Hot and Bothered (Hot in the Kitchen) Read Online Free PDF

time to make things happen.
    Getting a place of her own was step one, and Jules had taken care of that a month ago when she’d moved into Shane’s old flat above DeLuca’s. The thought of what she needed to do next scared her silly, but she had to step up. And she was going to need the support of her friends and family, starting with the women before her.
    She sucked in a bolstering breath and pushed it out quickly.
    “I’m going to start dating.”
    Cara’s sapphire blue eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “That’s fantastic! Any help you need, I’m your woman. Seriously.”
    “This is going to be so much fun, girl,” Lili added with a sly smile.
    Jules sighed in relief. She had known that they would be supportive, but hearing it spoken aloud warmed her heart.
    Cara was already tapping on her phone. “There are so many options. We’ll just set up a few online profiles and watch them come begging.”
    “You’ll need a photo. A glamour shot.” Lili squared off her fingers, lining Jules up in her imaginary viewfinder. “We’re gonna make you look so fine.”
    This was moving faster than she expected but it felt so good to be doing something. How long had it been since she felt anything remotely close to glamorous? Or proactive? It was time to stop being a coward and grab life by the balls, preferably ones that were attached to a hot guy who would treat her the way she deserved.
    The girls chattered on about what needed to be done to get Jules ready for liftoff. Salon appointments, shopping excursions, her “requirements in a mate” list. Jules suppressed a manic giggle. Oh, God, she was doing this.
    And her brother was going to hate it. Not idly, she wondered how someone else might feel but she quickly boxed that up and dumped it in her brain’s attic.
    Imagining Jack’s reaction checked her glee a little, but she’d worry about that later. “Can we keep it on the down-low for the moment? Somehow I don’t think my brother’s going to be as cool with it as you are.” She placed her palm on the handle of the restroom door and pulled it ajar.
    Cara snorted. “Like it’s any of his business.”
    A familiar worry crinkle bisected Lili’s brow, but her concern soon morphed into a conspiratorial wink. “Don’t worry about Jack. I’ll break it to him gently later on.”
    Smiling her thanks, Jules opened the door wider and— bollocks —found her brother standing scarily still with head cocked and brow as dark as an Atlantic storm.
    Of course.
    “Break what to me gently?”
    Chapter Two
     
    If you want to find out the worth of a man, put a woman in front of him. —Italian proverbStarting out on the back foot was so not how she wanted this conversation to go down. No one said a word as the air, already shimmering with tension, was sucked into the vortex of Jack’s disapproval.
    “Is someone going to explain what needs to be broken to me gently?” Her brother threaded his arms across his chest in one of those I’m-not-budging moves.
    Jules tried to match him with her best unimpressed shrug. “I’m going to start dating.”
    Jack’s green-gold eyes, the one physical feature they had both inherited from their late mother, narrowed to slits. “And you thought I wouldn’t handle it well?” He looked over her shoulder to add Lili and Cara to the cozy circle of glaring. “You all thought that?”
    Jules imagined she could hear the heavy, creaking nods of the girls behind her and she nodded herself, feeling curiously hopeful.
    “Well, you were right,” her brother barked. “Is this why you moved out? So you could bring dates back to your flat?”
    So he was still pissed about that. Jack’s reaction when she’d told him she was moving out was the perfect example of why she had wanted to keep this dating idea to herself for a while. He worried about her constantly. He was crazy as a loon about Evan. But she needed to stand on her own two feet.
    “I moved out so I could have some privacy