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“Janie, you’re just in time for the gifts. They’re opening them in the family room,” Jennifer said, appearing from behind them.
Probably, Jennifer had been the most recent eavesdropper. Jane blushed to think of anyone overhearing the conversation about Brad—making out with Luke, no problem, but the last thing she wanted her sisters knowing was that she’d been silently pining after the same guy since college. Had they been speaking loudly enough for anyone outside the door to hear? She couldn’t remember. She’d been too keyed up on lust to pay attention to her volume.
They followed guests into the next room, where people were already gathered around a big pile of gifts on the coffee table. Heather and Michael were perched on a sofa, unwrapping a box that looked to be some kind of crystal serving tray. Once the gift was opened, people made appropriate oohing and aahing sounds, and Jane glanced over at Luke to find him studying her. He kept his gaze leveled on her, and after a few moments she looked away again. Fine, he’d won the staring contest, if that’s what he wanted.
She immediately searched out Brad again and spotted him standing on the other side of the sofa. Their eyes met, and he smiled. Not a friendly I-barely-know-you smile, but a flirtatious, you’re-kinda-cute smile, if she weren’t mistaken.
Jane’s insides did a weird quaky thing, something halfway between giddiness and the urge to barf, and she looked away quickly before Luke could accuse her of panting again. After a few more minutes of watching paper being torn from boxes and her sister making up charming comment after comment about the endless array of gifts, Jane felt a tap on her shoulder. Lacey was standing there.
She leaned in and whispered, “We need to talk in the kitchen.”
Jane followed her sister out of the crowd, and into the kitchen where a few caterers were still scurrying around putting finger foods on trays.
“What’s up?”
“What is going on with you and Luke Nicoletti?”
Jane shrugged, hoping she looked nonchalant. “Nothing serious.”
Lacey was the most perceptive of the triplets, especially when people were hiding something from her. “You were in the bathroom with him for twenty minutes.”
“You were timing it?”
“He doesn’t seem like your type. You always date brainy guys, not megababes like Luke.”
“I date all different types of men—and what makes you think Luke isn’t gorgeous and intelligent?”
Lacey narrowed her eyes at Jane, clearly aware there was more to the story than what Jane had told her so far.
“Heather said he’s your bodyguard—and he’s sleeping with you? Who knew having a bodyguard came with such perks.”
“For one thing, we’re not sleeping together, and for another, why are you so interested?”
“I’m just curious, that’s all. I guess I need something to distract me from my own problems.”
Like what? Split ends? “What’s wrong?” Jane asked, dutifully donning her big-sister hat then.
“It’s Jennifer. She knows I’m interested in Mike’s friend, Eli, and she’s going after him herself!”
“Eli, one of the groomsmen in the wedding?”
“Yes. They’ve been flirting with each other all night. I’m going to kill her.”
Oh boy, this was serious. The triplets almost never broke rank, and for a guy to come between them—it was unprecedented.
“You actually told Jennifer you were attracted to Eli?”
“Yes!”
“What, exactly, did you say?”
Lacey bit her lip and thought for a few moments. “I said, ‘That one’s hotter than a Texas summer.’”
That did sound like something Lacey would say. “Have you told Jennifer how you feel about her flirting with him?”
“He came over to the house last week with Mike, and she was flirting with him then, too, so I told her to back off, and she acted like she didn’t know what I was talking about.”
“Well, for Jennifer, flirting comes as naturally as breathing, so maybe she doesn’t realize she’s doing it.”
“That’s a load, and you know it. She’s just trying to get even with me because I’m looking into getting breast implants.”
Jane blinked, making a conscious effort not to look horrified. Telling Lacey not to do something was the same as daring her to do it. “Hmm. Have you researched the health risks of breast implants?”
Lacey waved one perfectly manicured hand in the air. “The doctor says they’re perfectly safe, so don’t start lecturing me. I need to know what to do about Jennifer.”
“Why don’t you just start flirting with Eli yourself and let him choose which of you he’s interested in?” Lame advice, but Jane was too baffled to think of anything more helpful at the moment.
