His Sister's Wedding (12 page)

"The bridesmaids' dresses?"

"Yes. You know, the outfits worn by the girls who'll stand up with Melanie," she explained,
deciding to ignore the faintly menacing gleam in his eyes.

"So why is this bad news?" Luke asked, a mocking smile playing on his lips.

Lillie frowned. "Have you ever tried to pick out one dress to suit five different
women?"

"Not recently," he admitted. "But I always like a challenge."

"This is more like an impossible quest," she said, not sure he understood. "Usually
I just try to please the bride and her maid of honor, but Melanie insists she can't
take the time out from studying for mid-terms to do it now."

"Then I think you and I should pick out the dresses," he said abruptly, his smile
widening. "Why don't we do it now?"

Lillie stared at him. "You
want
to pick out bridesmaid dresses?"

"Why not?" He got up from his chair and shoved some papers in a desk drawer. "My morning
is clear. Let's go do it."

"Wait, we need to contact the bridesmaids. They'll have to be sized...."

Luke stood in front of her, that infuriating, challenging smile still on his face.
"It'll be much simpler with just the two of us," he murmured. "We can send the girls
in to try the dresses on once we've made our pick."

She couldn't argue with his reasoning, but she should've. Something was fishy about
the whole situation. Why on earth would a man like Luke actually want to debate the
virtues of taffeta over organdy? His enthusiasm baffled her almost as much as the
glittering smile in his eyes.

They took Luke's car. Lillie sat beside him, searching for conversation to distract
herself from the lingering sense of his displeasure. More than anything, she wanted
to discuss their last meeting, to get everything out in the open. But the set of his
jaw made her hesitate.

Settling for the innocuous, she finally asked, "How's your week going?"

Luke pulled onto a busy street. "I spent my day trying to get through to the V.P.
at Unicom."

"The big account you're shooting for?" she murmured, still battling her urge to bring
up the topic bouncing around in her brain. She'd never been good at ignoring trouble,
but he'd made it plain that his relationship with Janet wasn't her business.

"Yeah," he said, a note of satisfaction in his voice. "I finally got confirmation
that they're looking at landscaping proposals, but I still don't have an appointment.
Yet."

"But it still sounds encouraging." Lillie tried to inject some enthusiasm into her
voice.

"Yes. I'm moving ahead with it. In addition to the usual line drawings and price quotes,
I'm going to do a mock-up and photograph it for the proposal," Luke said.

Lillie stared at him as he drove, his ability to dismiss his emotions both amazed
and distressed her. Had he walked away from the tumultuous meeting with his mother
undisturbed?

"Luke," she said impulsively, "about the other day at the church...."

He slanted her a glance, not responding immediately. Stopping at a traffic light,
he turned to her with an irritated sigh. "Look, I know it's hard for you to understand,
Lillie. But things are the way they are."

She leaned toward him, all the tangled emotions she'd battled surging forward. "It
must have been terrible for you as a child--"

"That was a long time ago," he interrupted her, his voice level and his smile holding
only the faintest glitter of anger. "It's ancient history. I know you were just trying
to be helpful, but there's nothing more to be said."

Silenced, Lillie sat back against her seat, wondering how she could be attracted to
a man so adept at cutting off his emotions.

Without question, Luke had the right to work out his relationship with his mother
any way he wanted. Lillie could have even forgiven his refusal to do so at all. But
this blatant withholding of his emotions from her reminded Lillie why she couldn't
allow herself to give in to the feelings he called forth in her. Being with a man
who was emotionally withdrawn felt like her own definition of purgatory.

What had his mother said about his father? That she felt shut out, isolated? Apparently,
the men in Luke's family had a pattern of shutting their women out.

Within half an hour, they were at one of the largest formal wear shops in Kisseemee.
Lillie walked into the pink and lavender showroom, her feet sinking into the plush
carpet, every nuance of her consciousness aware of Luke behind her.

Chandeliers glittered and feminine flounces abounded. Lillie glanced over her shoulder
and met Luke's bland gaze. He looked large and dark and...male. He should have been
uncomfortable in the situation, but instead she was the one who felt like biting her
nails.

"Ms. Parker!" A saleswoman hurried over to them, her face as harried as her voice
was welcoming. "We're so glad to see you."

"Thank you, Marge." Lillie tried to ignore the curious glances the woman kept throwing
at Luke. "We need to look at some bridesmaid dresses."

"Of course." Marge nodded, waving her hand toward an open archway through which the
glimmer of rich fabrics could be seen. "Why don't you go on in? You know where everything
is. I have another customer I'm helping, but I'll check on you in a moment to see
if you need anything."

"That will be fine," Lillie assured her, torn between relief to be rid of the woman's
obvious curiosity, and the desire to have a buffer between herself and Luke.

Why she felt the need for protection in this setting, she didn't know. They were definitely
on her turf.

The next room displayed dresses of every color and style. Racks circled the pink brocade
room, covering the walls except for the dressing area in the far corner.

Moving to a rack that held dresses by a maker that she trusted, Lillie pulled several
out.

"Something like this would work with your sister's wedding dress." She held a classic
full-skirted dress with modified puff sleeves out for Luke's examination.

He frowned at the wine-colored dress. "I don't know."

"Well, what about this one?" The sweetheart neck and the bow in the back were a tad
ordinary, but perfectly suitable.

Luke shook his head.

"How are we doing?" Marge asked archly as she swept into the room. "Are you finding
everything you need?"

"We're fine--" Lillie started.

Luke smile ruefully at the saleswoman, turning on the charm. "I'm helping to pick
out the dresses for my sister's wedding, but I can't seem to visualize how they'll
look when they're just hanging on a hanger."

"I understand completely," the woman assured him, her expression warming under the
influence of his masculine appeal.

Lillie resisted the urge to grind her teeth.

"If I could see them on someone...," Luke murmured, his dark eyes gleaming as he glanced
in Lillie's direction.

"Why don't you try them on, Ms. Parker?" the saleswoman suggested as if on cue.

"I don't think--" she started hastily. There was no way she was going to parade around
in front of Luke Morgan, looking like she was advertising her wares.

"You have such a perfect figure, you could be a model anyway," Marge gushed.

Lillie smelled a set-up. If there had been anyway for Luke to have planned this awkward
situation, she wouldn't have put it past him. "I think it's a much better idea to
see the dresses on the person who'll wear them," she tried in her most composed, businesslike
voice. "We'll get the attendants and come back later."

"But we're here now," Luke put in silkily. "And with getting ready for my meeting
with this new corporate client, I'm not sure when I'll have time later."

Lillie glared at him.

"Well, that's settled," Marge declared with satisfaction. "Just come find me, Ms.
Parker, when you've decided on the one you want to order." The woman scurried off
to her other customers.

They stood there facing each other like gunfighters at the O.K. Corral--Luke seeming
as comfortable as an old pro, Lillie feeling like a wet-behind-the-ears novice. She
searched his face, furiously trying to think of a way out of the situation.

For a week now, she'd struggled with the sense of estrangement between them. She didn't
understand him, and yet she couldn't get him out of her mind.

Her nights were a tangle of dreams and longings that jarred her soul. How could she
let Luke affect her so much when she knew he wasn't the man for her?

She had no illusions about that. But just the thought of Luke's eyes on her body,
his gaze scrutinizing every curve and hollow, made her feel flushed and achy.

"Shall we get started?" The corners of his mouth lifted.

"I suppose so." Reluctantly, Lillie turned toward the racks of dresses. She just needed
to get it over with.

Intent on grabbing up the most likely dresses and hurrying through this ordeal, Lillie
jumped when she felt Luke's hand on her elbow.

"Why don't you go into the dressing room," he suggested, "and I'll hand you the ones
I want to see.”

"I don't know," she protested. "I really should help you select the better ones--."

"But Melanie said she trusted my judgment," Luke reminded her with a smile, his hand
still warm on her bare arm. "Why don't we try it my way?"

"Fine." She resisted the urge to flounce off to the dressing room. Businesslike, if
she could only keep it businesslike.

Either he had terrible taste or the man was trying to torture her, Lillie thought
minutes later as she stood in her bra and panties staring at the first gown he'd thrust
through the brocade curtains.

The dress was a bilious shade of pink, made of cheap taffeta with a huge pink ruffle
that ran from the waist, up over the shoulder and down the back. If she hadn't had
ample proof that most men were fashion idiots, she might have wondered if he were
serious about the dress.

Shuddering, Lillie put it on. She fought her way through the fluffy underskirt and
wrestled to zip it.

"Need any help with the zipper?" he called.

"Not in this lifetime," Lillie muttered.

"What?"

"No," she responded, her tone saccharine. "I can handle it."

"Just let me know if you have any trouble," Luke said, laughter evident in his voice.
"I don't mind helping out."

"I'll bet you don't," she muttered again, keeping her voice low as she slapped at
the dress's huge ruffle. Once on, the thing rose up like a giant fin, partially obscuring
her vision on one side.

Maybe he's fashion-impaired
, she cautioned herself. Surely, once he saw this monstrosity on her, he'd let her
pick out the other possibilities.

Pinning an optimistic smile on her face, Lillie stepped through the dressing room
curtain.

Luke sat waiting in a spindly, pink brocade chair placed just outside the dressing
room.

Swatting at the ruffle again, Lillie smiled encouragingly at him as she spun slowly
around. Her smile died as she pivoted around just in time to catch an expression of
exquisite amusement on his face.

If she hadn't promised Melanie to keep Luke involved in the wedding plans, she might
just have walked out of the shop at that moment and left him there, grinning like
a fool.

Then again, she'd die before being seen in public in the fin dress.

Luke got up, coming to walk around her slowly, reaching out to touch the cheap, silky
fabric at her shoulder.

She drew in her breath with a silent hiss. His hand was warm where it lingered, brushing
against her arm.

"Well, it's not bad," he said, finally, a smile hovering on his face. "But let's look
at a few others."

"Yes, let's." Relief warred with irritation. If she had to wear the stupid thing,
the least he could do was pretend not to enjoy it.

It seemed abundantly clear, however, that Luke was having a great time.

Lillie had the pink fin dress over her head when Luke brought the next dress. She
just grabbed out for it, anxious to have him gone from the doorway. Who knew what
he could see when he shoved things through the curtain?

Managing to extricate herself from the first dress, Lillie gasped when she lay eyes
on his next choice. It looked like something out of Scarlett O'Hara's wardrobe, complete
with parasol.

"Luke, you can't be serious," she protested.

"Melanie always loved
Gone With The Wind
," he mentioned blandly, from the other side of the curtain. "Why don't you just give
it a shot?"

"Because I'll look ridiculous," Lillie declared. But she put the dress on. Melanie
had been quite specific about keeping Luke involved in everything. If she did anything
to shut him out, he might go back to sabotaging his sister's wedding. They couldn't
have that.

The apple green dress settled around her like a shower of meringue. Lillie struggled
with the underarm zipper and tugged at the low cut bodice that revealed far too much.
The hoop swayed like gelatin when she moved and the tiny puff sleeves made her look
like she was fifteen.