She rolled her eyes. “Stop teasing me.”
Luke sobered. “I’m not teasing.”
“Yeah, right. Like I look good with my hair and makeup a mess.”
This conversation concerned him. He’d noticed she was always dressed to perfection, and he remembered the day he’d surprised her in San Francisco and she’d slammed the door in his face because she wasn’t fixed up. He loved that she took great care of herself, but he didn’t want her to think she had to look a certain way. He wanted her to be comfortable and confident without a stitch of makeup on.
Luke took her hand in his. “Mar, I’m being serious right now, and you’d better internalize what I say.”
She stared up at him.
“You look unreal all fixed up with your hair in long curls, your makeup done to perfection, and your heels on, but you look absolutely gorgeous with your hair and makeup a mess, and I love the way you looked when we went hiking and biking and swimming without any high heels or fancy clothes.”
She blinked up at him. Her eyes got really bright, and two tears rolled over her dark lashes and down her cheeks.
Horror rushed through Luke. What had he done now? “Mar?” he asked tentatively.
“Sorry.” She sniffled and pressed the back of her hand daintily to her nose, then wiped at her tears. “Sorry. Nobody’s ever said anything so sweet to me before.”
Luke was the one blinking now. “What do you mean? You think your appeal is based on how perfect your makeup is?”
“Well, no …” She looked down. “Maybe sometimes, to some people.”
Luke tilted her chin up with his palm. “Mar …” He swallowed and tried to phrase it in a way that would show her how deeply he felt this. “Your beauty shines from the inside out. You don’t need anything to enhance that beauty. You’re the beauty, Mar: the way you think, the way you talk, the way you shine …”
He thought it was enough as more tears escaped her lashes and rolled down. He bent down low and kissed one of her cheeks. It tasted salty and made him want to get involved in another intense kissing session. Forget dinner.
Mar wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard and long. When she pulled back, she asked quietly, “So you don’t mind that I’m … short?”
“I love your size,” he said quickly. “You’re the perfect everything to me, Mar.”
“Oh my.” She kissed him again, then drew back. “Thank you, Luke. I’m going to go blow my nose so we can go to dinner.”
She hurried toward the bathroom off the mudroom, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor. Luke hoped she’d internalized some of what he said. She was perfect, and he wanted her to understand that.