Birthday Wishes - The List: Book 1 Read Free

work on your birthday wish list, I thought you meant it metaphorically, not literally.” He led me smoothly through a song change. He was so comfortable on his feet I couldn’t help but wonder what it would take to unravel him just a bit.
    “Nope, no metaphors here.”
    “Had I known, I would have wrapped the package a little better.”
    I looked at his crotch reflexively and pictured his cock with a ribbon and bow tied around it. “It’s not too late, you know.”
    He placed a finger under my chin and tipped my head up. “Your mom is watching us.” He was totally laughing at me. Busted checking out my date’s goods by my mom. Unfortunately, my eyes needed to stay above the waist for the rest of the evening.
    “Fabulous. One more thing for her to ask about.”
    “I created family problems by coming here?”
    “Problem is too strong a word, but since my divorce. . .” I let the sentence hang. How could I explain my mom’s interest without making her look like a pushy nut job? In fairness, she was a little bit of a nut job, but I think that was just my biological clock ticking. I couldn’t hear it yet, but somehow it’d tapped into my mom’s system instead of mine. Children were not high on my list of concerns, but grandchildren topped hers.
    “Until your brother explained, I thought you were the one who gave me the address.”
    “I figured. Ricky likes to play. He didn’t mean any harm.” I gave my baby brother a raft of shit at any available opportunity, but just like any older sister, I’d be damned if I let someone else judge him harshly. It was my job to defend.
    “He cares about you.”
    “Mmm.” What else could I say? Admitting we liked one another is not something Ricky and I would ever do willingly. “You should tell me something about yourself,” I said, “like what you do for a living.” My mom was going to ask and I couldn’t just say I don’t know, Mom. I want to fuck him, not marry him .
    “I’m an actuary.” He smiled like I wouldn’t know what that meant. I didn’t.
    “What the hell is that?”
    “Half mathematician, half fortune-teller.” He shrugged.
    His answer told me nothing, but I nodded like I understood. It sounded boring and I was certain the details would make it worse.
    “I’m a caterer.” I didn’t clarify. Everyone knows what a caterer is. No mysteries there.
    “Did you cater your own party?”
    “Looks like it.” The chairs had Zapata and Carelli stamped on the back of them. It didn’t take much of a leap to conclude everything else came from our warehouse. “Rachel, the one cutting the cake earlier, is my partner.”
    “Tell me where we met. Someone is bound to ask.”
    He was right, my mom would want to know. I didn’t have the wherewithal to remember a created history, so I opted for the truth. “We met online.” We could clean up the details. She didn’t need to know everything .
    He pulled me close and pressed his lips to my ear. “Heads up. Here comes your mom.” He turned until our positions were reversed and I could see her approach over his shoulder.
    “Oh, hell. Are you ready? She’s coming for you, not me.” What better place to interrogate Luca than on the dance floor where he was a captive audience of one.
    As predicted, my mom smiled like a shark and tapped me on the shoulder. “May I cut in?”
    “Um.” I didn’t want to sacrifice Luca, even if he did deserve it for coming here in the first place. Actually, no, in that equation, I wanted to sacrifice Ricky for inviting him.
    “I’d be delighted.” Luca released me with a wink and kiss to my cheek, then swept my mom up into his arms and away into the dancing crowd. I missed his heat instantly.
    Rachel was on me the second I stepped off the dance floor. “So, dish.”
    I sighed. At this point, my dirty little secret was public knowledge, there was no point holding back. Rachel had an annoying habit of getting what she wanted from me regardless of how much I resisted. It