“No peeking.”

“Please?” asked Elise.

Luke had picked up Elise to take her to get her birthday present. He’d explained that he couldn’t bring it to her, that he had to take her to the present. And the blasted man was making her wear a blindfold.

Her thirtieth birthday had technically been a couple of days ago, but Luke had worked evenings all week, so that was why he had waited until Saturday. She’d tried to tell him that she’d already gotten her present last weekend when they got back together, but he’d insisted.

“Can you give me any hints?”

Luke had told her to dress casual, and that was the only information she’d gotten when he picked her up.

Luke took her hand in his. “Nope. Then, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

“You’re no fun,” she said, sulking.

She tried to cross her arms, but he refused to let go of her hand.

“That’s not what you said last night.”

The night before, Luke had come over after work. Elise had already been sleeping, and Luke had snuck into bed and woken her with some phenomenal lovemaking.

“I blame lack of sleep and a post-orgasmic haze. Today, I’m in complete control of my faculties.”

“You’re cute when you’re pouting.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. She didn’t even know if he could see, but he laughed, so he must have been looking at her.

After what seemed like an hour of anticipation, they were finally there.

“I got the name of this place from someone, so I’m trusting them to do good work.”

Good work? Elise rolled the words around in her head. She’d assumed that they were going to a restaurant. But then wouldn’t he have said something about good food instead of good work?

“Can I see now?”

“Nope.”

The excitement was too much. “I’ll give you a hummer if you let me look.”

Luke laughed, and she let the rich sound roll over her. She couldn’t believe she’d almost let this wonderful man get away.

He kissed her, a quick peck on the lips. “You’re probably going to do that sooner or later anyway.”

“Dang it.”

He was right.

“Just sit tight. I’ll come around and get you out.”

She heard his door open and close. Then, her door opened, and the warm August heat hit her as Luke helped her out. He took her arm as he guided her to a sidewalk that she had to step up onto and then a little farther to a door that dinged when it was opened.

There were voices all around, and Elise heard what sounded like buzzing.

Luke led her to a counter and rested their hands on it. “Hi, yes, I have an appointment.”

“Name?”

“Luke. For Elise.”

“Ah, yes.”

Elise could hear the smile in the woman’s voice.

“I’m Trinity. Why don’t you come back here? We’ll let her decide what she wants.”

Now, the suspense was killing her.

“Come on, baby.”

They walked a little ways and stopped.

“Are you ready?” Luke asked her.

“Does a bear shit in the woods?”

Trinity laughed next to Elise.

Luke removed her blindfold, and that was when Elise saw they were in a tattoo shop.

Elise looked at Luke.

“We’re getting your nose pierced.”

“What?” Elise was excited and nervous instantly.

“I knew you would never come here on your own, so here we are. It’s the perfect birthday present.”

“What about my parents?”

Luke lifted an eyebrow.

“You’re right. It can’t get any worse.”

Elise and Kristen still hadn’t talked to their parents. Both of them were willing, but they’d decided they weren’t going to be the first to initiate anything. Their parents would have to reach out to them.

“Let’s do it.”

Luke clapped his hands. “Yes.”

Trinity pointed to a display case. “We have a lot of selections for you. Just pick what you want, and I’ll start setting up while you fill out the paperwork.”

There were so many choices, but Elise settled on a tiny lavender opal stud to go in her right nostril.

“Do you like it?” she asked Luke. “Do you think it’ll look good on me?”

He pulled her to him. “I think you’ll look sexy. And I love that you’ll be wearing something I gave you, even when you’re naked.”

A throat cleared behind them, and Elise’s face heated.

“Did you decide on one?”

Elise pointed to her pick. “This one.”

“All right, let’s do this,” Trinity said.

A half an hour later, Elise and Luke walked out with Elise’s new addition. She couldn’t believe she’d actually gone through with it, and she had Luke to thank.

“Does it hurt?”

“Just a little. Not as much as it did right away.”

They reached Luke’s SUV, and Elise instantly pulled down the sun visor, so she could examine her nose. It was so cute, and she loved her piercing.

Luke smiled at her. “You like it?”

“I love it.” She leaned over and kissed him. “Almost as much as I love you.”

Luke grinned. “I’m glad. Part of me thought you’d hate the idea.”

“Never. Even if I hadn’t done it, I would never hate the idea.”

“Good.”

“Thank you by the way.”

“You’re welcome, Lise. I just want you to have everything you want.”

“Have I already told you, I love you?”

“Yes, but you can always say it again.”

Elise smiled. “I love you.”

Luke kissed her again.

“So, where are we going now?”

“We’re going to eat.”

“Where?”

Luke shook his head.

“Another surprise?”

“Yep.”

“Ah, poop.”

Luke laughed, but at least he didn’t make her put the blindfold back on. Not that it mattered because Elise was too busy admiring her nose ring. He took a picture and sent it to Rachel and Kristen. Both gave her positive reviews and asked to hear the details later.

Before she knew it, they were pulling up to a two-story home in a middle-class neighborhood.

“Where are we?”

“Just follow me,” was Luke’s only answer.

They exited Luke’s SUV as another car pulled up, and a younger version of Luke got out.

“Hey, Luke,” he called out as he ran up to them.

When he got closer, Elise could see that his hair and eyes were lighter than Luke’s, but there was no denying that they were related.

“Hey, Cade. This is Elise. Elise, this is my little brother, Cade.”

“Little, my ass.” Cade flexed his impressive biceps.

Elise held out her hand for Cade to shake. “Nice to meet you.”

“Same here. Come on. Mom’s making bacon-wrapped chicken tonight. Yum.” Cade took off into the house.

Elise stopped Luke. “We’re having dinner with your family?” she asked, starting to panic.

Luke shrugged. “Yes. It’s about time you met them, don’t you think?”

He started to walk, but she stopped him.

“But I just got my nose pierced.”

“Babe, my parents don’t care about that. Wait until you meet Sydney.”

Elise remembered Luke’s phone call with his sister back in LA. “She’s home?”

“Yep. That’s why it’s the perfect time. You can meet all of them at once.”

“Oh, great,” she said sarcastically.

Luke had three siblings—two younger, Cade and Sydney, and one older sister, Alyssa. So, with his parents, that was five people. That was a lot of people to impress.

Luke laughed. “It’ll be fine. You’ve already met my brother, and he was totally cool with you.”

He had a point.

“Okay, let’s do this.”

They headed for the house.

“How old is Cade?”

“Sydney is twenty, Cade is twenty-four, I’m thirty-two, and Alyssa is thirty-three.”

“That’s an odd spread.”

“Yeah, I was an oops. They wanted to wait longer to have their second baby, but I guess I was impatient. That’s why they waited eight years to have their third. And then Sydney was an oops, too, I think, but Mom won’t admit it.”

Luke led Elise into the house and introduced her to his parents. His mom had dark blonde hair and blue-eyes, girl-next-door pretty, and his father was the most muscular Asian man Elise had ever seen. He was very handsome and still looked good for his age. And, while Luke’s dad, Jin, was the tallest in the family, he was an inch or two shorter than his wife, Beth.

When she’d asked him once how he was so tall, Luke had said that he figured he’d gotten it from his mom’s side.

Elise met Luke’s sisters last. They were completely different from each other.

Luke told Elise that Alyssa was a researcher and had a double PhD in microbiology and pharmacology. She had shoulder-length hair that she kept pulled back in a look that spoke of convenience, not style. Luke explained that his sister lived and breathed work.

Sydney, on the other hand, was a free spirit who would rather enjoy life than work. Her hair was dyed platinum blonde with pink, purple, and blue streaks in it. She had her septum and lip pierced. Elise now understood why Luke said no one would care about her new piercing.

Cade worked with computers. He did IT work for a bank.

Even though Luke’s siblings were all different from one another, they were all very nice to her. Luke’s dad even gave Elise a beer as soon as she sat down, and his mom had made her a birthday cake. The whole family joked and had fun with each other over dinner, and the two of them didn’t leave until after ten at night because they were having such a good time. The whole experience was very different from Elise’s family, and she could see why Luke loved them all.

On the drive home, Luke asked, “So, what did you think?”

“They are all great. Was your dad born here?”

“Nope, he came to America when he was five. He can speak some Cantonese with my grandparents, but he has to insert English in there because he’s not quite fluent.”

“That would explain the phone conversation.”

Luke laughed. “Yeah, my grandma is stubborn and hard of hearing, so sometimes, Dad has to yell at her.”

Elise laughed. “I was a little surprised though.”

Luke looked at her. “Oh? What about?”

“This is embarrassing, but I guess I always assumed your mom was Chinese, and your dad was white. You never said their names until I met them today, and I don’t know why I thought that.”

“That’s because some white guys have a fetish with Asian females. Also, unfortunately, Asian men have a bad reputation as being skinny, nerdy, beta males. Ha. They never met my father.”

“I’ll say. All the men in your family are good-looking.”

Luke glanced at her. “Don’t get any ideas. I know some women like younger men.”

“I like my men older.”

Luke scowled.

“But only a little bit older, like say two-and-a-half years.”

“Good,” he said.

He was trying to be serious, but she saw a smile peeking through.

She put her arm through his and leaned against him. “You don’t have to worry. I’m not going anywhere,” she told Luke.

He kissed her head. “Me either, babe. Me either.”