Bidding Wars (Love Strikes) (12 page)

At this moment, the only thing Luke could really do was sit and talk to Leslie. Perhaps he could convince her that he was a better fit. He wasn’t going to stop, though, until Sammy lived with him full time. It was, after all, what his son wanted.

He pulled up to the station, wishing he didn’t have to come back to work, but duty called. He sat in his car for a few moments, enjoying the last few French fries from his lunch. While this fight for his son was his number one priority, he also thought about Molly.

He still couldn’t believe they’d made love. He wished he could say it was his best performance, but he had to be honest with himself. The only action he’d had since leaving his wife was his hand. And sinking into Molly was soft, warm, wet—a little slice of heaven. She didn’t complain, though. She seemed to fall over the edge into total bliss as fast as he did.

She hadn’t stayed the night as he’d hoped. He’d begged her to let him see her Sunday, but she was working a double.

He’d made a call to his real estate agent to give him a heads up on Molly’s plans. His agent was surprised that Molly’s realtor had agreed to it, but in the meantime they needed to get back out there. Luke hadn’t set up another appointment yet. At this point, he wasn’t sure he even wanted to buy. The only reason he had considered it before was for Sammy. He had an excellent landlord and cheap rent. Maybe staying put was the right thing for him at the moment.

The last French fry was gone, which meant he no longer had an excuse to hide out in the parking lot. He dragged himself out of the car and to the station. Normally, he loved his job, but this day he just wasn’t feeling it. He wasn’t in the mood to listen to everyone else’s problems—he had enough of his own.

He was greeted right away by Annie as he walked through the glass doors. “So…good news?”

He shook his head. “Not this time.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not giving up.”

“That’s no surprise.” She laughed. “I left a file on your desk. Mrs. Scotts was in again today.”

He sighed. “What did her husband do now?”

“She arrived home five minutes late from work and he made her sleep outside.”

“Did he hit her?”

“Not this time.”

He grunted. “Then what can I do for her? I can go out there and talk to him and tell him that it wasn’t nice to do that, but he’s been managing his anger. I don’t understand why she stays with him.”

“I know, sir.”

“I’ll swing by their place when I leave tonight.”

She rested her hand on his shoulder and gave a slight squeeze. “You’re a good man. In the end, you’re going to have everything you’ve ever dreamed of.”

He chuckled. “Is that so? And when did you become a psychic?”

“In my spare time.” She winked.

He shook his head and grinned at her. Annie always knew how to make him smile. He then went toward his office to see what else had piled up on his desk while he’d been away.

* * *

Molly plopped down on her couch and waited for Sandy to join her. She placed her plate in her lap and stared down at the grilled cheese and pretzels. It wasn’t the most elegant meal, but it was perfect for the evening.

Sandy had brought over the latest movie from the book craze that hit recently with werewolves. This was the third movie in the series, and Molly had missed it in theaters. Sandy had picked up a copy the moment it came out and told her, since they were both off, they were watching the movie.

Molly was looking forward to seeing it. She’d read the book series and enjoyed it. Usually she wasn’t one for paranormal things, but the books had been well written.

Sandy joined her on the couch. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

“You sound so thrilled. Hello…we get to see men with their shirts off through almost the whole movie. What could be better?”

Luke, with his shirt off. “Let’s get it started. I don’t want to start eating until it’s playing.”

Sandy picked up the remote and hit play. The movie started, and Molly hoped it would be a good distraction from the man crowding her mind.

By the time the movie was over, Molly had in fact forgotten Luke’s name for a few moments. Half-naked, muscled, and tanned men could do that. Though Luke naked topped the half-naked men any day.

“I can’t believe they ended it like that. Talk about a cliffhanger.” Sandy threw up her hands.

“You already knew that though—you saw it when it was playing at the theatre.” Molly reminded her.

“I had wishful thinking they’d add more.”

Molly giggled. “I’m sure they were going to do that for you.”

“You never know.”

Molly glanced at the coffee table. At some point during the movie, they’d finished off her ice cream. She was feeling stuffed. As she rubbed her belly, she wondered what Luke was doing. Ugh, she was sure she just grunted aloud.

“What’s up, girl?” Sandy asked.

“I can’t get my mind off a certain person.”

“If I had that hot cop after me, I would be throwing myself at him.”

“I did.”

Sandy’s mouth dropped open. “Did you get your cherry popped?”

“What? Um, I haven’t been a virgin in a long time.”

“Not like that. But, you haven’t been with anyone since Steven. Your hole probably closed up.”

“I’m glad I’ve known you for years, otherwise I’d be throwing you out for wanting to talk about my hole.”

“Yeah, yeah. So you slept with him?”

“Yup.”

“Oh my gosh! How was it?”

She’d hate to tell her friend it lasted all of five minutes, yet it had been the best orgasm of her life. That certainly didn’t sound sexy. So she’d stick with simplicity. “Stunning.”

“I bet you guys did it all night.”

“Just once. It was that good.”

“Damn! I’m jealous.”

Molly giggled. Would she really be that jealous to know they were both so sex deprived that even touching one another about sent them over the edge?

“Are you going to keep seeing him?”

“Maybe. We need to talk about the no children thing before things get serious. I need to know how he feels about that and if it’s something he can handle.”

“Did you tell him?”

“We talked about it some, but not in depth.”

“You know the doctors said there were other ways for you to have your own baby.”

“Yes, I’m aware.” Molly rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I’m still on the fence if I would consider a surrogate or not. I want to carry my own, feel it kick, and so on. What if someone else carries the baby and after he’s born, the baby never bonds with me?”

“Seriously? You overthink things.”

That was one thing Molly could agree with. She certainly did overthink things.

For the rest of the evening, she told Sandy that the topic of Luke was off limits. In return, it caused the evening to end earlier than usual. Which Sandy didn’t complain about too much. She had to be at work early the next day. She’d be off right after lunch, and Molly was working the late afternoon shift into the evening.

She hugged her friend bye. Molly then checked Tigger’s bowl and filled it up before bed. The cat thanked her by rubbing along her legs.

She wasn’t tired, but she also didn’t feel like watching much more TV. She tidied up the living room and then grabbed her tablet and decided to read for a while in bed. That was one thing that always wore her out.

After she was undressed down to an undershirt and panties, she climbed into bed. Tigger wasn’t far behind, plopping herself right on Molly’s feet.

“Good night,” she said to the cat, who was busy bathing herself.

A green flash caught the corner of her eye. Her cell phone had been plugged in charging all evening. Picking it up, she checked to make sure it hadn’t been work. She wasn’t on shift to be the twenty-four hour nurse on call, but you never knew.

She had a new message. It was from Luke.

I’ve been thinking about you. How about dinner tomorrow?

Molly thought for a moment that it sounded wonderful, but with her work schedule, it was going to make it impossible.

Sorry, working the late shift.

Laying the phone down, she then went back to her tablet to find a book to read. She had just finished a romantic suspense by a new-to-her author and loved it. She browsed through the eBook store to see if they had any other titles.

Her phone dinged. Molly picked it up.

You’ve got to eat sometime.

She giggled.
You’re right. But tomorrow is probably sandwiches in the break room.

She placed the phone in her lap as she waited for a response. Reading wasn’t going to happen right now, so as she waited, she opened up one of her social networking apps to see what her friends were up to until Luke finally responded.

What time? I have plenty of left over potato salad. It makes a great sandwich.

He wasn’t going to give up. What the hell? If they were in the employee break room, it meant they had to be on their best behavior.

4:30, before things get busy.

He responded right away.
See you then. Good night.

She thought about responding, but instead laid her phone down on the nightstand. Fluffing her pillow, she then stared up at the ceiling. The talk with Luke was going to have to happen soon. Things were getting more serious by the day. Not only were her feelings growing, but so were the complications. It was easy to pretend they didn’t exist, but when it came down to it, they were always there. She couldn’t give him another child, and he was most likely going to get the house.

Chapter Fifteen

“Next week I need you on the morning shift training the new nurse I hired.” Dr. Hancock was checking his call log as he spoke to Molly.

The morning shift was the worst shift. They were always slow. “OK.”

“So tell me, are you seeing that man who came by the other day?”

She was taken aback. He usually wasn’t one to pry in everyone’s life.

“It’s a little complicated.”

“It doesn’t have to be. You’re young and I know you’ve been hurt, but it’s time to move on. He seems like a nice young man. Take it from an old man: I know.” He set the papers down and glanced at her.

“I’m glad he has your approval.”

The doctor chuckled. “You don’t need my approval. I just think there could be something there. So, whatever the complication is, forget it and move forward with him.”

“I wish it was that easy.”

“What’s not easy?”

A big list of things. “There is a house involved.”

“I thought you were under contract. Did it fall through?”

Molly told Dr. Hancock about the whole charade; after all, he was taking an interest and they were dead this afternoon. Once she completed the story, he stood there looking at her with a face she didn’t see often. In fact, she really wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but she could tell he was about to tell her.

“My goodness, you have a messy situation on your hands. But you’ve made this mess yourself. He backed out. And I think it was for you. Why in the world are you trying to give him his gift back? That’s like a slap in the face to a man.”

“I know I made this mess, but how can I move into the house and be happy knowing he wanted it too.”

“Because he obviously wanted you to have the house. For some reason—unknown to me at the moment—he met you and decided you deserved it more than him.” He shook his head. “He must be a catch to still be around.”

She laughed. “I never said I was an easy person to put up with.”

The doctor sighed and looked at the clock. “Dr. Fisher will be in around six, I think. It’s almost your break. Do you need to leave early and get something to eat? I think I can handle it.”

“Luke is actually bringing me dinner. Hope that’s OK.”

“What’s he bringing?”

“Potato salad sandwiches and I’m not sure what else.”

“Hmm, maybe he brought me one as well. I like potato salad.”

Dr. Hancock wasn’t an old man. He was in his late fifties, but every day he got more and more interesting. He would be a funny old man for sure.

Once her boss started to return the phone calls that had come in, Molly escaped to the restroom to freshen up a bit. She pulled her hair down from its ponytail and attempted to make it look nice down, but unfortunately she had the hair band line, so it wasn’t working. So, up her hair went again. She grabbed her powder compact from her pocket and then put a fresh layer on to cover any shiny spots. Other than that, there wasn’t a whole lot she could do about her appearance.

She headed up front to see if he had come yet. Kim was giggling away with someone and Molly had a pretty good idea he was here. As she came around the corner, she saw him in uniform. She never imagined herself to be one of those women who had a thing for men in uniform, but seeing Luke in his, she had been converted. God, he was sexy all right.

“Hey.” Molly smoothed her ponytail.

Kim looked at her and smiled. “He’s funny and I like him. He even brought me a snack.” Kim held up a brown paper sack.

“I think he’s just sucking up.” Molly giggled.

“Innocent until proven guilty.” Luke held his arms up, and Kim began to laugh again.

“Enjoy your snack, Kim. I’m off to enjoy one as well, with that beautiful lady.” Luke opened the door that lead to the back. In his hand she noticed three more paper bags.

“I hope one of those is for the doctor. I told him what it was and apparently it’s his favorite.”

“Me too.” Dr. Hancock rounded the corner.

Luke held out a bag to him. “It sure is.”

“You’re a fine young man. And I’ll go eat with Kim while you two enjoy the break room.”

Molly rolled her eyes and then motioned for Luke to follow her. She felt like a teenager and her parents were giving their approval for her to go on a date. Once in the break room, she shut the door. Kim and the doctor weren’t the gossipers on the staff, but she still wanted some privacy from their prying eye and ears.

She grabbed two sodas from the fridge and offered one to him. He took it, and then they sat down. He handed her a bag.