Page 37 of A Rancher's Bride
“You need to make a shower like this in your house.” Kelli pulled him farther forward, pointing at a glass-fronted monstrosity with three round showerheads directly overhead. “It’s going to be like standing in a downpour.”
Her excitement was high enough to distract him from everything else he needed to worry about. “Let’s check the schedule and see when we need to be somewhere, then you can have free rein in here.”
She suddenly straightened, glancing at him with a sly smile. “I don’t mind sharing,” she offered.
“I’m going to unpack.” It was safer to ignore her invitations than to keep turning them down.
Sure enough, Kelli was hard on his heels a moment later, still grinning, but she’d dropped the topic. “Which bag is mine?”
“Not sure.” He undid the zipper on the first one, flipping the hard case open.
Slamming it shut a second later.
He pushed it to one side and pointed to the other bag. “That one is yours.”
Kelli folded her arms over her chest, amusement on her face. “Shy about letting me see your underwear?”
“Go unpack,” he ordered.
Without another word Luke picked up his bag and carried it into the bathroom, locking the door behind him to make sure she didn’t trail after him.
There was enough room to lay the suitcase on the counter, and he opened it carefully. Suits, shoes, slacks—all of that was folded and tucked neatly inside, but nothing explained the box of condoms nestled on top of the rest, safely held in place under the elastic straps.
He hauled out his phone and hit the number for his sister-in-law.
“Hello. Lisa Coleman speaking.”
Luke figured she’d answer Tamara’s phone. Good thing, because Lisa was the one he wanted to yell at. This had to be her fault. No way would Tamara pull a stunt like this, and none of his brothers would’ve either. “What the hell, Lisa?”
The woman had the audacity to laugh. “So. Did you have a good drive?”
“Yes. We got here safe, and we’ve checked in, and everything is going fine. Now answer the damn question. What the hell were you thinking?”
“You didn’t like my packing job?” She clicked her tongue. “Relax. I didn’t mean anything by it other than you are away with a certain young lady who has become important to me in a very short time. And if by some chance one thing leads to another, I didn’t want you either making a stupid mistake and stopping because you didn’t have supplies with you, or worse, making a stupid mistake and not stopping. Now you’re covered, if you’ll excuse the pun.”
Luke eyed the box. Large size, bonus pack. He held his tongue about that part, still not happy with her. “I don’t appreciate you poking your nose into my business.”
“If you don’t need them, whatever. Otherwise, consider it an early birthday present. I have to go. The girls will be home any minute. Have fun.” She hung up, and the line went dead before he had a chance to growl his frustration.
He took the box and shoved it in the bottom drawer under the sink, covering it with a facecloth. Hopefully Kelli wouldn’t look in that drawer, or if she did, best-case scenario, she might think it was part of the standard supplies offered by the hotel.
Luke dropped his shaving kit and bathroom stuff on the counter, picked up the suitcase and headed into the bedroom.
Kelli had headphones in and was dancing as she unpacked, hips swinging as she tucked clothes into the set of drawers on the far side of the room.
He did the same, slipping past her to the closet to hang up the suit and jackets Josiah had lent him. Doing everything with narrow focus in an attempt to ignore the enormous bed in the middle of the room, which was damn hard considering it was so big.
Something to be thankful for, he supposed. More room to stay away from Kelli in a California king. Not that she’d take up a ton of room in the first place.
He loaded the rest of his shirts and underwear into the dresser on his side of the bed—
God, he had a side of the bed.
He stopped with a jolt when something shimmery and pink slid from between his hands to hang over his arm. “Dammit, Lisa.”
He must’ve said it too loudly because Kelli stopped her dancing, pulling one earbud free as she stepped to the side. “So that’s where that went.”
She caught hold of his hand then slid the bra strap over his wrist and onto her own arm. “Pretty, isn’t it?”
