Page 17 of The Sweetheart Dance
Both men are wearing dark denim jeans, some fancy-looking boots, and a sweater that stretches deliciously across their broad shoulders. I’m one of the luckiest women in the world to be going to dinner with both of them.
“You guys look handsome!” I tell them.
Karl strolls over to me and throws his arms around me again. I take it that he’s a hugger. “Holy crap! You look beautiful!” He whistles then gets close to my ear to whisper. “Be good to my buddy. He’s a good man.”
I’m about to say something when he moves away from me then Luke wraps his arm around my waist. “You look stunning.”
He kisses me on the cheek. His lips are warm against my skin making me shiver a little. I can’t help but lean into his touch. I like the way he feels.
With my hand secured in Luke’s, we walk over to the restaurant in the middle of the resort. Karl is off to the side of us talking about all of the women he’s checked out since being here and is happy to have a date for later on this evening.
Both sets of Luke and my parents are waiting for us at the bar. My parents swarm in on me as soon as I cross into the restaurant.
“Raina! Darling, we have missed you,” my mother shouts. I can tell she’s had a few to drink today.
After I hug both of my parents, I hug Luke’s parents, too. The Willows are very nice people and have been friends with my parents forever.
“You look beautiful,” Thia Willow informs me with her long blonde hair braided off to the side. Not much has changed with her trying to be as fashionable as teenagers.
“Thank you,” I gush then kiss her on the cheek.
Karl makes his rounds around the table to hug everyone like he has met them a bunch of times. Byeveryone,I’m including my parents.
“Are you guys looking forward to the dance?” Karl asks with a wink towards me.
If I wasn’t already feeling something special for Luke, I might have got a little warm inside over his look. He’s a handsome man with a lot of charm.
I nod. I bought a few Valentine’s Day presents for my parents but I didn’t buy one for Luke. I’m beginning to question if I should have.
Luke leans over to my chair and grabs my hand. I’m wanting to read into this more than I probably should since we are trying to convince both of our parents that we are a happy couple. I’m wanting to believe he wants to touch me as much as I want to touch him.
“Angel,” he says loud enough to get the attention of everyone at the table, “we have reservations for the carriage ride in ten minutes. We should probably get going.”
Looking at the clock on my phone, I do see we are running close to our reservation time. I smile at everyone seated around the table. “Mom, dad, I will meet you tomorrow for brunch,” I remind them.
My parents love brunch at the ski resort and eat there entirely too much when they visit. I don’t think it is anything special, but they sure do.
“Sure thing, darling! Nice to see you again, Luke!” My father says over his glass of Brandy.
Luke takes my hand throughout the restaurant until we are in the front to wait for the carriage ride to pick us up. “Do you remember the last time we rode on the carriage together?”
I smile at him. He is easy to be happy around. I like that about him especially his humbleness. The man is incredibly wealthy but he doesn’t let that cloud him.
“Of course, I do.”
The carriage stops in front of us with two white horses leading the open sleigh. The woman in the front must recognize Luke because she is batting her eyes at him like she’s trying to take off.
“Oh my gosh,” she gushes. “Hi!”
Luke smirks at her as he helps me get into the carriage. “Hello,” he greets back.
Once I’m in the carriage, Luke settles himself beside me. The move is intimate and almost as if he cares about me. I love how close he is sitting next to me and I can’t wait to go on the carriage ride with him.
The woman begins to guide the carriage throughout the resort with the white snow falling around us. It looks almost as if we are in the middle of a snowglobe. I love it.
Luke has his arm draped across my shoulders and we are nestled under the blanket used by too many people. I try to press down my discomfort with how dirty this blanket probably is.
I’m amazed at how comfortable I am being this close to Luke. He is practically a stranger to me since we haven’t seen each other in so long. However, there is something special about the way he is holding me.
