Mr. Imperfect

chapter 12



Once she was safe in her own room, Kris fell back on her own bed, choosing a bitter chuckle over tears to deal with how the day had played out. Definitely not even close to what she had imagined while lying in the exact same bed twenty-four hours earlier. She couldn’t have been more off in her planning if she’d tried.

A fiancée? And not just any fiancée, but a woman that clearly out of Luke’s league. No offense to Luke, but Kris had known him all his life. If he had met Rori anywhere where English was the native language and Rori had no reason to come to the rescue, things would have played out much, much differently. Kris knew, because she’d watched Luke crash and burn more than once with certain amount of glee.

Luke wasn’t smooth. He was enthusiastic and playful and endearing, but as smooth as a puppy that hadn’t grown into its paws yet. Rori’s quiet elegance was so opposite that it was a marvel they could share the same space. Smooth, cool, calculated, with a mannered refinement Kris had seen while at college back East on a few occasions. Always among the rich.

The practiced way Rori kept a conversation going with well-placed questions that never required to disclose information about herself. The natural way she learned everyone’s name and referenced them in conversations to make them feel special . The way she laughed brightly even as her eyes retained an awareness that she was being judged and that everyone would talk about her once she left. Dozens of other details hinted to Kris that Luke’s new fiancée wasn’t as unassuming as she seemed.

The whole situation was a nightmare. What was worse, it didn’t feel real. More like one of those nightmares where everything is so bizarre that you realize mid-dream that there’s no way any of it could be happening. And the worst part of it all? Kris liked Rori.

That was a first. Luke was dating—no engaged to—a girl Kris actually would like to have in the family. Sure, there was a bit of a hard shell to the girl, but beneath that cool veneer she sensed an intelligence and humor that would be refreshing in a friend.

If only Kris could rewind time to make sure that somehow Mike met her first.

And speaking of Mike, there was no way she was going to let him get away with playing video games all night. Kris dug into her pocket, extracted her phone, and sent him a very pointed text.