Page 24 of A Rancher's Bride
He stopped, staring at a set of three matching pieces of luggage in confusion. “Hey. Where’s my stuff?”
Lisa poked her head around the corner from the kitchen. “What’s that?”
Luke looked around. “Did you move my bags?”
Tamara stepped from the master bedroom, a soft blue robe wrapped around her slim form. She blinked at him.
Damn. “Sorry I woke you.”
She shook her head. “I was awake. It’s my fault—I told Lisa she could. Your things are in there.”
She pointed at the smart blue suitcases waiting at the front door.
He paused for a second before it registered. Fancy hotel, making a good impression. Not the place for his worn gunny sacks or Kelli’s ancient hockey bag. “Damn. Okay, that’s rather brilliant.”
Lisa joined them at the front hall as the door opened behind Luke, and Kelli stepped in.
“I transferred your clothes, but I didn’t look at any of it,” Lisa promised.
Luke rolled his eyes. “I promise I won’t faint at the thought of you handling my socks.”
Lisa picked up the third, smaller square and pushed it into Kelli’s hands. “This one has your things that didn’t fit in the other case. Don’t bother looking now, you can figure it out when you get to the hotel. There are travel advisories being posted for this afternoon, so you’d better get on the road before the snow stops you.”
“What are we doing?” Kelli asked, eyeing the bags with suspicion. “Where’s my bag?”
Luke put a hand on her shoulder and twisted her toward the front entrance. “We’re leaving in five minutes flat. Take a pee break if you need, and let’s go.”
He picked up the two matching suitcases, tipped his chin toward the girls, then stepped outside.
Tossing the bags in the back of the crew cab, he paused. He didn’t know which one was hers and which one was his. No problem. They’d get everything straightened out when they opened them in their hotel room…
Theirhotel room.
Understanding of how intimate this situation was struck Luke out of the blue. He’d honestly been blind to the implications, and now the truth rushed in and slammed him with the force of a tsunami.
Jesus, he was in so much shit.
6
Hands down, this was the most awkward road trip Kelli had ever taken.
It hadn’t started that way. For the first forty-five minutes or so she’d spent her energy chatting up the training techniques she’d been reading about that could help Chili Pepper.
Talking her fool head off was the only option. Either that or she’d have fallen into twisting her fingers in her lap like some shy miss as she fought to start this seduction business.
It wasn’t fair. Kelli’s education in sex had been ninety percent animal husbandry, and horses didn’t need invitations to get on with the deed. Nope. When the opportunity arose, they took it. Enthusiastically.
And the guys she’d fooled around with, while not an extensive list, were all heat-of-the-moment, gotta-do-it-now events.
This slow, deliberate bullshit was for the birds.
When she realized Luke was doing nothing more than making noncommittal grunts anduh-huhnoises, she started giving him some side eye.
Kelli thought back, wondering if she’d been unintentionally rude or out of line. Nope, she couldn’t think of anything out of the ordinary.
She fell silent for a bit, glancing at his hands on the steering wheel. It was probably the whole gala thing reeling inside her gut, at least to some degree. They were about to show up where she didn’t feel comfortable, and he couldn’t either. She’d cut him slack for that in the hopes that he’d do the same when it came to her acting awkward.
Maybe she should take Josiah up on those acting lessons. She wasn’t sure anyone else in the community was aware he actually did have a background in the arts.
