Forbidden Fruit by Anne Rainey Page B

do the same thing.”
    Ava shook her head in denial of that statement, before looking down at the white skirt. She tugged at the hem, willing it to grow another inch. She’d never felt comfortable with her thighs showing.
    Not even in the dead of summer. It made her feel vulnerable and gangly. Somehow, it just seemed too intimate to have that much flesh on display. She was a throwback to the old spinster days, that’s what she was. And she’d never get Luke’s attention if she continued acting the maiden.
    “We made a deal, Jen,” Ava reminded her best bud. “I’m going to get Pete to the nightclub, but you are going to be the one to knock his socks off.”
    Ava knew that Jen had been enthralled by Pete for a long time.
    Maybe not as long as she’d been taken with Luke, but long enough.
    Jen was just too shy to make the first move. Apparently, Pete was too. Ava didn’t tell Jen that Pete had a thing for her. She, however, had seen the signs. Anytime Jen and Pete were in the same room together, Pete watched her. Stalked her with his eyes. Jen couldn’t stub a toe without Pete taking notice. But she knew Jen too well.
    If she had any inkling Pete wanted her she would back out. No, Friday night, Ava would get the pair in the same room together and let instincts and pheromones take it from there.
    “Well, I know for sure my brother is going to be begging your forgiveness the instant he sets his sights on you in that outfit, Ava.”
    She turned again and looked into the three-way mirror, seeing her reflection from every possible angle. The white skirt was clingy and short and undoubtedly sexy. Good thing she was in decent shape. All the time she spent going up to the high school, jogging the track before heading to work was now paying off.
    The pale pink silk blouse with its scooped neckline and billowy sleeves was just enough enhancement too. Not overblown, but quiet and delicate and feminine. And that was the plan, wasn’t it? To look, girly? She’d never attempted that sort of thing. From the time she was big enough to walk, she’d been a tomboy. She had played sports in school, had hung with the guys, and was more comfortable changing her own oil as opposed to watching demurely from the sidelines as some macho mechanic did it for her. And yet, she’d somehow made fast friends with the head of the cheerleading squad, Jen McGiffin.
    Ava was a senior in high school when the McGiffin’s had moved to town. Jen with her sweet smile and pretty, blond hair had nothing in common with her brother. Where Jen was the good girl who’d gotten straight A’s, Luke was the bad boy who’d been held back a grade, putting him in the same classes as his sister, ten months his junior.
    The rebel with the dark hair and leather jacket and fast car.
    She’d melted the first time she’d seen him. Luke had walked into their school, strode straight up to the most popular girl at Green Valley High, and kissed her. Then he’d asked her out. The popular, Heather, along with every other girl in school, had panted after him like little lost puppies. Ava had stomped off, making fun of the simpering little fools. But deep down, in the most secret part of her soul, she’d been the same as those girls. She’d just been too afraid to admit it. And where had that gotten her? At a fancy boutique, trying on outfit after outfit in the hopes of gaining the attention of the biggest playboy and rebel that Green Valley, Ohio had ever seen.
    Whom was she kidding?
    Once again, she covered her face and moaned like a wimp. “I cannot believe I’m doing this, Jen!” she felt Jen’s comforting hand on her back, patting and soothing. “I’m not cut out to be a vixen!”
    Jen laughed. “Of course you are, hon. Every woman on the face of the earth was born with an inner vixen. She just needs to tap into her. Which is why we’re here. It’s also why you’re going to go get your hair done, a facial, manicure, and pedicure.”
    When she put it that