When Riley looked back at the guys, the one person she locked eyes with was Luke. He was smiling at her as he tried to get Comet to sit next to him.
“Sit,” Luke said.
Comet kept standing and wagged his tail.
“Sit,” Luke tried again.
Nothing.
Riley came over and smiled down at Comet. “Comet, sit,” she said, and Comet sat instantly. When she looked up at Luke, she laughed. “You’re welcome.”
Luke shook his head as he looked at Comet. “You’ve got to stop doing that. You’re making me look bad.”
After Paul got all the pictures he wanted, he called Riley over to quickly approve the ones he could send to Mike.
Riley laughed as Paul quickly scanned through the photos. Every one of them made her laugh. “Can I get copies these?”
“For social media?” Paul asked.
“No, just for me,” Riley said, surprising herself as she said it.
“Sure,” Paul said.
“Oh, and one more favor. Did you see the picture of me with Santa that Margo wanted?”
“Yeah, it’s great,” he said. “We got a lot of hits on that when we shared it on social media.”
“Can you print me up a copy by tomorrow?” Riley asked.
Paul nodded. “Sure, no problem.”
When she caught him looking around, she smiled. “She’s in the kitchen.”
“What?” Paul asked.
“Caylee, who you’re looking for, she’s in the kitchen,” Riley said with a knowing grin.
“Oh, I wasn’t looking for her,” he rushed to say.
Riley crossed her arms. “Seriously, Paul, I wasn’t born yesterday, and I write romance novels for a living. I know a love story when I see one, even if you both are too stubborn to see it. I don’t know what happened between you guys, but my advice is, life is short. Fix it. If you care about her, don’t waste any more time. She could be headed back to Afghanistan. Do you really want her to leave without her knowing how you really feel?”
“It’s not like that . . .” Paul started, then stopped. “Okay, it is like that, but it doesn’t matter. She’s the one who broke up with me before she went to Afghanistan. I tried to stay in touch. I called, sent texts, e-mailed. She never responded. I didn’t even know she was coming home.”
Riley felt for him. She could see he was struggling. “Well, now you know she’s here,” she said in an encouraging voice. “Talk to her. Find a way to make it happen, because I think she really cares about you, too.”
Paul looked surprised, then hopeful. “You really think so?”
“I do,” she said. “I’m the romance expert, remember?”
Paul laughed. “Good point.”
“Now, I need to go change for my date with Tyler,” Riley said. “Why don’t you go see if Caylee can’t help you pick out some of the best pictures from tonight and you can show me them later. Tell her I asked her to help you.”
“Great idea,” he said. “And thanks . . . for the advice.”
“Happy to try to help,” Riley said with a smile. “Good luck.”
As she headed for her room, she made a mental note to have a little chat with Caylee.
She needed a little push in the right direction—the direction of Paul. He was starting to grow on Riley, so if there was anything she could do to help the two of them finally talk about how they really felt for each other, she was ready, willing, and able.
She entered her room to find a big white box with a red bow on her bed. For a minute, she thought it was the same box Mike had sent her, but as she got closer, she saw this box was a little smaller, and when she picked it up, it wasn’t nearly as heavy. Still, she knew what was inside because she knew Tyler. It had to be something to wear.
When they’d been dating, he’d always loved surprising her with a new outfit for some special party they were going to. She would always joke that he was way more into fashion than she was. Her tastes had always been more classic and simple, but she’d quickly learned that you needed to dress for success in New York City, and Tyler had been great at helping her with that.
She opened the box and her breath caught when she saw a beautiful, white couture cocktail dress. It was covered in white lace, making it look like it was made of tiny snowflakes. When she held it up to her, she knew it would make any girl feel like a princess.
But it was completely impractical. It was something she would never buy for herself, and for all those reasons, Riley loved it.
Also in the box were silver strappy heels and a matching cocktail purse.
She had no idea where she as going with Tyler, but she knew one thing. She was certainly going to be dressed like she belonged in a Christmas fairy tale.
Chapter Thirty-Four
When Riley was ready and came downstairs, she was surprised to see Luke was the only one in the lobby. He was stacking more wood for the fire.
“You’re just a lumberjack at heart, aren’t you?” Riley asked as she entered the room.
Luke turned around and almost dropped the piece of firewood he was carrying.
All of a sudden Riley felt very self-conscious in her dress.
“It’s too much, isn’t it,” she asked, nervously smoothing her palms over her hips. “Tyler always says you have to go big or go home. But this might be too big . . .”
Luke never took his eyes off her. “You look . . . beautiful.”
The sincerity in his voice made Riley blush, but before she could respond, Tyler entered the room looking incredibly handsome in a classic, clearly custom, black tuxedo.
“Riley, you look sensational,” he said, taking her hand and stepping back to admire her. “I knew this dress would be perfect on you.”
Riley smiled at him. “Thank you for the
