Mr. Imperfect

chapter 5



Rori Townsend was looking at a problem. A sun-kissed, blue-eyed problem.

Although why exactly Mike Cannon was a problem she hadn’t quite put her finger on. After all, Rori was attracted to olive-skinned men with dark eyes. Mike was the opposite of that. In fact, his coloring was very similar to Luke’s, except for the eyes. But all in all, there was absolutely nothing exotic about Mike Cannon.

Mike did, however, have that pretty boy look that Americans always went coo-coo over. Rori had no doubt that the muscles peeking out from under his shirt had nothing to do with any kind of labor he performed. American males built unnecessary muscles as part of the pathology that allowed them to think that they were entitled to the woman of their choosing.

Rori hated—truly hated—guys like that. Perpetual children posing as men for the sole purpose of luring women into believing they’re something they’re not before using and dropping them.

Yes, Rori had experienced his type before. These days she was immune to this particular breed of a*shole. And yet, Rori’s instincts told her run. Fast. Now. To find the nearest ticket agent and buy the first ticket heading east.

Which would be silly, of course.

Rori would only be staying for just over seventy-two hours before flying to New York for the summer. She could ignore the fact that Mike Cannon was the kind of guy who checked out a woman who was with his “best” friend for that long. The fact that some hidden part of her had responded to the look was neither here nor there. Nor was the fact that Rori had resorted to kissing Luke in an effort to break the impossibly magnetic look that Mike was leveling at her.

Rori had felt the pull of that kind of look before. Once upon a time she’d been young and arrogantly confident about what such a primal connection must mean.

Marriage. Kids. Soul mates.

Yeah, right. It had turned out more like a shit storm.

The onset had been tropical whirlwind of ecstasy, but the aftermath had been a wreckage she was still recovering from. And the mere thought of what coulda, woulda, shoulda been ten years in the past and her string of lovers since was more than enough ammo for her to confidently tell her Luke’s best friend exactly where he could shove his steely, primal gaze.

Not here in the airport, obviously. She’d wait until Mike made a move. Which he would. Guys like him always made their move eventually, since they had the loyalty of a jackrabbit.

Leaning into Luke as they walked side-by-side to the parking garage, Rori eyed the backside of Mike Cannon as he toted their luggage a few steps ahead of them. Even with his back to her, Rori could have sworn he was somehow calling out to her. It was probably just her mind playing tricks on her, though. She’d gotten about four hours of sleep in the past forty-eight hours. Whatever vibe she and Mike had was probably nothing that a few hours of sleep wouldn’t fix.

“Normally he’s more social,” Luke said, making Rori wonder if he’d noticed her studying Mike. “But trust me, you’ll like him. The Cannon’s are all awesome.”

“I’m sure they are,” she agreed, tilting her head up for another kiss just to make a point to herself. When they pulled away Rori realized she was exhausted. It hit her in one blow as they finished the short trek to Mike’s SUV in complete silence. Cars are so much bigger in America, she thought in a daze.

Mike unlocked the doors and started loading up the back of the SUV with their luggage while Luke moved and opened the rear door for her. “You and me get the back seat, babe,” he teased and she smiled.

“I might fall asleep on you,” she warned, stepping up.

Luke beamed that effortless smile that was uniquely his and Rori marveled for a second that no girl had fallen in love with that smile. Rori liked it. She found it comforting, but surely there had to be a few girls he already knew who had swooned over it.

“I’m ready to take that chance,” he said, and followed in after her, quickly pulling her close.

Settling in and closing her eyes, Rori noted that Mike was on the phone when he got into the driver’s seat.

“Yeah, Luke came home, plus one. Think she can use the guest room?” he said into the phone before adding. “Yes, I said she,” to the voice on the other side. “They both look ready to crash right now, so I think I’ll just take them back to our place since you’re setting up there. It’ll be quiet at our place for now, but can we set up the guest room for her tonight?” A brief pause. “I’ll do it. Don’t worry about it.” Another pause. “Okay. Love you. See you in a bit.” Then he hung up and fired up the engine.

“See?” Luke said in her ear, his voice sounding as drowsy as she felt. “I told you the Cannons would welcome you with open arms.”

For the moment, it seemed Luke was right. Rori was too tired to care either way, so she just leaned in, inhaled Luke’s scent and let go.