His Sister's Wedding (16 page)

Lillie was convinced that if she could understand how the women in his past had bruised
Luke's heart, she'd be able to set him free to love again. His mother's part in it
seemed obvious enough and had probably done most of the damage. But the fiancée was
another story. She was the grown-up evidence Luke must have used to convince himself
that love didn't exist.

Luke had stepped out of his childhood prepared to trust his heart, willing to risk
the pain his mother and father's divorce inflicted on him. And then, the worst had
happened again.

Another woman left him in the name of love.

"Luke," she said abruptly, as she stepped back to give him more room. "Melanie mentioned
that you were engaged once."

"Hand me that sponge." He stroked the damp surface of the wallpaper, smoothing out
the bubbles.

"Were you? Engaged?"

"What?" he said, looking up with a frown in his eyes. "Yeah, I guess so. Here, hold
that edge. No, over there."

"How old were you?" she asked, ducking under his outstretched arm to tug the paper
into place.

"There. That's better." He reached up to trim the excess paper at the top, his strong
body brushing hers again. "You know, these close quarters have distinct advantages."

His smile widened suggestively.

"You must have been young," Lillie persevered, despite his lack of encouragement about
the subject and the distracting fact that she stood between the strength of his hard
body and the wall.

"Old enough," he said before reaching for the measuring tape again. "No, don't move.
I like you right there. This one's the same length as the last."

"How old is that?" she whispered as he leaned into her, the length of his powerful
body disrupting thought.

"Seventy-two and a half inches," Luke teased, his gaze dropping to her mouth. "Or
nineteen years, which ever number you prefer."

Lillie put her hand on his chest. "You must have been very hurt when she broke it
off."

"I don't remember," he said, his voice husky as he bent, pressing his open mouth against
her neck.

"Ahhhh." Lillie couldn't think, her back pressed against the damp wallpaper, his damp
mouth pressed against her. "Wait, Luke...we need to talk...."

"Go ahead, I'm listening," he said as his hand slid her overall strap off her shoulder.

She swallowed hard as heat coursed through her. "What was her name?"

"Mmmm?" Luke's questing hands found her breasts under the brief t-shirt.

"Did you love her?" The words seemed torn from Lillie's throat as he dropped her overalls
in a puddle at her feet.

"Who?" he said as his mouth covered hers.

Lillie opened beneath the stroke of his tongue, sinking into the red hot haze of his
hands on her body. He kissed her long and hard, stroking her panties down to cup her
bare bottom and bring her hard against him.

Struggling to find coherent thought, Lillie knew she needed to hear his answer, needed
to know if he still held that other woman in his heart.

In a sudden movement, he lifted Lillie up on to the sink, the cool tile a shock against
her hot flesh.

"The woman you were engaged to," Lillie said with a hiss as he stepped between her
legs. "Did you love her?"

"What woman?" he muttered. "Are there other women?"

*   *   *

Luke gathered up the scraps of wallpaper littering the bathroom floor, a deep sense
of contentment pervading him. He couldn't imagine a better day. A messy job well-done
and some really great sex thrown into the middle of it.

Damn, Lillie was beautiful. Sweet and sexy as hell. What other woman would welcome
hard, fast sex in the middle of a sweaty, involved job like wallpapering?

She was the best. Charming and earnest. Warmth and kindness all the way through.

The questions about Angie had come out of left field until he thought about it. What
was more natural than wondering about the lovers who'd come before? Hell, he'd wondered
about that himself. What other man had kissed Lillie's red lips? Did she have comparisons
in her mind when they tussled between the sheets? Had she had lovers who were thoughtless
and unkind?

Of course, her complete responsiveness left little doubt that he pleased her. That
kind of assurance made a man feel ten feet tall. It only seemed fair to reassure her
in turn.

She obviously had a lot of questions about the women in his past, too.

He shoved the last of the wallpaper scraps into the trash bag.

For all her intelligence and apparent confidence, Lillie sometimes seemed to have
an almost charming self-doubt. The clouded hesitancy in her eyes made him want to
catch her up and kiss her over and over again until she had no question about how
special she was.

She wondered about how he felt about Angie. Naturally.

Yet, never had a woman face less threat. Angie's memory had long since faded for him.
The years since they broke up had left only the impression of misguided youthful foolishness
when he looked back. Sure, he'd learned not to trust fickle women. Learned to be less
vulnerable. But that was it. No leftovers.

Luke dumped the water out of the wallpaper pan.

Lillie had nothing to worry about. He'd convince her of that. In time, she'd realize
how fabulous he thought her, how completely terrific. In all his adult life, he'd
never known a woman so completely open and responsive to life, so filled with warmth
and light.

Truthfully, she was everything he wanted in a woman. Now that they'd gotten beyond
the hearts and flowers nonsense, she had to see how perfectly they meshed.

They'd practically lived together these past two weeks and he never tired of her presence,
never felt crowded.

Everything was really, really good.

Whatever she'd thought she needed from a lover, he apparently was managing to supply.
He'd gotten no hint of dissatisfaction from her.

Of course, he'd done his damndest. He wanted her satisfied, satiated. Happy with him.

They even worked together well. An incredible bonus. Hell, they'd wallpapered this
hole of a bathroom without snapping at each other once. He'd never had a relationship
that survived home improvements before.

Yeah, everything was great.

*   *   *

"Melanie?" Lillie cradled the phone against her shoulder.

"Hey," the younger woman answered affectionately. "How are things going?"

"Very well," Lillie replied, ignoring the nervous flutters in her stomach. "Did your
bridesmaids have much to say about the dress we settled on?"

Melanie chuckled. "You bet. Sara, my maid of honor told me she was very relieved when
she saw it. She's been in three weddings in the last year and each one had ghastly
bridesmaid dresses. You and Luke did good."

"I'm glad she liked it," Lillie said, fingering the phone cord as she tried to think
of a way to steer the conversation in the direction she wanted. "Did the other girls
seem as pleased?"

"Absolutely," Mel assured her. "All four of them were really happy, which is amazing.
We usually can't agree on where to have lunch, much less what clothes to buy."

"Yes. I'm glad it's working out." Lillie got up to pace around her desk, tugging the
phone with her. "Well, we still have to arrange the final fittings. I was lucky to
be able to find a place there to do that for us."

"You're a wizard," Melanie said. "I have to admit to some qualms about letting Luke
help pick the dresses, but he did good."

"Yeah, he's a real fashion fan," Lillie said, hearing the dry note in her own voice.
She hadn't confided in her soon-to-be sister-in-law about just how "helpful" Luke
had been in choosing the dress.

But then she hadn't let Scott or Melanie know anything about what was happening between
she and Luke. It was all too unsettled, too fierce and fresh to share. And besides,
what the heck would she say? They were sleeping together, having an affair, planning
a future? She didn't even know herself.

So here she was trying to pump an unsuspecting Melanie about her brother. She felt
like a heel, but she wasn't letting a few scruples stop her. This was too important.

The last few weeks had been blissful, filled with laughter and passion. But still
he said nothing, no mention of his feelings for her, no real suggestion of a future
together.

The faint thread of uncertainty in her grew larger and larger every day, threatening
to coil around her heart and strangle the life out of her. Did Luke love her?

She'd called Melanie today to get information. It was as simple as that. One way or
the other, she had to know about Angie and how the woman had broken Luke's heart.

"So, you got the caterer all set up?" Melanie asked.

Lillie leaned back against the desk. "Yes. It's taken care of. And I'm working out
a cake-tasting appointment with the baker."

"Yum. That should be fun."

"Uhh, yeah. Listen," Lillie plunged in, "I've been thinking about this thing with
Luke and your mother and his whole opposition to your getting married."

"You know, I talked with him on the phone the other day and he only mentioned once
about my not getting married," Melanie marveled. "You must be having a good effect
on him. Sweet talking him, I'll bet."

"I don't know about that," Lillie hedged, pushing aside the sudden memory of just
how sweetly she'd talked to him that very morning while he tormented her with sensual
delight. "Uh, Luke still seems to think you guys are too young."

"Yes, but he's not threatening to kidnap me anymore," Mel laughed. "I sense progress
is being made. I knew you could do it."

"Oh, please," Lillie said, "don't credit me with anything. Your brother has a mind
of his own."

"Don't I know it," Luke's sister replied in laughing disgust. "He's one pig-headed
man."

"Yes," Lillie sighed. "But I've been thinking about why he's so anti-romance. Didn't
you tell me he was engaged once?"

"Engaged? Oh, yes. Her name was Angie, but it was a long time ago."

"Um, yes." Lillie stumbled on. "He mentioned that name once, but I never did understand
what happened between them."

"Geez," Melanie said. "Didn't I tell you about that?"

"No," Lillie responded, keeping the irony out of her voice. "You just said something
about Angie falling out of love with him and breaking it off."

"Yes. They were both pretty young at the time. She was seventeen and Luke was nineteen,
I guess. I kind of wonder if that isn't why he's been so set against my getting married
young."

"He was only nineteen?" The sudden vision of a youthful, heart-broken Luke tore at
Lillie's heart. Now that she thought about it, when they were working in the bathroom
he'd said something about being nineteen when Angie broke their engagement. Lillie
just hadn't remembered it because of the things he'd been doing with his hands at
the time.

"He must have been very hurt," she said.

"I think so," Melanie agreed. "I was pretty young myself back then, but Angie had
been Luke's girlfriend for three or four years. They got engaged when she graduated
high school."

Lillie closed her eyes and cradled the phone closer. His first, longtime love. A stab
of jealousy went through her. What she'd have given for a heart-whole Luke to have
loved her in high school. If only they'd found each other then.

"It was really weird," Melanie said, her voice softer. "That summer, Angie kind of
went wild. Started hanging out late at night. Standing Luke up on dates. I still remember
how baffled and upset he seemed."

Choking back a growing anger, Lillie tried to remember what seventeen felt like. And
Luke could be...overbearing, at times. Maybe the girl just needed some freedom. Maybe
she wasn't a heartless, wanton floozy.

"Did she cheat on him?" Lillie struggled to get the words past the lump in her throat.

Melanie hesitated. "I don't know about that. I've always sort of thought that was
what happened, but Luke never said anything to me about it."

"Did she know...about your mother?" Lillie asked, trying to sort through the emotions
swirling in her. "Did she know?"

Melanie paused. "I think...she had to know some of it. Angie and Luke went to school
together a long time. He knew her back when Mom left. But I don't know how much he
talked to Angie. He was young, you know. A young guy doesn't always talk about things
like that. That's one of the things that made me fall in love with Scott. He was so
open about losing your Mom and Dad and how much he missed them."

"Yes," Lillie said sadly. "Losing a parent is always hard, but Scott and I always
knew we were loved. For whatever reason, your mother voluntarily walked away from
you and Luke. And then, Angie did, too."

"Yes," Melanie said. "I'm hoping he can forgive Mom, after all this time. For his
own sake."

"Me, too." Lillie felt tears prickle behind her eyes.