Bidding Wars (Love Strikes)(10)

As the morning progressed, Molly had tried to keep her mind on work, but her body kept reminding her of Luke. She had to keep her arms crossed—her nipples hadn’t gotten the memo that it had been a dream! The man should be out of her life by now. The house was hers.

“Molly.” Sandy stood at the nurses’ station.

Taking in a deep breath, thankful her friend might give her a bit of distraction, she trudged over to her.

“You OK? Your cheeks have been flushed all day.” Sandy leaned in closer. “To be honest, you’re glowing. Got anything to share?”

Molly’s cheeks burned. “No!”

“Just checking.” She winked.

“I’ve got to call my realtor. I think today was the termite inspection.” Molly escaped the amused look from her friend. If an erotic dream from Luke was affecting her this much, imagine if she really slept with him.



* * *





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.”