the graphic daydream and the sensual tingling between her legs, she’d panicked.
    After Terry had walked out, she’d shut down sexually. It was safer that way.
She
was safer. But Murphy ignited fierce desires that burned through her personal fire curtain. Every time they touched, she
burned.
She’d never burned for a man. It unsettled her about as much as the gun she’d seen holstered to his belt when he’d pushed off the sofa. Calling him socially was not an option. Even if she did get past her own shyness, she’d never get past that gun.
    She wondered if he’d ever killed anyone.
    Her stomach flipped. Not because she was intrigued with Murphy and his dangerous career, she rationalized, but because she was starving. Eight o’clock in the evening and, except for a piece of birthday cake, she hadn’t eaten since this morning.
Practice what you preach, Lu.
She plucked up the phone and speed dialed Pizza Piazza while searching her room for a pair of comfy jeans and her favorite T-shirt. “Yeah, hi. This is Lulu … Ross.”
Sigh.
    “Small cheese pie and a can of cola, Princess?”
    She used to feel special, the way Franco knew her order. Tonight she felt pathetic. “Yes, please.” She pushed aside her tiara in search of her bubblegum lip gloss as Franco rattled off the price and the estimated time of delivery. She probably imagined him muttering,
“Get a life, bella.”
Probably imagined the zap when her fingers connected with the crisp white business card—she had a stellar imagination—but she was restless, and lonely, and okay, a little spooked from that one-sided phone call. “No, wait.” She stared at the raised print. The name. The number.
“Call if you need
me.” Her heart pounded.
Be adventurous.
    “Cancel that order, Franco. I’m going out.” She signed off, her