Wanted a dark room and their naked bodies pressed together. Wanted her hands on him because he just knew the kind of pleasure they’d bring. He wanted to know the taste and smell of her skin, and he wanted to watch her expression when she came apart on his tongue.
Her phone buzzed on the counter, snapping him out of his filthy thoughts. Glancing at the screen, she immediately wiped her hands on her apron and picked it up. “Mom?” Her eyes went wide. “What should I do?” She quickly put the cream back in the refrigerator. “Of course. Let me clean up here super quick, and I’ll be right over. Wait, do I have time, or should I come right now?” With one hand, she untied the apron and pulled it over her head. “Right. That was stupid. Okay, on my way.” She set down the phone and gave him a comical expression of surprise. “Coco’s in labor. They’re on their way to the hospital. Look at me.” She held out a hand to him. “I’m shaking.” She looked at the mess she’d made.
“I got it.”
She looked surprised. “You sure?”
“Absolutely. Give me the key, and I’ll lock up.” He remembered what that guy on the porch had said. “I’ll double lock the door.”
Lulu threw herself into his arms, and her sweet feminine scent enveloped him. “Thank you so much. I loved talking to you tonight.”
And then she was out the door, leaving him wondering if he’d ever get the chance to see her again.
Chapter Five
Not wanting to wake up her six-year-old niece by ringing the bell, Lulu peered through the window of her sister’s adorable Craftsman house. A single lamp beside the leather couch cast a pool of yellow light on the hardwood floor.
Gigi and Cassian sat cuddled up together. He played with her hair, listening intently as she told him a story.
Lulu’s heart twisted with yearning.
She’d longed for that kind of relationship her entire life. She wanted so badly to find her special someone.
Someone like Xander.
Not him, of course. Obviously. He’s only passing through. But someone she could have good conversations with…whose touch sent a shock through her body.
Gigi laughed, getting up on her knees and wrapping both arms around her fiancé’s neck to kiss him. He grabbed her bottom and hauled her onto his lap.
They were so happy.
Back in high school, when her dad was mentoring Cassian, her sister would always find excuses to hang around them. They’d pretended to just be good friends, but anyone could see how much they’d wanted each other. Her dad, though, had worried Gigi would give up her own dreams to follow Cassian’s career in the NFL, so he’d kept them apart.
Lulu was glad they’d found their way back to each other, but she couldn’t help the squeeze of envy. She loved her family, loved her career, she had a couple of good, close friends, but nothing filled that awful sense of being alone in the world. Because in the end, her parents had each other, her sisters and friends had boyfriends and husbands, and Lulu was on her own.
Quietly, she let herself into the house. Her sister sat up, her expression brightening.
Barefoot, in leggings and a sweatshirt, Gigi hurried to greet her. “Hey.” She gave her a hug. “You got here fast.”
“Mom said to come right away. Any news?”
Gigi shook her head. “Coco’s probably not even checked into her room yet.”
“Posie’s asleep?” She’d spent so much time overseas she hadn’t gotten to know her niece very well. She was a little intimidated about babysitting.
“Out like a light, so she doesn’t know yet.”
Meaning, if the six-year-old knew, she’d be pitching a fit to be at the hospital with her parents. Posie was dying to meet her new sister.
“Big night in the Cavanaugh family. Your concert and now a second niece.”
“Uh, my show at the Owl Hoot Amphitheater’s not in the same ballpark as Coco having a baby.”
“But it was a great concert.” Cassian slung an arm around Gigi’s shoulders and kissed her cheek.
“Thanks, love.” She touched Lulu’s arm. “Mom said you weren’t home when she got the call from Coco, but I know you left the party early. Where’d you go?”
“You know that project I was telling you about? I’m fine-tuning it.” She didn’t have a TV personality, so she figured if she memorized her scripts, she’d perform better during her live audition. The less she had to think about measuring ingredients, the more animated she could be while walking the audience through a recipe.
“In other words, you were in Chef Jonny’s kitchen.” Gigi said it with a teasing grin.
“Yep. And guess who stopped by for a visit?”
“Oh, God, don’t tell me it was Griffin.”
Weirdly, Lulu hadn’t even considered running into Chef Jonny’s son—and Cassian’s cousin. “No. Though, this guy’s just as broody and quiet.”
“Xander?” Cassian asked. “He talked to you?”
Gigi elbowed him. “Why do you sound so surprised?”
“I don’t know. He just keeps to himself. Even on the road, he’s always done his own thing.”
“They thought he was screwing around on his wife,” Gigi said. “Cassian and Xander hated each other.”
“Wife?” What? Why would he be hanging out with her if he were married?
She really shouldn’t be this disappointed in someone she’d just met.
“He’s divorced,” Gigi said.
“I didn’t hate him,” Cassian said. “The Wilders are all about family values, and he projects this righteous, moral face to the world, so it seemed a little hypocritical.”
Wait, she needed to know. “But he wasn’t? Cheating?”
“Turns out he wasn’t. But my point is that he never bothered correcting us.” Cassian hunched a shoulder. “That’s how little he talks—not even to defend himself. So, if he talked to you…”
“Lulu does that to people. Mom would be like, ‘Hey, can you guys run to the store real quick?’ I’d come home with milk and eggs, and Lulu would bring the lowdown on Trudy Jenkin’s divorce.” Her grin held affection. “People just confide in her. That’s her second best quality.”
“Second, huh? What’s my first?”
“Your passion. You inspire me.”
“Me?” Coming from her superstar sister that was a true compliment.
“Yep. Whenever I start to doubt myself, all I have to do is spend time around you, and I get all revved up and want to run back to my studio and immerse myself in words and melodies.”
“Wow…that’s…I had no idea.”
“That’s because we don’t spend nearly enough time together.” Her sister reached for her hand. “Promise me we’re going to hang out this summer?”
“Of course. I want that, too.”
“We never got to do that growing up, and it always made me sad.”
Cassian brushed a lock of hair off Gigi’s shoulder. “We should go.”
“Right. I have to get back in the studio. Everyone’s waiting for me.”