“Luke, this is gorgeous. Samantha and your father did a great job. Your mom is going to be beside herself.”

Luke smiles widely, “She’ll love it.

Come on, let me introduce you to some people.”

He snatches two glasses of champagne from a waiter and hands one to me as we begin mingling about the room. I am excited to see Gail and Steven have already arrived and I hug them both.

“Oh my goodness, you both look so wonderful!” Gail is simply stunning with her short blond hair styled around her face, and she’s wearing a beautiful royal blue evening gown. Steven is dapper as can be in a black suit and tie.

I couldn’t be more proud of them.

“Darling, you are breathtaking.” Gail hugs me close, her eyes shining with love and happiness.

“Thank you for coming, both of you.

My parents will be delighted to see you.” Luke shakes Steven’s hand and kisses Gail on the cheek.

“Thank you for inviting us. You look so handsome, dear.”

“Happy to be here,” Steven responds and winks at Luke.

Huh? I look up at Luke, wondering what that wink was about, but Luke’s face gives nothing away.

The room is filling quickly with people, and Luke sticks close to my side, his hand on my back, introducing me to his family and friends.

Finally, in a moment alone, he hands me a fresh glass of champagne and whispers

in

my

ear,

“You

are

unbelievably gorgeous tonight. And you are charming everyone in this room.”

His smile is possessive and loving and I warm at his words.

“You’re the charming one. Are you having fun?”

“Yeah, I’m excited to see my mom’s reaction. In fact,” he looks at his watch.

“Time to get everyone seated.”

He has a word with the band leader who then announces, “Ladies and gentlemen, please find your seats. The guests of honor will be arriving shortly.”

Luke and I are seated at the head table with his parents, Samantha and her date and Luke’s brother, Mark.

“Luke, Natalie, this is my date, Paul.”

Luke shakes his hand while giving him a speculative stare, and I smile to myself.

Overprotective brother.

“Hey, beautiful.” Mark flashes me that signature Williams grin and pulls me into a hug. “Good to see you’re still putting up with my brother’s shit. When you’ve had enough of him, give me a call.” He winks down at me and I can’t help but laugh.

“Stop fondling my girlfriend. Find your own.” Luke pulls me out of Mark’s grasp as Mark grins at him.

Yes,

these

Williams

men

are

charmers.

Luke takes my hand and kisses my fingers as he guides me to my seat between him and Mark.

Suddenly the ballroom doors swing open, and the room erupts into applause.

Neil is smiling lovingly down at his bride as Lucy’s mouth drops and she looks around the large room, realizing that she recognizes everyone here.

She turns to Neil with a shocked smile and he dips her way down low and kisses her tenderly. I can’t hear what he says to her, but I’m quite sure he says, “Happy anniversary, my love.”

I can’t stop smiling.

Lucy is wearing a beautiful black evening dress and Neil is in a black suit and red tie. They look young and happy and still very much in love.

As they make their way through the crowd to our table, they stop to shake hands and give hugs to other guests. I turn to Luke and grin up at him.

“They look so happy. I’m so happy for them.”

“Me too.” He kisses my forehead, and I decide to be the bigger person here, to try to make things right with his sister.

“Samantha.” I lean around Luke toward his sister to get her attention.

“This is a great party. You did a fantastic job.”

She looks stunned for a moment, then plasters the fake smile on her face, and my heart sinks. No smoothing things over tonight. “Thanks, Natalie.”

I look up at Luke and shrug. He shakes his head ruefully and we turn our attention back to his parents.

Lucy hugs me tightly on her way to her seat. “Oh, Natalie, this is amazing!”

“I’m so happy that you’re surprised and happy, Lucy. Happy anniversary.”

“Thank you.” She kisses my cheek and then enfolds Luke into a hug.

“Hello, dear.” Neil sweeps me up in a hug, all smiles. “Were you able to finish the project you were working on?”

“Yes, and I’ll have it with me tomorrow at brunch.” We are hosting brunch at Luke’s house tomorrow morning to give his parents their gifts and have a private family celebration.

“Perfect. Thank you.” He smiles at me kindly, and moves on around the table.

“My parents love you,” Luke murmurs in my ear.

“It’s mutual.”

We take our seats and Neil stands, tapping his water glass with his spoon and the room hushes. Someone hands him a microphone.

“I want to thank you all for coming tonight, and extend a special thank you to my lovely daughter, Samantha, for being my partner in crime these past few months. It’s been daunting keeping this little secret from my beautiful bride.”

He smiles down at her and she blushes prettily. “I am a very lucky man. As of tomorrow, I have had the honor of spending every day with the best person I’ve ever known for thirty five years.