Read Online Wrong Way Renee by Wynter Daniels - Free Book Online

Someone I'd like you to meet ’ sounded like a set-up. She cautiously followed her, stopping in the dining room to set her casserole on a heating tray on the buffet.
    In the living room, Gary and Char stood next to the fire . Her mother must have cranked up the air conditioner to make that bearable in the seventy-degree weather. Her father sat on his overstuffed recliner. Gary Junior and Alyssa were sprawled on the wood floor playing pickup sticks. Next to the window, a fortyish man with short hair and a light moustache sipped a drink and stared at her.
    “Renee's here, everyone, ” Elizabeth chirped. “ Cleave Nichols, I'd like you to meet my other daughter, Renee .”
    Ah ha. He must be the someone her mother wanted her to meet, Mr. FLA Law.
    “Nice to meet you, Cleave.” She crossed the room to him and offered her hand.
    Not bad, not bad at all. The last man her mother had introduced her to was a short, balding optometrist who resembled a turtle. He had bad breath and drove like Mario Andretti. After their one and only date, Renee told her never to set her up again. Apparently, someone hadn't been paying attention during that conversation.
    But this one seemed okay; about six feet tall, intense brown eyes and he smelled wonderful, like an exotic spice she couldn’t place .
    His gaze swept over her. “The pleasure's all mine. ”
    “ Cleave 's parents and sister went on a cruise so he had no one to spend the holiday with. He's a lawyer at the firm. ” Elizabeth beamed. “ Would you like a drink, Renee?”
    “Thanks, I'll fix it. ” She stepped behind the bar, stopping along the way to kiss her father. “Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. ” Her stomach growled, but she had no idea if the cause was hunger or anxiety.
    “Same to you. ” Char leaned a spindly leg on a barstool. “ Cleave just moved here from Atlanta last year, Renee.”
    “It was so nice of your mother to invite me to join you, ” he said. “I'd have been at the office working today if she hadn't. ”
    Renee mixed herself a gin and tonic, feeling all the adult eyes upon her. Lord , she hated fix-ups. And could they be any more obvious? They must all be in on it.
    “Look what you've done, Elizabeth, ” Luther said with a smirk. “We could have gotten an extra day's work out of him if you hadn't asked him over. ”
    “ Luther . You should be ashamed. ” Her mother shook her finger at her husband.
    “It's okay, Elizabeth. I'm used to these guys poking fun at me every day. ” Cleave strolled to the bar then set his glass down as he stared at Renee. “Mind making one for me?”
    She stirred her drink. “What's your pleasure? ”
    He regarded her with amusement for a long moment. “Whatever yours is.”
    “Good answer, ” Char gushed. She had a big , dumb smile on her face.
    Renee rolled her eyes, already tired of her mother and sister's happy family act.
    Lourdes, her parents' young, Hispanic housekeeper, slipped into the room. “Mrs. Wright, ” she said quietly.
    “Yes ? ”
    “The food is ready to serve. I've carved the turkey and the pies are cooling on the counter. If there's nothing else, I thought I'd go home now. ” She clasped her hands behind her back.
    “Sure, hon. Go on now. Have a nice meal with your family. ” Elizabeth faced her guests. “Lourdes tells me dinner is ready. Would everyone please follow me to the dining room?”
    Gary Junior and Alyssa ran ahead of the adults, practically knocking Luther over. “Slow down there, kids. Renee, honey, did you see Cleave 's car out front? Isn't it a beauty? ” he asked.
    God, was her father in on this too? “Yes, it's very nice.”
    They all sat at the table, making sure Cleave was next to Renee. She felt like she was in a play where she was not only the main character, but the only one who didn't know the plot. Her dad said a sort of prayer about being thankful then they all started passing platters around and chatting.
    “I hear you own a beauty salon. Do you enjoy