When I came back out, Luke was nowhere to be found. Had that little scamp turned tail and run? I chuckled at the image of Luke halfway to Atlantic City in the back of an Uber. Lenny would probably take him, actually. Or he’d probably just take a helicopter.
I heard grumbling from behind his bedroom door. As I approached, it was clear he was cursing.
I knocked softly. “You okay in there, buddy?”
“No, I’m not coming out.”
“Like, ever?”
There was a pause. “Okay, fine.”
The lock clicked open and then he emerged. The green sweater clung to his strong arms and chest in a way that wasn’t funny at all. Then I clicked the switch on his collar, the lights started up, and I found my laugh again.
His grumpy face also had me dying. I swept my phone out and took a picture of him before he even realized what I was doing.
“Clara, you better not send that to anyone.”
“I told you, just Nic. I told him about the sweaters and he thought it was hilarious. If I don’t send him a picture, he’s going to pout just like you are.”
“I’m not—” Luke sighed and shook his head. “We can’t have that, I suppose. But if you’re sending him a picture, it’s going to be of both of us. Then maybe he’ll make fun of you instead of me when we go home for Christmas.”
“Deal,” I said with a grin, then sidled up to him. I held my phone up to get us both in the shot, and he was forced to scrunch down and get awfully close. So close I could smell the masculine scent of him and feel his strong chest. “Say, candy canes!”
I snapped the pic and laughed at the look of surprise on his face.
“It’s perfect,” I gushed.
“No,” he protested with a chuckle. “I’m making a stupid face.”
“That’s the face you’re always making,” I joked, knowing it would get his goat.
“You take that back, Snow,” he said, eyes glittering with a challenge.
“Sure.” I tapped the screen a few times. “Oops. I accidentally sent it to Nic.”
Luke groaned. “He’s gonna bust my balls. I just know it.”
“Ourballs,” I said, and he laughed.
Seconds later, my phone dinged with a reply from my brother.
“That was quick,” Luke said. “What does he say?”
I smiled. “He says, ‘you nerds make a cute couple. Have fun at the party.’ Sounds like we have his blessing.”
I looked into Luke’s eyes again, feeling a charge crackling in the air between us. My brother was joking, of course, but his message sure felt like he was fine with whatever Luke and I had going on up here.
I broke eye contact with Luke, needing to stop the runaway train inside me. “We should get going or we’re going to be late.”
CHAPTER 21
LUKE
When the elevator doors opened on the fortieth floor, the spectacle blew me away. I had seen the preparations, of course. I had been there watching Clara set the whole thing up like a general directing her troops. But seeing it in full swing, with the lights, the music, and most of all, the people, I finally saw Clara’s artistic vision come together.
It was pure magic. And that magic was reflected in the joy in Clara’s eyes.
I leaned in close to whisper in her ear. “Take a bow, Ms. Snow. This is fantastic.”
