Wrapped in Lace Read Online Free PDF

mansion. I was teaching kids how to paint with brushes instead of their fingers—hardly the same caliber.
    “You two always were such a great team.” Granddaddy winked at us, then he started reminiscing about our childhood days when Drew and I were best friends, how we played outside together for hours, making mud pies and catching fireflies, how we rode our bikes all over town and played on the same baseball team.
    I glanced over at Drew, who was smiling. It seemed he had fond memories of our carefree childhood days growing up together—before our night of binge drinking and sexual tension. He wiped his face with his napkin before lowering it to his lap and slowly placed his hand down on my thigh. I knew I jumped just slightly. What the hell was he doing? I tried to push his hand away, but couldn’t without the entire table noticing.
    I felt like everyone could see how hot I was, and I knew my face was flushed. He wasn’t letting up, either, not that I really wanted him to. I couldn’t remember ever having a stronger physical reaction to a man, but this was Drew , my childhood friend. It was different in the broad, sober daylight, now that names and over a decade of history were involved. I glanced his way, seeing him smirking at my predicament. I smirked back, deciding to beat him at his own game. If he wanted to play, then I was going to play. And I planned on winning.
    I slid off my shoe and moved my foot to his leg. His knee jerked up at the contact, and I placed my hand firmly on his thigh to stop him from hitting the table. I ran my toes around his ankle and the bare skin of his foot. He tried again to kick me away, but I lifted his jeans slightly with my toe and ran my foot up his calf. He shifted in his chair, and I smiled broadly, pretending to be interested in my granddaddy’s storytelling. But Drew wasn’t backing down. His hand slid higher, pulling my dress up, and his fingers gently tickled the bare skin of my thigh. I could tell he wasn’t going to give in first. He was having too much fun, but so was I.
    “How bad do you want to be?” he whispered, leaning into my ear.
    I responded by sliding my hand up his thigh, but he only smiled at me. I was losing our little chess match. The way I saw it, I had two choices – allow him to tease me until I was even more sexually frustrated, or go big and beat him at his own game. The latter sounded better, so I moved my hand higher, grazing the bulge in his jeans. Holy hell, he was hard and huge.
    He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath before taking my hand in his and holding it tightly beneath the table. “You win.”
    “Mommy, can we do the cupcakes now?” Jack asked, bouncing up and down in his chair.
    Ellie looked at Drew for some reason. “Um. . . . I think maybe we’ll do that later.”
    “Oh, come on, babe,” Rob said. “We’ve been waiting all day.”
    “Must be some special cupcakes,” I said, winking at Jack.
    “They are,” he said, and his face lit up. “The cupcake is going to tell me if I’m getting a baby brother or a baby sister. I’ve been waiting forever.”
    “I just found out today,” Ellie said, throwing another glance at Drew.
    Now everyone’s eyes were on Drew. I wasn’t sure why all the looks were getting thrown around. “I think maybe your mommy’s right,” Gwyneth said.
    “Really?” Rob barked. “I’ve got to wait to find out if I’m having a son or daughter because. . . .”
    “I could use a cupcake,” Drew said, smiling at Jack, but his nails were digging into my hand. I wasn’t sure why he wouldn’t be excited to find out if he was having a niece or nephew. That wasn’t like the Drew I remember. The Drew I grew up with loved his family, especially his big brother. I wasn’t sure what had changed. “Can you grab me one, Jack?”
    Gwyneth mouthed, “Thank you,” to Drew, and he gave her a little nod, but he had a death grip on my hand under the table, away from prying eyes.
    Ellie and Jack