The Bouquet List by Barbara Deleo Read Free Book Online Page A

we’ll spend most of the evening talking about that. Why?”
    “Oh, no reason.” She still looked nervous, smoothing her dress and looking out the window. “I was just wondering if she’d be okay with us going to the wedding together. You spending a whole day with another woman.”
    “It’s not a date, and most people who know me understand that work’s the most important thing in my life. Besides, you’re my best friend’s little sister. What could anyone be worried about?”
    He looked across at her and the tiniest of smiles curved her mouth. Each time she stroked the skirt of her dress, his pulse gave an extra beat and his grip on the steering wheel tightened. What would it be like to be the one stroking that thigh? Kissing the smile on those lips? Abruptly, he turned his attention back to the windshield and focused on the road in front. Those were questions he’d never know the answer to, and must never attempt to find out.
    …
    How in the name of all good things did you go about seducing your older brother’s best friend? Or any guy that you’d only ever admired from afar, and only imagined talking to in your dreams?
    Did you start by removing your shoe and slowly rubbing his leg under a table with your toes? Yasmin had seen that in a movie once, and the guy had thought there was a spider crawling up his leg, leaped up, and spilled a bowl of minestrone all down his white pants. She couldn’t imagine Lane ever wearing white pants, so maybe she could try that.
    Perhaps she could mention she’d been thinking about how hard his pecs might be when she passed him the butter in the restaurant. She suppressed a cough. Truth be told, she couldn’t imagine saying something like that without her face getting so red it burst into flames.
    As they drove toward the restaurant, her stomach began to twist in tighter and tighter knots. Talking about when they were younger made her remember that feeling of being invisible, as though Lane could only ever see straight through her. What was she going to do now that would make him start to really notice her?

Chapter Four
    Sitting at a corner table in Costa’s Greek restaurant while Lane talked about profit margins on entr é es and the finer points of a good dessert, all Yasmin could do was watch the way his strong jaw moved and the way his eyes lit up when he talked about his businesses.
    That he was the perfect candidate for number five on her list wasn’t an issue; the question was more about whether he’d be into a casual relationship for fun and mutual satisfaction, and whether he even found her attractive. There was no getting Dutch courage from a glass of wine or two; her damaged liver from the dengue fever had made sure of that. She took a sip of her sparkling water.
    Of course she could just wait and see if anything developed between them, but that would be living by her old rules. Her life from now on was about taking each day by the scruff of its neck and shaking it until she got what she wanted. And what she wanted was Lane’s strong arms wrapped around her.
    The problem was that everything she’d done so far to flirt with him had been an abysmal failure. She’d twirled her hair and he’d wondered if that was a good idea given the trauma it had gone through with the coloring. She’d rested her chin on her hands and looked at him while he’d talked and he’d said her octopus would get cold. He’d commented on the brightness of her dress, mentioned numerous embarrassing incidents from when they were growing up, and given a confused sort of smile when she said that they had a lot in common these days.
    He didn’t smile much, but when he did, it was as if he’d been considering whether the moment was worthy enough to bestow one of his warm grins on it, and it sent little fingers of light through her body. She had to keep remembering that his aloofness was a big part of his charm, and a part of the challenge. There must be a way to burrow under that thick