The Wedding Gift Read Online Free PDF

Amelia.
    Some might argue that Jan had gotten less than her share. But they weren’t looking at her now. She’d always been lovely in Mick’s eyes, but tonight she sparkled. Like Cinderella dressed for the ball.
    Or rather, half dressed for the ball.
    His jaw tightened.
    The women fell into wedding talk, and Cody nudged him. “Pull in your horns,” he drawled. When Mick gaped, Cody gave him a pitying look. “You think it’s not obvious? Man, everybody knows.”
    Holy shit! Everybody?
    â€œEverybody but Jan,” Cody went on, like he’d read Mick’s thoughts. “Only because it never crossed her mind you’d be hot for her. But after tonight, she might figure differently.”
    â€œLike hell,” Mick snapped out. “I’d never take advantage of her.”
    Cody’s eyes widened. “I know that. What I meant was, when she takes that ”—he tipped his bottle in Jan’s direction—“out on the town, she’s gonna figure out fast that guys want what she’s got.”
    Mick’s throat constricted. Cody was right. Jan would be giddy, like a kid in a candy store. And being too inexperienced to distinguish the guys who were into her from the guys who only wanted to get into her, she was bound to throw herself away on the first smooth talker who came along.
    He couldn’t let that happen. And not because he was jealous.
    This wasn’t about jealousy. It was about all the things that could go wrong. Heartbreak, disease, date rape, unwanted pregnancy. Jan wouldn’t see any of them coming. As smart as she was, she was much too sweet to grasp the depravity of the average male.
    She’d blunder into the path of destruction like a fawn wandering out in front of a semi.
    T HE WAITRES S BROUGHT their drinks, and Jan sipped her key lime margarita. Sweet-and-sour deliciousness. She put it on the short list for New Jan’s signature cocktail.
    She slid it in front of Mick. “Wanna taste?”
    He took a sip. “Strong,” he said. “You better stick to one drink tonight.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Buzz kill.” But her heart went out to him. The poor guy was trying to process New Jan and it wasn’t computing.
    She cut him some slack because his heart was in the right place. And he was so sweet, not only to her, but to her family too, whom he’d known forever.
    He was even nice to her mother, though it meant biting his tongue. Mick was absolutely convinced that Jan’s mother guilted Jan into living with her. And to some extent that was true. But Jan knew that her fear of going out on her own had played a part in it too.
    And honestly, there’d been no pressing reason to leave. Her mother could be demanding, but she never hassled her about hanging out with Mick, probably because she knew that while Jan was busy with him, she wouldn’t be out falling in love with someone else who’d take her away from home.
    But everything was about to change. Spending time with Mick was all well and good, but now that she was serious about a relationship, she needed her own place. And it just so happened that New Jan had her eye on an apartment; small, but with great light, and located smack dab in the middle of Back Bay.
    Breaking it to her mother would be hard. And Mick would be stunned too. He was used to her being close by, free to grab a beer with their pals at O’Reilly’s, or kick back on his couch to binge watch The Walking Dead . He’d fall off his chair when she told him she’d lined up a place of her own.
    And that was just phase one of the New Jan plan. In phase two, her job as Julie’s administrative assistant was soon to turn into a career as Julie’s junior partner.
    A top Boston realtor, Julie had urged her for months to get her realtor’s license, and Jan had finally taken the test last week. That would be another surprise for Mick, who’d long complained she