to Rori, his smile turning a little wolfish. “Well, isn’t that nice of him to give us some alone time.” But instead of kissing her, he stepped toward the pot. “You’ve gotta try this. No one makes gazpacho like the Cannons. It’s a secret family recipe. Hungry?”
“Starving,” she realized, even as her eyes moved to Mike as he exited the kitchen. “Will we have time to make a trip to the store before going to party? I need a gift for the hosts.”
Luke laughed. “Don’t worry about it. Things aren’t formal like that around here.”
“It’s polite,” Rori said, trying not to channel her mother as she said so.
“Luke’s right,” Mike said, his hand on the door. “You’ll basically be the guest of honor next to Luke. No one will be expecting you to bring anything.”
Mike was being polite—saying what Rori would have said if she were in his position.
“Are you bringing something?” she challenged.
“Well, yes,” he said. “But that—”
“And are other members of your family bringing items?”
“Of course, but—”
Rori turned to Luke. “Then we can bring something. Do we have time to go to the store?”
Luke glanced forlornly at the gazpacho. “Can we eat first?”
“I can wait an hour to eat,” she said. “Let’s get a gift first.”
That got an outright frown out of Luke, until the expression abruptly flipped. “How about you just go with Mike to wherever he’s going? You two can get to know each other a little bit and he can help you find a good gift. He’s good at stuff like that.”
She watched Mike stiffen at the suggestion which was one of the reasons she knew she hadn’t misunderstood her fiancé. Luke wanted her to go with Mike? Alone?
There was a laundry list of reasons the suggestion was completely inappropriate, but in true Luke style, he seemed completely clueless of that fact. It was as if he had no awareness that he best friend was a sculpted, beautiful specimen of a man, or that delegating couple-like activities to another man wasn’t a good way to win points with a woman.
“Luke, I’m pretty sure she’d rather go with you,” Mike said before she could respond. “She doesn’t even know me.”
“All the more reason for you two to go together—so you can get to know each other,” Luke said, this time sending Rori a little wink.
What the hell did he mean by that?
Mike’s slight frown told her he was about as keen on the idea of taking her shopping as she was on going with him, but again his manners had him doing what she would have done in his position.
“You’re welcome to come with me,” he said. “Although we do need to leave now to get back in time.”
“Of course,” Rori said. “Let me just grab my purse…” Mid-sentence she realized she had no idea where it was, and was about to ask when Mike walked over to the couch and picked it up.
“Anything else?” he asked, handing it to her.
She glanced over at Luke, who was happily spooning soup into a bowl. “Are you sure you don’t want to come?”
“Nah,” he said. “Good bonding time for you two.”
Bonding time. With Mike. Did the man not even hear himself speak? But at least Luke did something half right when he set the bowl down, crossed the kitchen and dropped a quick kiss on her. “You’ll have fun and he’ll fill you in on all the ways to impress his family way better than I can.”
“Sure,” she said, looking to Mike hesitantly and wondering if she dared check the state of her hair before they left. Probably best to just stick with a pony tail holder from her purse. “Ready if you are.”
He nodded. “Right this way.”
The awkwardness emanating from Mike was palpable, but Luke had already moved back to the gazpacho in a state of utter oblivion. Rori almost backed out of going. Almost. But the fact was that her breeding would never allow her to attend a party without presenting a gift to the host—guest of honor or not.
The short walk to the SUV parked in the garage was silent. And once they got there, Mike surprised her by opening the door for her—his manners once again allowing for something awkward.
Luke should be opening the door for her. Not Mike.
“Thank you,” she said without making eye contact, and stepped in.
All he did was nod and shut the door behind her before walking around to his side of the car and getting in. It wasn’t until