Now that her hand was free, Luke moved his own luggage and bags around so he could take her hand, and they followed the rest of the group out, fielding questions that were asked at rapid-fire top volume: what did Luke do, they were so surprised and pleased to meet him, how did they meet. Beneath that, Gina said, "I can't believe you've been hidinghimfrom us."
Sabrina took a deep breath. "I told you, I wanted to see if it seemed like it had a chance of working before I started really making a big deal about it."
"We thought you'd made him up," Jan said bluntly, from just on Gina's other side.
"Yeah, I know you did," Sabrina said as flatly. "Honestly if I had my way I probably wouldn't introduce you for months yet. I don't want to scare him off."
On some level she almost even believed that. On the level where she was really, really pretending this was all for real, maybe. If thiswasa real relationship, she absolutely wouldnotsubject Luke to The Girls until they'd been together for months, possibly a year or more. But since it was all fake, throwing him into the deep end…
…still seemed kind of awful, but he was down for it, and Sabrina was determined they would have a good time this weekend.
"I mean,canyou even scare him off?" Gina asked breathlessly. "He's coming to aweddingwith you? After, what, six weeks?"
"Well, like I said, I've never been to Vegas," Luke said, as if he'd been part of the conversation all along. "I think it's crazier that I'm actually invited to the wedding than it is for me to take a long weekend with Sabrina in Sin City. I appreciate it!" he added hastily, beaming that fantastic smile at Mindy and Craig. "But it's a little crazy, and incredibly nice of you. I'll stay out of your hair?—"
"Don't be ridiculous," Craig said easily. "I've got my bachelor's party tonight, so you've got to come along. Can't let you just hang out in Vegas all by yourself."
Luke looked properly taken aback, and Sabrina couldn't decide if it was an act or not. "Are you sure? I'm a stranger. And I'm sure I could get a ticket to a residency. I think I read the girls who did that K-pop movie soundtrack were playing?"
"You are absolutelynotgoing to them without me," Sabrina blurted, and Mindy gave a brittle laugh.
"See, you've got to go with Craig," she said. "Because I can't have Sabrina skippingmybachelorette party."
"I never would," Sabrina promised, although if tickets to the K-pop group actually materialized she would be hard-pressed to not go.
"As long as I'm not in the way," Luke said, and the guys all insisted it wasn't as everybody was herded into cars. Sabrina made a real effort to go with Luke, even though The Girls wereclearly trying to get her separated from him, and she shot Mindy a slightly insincere smile as she got into the car with him.
"Easier for us to go together, we've got to get all our stuff into the same room! Besides, what's half an hour when we'll be spending the whole weekend together?" She smiled merrily, waved, and shut the door firmly before Mindy could object.
CHAPTER 8
Was it necessary for Sabrina to stick with him in the first minutes after they landed? No. Did Luke appreciate it?
He really did. Because while he liked people and generally got along with them, the vibe of 'separate the boys and girls to grill you' was strong, and he didn't feel entirely ready for that. And either Sabrina didn't either, or she was protecting him, which…
You don't need protection!his rabbit said.You're a big strong tough guy! Super smart! Extremely handsome! Funny! Nice to animals! You can handle this!
Yeah,Luke said with a brief smile,but it's nice to not have to. It's nice to feel like somebody's watching out for me.
Of course she is! She's our FATED! MATE! She's got our back! We've got hers! Together, nothing can stop us! But you gotta tell her about FATE! She'll be into it! Tell her now!
In front of all these true humans?Luke asked, amused.
The rabbit, reminded of that little detail, subsided with a harumph that made Luke smile again. "Sorry," he said to Craig, who was in the front passenger's seat and had turned to ask himsomething. "I was thinking about Sabrina and fully didn't hear what you said."
Craig chuckled. He was a tallish guy with sandy hair and a warm tan, and at the moment wore khakis and a polo shirt. "I said, what was it you said you do?"
"Oh, personal training."
"Yeah?" Mindy asked from the driver's seat. "Is Sabrina a client now? She's always complaining about how the bridesmaids dresses we all choose never suit her, but maybe hitting the gym will help that."
The implication was clearly that the fault lay in Sabrina, not the clothes. Luke's ears went hot with anger. "We've barely seen each other at the gym at all," he said, perfectly truthfully. "But I know exactly what kind of physical shape she's in, and I knowsheknows how to dress to flatter her figure."
With effort, he left it there, because he figured they were smart enough to pick up onhisimplication that the fault wasnotwith Sabrina. She squeezed his fingers and smiled up at him, brown eyes unexpectedly grateful, and he heard a little hiss through somebody's teeth in the seats behind them, because Mindy was in fact driving a minivan through Vegas just then. With ten-plus people, a couple of minivans made sense for easy transport, but if Sabrina's college friends were all trying to put on a show of being the sexiest, coolest people around, they weren't doing a very good job of it.
With even more effort, he moved on, adding, "Sabrina said it was black tie? I hope a regular ol' tux will do the trick. It's all I brought."
Craig's gaze came back to him. "You own a tux?"
