His Sister's Wedding (13 page)

Lillie pushed the curtains open with grim determination, the parasol clutched in her
hands. If he laughed, she was going to hit him with it.

Popping through the dressing room doorway as if she'd been squeezed out of a tube,
she stood there glaring at Luke, her eyes daring him to make a comment.

But he didn't. He just sat there on the spindly chair, his dark eyes clinging to her,
skimming the snug fit of her bodice, lingering heatedly on the upper swells of her
breasts.

The bodice must have been tighter than she'd realized. Lillie felt a sudden need for
air. She felt the quick rising of her chest as her lungs clamored, felt Luke's gaze
on her body as if he were touching her.

"That's...," he cleared his throat, "that's not quite what I had in mind."

"I should hope not." She turned to glance in the mirror.

"But I bet your future husband would love it," Luke continued, his gaze shifting to
her face, a combination of mockery and challenge.

Lillie swung around to face him. "What?"

"Your future husband, the knight on a white horse. The perfect man who'll match up
to all your expectations and meet all your emotional needs." He sat back in the small
chair, a razor-thin smile on his mouth.

"I'm not sure what that has to do with anything," she said, puzzled by the sudden
jab of his comment. Turning, she opened the dressing room curtains, preparing to fight
her way back through the doorway.

"It has to do with everything," Luke answered, more than a hint of mocking anger in
his voice.

Discretion was the better part of valor, she decided, not replying. Stripping off
the hooped dress, Lillie stared at her reflection in the mirror. She felt as if her
heart was getting all tangled up with Luke's, the enticing sense of connection between
them cut both ways. How ironic that the man who was determined not to give in to his
feelings, stirred every emotion in her.

When she didn't want to strip him naked and have her way with him, she was torn between
wanting to comfort his hurts and wanting to shake him till his teeth rattled. Like
now when he was acting out his hidden anger in having her try on ridiculous dresses.
She'd tolerated his game up to this point, but she wasn't sure Luke knew when to stop.
Did he even care that he had her heart on a roller coaster?

"Here's the next one." Luke pushed yet another hanger through the curtain.

Caught up in her thoughts, Lillie had stripped off the hooped dress and was halfway
into the red outfit he'd handed her before she realized exactly what she was putting
on.

The cocktail dress looked like two sequins and a scarf. Most bridal wear shops wouldn't
have even carried such a revealing dress. Unfortunately for her, this shop combined
bridal with a wide variety of formal wear.

Lillie stared at herself in the mirror, her temper boiling like a kettle. How dare
he? He had to know she wouldn't appear in public in an outfit like this.
Of course he knows. And he thinks you're too chicken to let him see you in it, too
.

Outraged and determined to throw his dare back in his face, Lillie slung back the
curtain before her courage deserted her. She stalked out of the dressing room and
stopped a foot in front of where he sat.

Luke felt the breath knocked out of him as if he'd been tackled by a lineman.

She stood in front of him, her glorious body more revealed than concealed by the sexy
red dress. He'd never thought she'd actually put it on.

Tiny sequined triangles cupped her rounded breasts, her pale, creamy flesh lusciously
exposed. The short skirt clung to her hips, parting seductively over one gorgeous
thigh.

He curled his hands into balls, controlling the overwhelming itch to touch her. Need
coursed through him, the irresistible ache to kiss every inch of her, to thrust her
back into the seclusion of the dressing room and thrust himself into her heat.

He saw the rapid rise and fall of her chest, the tight kernels of her nipples through
the red material. Her blue eyes were dilated. Her breath came in little pants, and
Luke knew that beneath her anger, the same hunger gripped her.

Swallowing, he fought the urge to yank her into his arms, feeling himself hardening
to readiness. Damn, this wasn't the time or place, even if the lady was willing. And
the lady probably wasn't willing, even though her body seemed to be.

Clearing his throat, he said the first thing that came to his mind. "Honey, you look
good enough to eat. But don't wear that with anyone else. One of those sensitive guys
you talk about would have a heart attack."

The blossoming passion died out of her eyes, quenched in an instant. Her soft face
seemed to harden. "It's none of your business who I do anything with."

She turned and flounced into the dressing room.

"You might want to be careful," he couldn't resist saying. "Even really emotional
men can turn into animals like the rest of us."

"Go to hell." The curtain barely muffled her words.

Luke sighed roughly. He hadn't meant to make her angry. He'd only insisted they come
look for the dress today because he'd been unable to resist giving her trouble for
poking her nose into the situation with his mother.

This whole thing with Janet was becoming a pain in the rear. Lillie seemed hung up
on it, as if she couldn't just act on the attraction between the two of them.

"Is there something else you'd like me to try on?" Her voice was honey-laced strychnine.

"I'll get a couple more," he responded, heading straight for the black chiffon on
the first rack.

He shouldn't have given in to his anger and frustration. What had started out as a
subtle game was turning into something uglier.

Strangely enough, now that he'd managed to rouse her to the same level of anger he'd
been wrestling with for days--he found his own wrath subsiding. The woman riled him
faster than the speed of light, but it wasn't anger he wanted between them.

Despite her idealistic bleeding heart, he wanted her. She made him laugh, made him
want to spend every night making hot, hungry love to her.

Luke could remember every detail. He felt again the texture of her mouth beneath his,
the velvet stroke of his tongue on hers. Just thinking about the way her breath caught
as he pulled her close, heated him to the core.

He ached to arch her to him again, to sink with her to the floor and take possession
of her body and soul. His ultimate fantasy now involved spending days and weeks making
love to her in that white eyelet bed while she wore the lavender bra that had hung
from her shower rod.

She had all the characteristics he wanted in a woman, the intelligence and warmth,
the constancy.

They could have a future together if she'd let them. Somehow he'd have to make her
see that quickly. Because once he'd shaken some sense into Melanie and put an end
to the marriage plans, he'd lose any leverage to keep Lillie in his life. If she'd
even speak to him after he tore his sister out of Scott's arms.

CHAPTER SEVEN

One thing was clear, Luke thought as he sank into his chair and stared at the telephone
on his desk. He hated fighting with Lillie.

A little skirmish now and then could be interesting, but this open warfare thing was
no fun. All the way back from the bridal shop she'd treated him to her imitation of
a freezer.

She'd had no right to interfere with his mother, but he knew she'd meant well and
he didn't have a doubt that Janet had made it difficult to refuse her.

In an unbidden flash, Luke remembered the hurt in his mother's eyes as she'd stood
in the church, begging him to forgive her. Yes, the mess she'd made of her life had
hurt Melanie and him. But they'd gone on, put the misery behind them. Why couldn't
she?

Melanie had been younger, so she naturally had some curiosity about the woman who'd
given birth to her. But Luke saw no point in reestablishing any significant contact.

There was nothing left between them and hashing it all over couldn't change that.

Was it too much to expect Lillie to accept that, even if she couldn't understand it?
Still, his little attempt at revenge had backfired on him big time. In the few days
since then, they'd had no contact and he had to admit he'd missed her.

Luke lifted the receiver. Groveling was out of the question, but his conscience had
been nagging at him. Maybe he'd pushed her a little too far.

He tapped in Lillie's phone number.

"Hello?"

He envisioned her in her ruffled, feminine office, wearing tiny shorts with her feet
bare.

"Hi." A husky note crept into his voice.

There was a fractional pause before she responded with a cool, "Hello."

"I'm calling to offer an olive branch," Luke said, getting right to the point.

"You are?" Her skepticism radiated over the phone lines.

"Yes. I'd like us to declare a truce."

"I can't imagine why," she said coolly.

"Maybe your Pollyanna-ness is rubbing off on me. Don't you think it would be good
if we could come to a compromise of sorts?"

"Oh, so you're not waving the white flag?" she asked, a thread of humor in her words.

"Not exactly."

"I didn't think so," Lillie said. "You're probably constitutionally unable to do that."

"Who knows? I'm developing new talents all the time," he said, knowing she thought
him under-worked in the personal growth department.

"That sounds interesting."

"Why don't we talk terms over dinner."

"Dinner?" she repeated, as if he'd caught her off guard.

"Yes, you know. We dress up, I take you to an obscenely expensive place and we let
snobby waiters talk down to us."

Her gurgle of laughter warmed Luke.

"Shall I pick you up at seven?" he asked.

"Ummm. I'm not sure what I have going tonight," she stalled. "Just what kind of terms
are we going to talk over?"

She wasn't going to make this easy for him. "I think we'll probably start out with
an apology," Luke said, more anxious to see her than he'd realized. After all, if
he was going to convince the woman to give up her idealism, he had to see her.

"Okay," Lillie agreed softly. "Pick me up at seven."

*   *   *

Smoothing her hand down the powder blue chiffon dress, Lillie took a deep breath as
the doorbell rang again.

Turning the knob, she pulled the door open to reveal Luke standing on her front steps
wearing a dark, well-tailored suit.

She felt her mouth drop open.

Luke seemed to be suffering a similar reaction. His eyes widened and then narrowed
as his gaze skated over her bare shoulders, down to where her skirt ended at mid-thigh. 
Lifting his scrutiny slowly to her face, Luke extended his hand. In it he held a spray
of delicate Stargazer lilies, their creamy petals dotted with pink.

"I come in peace."

"Thank you," she said, feeling shy as she accepted his gift. "I'll just put them in
some water and we can go."

The drive was quiet as Luke steered the car through the growing dusk. Lillie didn't
ask where they were going. Her thoughts kept her too distracted. Even though she'd
spent long hours this last week sending hostile thoughts his way, she'd never thought
he'd call to make peace.

It was too much to hope that Luke's attempt at reconciliation would extend as far
as him becoming supportive of Scott and Melanie's marriage. Lillie knew his offer
of a truce had more to do with the two of them than with their siblings. And truthfully,
her anger with him had little connection to their sibling's wedding.

Lillie's reverie was broken when Luke turned into a drive marked only by a discreet
sign that announced "The Chateau." Swiveling around to look at him in surprise, she
remembered his comment about going somewhere "obscenely expensive." At the time, she
hadn't thought he'd meant it so literally.

She knew the Chateau by its reputation only, never before having been to the restaurant
that sat like a jewel on the shore of Lake Tohepe Kaliga. According to its reputation,
the five-star restaurant catered to those wealthy enough to possess very discerning
palates.

This kind of evening would take a chunk out of anyone's budget, particularly if that
someone had a small business and was putting a sister through college.

Lillie turned to voice an instinctive protest, swallowing it when she realized they
had stopped in front of the restaurant and a doorman was opening the car door for
her.

This was one of those moments when a man could misread a woman's well-intentioned
comment. If Luke wanted to take her out and spend a fortune, he wouldn't appreciate
her questioning the money.

Pulling the car to a stop next to the parking attendant, he got out.

"Hungry?" Luke smiled at her as he took her hand and led her into the restaurant.