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Pausing, she said, “Come on.”
“I’m not going in there,” he said. “The room full of stress?” And women. Luke shook his head.
Hannah turned fully, which was a feat in that dress. It was the color of fresh butter and hugged her ample curves to the waist, where it flowed in beautiful waves down to the ground. “You made her cry.”
“I’mnot the one who told her we bought her mother a wig.”
Hannah smiled at him, and Luke knew he was about to lose. He even took a step toward her. She extended her hand toward him. “Come on. She just wants to say thank you.”
“Sabrina already told us thank you.” Luke took Hannah’s hand. “You owe me big for this.”
“Is that right?” Hannah teased.
“Yes,” Luke said. “We’re going to a regular steakhouse for dinner tomorrow night. You have to get a steak and baked potato—no special toppings.”
“You have got to be kidding.” Hannah looked at him like he’d just told her she’d have to eat roadkill.
Luke laughed, his sad mood completely gone with Hannah at his side. “Yeah, I won’t punish you with food. I’ll think of something else.”
“What else is there?”
“No ice cream after dinner?” he guessed.
“You’re taking all the fun out of life,” she said.
“That’s the point of a punishment,” he said.
“You said I owed you something, not that I needed to be punished.” She opened the door and led him inside. “Jill, I have Luke.”
Everyone turned toward him, and Luke froze as if with stage fright. He’d been in the ring in front of thousands of people. Shirtless, no less. Now, he felt like he wasn’t wearing anything as he stood in front of all these women.
There seemed to be dozens of them, though there couldn’t be.
Sabrina approached, and she looked beautiful and bright in a silver dress with plenty of sparkle on it. Her dark hair felt to her shoulders, and the wig looked absolutely real. It was made with real human hair, and she’d told him and Hannah all about how the consultant had worked with her to get the shade exactly right.
“Look at you,” Luke said, smiling at her. “It’s beautiful.” He stepped into her as if she were his own mother and hugged her tight. Her chest shook against his, and Luke wished she wouldn’t cry. “Please don’t,” he whispered.
Sabrina stepped away and wiped quickly at her eyes. “I didn’t mean to cause a big problem,” she said.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Hannah said. “Sometimes a situation just gets out of control.”
Jill stepped next to her mother, her eyes wide and searching. “You bought my mother a wig?”
Luke fell back to Hannah’s side, hoping she could help him against Jill. He’d known Jill for a year now, and he liked her just fine. He’d even say they were good friends. She’d helped him with Hannah last year, and she’d encouraged him in every decision he made.
His chest tightened, and he looked at Hannah.
“We pooled our money,” Hannah said. “Luke and I.” She glanced at him, and he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
“Hannah said it would mean a lot to your mother to have hair for your wedding, and the money was just sitting there.” Luke shrugged, hoping that didn’t make what they’ve done unimportant. “It was supposed to be a surprise.”
Jill’s bottom lip wobbled, and she stepped into Luke and wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you so much.”
“You deserve the very best wedding,” Luke said, and he meant it.
Jill hugged Hannah again, and Luke’s phone rang. “I’m probably being summoned,” he said when he saw Nate’s name on the screen. “They probably think I ran away.” He grinned and lifted the phone. “See you ladies soon.”
He made his escape and answered the call.
