by Janice Sims
Giovanni rubbed his nose against hers. “Of course they do. My grandparents did, and they’ve been married for over fifty years. If they can do it, so can we. I’m a catch, remember?”
“I love you, Giovanni, and I always will, but don’t push your luck!”
“I love you more, Elise, and don’t worry, I won’t.”
He smiled in a way she’d never seen before and hope surged through her heart. “Baby, you mean the world to me and I can’t wait for us to tie the knot.”
“Prove it.” Giovanni flashed a flirtatious grin then whispered against her ear. “Kick everyone out so we can be alone. It’s officially Christmas Day, and I want to unwrap my gift!”
Tossing her head back, Elise shrieked with laughter. They hugged and kissed, and slow danced to the music playing in their hearts. There was no doubt in her mind that they’d have a long and prosperous relationship. They had all the ingredients for a successful marriage—trust, honesty and mutual respect—and Elise vowed to put Giovanni first, always, no matter what.
And she would, all the days of their lives.
* * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from Her Christmas Wish by Sherelle Green.
We hope you enjoyed this story.
You want to leave behind the everyday! Harlequin Desire stories feature sexy, romantic heroes who have it all: wealth, status, incredible good looks...everything but the right woman. Add some secrets, maybe a scandal, and start turning pages!
Enjoy six new stories from Harlequin Desire every month!
Connect with us on Harlequin.com for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Other ways to keep in touch:
Harlequin.com/newsletters
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
HarlequinBlog.com
Her Christmas Wish
by Sherelle Green
Prologue
If there was one word to describe Kyra Reed, ambitious would be at the very top of the list. She went after what she wanted, and tonight, for her twenty-first birthday, she wanted Luke O’Connor. Preferably, naked.
It was bad enough that she’d spent most of her adolescence pining over someone who only seemed to look at her like a little sister, but then, she also had to compete against the flock of women parading around Chicagoland hoping to catch Luke’s attention. She didn’t have a claim on him. Had never dated him. Yet, that didn’t stop her from feeling like Luke was hers, whether he realized it or not.
“Are you having fun?” her friend Cheyanne asked as she handed her a red Solo cup.
“Of course I’m having fun.” Kyra’s gaze traveled around the birthday party that her college friends had thrown her. “Have you seen my brothers and their friends?”
Cheyanne glanced around. “I think your brother Ajay went with Mike to get more ice. But Taheim should be here somewhere. He was with his guys. Jaleen and...?”
“Luke,” Kyra said. “Those three are inseparable sometimes.”
Cheyanne wiggled her eyebrows. “Right. How could I forget about your unhealthy crush?”
“It’s not unhealthy,” Kyra said.
“Oh, really? You’ve liked the man since you were ten. Probably before that. Are you telling me you don’t think it’s unhealthy for your state of mind to like him and still not say anything?”
Kyra shrugged, taking a sip of her drink. “I’m just waiting for the perfect moment.”
Cheyanne rolled her eyes. “Girlfriend, he’s known you most your life. How much more time do you need? The Kyra I know always goes after what she wants.”
Kyra cringed at her words because it was true. She did go after what she wanted. “No need for the best-friend talk because I plan on telling him how I feel tonight.”
Cheyanne’s eyes widened as she asked, “Are you for real? You’re finally admitting your feelings?”
“I’m very serious. It’s long overdue.”
Cheyanne squealed. “I’m so proud of you, and for telling me this, I’ll tell you where he is.”
Kyra carefully slapped her on the arm. “Are you saying you weren’t going to tell me where he was unless I admitted I’d tell him my feelings?”
Cheyanne nodded. “That’s exactly what I was going to do.” She motioned with her head to indicate the back door. “The boys are in the backyard.”
Kyra gave her friend a quick hug and wasted no time heading to the backyard. It wasn’t until she was almost out the door that she heard Cheyanne ask her what she’d planned on doing to get Luke alone. Kyra hadn’t made it that far, but she was good at winging it.
The moment she stepped into the backyard, it felt like no one existed at the party except for Luke. People said “happy birthday” as she walked past, but the smile she gave them had less to do with the warm wishes and more to do with the sexy twenty-six-year-old man standing a few feet away from her.
Kyra had always wondered if the reason Luke often kept his distance was because of their age difference, and for that reason, she’d been anxious to become an adult to see if he paid her more attention. Much to her dismay, when she turned eighteen, he’d seemed to treat her like the same ol’ Kyra. At nineteen, not much changed. At twenty, he got a little friendlier, but for the most part, he’d kept their relationship rated G, with a couple of PG-13 episodes thrown in the mix.
At twenty-one, she was tired of waiting for him to notice her, and tonight, she was laying out all her cards whether he liked it or not.
“Hey, guys,” she said as she approached. “Enjoying my celebration?”
“Your friends know how to throw a party, sis,” Taheim said.
Jaleen nodded. “Yeah, they weren’t doing parties like this way back when I was in college.”
Kyra rolled her eyes, slightly annoyed by the way Jaleen made it seem like he was so much older than her. “Jay, you talk like y’all are old as hell, when you’re only in your upper twenties.”
“Wait until you start working in the real world,” he said. “You’ll start to feel the same way.”
Taheim pulled her in for a hug and ruffled her hair. “Can’t believe my baby sis is twenty-one now.”
Kyra pushed him away. “Stop, Taheim. You’d think after all this time you’d learn to treat me like an adult. Didn’t Mom ever teach you not to mess with a black woman’s hair?”
He smirked in that annoying big-brother sort of way. “She did, but I chose to ignore that lesson when dealing with my little sis. A girlfriend maybe, but not you.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Just my luck.” Turning to Luke, she batted her eyes and asked, “How has life been treating you?” In other words, please tell me you’re still single.
“Life is good,” Luke said with a nod. “I can’t complain. What about you? Excited to graduate soon?”
“Can’t wait.” She adjusted the strap of her blush-colored dress, enjoying the way Luke’s eyes were slyly taking her in as he sipped his drink. Progress. A year ago, he never would have looked at her like that. Taheim started talking to Jaleen, giving her the chance to have a slightly more private conversation with Luke.
“I’ll miss living down South during the school year,” she said. “The weather here is beautiful.” Kyra had chosen to go to an HBCU in Georgia, but planned on moving back to Chicago after graduation.
“I’ll bet,” Luke said. “I went to school in New York, so the weather wasn’t much different than Chicago. Have you decided what you want to do after graduation?”
She shrugged. “My degree will be in business management, but no idea what I want to do. I love being a retail-store manager, so maybe I can find something in Chicago.”
Luke laughed. “You’re the only person I’ve ever met to say they love retail.”
“I do love it,” s
he replied with a laugh. “There’s so much more to it than people think. For example, in some positions, you only use certain skill sets. I, on the other hand, must have an array of knowledge to tackle what goes on day in and day out at a store. Right now, I work at a chain shoe store, but I only got the job because the previous manager went on maternity leave and never came back. So I felt like I had a lot to prove. That was a year ago. Today, the district manager loves me and said I’m the youngest to ever hold my position and do so well.”
Luke smiled. “That’s impressive, but you’ve always been impressive. Nice to hear that your district manager thinks so, too.” His eyes dipped to her lips and had Kyra not been glued to his every move, she wouldn’t have caught his glance.
Not wanting to lose the spark, she turned as if she was surveying the backyard to give him a view of her firm, round butt, which was just the way she wanted it thanks to Cheyanne dragging her to the gym every day for squats and those machines that made her calves ache. “Looks like the crowd is dying down out here.”
She turned back to Luke in time to see him raise his head as he looked nervously from her to Taheim, who wasn’t even paying attention to what he was doing.
“Sis, we’re about to meet up with Ajay and Mike,” Taheim said, interrupting the moment. “The game is on at one of the bars down the street. Mind if we dip early and catch you at breakfast before we fly out?”
“Of course not,” she said. “If you stayed, you’d just whine about missing the game, anyway.” Plus, I want to be with Luke without your prying eyes.
“Yeah, you already know.” Taheim nodded to Luke as he and Jaleen began to walk out the back gate. “Man, you coming?”
Luke glanced from Taheim back to Kyra. “Uh, yeah, I guess I am.”
“Actually,” Kyra said, lightly gripping Luke’s arm, “I’m having some problems with the real-estate class I’m taking and Luke offered to help me.”
Taheim lifted his eyebrow at the same time Luke asked, “You’re taking a real-estate class?”
“Yes,” she lied. “I want to be well versed in every aspect that I can. Who knows if I’ll ever want to sell real estate on the side?”
“I don’t remember you mentioning that class before,” Taheim said while an amused Jaleen stifled a laugh. Kyra couldn’t be sure, but she got the distinct feeling Jaleen knew exactly what she was up to.
“I don’t have to tell you everything about my life,” Kyra snapped at Taheim. “I rattle off classes I think interest you. But for this one, I am in way over my head. I should have dropped it at the beginning of the semester, but now, I’m stuck with it. This last homework assignment is really stumping me.”
“I could take a look at it,” Luke suggested. He turned to Taheim and Jaleen. “How about I take a look at Kyra’s homework and then walk to the bar and meet you guys there?”
It wasn’t unusual for Luke to help Kyra with her homework. When they were younger, she used to ask her brothers, but they always made it seem like she was annoying them when she asked. Luke wasn’t like that. He stopped what he was doing every time she needed help.
Taheim looked skeptical for a moment, then shook it off and texted Luke the address. “If we change bars before you get there, I’ll let you know.”
Luke nodded his head. “Bet.” Once they were alone, minus all the folks still at the party, Kyra wasted no time tugging Luke toward the house and up the stairs.
“Whoa, why are you walking so fast?” Luke asked, tripping up the stairs.
“I’m just really anxious for you to help me with this homework,” she lied again as they entered the house. “It’s been bugging me for years.”
“Years?” Luke asked as they reached her bedroom. “You just said you started taking the class this semester.”
Kyra groaned. She may have a huge crush on Luke, but perceptive, he was not. “I’m not really taking a real-estate course,” she said, shutting and locking her bedroom door. “I just lied to get you in my bedroom.” His eyes widened in surprise, so Kyra took the opportunity to push him down onto her bed while he was still surprised. “Why do you think I wanted to get you to my bedroom, Luke?”
Luke opened his mouth, but no words came out.
“I’ll make it easier for you.” Kyra reached for both her dress straps and let the material fall to the floor, leaving her in just her blush-colored lingerie. “Why do you think I wanted to get you to my bedroom, Luke?”
He visibly swallowed as his eyes roamed up and down her body, taking her in. “Uh, I don’t want to assume you took me up here to have sex, but the way you just removed your dress, it’s looking that way.”
Kyra smiled. “Good job. That’s exactly why I lied to get you up here. I’m tired of denying how attracted I am to you and I’m pretty damn sure you’re attracted to me, too.”
Luke looked her up and down again. “Uh, although that may be the case...we can’t have sex. That can’t happen.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“Because you’re Taheim’s little sister.”
She shook her head. “Try again.”
“Because you’re five years younger than me.”
“But still an adult,” she countered. “Try again.”
“Because your brother Ajay would kill me.”
“Nope, not the right answer.” Sticking with her plan, Kyra removed her bra next and was rewarded with a slow whistle of appreciation. And if that wasn’t enough to prove he was interested, she noticed him growing harder by the second.
“I have a girlfriend,” he spluttered. “So it’s wrong for me to even be in here.”
Kyra smirked. “What’s her name?”
“Whose name?” he asked, eyes glued to her nipples.
“Your girlfriend, dummy.”
“Her name is, um... It’s, uh... Her name is Jaime.”
Kyra frowned and looked toward her desk, which had a picture of herself with her childhood dog, Jaime. Stepping closer to Luke, she straddled him on her bed so that her breasts were almost level with his eyes. “Are you making up your girlfriend, Luke?”
He nodded his head.
“Did you make her up because you want to have sex with me tonight but are worried about the consequences?”
He nodded his head again. Dropping her mouth to his right ear, she whispered, “Screw the consequences.”
She wasn’t sure what made him grip the back of her head and bring her in for a kiss, but his mouth was on hers before she could say any more words. Just as she’d imagined, the kiss felt amazing, his lips bringing the perfect amount of pressure.
His hands were all over her backside, roaming up and down her thighs in fluid strokes. He smelled delicious. Even better than he had a couple of minutes ago because all of her senses were heightened with him so close.
“Kyra,” he whispered in between kisses. Gone was the kid-sister voice he often used when talking to her. The way he’d said her name was the way a man spoke to a woman he was interested in, and the fact that she’d even gotten Luke to loosen some of his caution-when-approaching behavior was causing her insides to do a happy dance.
Unable to help herself, Kyra began twisting her hips, relishing the fact that he was getting even harder than before. “I always imagined it like this.”
“Imagined what like what?” he asked.
“Imagined what kissing you would feel like. I’ve waited for this for so long, I can hardly believe we’re finally about to have sex.”
Luke froze, his hands gripping her hips to stop her from moving. Blame it on her big mouth. Or blame it on the tequila shots she’d had earlier in the night, but somehow, she’d managed to break the trance they’d been in a few moments ago.
Without warning, Luke hopped up from the bed, nearly knocking her over in the process. He caught her right before she hit the floor and helped her stand, then thrust one of
her blankets at her.
“This was a huge mistake,” he said. “We can’t do this.” He ran his hands over his curly hair. “In fact, this never happened.”
Kyra shook her head. “Of course it happened and you can’t act like it didn’t. I’ve been waiting to be with you my entire life.”
He groaned. “Kyra, you can’t say shit like that. We can’t get together.”
“Why not?” she yelled. “Don’t bother telling me you aren’t attracted to me because I know that’s a lie.”
“You’re an attractive woman,” he said. “But you’re also off-limits.”
“Says who? My brothers? Why do you care what my brother’s think?”
“They’re my best friends,” Luke explained. “Had I known this is what you wanted me to stay behind for, I never would have agreed. Have you even had sex before?”
Kyra shrugged. “What does that matter?”
Luke shook his head. “I should go meet the guys. We can talk about this more in the morning.”
As a last-ditch effort to get him to stay, Kyra pulled Luke down for a kiss. To her surprise, he actually kissed her back, until he pulled away from her again a few seconds later. “No, we can’t do this. I’m sorry I let it get this far.”
“I’m not,” Kyra yelled. “Not even close. You want to be with me just as much as I want to be with you. No use denying it.” She stepped closer to him. “Do you honestly think I haven’t seen you watching me since I was sixteen? Admiring me even more at eighteen? Checking me out downstairs now, at twenty-one? You want me, too—you just don’t want to admit it to yourself.”
Luke shook his head. “You make me sound like a creep. I’m way too old for you and this can’t go further for reasons you’re too young to understand. Find a boy your own age.”
Kyra huffed. “I can’t believe you’re acting like this right now. If you think I won’t try this again, you’ve got another thing coming.”
