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.”
Luke’s eyes darkened in frustration. “Kyra, the truth is, although you’re beautiful on the inside, I could never be with a woman like you. You and I don’t mix, and as far as personalities go, I could never date someone who’s so surface. Besides, you need to do some more maturing and growing right now. There’s a man somewhere on this campus who would love a woman like you, but me? I’m looking for a woman with more substance right now.”
Kyra stepped back, his words shooting at her like piercing bullets. Blame it on her I-don’t-care attitude, but it wasn’t the first time someone had assumed she didn’t have much substance. She just never expected it to come from Luke.
“Get the hell out of my room,” she spat. “Right. Now.”
Luke shot her a look of sympathy, as if he wanted to take back his words. Kyra wanted to tell him it was no use. She’d already heard them and although she wished they hadn’t hurt, they did.
He mumbled something when he neared the door, but she couldn’t make out what he’d said. The minute he shut the door, she succumbed to the tears she’d been holding. She cried over his false assumptions about her character. She cried because her decade-long crush was now over. But even more upsetting, she cried for the amazing man who’d just broken her heart in two, because there was no way Luke could take back those words. They were tattooed on her brain and after she picked herself up from this heartbreak, she’d be smart to remind herself that this situation would be the last time she let a man make her feel as though she was unworthy of love.
Chapter 1
Ten years later...
“I don’t care how many winters I spend here, this will never feel like Christmas,” Kyra Reed huffed as she flicked her finger at the small Santa figurine that sat next to the register at Bare Sophistication Boutique and Boudoir Studio in Hollywood.
Kyra always thought it was crazy that right after Halloween, Christmas decorations were immediately put up. That was too soon in her book. However, since she worked in retail, she had to follow the wacky tradition.
“It doesn’t seem much different to me,” Aaliyah Bai-Burrstone, her pregnant ex-coworker, said. “Feels more like Christmas here than when I’m back home.”
“That’s because our husbands are our home,” Nicole explained. “Plus, we’re from Miami and I’m sure Kyra was talking about the fact that in Chicago, she’s used to all that snow during this time of year.”
When Nicole LeBlanc-Burrstone wasn’t working at the production company she owned with her husband, Kendrick, she was at the boutique doing makeup and hair for the boudoir studio. Nicole and Aaliyah had originally worked at Bare Sophistication Miami. However, when the owners of the boutique chain decided to open an office in Hollywood, both of them, along with Kyra, who was working at the shop in Chicago, had decided to move to Cali.
Nicole and Aaliyah had also both married cousins and while Aaliyah still popped in every now and then to do boudoir photoshoots, she was now pursuing her dream as a professional photographer, traveling around the world with her husband, Bryant, whenever they got the chance.
“That’s exactl
y what I mean,” Kyra said, smiling at the way Aaliyah rubbed her protruding belly. “Personally, I can’t stand the snow. But back in Chicago, the first snowfall was a clear indication that Christmas was right around the corner. I mean, I’ve seen more Santas dressed in swim trucks than I have in fluffy red suits.”
“Yeah, that part is weird,” Nicole said. “Cali seems to be infatuated with Surfboard Santa. It’s not like that in Miami.”
Aaliyah made a strained sound, causing Kyra and Nicole to turn her way.
“Are you okay?” Kyra asked.
Aaliyah nodded her head. “I’m good. Just wishing baby Burrstone would calm down today so I can help you both pack. He or she seems to want me sitting still with little movement.”
“We got this,” Nicole said. “You just rest.”
“And let us do all the work?” Kyra laughed. “I honestly can’t believe that after only a few years, we are switching locations, but I’m excited for this change.”
Nicole glanced around at a couple half-filled boxes. “Are you sure we should be packing these up? We don’t even have a new location for the shop yet.”
Although Kyra loved the location of the current shop, when her sisters-in-law, Winter and Autumn, had visited her in Hollywood, she’d pitched her idea of expansion and, thankfully, they’d agreed that their quaint Hollywood shop had outgrown the space it was in.
“I’ve checked our inventory and I don’t think we need to put out these items until spring. I plan on finding the perfect location before New Year’s so we can jump-start the New Year with a bang!”
“What about your apartment?” Aaliyah asked. “Isn’t your lease up soon, too?”
Kyra sighed as she continued to pack the box full of lingerie. “Yeah, which sucks because I should have started looking for a new place months ago.”
“You can stay with us until you find somewhere,” Nicole suggested.
“I’m good, but thanks, Nic.”
“Or Bryant and I,” Aaliyah offered.
Kyra glanced down at her friend’s belly. “Ah, no. Definitely not. I love y’all, but you and Bryant need to enjoy the time you have before that baby pops out of your belly. Plus, you will not be using me as a babysitter if it takes me too long to find a place.”
“Shoot,” Aaliyah muttered, snapping her fingers.
“I’m sorry we can’t be more involved in the move,” Nicole said. “But I know a couple good Realtors in the area, so I could reach out to them and set up some more appointments.”
Kyra shrugged. “It’s no big deal. You’re both newly married and, Nic, you have your beautiful baby girl, who is top priority. And that’s not to mention your production company. And Aaliyah, you’re a soon-to-be mom and have a ton of photography gigs lined up. I’m excited for more responsibility at Bare Sophistication and Taheim already said he knew a real-estate agent here who could help me. As a matter of fact—” she stumbled, removing her phone from the back pocket of her jeans “—he asked me to call him tonight since we’re closing early. Leave it to me to forget. Do y’all mind?”
Aaliyah and Nicole both nodded their heads as Kyra began to dial her brother’s number. He picked up on the third ring.
“Sis, I was hoping you remembered to call me.”
“I almost forgot,” she said with a laugh. “How are Winter and the kids?”
“Good, good. Everyone’s good. But listen, I know you’re in a time crunch to find a new location for the shop and are looking to buy a condo. You’re trying to do this all before the New Year, right?”
“Yes, I am. I was aiming for before Christmas, but I haven’t even started looking yet with less than two months to go.”
“You know, Winter and Autumn will understand if you can’t find a shop before then. These things usually take at least half a year.”
“I know they’d understand, but I at least want to try and find something. I promised them I would manage this expansion and I want to keep my word.”
Taheim laughed. “I figured you would say that. Which is why I called in a favor to have one of the top real-estate agents in the game to help you out.”
Kyra perked up. “Okay, big brother, enough with the secrecy. Who is it?”
“Luke O’Connor,” Taheim said proudly. “You remember Luke, right? One of my guys. Last you saw him was probably at my wedding.”
Kyra frowned. Luke O’Connor. Did she remember Luke? Of course she did. All sexually frustrating wish-I-could-knee-him-in-the-balls-for-rejecting-me Luke. “Uh, yeah, I remember Luke. But I thought you mentioned last year that he’d moved to London?”
“He did, but he surprised us by coming back. In fact, he just moved to LA a couple months ago.”
Kyra swallowed hard. “He—he lives here? In LA?”
“He does. What are the odds you’d both end up in the same city, right?”
“Yeah,” she said, her voice cracking. “What are the odds?” She glanced at Nicole and Aaliyah in time to see them share a curious look.
“Yes, he’s living there and from what he’s told me, he just opened the new O’Connor Realty Group office with his younger brother.”
Kyra shook her head. “Wait, Luke has a younger brother?”
“Sure does. His pops never told him. He only found out he existed a couple years ago. They’ve been building their relationship and his brother is from LA, so moving there felt right.”
“Did his girlfriend move here, too?”
“What girlfriend?” Taheim asked. “If you’re talking about the one he dated a few years ago, they broke up a while back.”
Broke up? I really haven’t been focused on his life like I used to be. In other words, she hadn’t done any social-media stalking in a while.
Kyra pinched the bridge of her nose. “Okay, so, Luke agreed to help me find two locations. Are you sure he even has time since he just opened his office?”
“Yeah, he has time. You know how we do in Chicago. We look out for each other. Living in Cali doesn’t matter.”
Kyra waved her hands. “Taheim, if you haven’t talked to him yet, you don’t have to. Nicole actually knows a couple of great real-estate agents.”
“Sis, I said I called in a favor, remember? So there’s no need,” Taheim said. “As a matter of fact, that’s him on the other line. I’ll hit you up after, sis.”
“No, wait. Taheim.” She called his name, but it was too late. Kyra tossed her phone to the side and dropped her head into her hands. “This cannot be happening.”
“Okay, who is Luke and why is he causing you to look so distraught?” Nicole asked.
“Yeah, I can’t tell if you want to cry or throw up,” Aaliyah added.
Kyra lifted her head. “Definitely throw up. Y’all know me. I’d never cry over a man.”
Nicole nodded her head. “True. Then what gives?”
Kyra bit her bottom lip. “Back in the day, I used to have a crush on this guy, Luke. A part of me thought he even knew it, and at one point, it seemed like maybe he felt the same way. So I asked him, point-blank. And he told me he didn’t. So I guess you can say that Luke is the man I always wanted to be with, but couldn’t.”
Aaliyah shot her a look of sympathy. “And knowing you, there’s more to the story that you aren’t telling us.”
Instead of responding, Kyra just looked away. “There’s always more to every sad love story, isn’t there?” And unfortunately, hers wasn’t the type of self-reflection she wanted to have this close to the holidays.
* * *
“I’m sorry, what was the favor you needed again?” Luke had heard loud and clear what Taheim had asked him, but he needed to hear it again. Just for clarification.
“Man, your head must be in the clouds,” Taheim said with a laugh. “I was just asking if you could help out Kyra. She’s looking for a new location for the boutique and a condo for
herself. She’s short on time because she’s trying to purchase both before the New Year.”
Kyra Reed needs my help. Yeah, he’d heard him right. “I don’t know, man. Are you sure she needs my help? Maybe she already has a real-estate agent to help her.”
“She doesn’t,” he said. “I told her you would be the best man for the job. I know you already got a load of clients, but are any looking for large real estate? Finding a place for the new Bare Sophistication office could be good for you, right?”
Luke frowned, rubbing his forehead. Although he’d landed some great clients since opening a couple of weeks ago, he’d given most of them to his younger brother, Nash, so he could focus on other aspects of the business.
But there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for her. Even if that meant spending time with her when he’d made a promise to avoid her as much as he could since he’d just moved to LA.
“Okay, man. I’ll hit her up so we can meet. Text me her number.”
“Thanks, Luke,” Taheim said. “This means a lot.” They chatted for a few more minutes before ending the call.
“Damn,” Luke muttered, leaning back in his desk chair. He shouldn’t have been at the office so late, anyway, but he didn’t quite feel at home at Nash’s place yet. Nash had insisted that he stay with him when he learned he was living at a hotel until he found his own place. Reluctantly, Luke had agreed, but damn, he liked having his own place and his own space. Besides, he was only going to be in LA for the next six months or so. Luke had offices in his Chicago hometown as well as New York, but until he showed Nash the ropes of running the LA office, he’d be living here.
Standing up to finally gather his belongings and leave for the day, Luke wondered if Kyra was as cool with him helping her as Taheim had made it seem. The last time they’d truly spoken was at Taheim and Winter’s wedding, and Kyra had made it very clear that he was the last person on earth she wanted to see.
When he reached his car, he called the number Taheim had sent him. Surprisingly, she answered on the second ring.
“Hello?” Her sexy voice filled the line, making him lose his train of thought. Why does she always sound like that? It was a mixture of sultry and breathless, making his thoughts anything but PG-13.
Her Christmas Wish ; Designed by Love Page 2
