It Happened One Christmas. Leslie Kelly

even tinier when they’d been left alone in the world after the deaths of their parents—was going to change. Sam had found someone, he was forming a new family, one she’d always be welcome in but wasn’t actually a major part of.

      She’d wanted something like that, too. Or at least the possibility of something like that, someday. Heck, maybe deep down she also just hadn’t wanted to haul her virginity along with her to Europe, and had been hoping she’d finally found the guy who would truly inspire her to shuck it.

      Yes, that was probably why she’d let down her guard and gotten involved with Jude when she’d known he wasn’t the right one in the long run. Being totally honest, she knew she was more sad at the idea of losing the boyfriend than at losing the actual guy. Not to mention continuing to carry the virgin mantle around her neck.

      “Well, at least you didn’t sleep with him!” said Kate, who’d had more lovers than Lucy had had birthdays.

      “I’ll drink to that,” she said, sipping her coffee, meaning it. Because being stuck with a hymen was better than having let somebody so rotten remove it.

      Something inside her must have recognized that about him, and held her back. Deep down she’d known there was something wrong about the relationship, even though he’d gone out of his way to make it seem so very right.

      Maybe Lucy really was the oldest living virgin in New York—kept that way throughout high school by her bad-ass older brother’s reputation, and throughout college out of her own deep-rooted romantic streak. Whatever the reason, she’d waited this long. So, as much as she wanted to know what all the fuss was about, she hadn’t been about to leap into bed with Jude just because he’d said he liked her photography and opened the door for her when they went out, unlike most other college-aged dudes she knew.

      Good thing. Because it had all been an act. The nice, patient, tender guy didn’t exist. Jude had put on that persona the way somebody else might don a Halloween costume, sliding into it to be the man she wanted, then taking it off—along with the rest of his clothes—when she wasn’t around. He shouldn’t be studying to be an attorney, an actor would be much more appropriate. God, could she have been any more gullible?

      Maybe Sam was right. Maybe she really had no business living on her own in New York or, worse, going off to Europe. Perhaps she was a lamb in the midst of wolves. She should’ve just stayed in the Chicago suburb where they’d grown up, gone to community college, done first-communion portraits at Sears, married a nice local guy and gotten to work on producing cousins for Sam’s future kids. At least then she wouldn’t be sitting here all sad at being cheated on by someone she’d hoped was Prince Charming.

      “More like King Creeper,” she muttered.

      “Huh?”

      “Nothing. Just thinking about Jude.”

      Kate nodded, frowned and muttered, “Why are most men jerks? Other than Teddy, of course.”

      “Your guess is as good as mine.”

      “There have to be other decent men out there, right?”

      “Sam’s one,” Lucy admitted. “And my Dad sure was.”

      “Mine is, too.” Kate frowned in thought. “Your father managed a car dealership, didn’t he?”

      “Yes.”

      “And your brother, Sam, is a cop. My dad’s in sales, and Teddy’s a trucker. Hmm.”

      “Your point being?”

      Kate tapped the tip of her finger on her mouth. “Most of the guys you’ve dated have been like Jude. Rich, future attorneys, politicians, doctors…and dick-heads, one and all.”

      Lucy nodded, conceding the point.

      “And that’s the type I dated, before I met Teddy.”

      She started to get the picture. “Ahh.”

      “So maybe you need to look for an everyday guy, who works hard for a living, hasn’t had everything handed to him.”

      That sounded ideal. Unfortunately Lucy couldn’t remember the last time she’d met anyone like that. They sure didn’t seem to be on the campus of NYU.

      “A guy who’s so hot he makes you stick to your chair when you watch his muscles bunch under his sweaty T-shirt as he works,” Kate said, sounding lost in thought. She was staring past Lucy, as if visualizing this blue collar stud-muffin. “Who knows what to do with his hands, and has enough self-confidence that he doesn’t have to show off in front of a woman.”

      Not used to Kate being so descriptive—but definitely liking the description—Lucy could only nod.

      “Somebody like him.”

      This time, Kate’s stare was pointed and her gaze speculative. Surprised, Lucy quickly turned to look over her shoulder, toward the front corner of the shop, and saw the him in question.

      And oh, wow, what a him.

      He was young—in his early twenties, probably, like her. But he didn’t look much like the guys she interacted with on a daily basis at school. He had on a pair of faded, worn jeans, that hung low on his very lean hips. They were tugged down even further by the work belt he wore over them, which was weighted with various tools. Powerful hammers, long screwdrivers, steely drills. All hard. Strong. Stiff.

      Get your mind out of his toolbelt.

      She did, shaking her head quickly to get her attention going in another direction. Of course, there wasn’t any other direction to go…he was hot any way you looked at it.

      So she looked at it. Er, him.

      Lucy lifted her gaze, taking in the whole tall, lean, powerful package. Though he wore the tools of the trade, he was not built like a brawny construction-worker type. Strong, yes, but with a youthful leanness—Hugh Jackman as Leopold, not as Wolverine.

      Yum.

      His entire body told tales of hard work An impressive set of abs rippled visibly beneath the sweat-tinged T-shirt. His broad chest and thickly muscled arms moved with almost poetic precision as he finished installing a new bookcase in the back corner of the shop.

      He lifted one arm and wiped a sheen of sweat off his forehead, which just emphasized the handsomeness of his face, seen only in profile. He had a strong, square jaw, a straight nose. High cheekbones emphasized the lightly stubbled hollows below, lending his lean face an air of youth and power.

      His light brown hair was longish, a little shaggy, and he swept it back from his brow with an impatient hand. Seeing the strong hands in motion made Lucy let out a long, slow breath, and when he turned around and she beheld him from the back, she had to suck in another one. Oh, my, did the man know how to fill out a pair of jeans.

      Apparently she wasn’t the only woman who’d noticed. What she’d taken for shopper’s distraction earlier she now realized had been female appreciation for the beautiful display of raw, powerful male in the corner. Every other woman in the place was either sneaking peeks or outright gaping.

      She was a gaper. No peeking about it.

      Finally realizing she was literally turned in her seat to stare, and probably had drool dripping down her chin, she swung back around to face Kate. Her friend wore a similar expression. “Wow,” she admitted.

      “Double wow. If I didn’t love Teddy, I’d be over there offering to take care of his tool for him.”

      Lucy couldn’t help being wicked when she was around Kate. “I bet it could use some lubrication.”

      “Atta girl!”

      “But I think you’d have to stand in line.”

      “With you?” Kate asked, her eyes sparkling.

      Lucy shook her head. “I don’t think so. Cheated on and heartbroken an hour ago, remember?”

      “Well,