Unwrapping Mr. Wright

“I was hired to make Wright Solutions a prominent player, with growth like that of Microsoft in the 1990s. To do this, Wright Solutions needs to do many things besides the Christmas party. Next year I plan to—”

“Whatever. As you said, Jared gave you control of the Christmas party. Just don’t overspend your budget or you’ll answer to me.” Justin had cut her off as though the conversation had suddenly become irrelevant and now bored him. Lauren’s jaw dropped at his boorishness, though she quickly recovered and closed her mouth. Never had the despicable Mr. Wright been this rude.

This time, though, he didn’t look at her again or explain his actions. He glanced at his watch and turned his attention to Clint. “It’s your budget for next year, Clint. If you think including the projects Lauren is about to tell me about—again—is the way to go, fine. Let her run with them. I’ll expect a full report on my desk in two weeks regarding your plans for the new year. Before I go, are we still on for poker tonight?”

Clint grinned, the grin of someone secure about being in the inner circle, the grin of someone who had been friends with the three Wright brothers ever since high school. “Me miss a Friday-night poker bash? Never. We’re definitely on. My place tonight.”

“Super. I’ll see you at seven.” With that, Justin Wright stood and, without another word or glance in Lauren’s direction, left the conference room.

Good riddance, Lauren thought as he disappeared from sight. Never had she met a man so temperamentally different from his brothers.

Justin’s elder brother, Jared, was kind and gentle, yet steely and strong. Justin’s twin, Jeff, was puppy-dog adorable, the type of guy that a girl just wanted to hug and take care of. He was safe, predictable, the kind of man a girl looked for after being burned once too often by Mr. Wrong. It didn’t hurt that he wasn’t bad looking, either. Not as hot or handsome as his twin brother—few men were like Justin Wright—but Jeff was near enough. And he didn’t have Justin’s attitude, which made Jeff a much better catch.

Lauren knew how safe and wonderful Jeff was because she had lived next to him for the past three years. Her condo shared a wall with Jeff’s and he’d been the one to tell her about the new position at Wright Solutions that his twin had reluctantly created.

Of course, if from the beginning Lauren had realized she would be working this closely with the condescending womanizer, she might not have even considered the job. She picked up her pad of paper, her candy-cane pen and, after everyone else preceded her, left the conference room.

Oh, who was she kidding? Even she had to admit that despite Justin Wright, this job was perfect for her talents and her media communications degree from Webster University.

Instead of being one of twenty PR specialists doing mindless press releases and endless corporate brochures the way she had been at Simons and Simmons Public Relations, here at Wright Solutions she had the chance to really make a difference. She was a hometown girl and she could grow with a hometown company.

Clint aside, Lauren was the PR department, and the future and her private stock options had an unlimited ceiling. And then there was the best perk of all—working with Jeff Wright, man of her dreams. Jeff was the company’s first responder to any computer or software crisis. She made a quick stop in the copy room, picked up a stack of file folders and walked to her small office, with its lovely view of the parking lot and the building next door.

Speak of the devil.

“So how’d it go?” Jeff leaned against her doorjamb. He and Justin were easy to tell apart once you got to know them: Jeff had a softer face, different from the harder edged face that made girls swoon over his twin. Jeff’s chin rounded more than Justin’s more square one, and Jeff’s Roman nose was crooked from being broken in a long-ago hockey game. Although they both had green eyes, Justin’s were a dark emerald shade, whereas Jeff’s were the color of light green cellophane.

Lauren flashed Jeff her best dazzling smile. “Great.”

“Super,” Jeff said. He didn’t notice or mention her fitted red Christmas sweater, which she’d worn just for him. “Hopefully, it wasn’t too bad. Justin really is taking this running-the-show stuff seriously while Jared’s gone. Hey, I’m going to be working late tonight and I need a favor. Could you iron my blue pinstripe?”

Lauren’s gut clenched, but she covered her reaction by simply raising an eyebrow. “Have a date?”

Jeff grinned and Lauren’s heart softened. She recognized that grin. “Sort of. Tomorrow night’s Mom’s birthday. We’re taking her out to Tony’s to celebrate.”

“All of you? Tony’s is fancy. Suit coat, tie—the works. You’re sure?”

Jeff nodded. “Yeah, well, it is for Mom. And it’ll be all of us except for Jared. You know, I don’t get my older brother. Who would go on a honeymoon for a month and then extend it by another four weeks?”

“I would if I found the right man,” Lauren said. “Sun, surf and…” She left the word sex unsaid.

Jeff arched a strawberry-blond eyebrow at her. In Lauren’s opinion, Jeff had the most handsome shade of red hair—not too red, nor too orangy blond. It was simply perfect. With his twinkling green eyes, he’d won a St. Patrick’s Day “dress as a leprechaun” contest once. That Justin’s hair was the same gorgeous color was irrelevant.

“Yeah, I guess you girls would want to keep a guy out of commission that long. It wouldn’t be so bad if I could bring my laptop, but Jared doesn’t even turn his on every day. Like I said, I just don’t get him.” Jeff shrugged his broad shoulders for emphasis, indicating exactly how foolish he thought his madly-in-love elder brother was.

“Anyway, just grab the shirt—you know the one—out of my closet. I’ve got some software to finish writing and I doubt I’ll even make it home until well past midnight.”

Lauren adored that Jeff was such a committed computer geek. Not that he looked or acted like it, but given a choice of dating or programming, the computer won hands down every time. Jeff always maintained that computers were a lot simpler to deal with than women. Justin, however, was the opposite.

“Want me to leave you some dinner?” she asked. “Something to microwave? I’ll put it in your refrigerator when I return your shirt.”

Jeff gave her an appreciative smile. “That would be great. You know I always forget to eat when I get caught up in work. What would I do without you? You’re such a pal, Lauren.” He shifted, and she could tell he itched to return to his computer and the program he was writing. “I’ll catch you later, okay?”

“Sure,” Lauren said. She watched a whistling Jeff walk away until he disappeared around a corner. Unlike his annoying brother, Jeff Wright was a dream. In the past three years, he’d become her best friend. They talked constantly and shared things like chores and food. She sighed suddenly and plucked a fuzzy piece of red lint off her sweater. Everyone in the office said red was her color, but Jeff hadn’t even noticed.

She frowned as a sense of disquiet came over her. After three years, one would have expected a little more from their relationship. It should have changed somehow, some way. They were friends; they got along great; they’d each been burned once or twice. That made them perfect for each other—they’d have the kind of relationship based on mutual respect, with some love and attention thrown in.

Except that the love and attention were still sadly lacking.

Right then and there she decided that Jeff Wright needed to notice her, really notice her. Couldn’t he see how perfect they’d be together?

But then, Jeff Wright was often a man with blinders on. When he focused on a computer problem he could be so one-tracked that he would forget to eat. Not once, though, had he made any type of move on her. He’d always treated her chivalrously, as if she was a treasured friend. His cryptic words suddenly resounded in her ears: “You’re such a pal, Lauren.”

A pal. She was a pal. P-A-L, which could stand for Pitiful Always-Around Lauren. Lauren controlled the sudden raw anger that consumed her. Jeff probably didn’t even have a clue that she was interested in taking their relationship further. She was like a properly functioning computer—taken for granted and low maintenance.

At twenty-eight, she didn’t want to be Jeff’s pal any longer. She wanted to be the girlfriend! Wanted to be the hot sexy one he couldn’t refuse or resist. While her biological clock wasn’t exactly ticking—okay, maybe a little—she did want the whole shebang: marriage, career and family.

She wanted Jeff Wright. She didn’t know if they’d have any chemistry, but who cared? She’d been there, done that. Passion flared and burned out. It was stability she craved now in a twosome, and that was Jeff. She’d waited long enough for Mr. Secure and Safe to notice her. She’d have to be the one to make a move.

“Do you always hang out in doorways?” Justin Wright appeared in the hall between her office and the cubicles in the center of the building; a dubious look on his face. Just how long had he been there? He glanced upward as he inched toward the opposite wall. “Well, not that. I don’t see any mistletoe.”

Did he think she was that desperate? “I’m being creative,” she retorted—the first reply that came to her lips. “And, yes, you pay me for that.” She heard him laugh as she entered her office and shut the door behind her decisively.

Lauren tossed the file folders onto her desk. The candy-cane pen fell to the floor. Jeff’s words again rang in her ears, this time louder than the church bells on Christmas morning. You’re a pal, Lauren. A pal.

Oh, how she hated that phrase. Just how many times had she heard those exact words or their variation in the years since high school? How many times had she been told, “You’re a great friend, Lauren, but I just don’t want you the way I want—” Every guy said the same thing; the only thing that changed was the girl’s name. And the one man who hadn’t—he was still a lesson in heartache that she never wanted to repeat.

Lauren stomped her foot with newfound determination. She sat down in her overstuffed desk chair and reached into the desk drawer. Her fingers fished in her purse for the mirror she knew she had but rarely used. Moving it at various angles, she took stock of herself. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Boring makeup. Practical business attire except for the red sweater. All told, nothing to write home about. The woman she could only see in bits and pieces in the looking glass was not a girl for a guy to get excited about.

And to hook Jeff Wright, she had to get him excited. She’d seen him with a few bimbos over the years. The relationships never lasted long, maybe a week or two before his interest waned or they tired of his job coming first.

Most of his women had one thing in common: they were blond. Insight hit her. Maybe that was what she needed. Hair color. Tweezed eyebrows. Pouty red lips. Those things certainly couldn’t hurt. Beauty and brains in one sexy, irresistible package. Perhaps if she just spiced up the package—like spicing up a résumé or making a computer run faster—she could catch Jeff Wright.

The Yellow Pages thumped open as Lauren flipped to the beauty parlor listings. She ran her finger down the black print, her gaze searching for the day-spa salon that did all those makeovers for the local news channel. The door to her office opened.

Lauren’s head shot up and she quickly closed the phone book, keeping her arm inside it to hold her place. In this position she was bent over at an ungodly angle, her right hip jutting out. “Yes?”

“You seemed upset about something earlier,” Justin said as he entered her office. “I thought I’d stop in and see if I’d offended you in some way, or at least more than I usually do. If I did, I want to apologize. I haven’t caught you at a bad time, have I?”

Lauren shifted a little, covering any telltale clues that might reveal her makeover goals. “Uh, no. And no, I’m not upset at all,” Lauren replied. She added a wide smile to make her lie convincing. Hopefully, he’d get a clue and leave. Justin cocked his head. He didn’t look too persuaded and he made no move to go back out the door.

She knew how silly she must appear with her arm stuck in a phone book and her rear end sticking up. Her face flushed as it heated under Justin’s appraising stare. “Um, apology accepted, not that there was a need,” she added to the lie—anything to get him out of her office.

“Did you have anything else?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Justin said slowly. Lauren’s arm started to numb and she again shifted under his intent appraisal. “I’d just realized that I didn’t tell you I had an overseas call scheduled, which is why I left the meeting so abruptly. I didn’t want you to think I was being rude when I cut you off in the conference room today.”

He was worried about being rude? Please. After six months of working with him, it was a little too late for worrying about that. The man defined rude. Lauren struggled to stop herself from laughing at the bitter irony. She managed to keep her tone sarcasm-free as she said, “No problem. Our constant sparring keeps my job interesting. Honestly.”