The Reluctant Bachelorette (28 page)

“Will you at least tell me where we’re going?” she asked.

“I already told you, it’s a surprise.”

“You won’t even give me a hint?”

“Nope.”

“Meanie.”

He chuckled, rubbing slow circles over her hand. Was this
really happening? Her? Luke? Out on their very first
real
date? The
whole idea seemed too-good-to-be-true. As though she were cocooned in a
beautiful dream that she’d be nudged awake from any second.

“Do you have to be back by a certain time?” Luke asked.

“Nope.”

“Good.”

Taycee eyed his profile. His near perfect nose with the slight
bump on it from when he’d broken it after getting thrown from a horse. The
lines at the corner of his eye that crinkled when he smiled. His thick, dark
eyelashes that most girls would kill for. And his lips—the ones she’d
fantasized about kissing so many times. She swallowed and dropped her gaze to
his hand covering hers. They’d spent plenty of time together when they were
younger, but now she was no longer his best friend’s little sister tagging
along. Now he
wanted
to ask her out. Wanted to be with her. Even wanted
to hold her hand.

True to Luke’s word, they stopped at a small, out-of-the-way
restaurant just outside of Denver for breakfast. Taycee had never tasted such
fluffy pancakes. With juicy blueberries and rich syrup, they melted the moment
they touched her tongue.

“How did you find this place?” she asked. “These are
incredible.”

“By accident,” said Luke. “The owners have a horse they needed
me to look at, so they googled veterinarians near Denver and randomly called
me. They didn’t realize that I lived so far away.”

“But you still came.” Of course he had. Luke never turned down
someone who needed him. Like the time he’d missed going to the swimming hole
because a neighbor asked him to watch her kids. Or the summer he mowed the lawn
of a recently widowed woman without pay. It was one of the many reasons she
fell for him way back when.

“I would have never found this place if I hadn’t.” He leaned
across the counter and lowered his voice. “They even have the most amazing
curly fries—not to mention very fast service—and I know how much you hate to be
kept waiting on curly fries.”

“Yeah, well, Liza did serve me pretty fast the day she went
out with you.” Taycee paused. “Come to think of it, maybe it wouldn’t be such a
bad thing if you kept dating her.”

Luke picked up the maraschino cherry off the top of her
pancakes and dropped it in his mouth.

Taycee’s mouth fell open. “Hey, those are my favorite!”

“I know.” His eyes glinted at her. “Serves you right.”

She shook her head, and then finished her breakfast. Luke left
a hefty tip, chatted with the owners for several minutes, and returned with a
small bowl full of maraschino cherries. She laughed, nodded her thanks to the
couple, and before long, they were back in Luke’s truck, driving toward Denver
once again.

“How’s business going?” she asked.

“Pretty slow, which is actually a good thing because I’m still
trying to figure out an effective billing and filing system, as well as a
decent way to advertise. And then there’s the whole tax issue. What stuff do I
need to save? What can I pitch? I have stacks of receipts and copies of
invoices sitting around that I have no idea what to do with.” He sounded a
little lost and worn out.

“Sounds like you could use an office manager,” Taycee said.

“Someday that would be great, but I can’t afford to pay one
right now.”

“If you want, I could help,” Taycee said. “I’ve learned a
little about how to run a business over the years.”

Luke shot her a look. “You’d do that for me?”

“Of course.” As if she’d ever turn down any excuse to spend time
with Luke. Or to help him. “In fact, I don’t have anything going on Monday
night. I could come over after work.”

“That would be great, thanks.” His hand squeezed hers. “Just
promise not to think I’m a disorganized slob when you see the mess that is my
office.”

“I make no promises.”

He chuckled.

 Thirty minutes later, they pulled into a parking lot of a
large convention center. A sign above the door read, “Rocky Mountain Bridal
Show.”

Taycee blinked. Did Luke know where he’d taken them? Was he
lost? “Um . . . you brought me to a wedding expo? Are you planning to propose
or something?”

“Well, it’s never too early to start picking stuff out,
right?” The words were loaded with teasing insinuation.

Taycee refused to let him make her blush. “Right. But just so
we’re clear, I get to pick the cake flavors.”

“What’s wrong with the flavors I would choose?”

As if this needed an explanation. “Funfetti and weddings don’t
go together.”

Luke gave her a lopsided smile. “Believe it or not, my tastes
have matured a little since high school. For all you know, dark chocolate
ganache with raspberry filling is now my favorite flavor.”

“Please. You asked for a Funfetti cake for your eighteenth
birthday—with sprinkles no less. There’s no way your tastes have risen to the
level of dark chocolate ganache in only ten years.” She pointed a finger at
him. “Admit it, Funfetti is still your favorite.”

He took her hand and raised to his lips. “Maybe,” he murmured
against her fingers.

Taycee suddenly wanted to blurt out that Funfetti was the
perfect choice for a wedding cake. In fact, if he was the groom and she the
bride, Taycee wouldn’t care about anything else. Not even the flowers. He could
insist on red roses, orange sunflowers, and purple pansies and she’d happily
comply. Standing next to him and saying “I do” would be all that mattered.

Luke gave her hand one last squeeze, and then jumped from the
truck. Taycee breathed in deeply, trying to slow her racing heart—not that it
obeyed. Probably because she couldn’t keep her eyes off Luke as he walked
around to open her door. Normally, she was a jump-from-the-truck-on-her-own
type of girl, but she couldn’t get her brain to tell her hand to pull the
handle.

Luke opened her door, and she slid out, somehow managing to
land on her feet.

“Seriously, what are we doing here?” Taycee asked as he pulled
her toward the building.

Luke stopped and waited for a car to pass, and then moved
forward once again. “Turns out that people in the wedding business from all
around come here every year. DJ’s, caterers, wedding planners, cake
decorators—oh, and
florists.
” He shot her a sideways look. “You did say
you wanted to start doing flowers for weddings, right? When you’re ready, this
is a great place to drum up some business. I figured we could check it out.”

Taycee stared at him. She had mentioned that once—weeks
ago—and he’d remembered. He even planned a date just for her, because coming to
a wedding expo was the last place Luke would ever willingly go.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and stopped just outside
the doors. “Wow. Thanks, Luke. This is really . . . sweet.”

“You sound surprised.” The way he said it made it sound like
he didn’t want her to be surprised.

In that moment, when Luke watched her with a half-teasing,
half-hurt expression on his face, Taycee realized something. She hadn’t been
fair to him. It wasn’t that Luke didn’t remember the past. It’s just that his
memories were fewer and far between and perhaps different than hers—the kind of
memories a guy would have of his best friend’s kid sister.

“No,” she said. “I’m not surprised at all.”

I
nside the expo, hordes of excited
girls
buzzed around with bored fiancés in tow, collecting brochures, tasting samples,
talking to florists, designers, caterers, DJs, and representatives from other
companies. An energy and excitement filled the building and bubbled over onto
Taycee. There was something about weddings, about the idea of love and two
people wanting to spend the rest of their lives together. It was a blissful,
wonderful time, and Taycee couldn’t imagine anything better than creating
beautiful floral arrangements to accent such a life-altering day.

They milled through the booths, stopping at some, breezing by
others. A florist booth with the most amazing display of bridal bouquets drew
Taycee’s attention. Everything from clusters of deep red roses to simpler,
equally beautiful, bouquets of wildflowers tied with a satin ribbon. Her
fingers itched to touch the soft petals and breathe in their sweet fragrance.

“These are gorgeous,” Taycee told the woman seated behind the
counter.

“Thank you.” The woman handed Taycee a brochure, and her eyes
flickered to Luke. “You two make a handsome couple.” The comment made Taycee’s
day. If only they really were an engaged couple picking out flowers for their
wedding.

Luke’s arm wound around her shoulders. “That’s exactly what I
keep telling her,” he deadpanned. “But it still took years to convince her to
marry me. Can you believe it?”

Taycee fought the urge to roll her eyes. As if any woman would
ever believe she could be that brainless.

“Really?” the woman said. “Not many guys would be that
patient.”

It was comical, the lovesick way Luke peered into Taycee’s
eyes. “Yeah, well, she was worth the wait.”

“So sweet.” The woman smiled. “When’s the happy day?”

He didn’t miss a beat. “January first. I’m planning to start
the new year off right with my new bride.”

Taycee almost choked on the laughter bubbling up inside her.
Could he sound any cheesier? She patted his chest in an indulgent way. “Actually,
there’s a curse in his family. Everyone has to get married on the first day of
a new year or else their marriage is doomed to end in a tragic way.” Her voice
lowered. “His uncle made the mistake of marrying on January second and lost his
new wife only two months later in a roller derby accident.”

The woman’s smile now looked forced. Her eyes darted past
them, as if searching for normal people to talk to. “I’m so sorry. That’s uh .
. . interesting.”

“It is. Very interesting,” said Luke. “Have a good day.” He
shot Taycee a look, and then grasped her hand, pulling her toward the next
booth. “Superstitious? Really? That’s the best you could come up with for me? I
told her I loved you enough to wait years, and you had to go and turn me into
some irrational psycho. Thanks a lot.”

“No.
You
told her that I was the irrational one for
stringing you along for so long.”

Luke stopped her with a hand on her arm, guiding her around to
face him. “Wait a sec. Did you just say that you would have to be crazy to not
want to marry me?”

Taycee’s cheeks burned. She might as well get down on one knee
and declare her love for him right now. Why did he have this effect on her?
Why?

“No,” she said, and then pulled her arm free and headed toward
the next kiosk, ignoring the low laughter following her. She picked up a
catalog and pretended to browse various place settings.

Luke leaned casually against the counter next to her. “Next
year I think your booth should go right there.” He pointed across the room from
them, toward a table near the front. It was a good spot—one of the best,
actually. Taycee tried to picture it. What would her booth even look like? What
floral arrangements would she bring as samples? What sort of brochure and
information would she hand out to people? A nervous pit formed in her stomach.
Every kiosk looked so nice, so professional. It suddenly made her feel like an
amateur. “I’m not sure I’m ready for something like this.”

“Sure you are.”

“Luke, I . . .” She searched for the right words. “Believe it
or not, I like my life. The slowness of it all. The easiness of it. With the
exception of the past couple of weeks, I’ve been comfortable and happy. I really
don’t need any more than I already have.” But as she looked around, Taycee knew
she wanted more. She wanted this. But was she even capable of competing at this
level?

When Luke didn’t say anything right away, she turned and found
him watching her with an unreadable expression. “I don’t believe you, Taycee
Lynne. And neither do you. I saw the look in your eyes when you first told me
you were interested in doing weddings. And I saw your mind working with ideas
while you looked at those arrangements back there.” He paused. “I get that you
like the slowness of your life—it’s one of the reasons I decided to move back.
But you should never stop setting goals and trying to achieve them regardless
of where you live. You’ll only be hurting yourself if you do.”

Taycee glanced down at the catalog in her hands. It suddenly
felt heavy so she dropped it on the table with a thunk. Was Luke right? Had her
life in Shelter become too comfortable and easy? Had she been holding herself
back in a way? Would she be standing behind one of these booths right now if it
wasn’t for her fear of change and the unknown?