I merely shake my head.
“I don’t even want to know.”
That elicits a chuckle from the gorgeous man.
“Yeah, it was pretty bad. But tell me: did you have a good time today?”
I nod. “The food was delicious, and your mom is absolutely adorable. She reminds me of the pixie queens in the fairytales I read as a kid, and I’d love to hang out with her again. But I definitely won’t be taking her to Jamie’s. You have to tell her not to come!”
“What’s wrong with Jamie’s?” Luke’s tone is amused. “I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with a piano bar, and Martha enjoys music.”
I sigh. “I mean, Jamie’s is fine if you don’t mind creepy patrons and tuna melts, but it’s definitely not the kind of place where I’d ever expect to see someone from your family.”
He chuckles. “We’ll figure something out. Martha is patrician by blood and marriage, but you’d be surprised. She even likes McDonald’s once in a while.”
Something in his voice makes me turn to him in suspicion. “You weren’t being serious about buying me a piano, were you?” I ask. He doesn’t respond. “Luke?”
He merely shrugs. “We’ll see.”
I relax into the seat as relief washes over me. “Good because you know pianos are expensive and I don’t want to put you out. It’s not necessary.”
One of his black brows raises. “You don’t? Well, that’s good to hear. But you should know, honey: I plan on keeping you as close to me as possible for the next few months, and if you need a piano to keep your skills up, then there’s no shame in saying so. I don’t mind buying one, and again, the cost is nothing to me.”
I turn my face toward the window so he won’t see me blush, but in my chest, my heart pounds with excitement. Is this man for real? Luke Montgomery seems too good to be true.
The rest of the drive to his penthouse is quiet, but then we pull onto his street, and there’s a moving van idling in the fire lane right in front of his building. Curious, I squint and sure enough, “Steinway” is printed on the side of the truck in black, blocky letters. Steinway makes the best pianos in the world and I gasp. My eyes widen as I look at Luke.
“You didn’t,” I say.
He puts on a look of surprise as we pull into the basement garage of his building, but I can see by the dimple in his cheek that it’s an act. “Didn’t what?” he asks in an innocent tone.
“You said you weren’t going to buy me a piano!”
He grins now.
“I said I wouldn’t get you something you don’t want.” He shrugs. “But honey, you do want one right? And I want to treat you, so why not?” he reasons.
I sputter.
“But we were only talking about a piano at lunch half an hour ago!”
My fiancé merely grins, pulling the luxury sedan into a space by the elevator.
“No, it’s fine, honey. I belong to a special concierge service for the ultra-wealthy. The sole purpose of the service is procurement in the blink of an eye, so when I texted them inquiring about a piano, they said they could do it. And sure enough, they have. I’ll have to give them a nice tip.”
With that, I swivel in the buttery leather car seat to stare at Luke.
“Are you serious?” I whisper.
He merely grins at me as the car shuts off.
“One hundred percent.”
At that, I jump out and rush to the elevator. Luke’s chuckling as we’re whisked to the penthouse, and when the elevator door opens, sure enough, a huge grand piano is being moved in. The bulky object is still covered in blankets, but the building concierge bows as we come close.
“Sir,” he says. “I believe you have a delivery from Steinway?”
Luke chuckles again as I cover my mouth with both hands and watch as the burly delivery guys carefully maneuver the instrument inside. I take a step back and bump into my man’s chest, and he wraps his arms around me and kisses the top of my head.
“Do you like it?” he whispers in my ear.
I push out of his arms and jab my finger in his chest. “This is going too far, Luke Montgomery.”
“What do you mean?” he grins.
I wave my hand at the piano, unable to bring myself to look at it again. “I thought this was just supposed to be an act, but that is a two hundred thousand dollar instrument! You weren’t joking at lunch!”
He whistles low under his breath, eyeing the massive bundle. “Well, it’s big that’s for sure. It is taking up a ton of space, even in my giant apartment.”
I stamp my foot, too frustrated to do anything else. “That’s not the point, Luke.”
He chuckles and pulls me into his strong arms again. For some reason, I let him, and even melt a bit against that huge form. “It’s not a big deal, Patty. Two hundred G’s isn’t a lot of money to me, and besides, I think it looks quite good in my living room. Don’t you agree?”