Bidding Wars (Love Strikes) (7 page)

* * *

By the time lunch came, Molly was freaking out. It hadn’t helped that all morning Theresa and Sandy hounded her about the date. They went on and on about how handsome Luke was and what it would be like to kiss him. Would it be a heart-stopping type of kiss? Molly was positive it would be that type of kiss. Heck, they’d had an almost-kiss the day before, and it had nearly caused her to stop breathing.

When the receptionist up front gave the all clear, Molly feared she was going to have a panic attack. Lunch was a horrible idea. Once again she cursed herself for not coming up with some sort of excuse. Maybe he wouldn’t show. Or maybe she could get out of here fast enough to leave before he got here. God, she was a coward, but there was something about that man that ignited feelings in her she didn’t want to experience.

She grabbed her purse from the storage closet and made a mad dash for the back door, hoping her friends didn’t see her. No such luck. Theresa hooted and hollered as Molly scooted out the door, feeling her cheeks burn with embarrassment. She then stopped dead in her tracks. Luke was standing there. Wow, he was sexy. He’d been hot in a uniform and scrumptious out—especially in her dream. “What are you doing back here?”

“The receptionist, Kim, let me know you’d be coming out this way.” Luke grinned. “She also said you were looking forward to our date.”

She was going to kill Kim when she got back. “You might need to get your hearing checked.”

Luke chuckled. “Want to ride with me?”

“Will you promise to get me back in time?”

He leaned closer to her. “Dr. Hancock said you can take as long as you needed for lunch. As one of his top nurses, he said, you work too much and deserve some fun.”

“You talked to Dr. Hancock? Who else did you chat with?”

“I came in and everyone was so friendly. They all spoke very highly of you. Theresa let me know if it didn’t work, I could look her up.”

If her cheeks weren’t flushed before, they were now. She couldn’t believe all this had happened and she never realized it. Oh yeah, she’d been lost in daydreams all morning. Maybe running away wasn’t such a bad idea now that her co-workers had thoroughly embarrassed her.

He pointed out his dark blue truck. As they walked across the parking lot, his hand brushed her lower back, sending chills up her spin. At his vehicle, he opened the door for her and stood back. She stayed put a second, wondering if she should drive her own car to the lunch date. She gazed into his eyes, and a rush of heat washed through her. Her heart pounded. Looking away, she climbed in.

“You won’t regret it.” He leaned in for a moment and then shut the door.

Once he was in and they were buckled, she turned to him. “Where are we headed?”

“I’m taking you out to celebrate.”

“What are we celebrating? I don’t know what you and I would celebrate.”

“You’re buying a house. We have to rejoice.”

Was he serious? He wanted to take her out to celebrate him withdrawing his offer and giving her the house. “This is a little weird, don’t you think? I’m only buying the house because you backed out. I’m pretty sure you would have won otherwise.”

He shrugged. “Why do you say that?”

“Because I had already maxed out my offer.”

He was silent. She was sure regret was racing through his head. And why wouldn’t it? He most likely just learned that it would be his house right now if he hadn’t backed out.

“You never know. Maybe mine was already maxed out as well.”

“Luke, yours wasn’t. I remember what you said that night at the bar. If knowing what you know now changes things, I understand if you want to end this date.” Part of her hoped he would, and the other part was curious to see where this was going to go.

“I made a choice about the house and I don’t regret it. Now, let’s have a good time.”

His tone had changed slightly. A little less upbeat. But he was being a gentleman and pretending it didn’t bother him. She let it go though; the home on Maple Street was a touchy subject. She didn’t want to get into anything with him. After all, as he said, he had made his decision to let the house go. She still couldn’t pinpoint his exact reasons though, despite what he’d told her last night. She’d love to think it was because of her, but surely that wasn’t the case.

They pulled up to a nice-looking restaurant. The name wasn’t familiar to her. She was feeling a little snarky. “Please tell me this isn’t the place that makes Sammy sick when he eats there.”

He let out a full laugh. “God, I hope not. I’m pretty sure this is a higher class of food.”

She giggled and it felt good. As Luke came around the truck to open her door, she found herself smiling. She worried her face muscles might be sore tomorrow.

He took her hand and helped her out of her truck. “You do realize I’m wearing purple scrubs and this place looks kind of fancy. I’m going to stick out.”

He squeezed her hand tightly and dragged her toward the restaurant. At the door, he turned to her. “You do realize I don’t care what you have on. You’ll be the most beautiful woman in here. I’ll be the envy of every man in here.”

“Do those lines really work?” She rolled her eyes.

“I don’t know. I’ve never used that on anyone but you.”

Her heart skipped a beat. She was sure of it. That, or it did a somersault in her chest. This man was smooth and she hadn’t seen it coming.

The brightly lit front foyer was two stories with tons of windows. A well-dressed hostess greeted them right away. “Good afternoon, Mr. Logan. I’ve booked a quiet table, as you wished.

Yes, she was underdressed for a place like this. Where was her brown paper bag? They were ushered to a small room tucked away at the back of the restaurant. The room had only one other couple in it, leaving her feeling a little less self-conscious. Luke pulled her chair out for her and then went around and took his own.

The hostess asked what they’d like to drink. She was tempted to order a scotch on the rocks, but opted for a simple soda instead. After all, it was lunchtime. She told them their waitress would be back with their drinks soon.

“This is a very nice place.” She opened her menu. Her eyes about popped out of her head when she saw the prices. Flipping the menu over, she looked for a light meal category, but didn’t see one.

“I’ve never been here myself. However, it’s been on my list of places to try.” Luke stared across the table at her.

“Why haven’t you?”

“The only time I go out to eat is with Sammy, and I don’t think this is his kind of place.” He glanced around.

“You’re probably right about that. So you don’t date much?”

“Why do you ask?”

“You’re an attractive man.”

“You think so?” He grinned at her.

Molly rolled her eyes. “Don’t get too big of a head.”

“I haven’t dated since splitting up with my ex.”

She glanced over the exorbitantly priced appetizers and pondered this new revelation. How long had he been divorced? Was she his rebound? She didn’t want to be someone he was using to make someone else jealous.

“It’s been almost two years.” He smiled. “I could see the wheels turning in your head.”

She was thankful when the waitress appeared with their drinks. She hadn’t known what to say back to him. They ordered, and the waitress vanished with her menu, leaving her nothing to look at but Luke. The way he gazed back at her made it hard to suppress the desire she felt for him.

“You know, you could’ve ordered something other than the chicken fingers. I’m paying.” He leaned back in his chair, a sexy smirk across his face.

“I just so happen to love chicken fingers.”

“So does Sammy.”

“There is nothing wrong with chicken fingers and chicken nuggets. I could eat them daily.” She smiled.

“How come you’re not married?”

The question took her by surprise. “I’m picky.” There was no way she was going to share her story with him right now.

“I guess I’m lucky I made the cut then.”

“Just because you got to bat this inning doesn’t mean you’ll be here for a second.”

Luke took a drink of his soda. “I plan to play this right and hopefully not strike out.”

There it was again. A flip of some sort in her chest. What the heck? Why was her body reacting this way to him? “I guess we will see. I have a pretty hectic work schedule.”

“You have to eat at some point, and I’d like to think I make a pretty good dinner companion.”

“As long as you’re not like my cat, who likes to paw my food, then we might get along.”

“You have a cat?”

“Yes, Tigger. I guess she hid when you came over. Tigger isn’t fond of people, except me.”

“I love cats.”

That was good. Steven hadn’t like Tigger, but he put up with her. Tigger was like her child, and her ex hated it. At one point Steven demanded that the cat not sleep in bed with them anymore. She thought he was silly. But he’d been adamant about it, and poor Tigger was put in the living room all alone. But now she slept each night on the pillow above her head. She liked to think the cat was watching over her, making sure no one else could hurt her.

“Do you have any pets?” She smoothed out the top of her scrubs.

“I’d like to. My current landlord doesn’t allow them. Hopefully when I find a house I can get one. I’d like to get a dog.”

It was awkward whenever anything revolving around a house was mentioned. She didn’t want to bring it up, but how could she not? Why had he really walked away? It didn’t make sense. Unless, as he said before, the stress wasn’t worth it.

The waitress returned with their salads, and Molly was grateful. She was at a loss of words. Other than the darn house, she had nothing in common with him. Maybe Luke was wrong. At this rate, there wouldn’t be any more innings. She could see this date either going really well or really badly.

* * *

The date wasn’t going as smoothly as Luke had hoped. Molly still wasn’t opening up, but she would talk about other things, such as movies she hated and books she loved. He had a better understanding now of things that she liked but still didn’t have a solid feel for her.

She’d smiled and laughed a lot. All in all, she seemed to be having a good time. She had a very snarky sense of humor. Always quick with a comeback. She was one of those women he knew could flirt. Everyone could flirt, but she was a natural. He could see cooking with her would be fun. It would be messy, and they’d laugh the entire time. A simple ten-minute-prep meal would turn into a thirty-minute prep. But they’d love every moment of it.

He knew he was getting ahead of himself, but she was different. On top of the desire he had for her, he wanted to know her. He hoped this wasn’t their last time together. That somehow he could convince her to see him again. She was someone he had to be delicate with. He was lucky even to be on this date with her.

The waitress returned with his card. He added the tip and signed his name. He took one last drink of his soda, and Molly returned to the table after taking a restroom break.

“I still can’t believe you brought me here.” She settled back into her seat.

“Why?”

“Everyone’s in business suits and dressed to their best. And I look like Barney.”

“I think you look beautiful.”

She rolled her eyes. “It still doesn’t mean that I’m not way underdressed to be here. Besides, you’re dressed for this place.” She looked over him in his navy pants and white, tucked-in shirt. He hoped she liked what she saw.

“I wanted to impress you.”

“You’re not helping my case on looking like a slob.”

“I guess you’re right.” He stood up and offered his hand again. She took it. The feel of her small, soft hand in his was magical. He couldn’t explain how right it felt when they connected.

As he walked with her through the restaurant, he could see the insecurity in her face, and it hurt him. He pulled her closer, and she tuned to look at him before glancing away quickly. She pulled away from him as soon as they were outside in the bright sunlight.

“Guess I should get you back to work now, even though I have the afternoon off and I’d love to spend it with you.”

“That might be nice, but I do need to get back. I don’t think Dr. Hancock would be too thrilled if I didn’t come back at all.” Molly grabbed the truck’s door handle but he reached out and stopped her.

Luke leaned in close to her ear. “I’ll open that.”

They were momentarily frozen. Her body was stiff as he pressed his into her. His mouth was close to her neck, and when he inhaled, he smelled a light, fruity fragrance. The smell lit up his nose, and he needed to see if she tasted as good as she smelled.

“This isn’t a good idea.” She looked down and spoke in a whisper.

He stayed close. “It’s hard to resist you. I want one taste.”

She was quiet. If she didn’t want it, he wouldn’t force it. Inhaling her scent one last time, he backed away from her. She turned and looked at him, and he could see her eyes were dark with passion. His gut told him she wanted it, but she was scared. What the hell? The worst that could happen was that she’d slap him and he’d have to start all over. Or he could get lucky and she’d kiss him back.

He reached out, took her hand, and tugged her to him. Her body was pressed to his. “Tell me no now or else this is happening.”

When she didn’t speak, he took that as his sign and pressed his lips to hers. Molly turned her head slightly, allowing him a little more access. He tried to keep the kiss soft and sensual, but he couldn’t be gentle; it wasn’t in him when it came to her.

Her tongue darted in and met his, and it was then he thought the world had in fact stopped spinning. Everything was silent and the only thing he could feel was her. Molly gripped his shirt and yanked him closer. He pushed her back into the truck and deepened the kiss more. His hand crept up her side, and, just as he was about to pull her hips tightly against his, a car horn honked, bringing them both back to reality. They were groping one another in the middle of a parking lot, like teenagers.

He gazed at her, expecting a completely different expression than the one he was receiving. She had the most devious smile across her pretty face. “Guess that was quite a show for someone.”