Bidding Wars (Love Strikes)(21)

“Dad!”

The girl opened the door to let Luke in. Closing it behind him, he turned to the girl. “I’m Luke Logan, Sammy’s father. Who are you?”

“I’m Stacy. I’m their neighbor and babysitter.” She twirled a strand of her blonde hair.

“Do you babysit a lot?”

The young girl nodded. “Yeah, lately I have. And since I failed a class at school, my mom’s making me do it for free, which totally sucks since I’m here all the time.”

Of course Leslie was taking advantage of that. Free childcare meant she could go out as many nights as she pleased.

“Are you able to get any schoolwork done, being over here with my son?”

“A little.” Stacy gazed down at her feet. He figured that meant she wasn’t getting any done. He knew how demanding his son could be.

“Do you know what time his mother will be home?” Luke felt like he was playing twenty questions.

“She usually gets back here about ten.”

Ten! This young girl had school the next day. Seeing that it was only five thirty now, how was this girl getting any schoolwork done or getting enough sleep? This was ridiculous.

Sammy was engrossed in a TV show that was on, though he stood there holding his dad’s hand the whole time.

“By any chance do you have the number to Leslie’s work?”

“Yeah, it’s on a piece of paper on the fridge.”

He bent down to his son’s level. “I’m going to call mommy really quick. I’ll be right back.” He then looked at Stacy. “Keep him entertained for a bit. I’m going to take this call outside.”

She persuaded Sammy to go with her and play in his room. Luke grabbed the number off the fridge and then went back out front and walked as far away from the house as he could. This wasn’t going to be a pretty call. A babysitter every now and then was fine, but he had a feeling this was a regular thing. And when she couldn’t get the babysitter, she dragged Sammy with her. Thank God she was smart enough not to leave Sammy alone. Whoever this boyfriend of the month was, he was more important than his son—and Luke wasn’t having it.

“Jay’s Diner, how can I help you?”

“Yes. I am looking for a customer, Leslie Logan.”

“Leslie, yes. Hold on and I’ll get her.”

He expected the line to go silent, but instead he heard the woman call out to his ex that a man was on the phone for her. He then heard a male voice give her a hard time about who was calling. Finally, after a small argument between Leslie and who he assumed was the boyfriend, Leslie got on the line. “Yeah.”

“It’s Luke.”

“It’s my ex-husband, you bozo. I told you there was no one else.” She paused. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m at your place.”

“Why?” she snapped.

“I wanted to see my son and I get here to find a babysitter. The inside of the house is trashed as well. When is the last time you cleaned?”

“I haven’t been home much. I’ve been helping out at the diner. Working.”

“Do you need more money?”

“Maybe.”

It pained him to know his son was going without. “I’m taking Sammy home with me.”

“I got a sitter watching him. It’s not like I left him alone.”

“Yes, and that sitter is sixteen and has school in the morning. She needs to be home studying and getting a good night of rest.”

“You’re not taking him.”

“Don’t fight me. You’re just adding to my case.”

She laughed. “A case I do believe got thrown out yesterday.”

“No, it wasn’t thrown out. I can take you to court for a different custody arrangement. Don’t think I’m backing away from this.”

She sighed. “Take him. Whatever.”

“We’re going to have to sit down soon and figure things out and what’s best for Sammy. I believe my home is best.”

“I’m his mother. You can’t take a child from the mother. I’m not unfit.”

He started to respond but she covered the phone and hollered at someone before returning to the line. “I got to go. We’ll finish this talk another time.” And the line went dead.

He wanted to throw his phone on the ground and stomp on it. Instead, he counted to ten and took deep several breaths. Much like he often told people to do. Once he had composed himself enough, he went back into his ex-wife’s house, let the sitter go home, and collected his son and a few days’ worth of clothes. If he had his way, Sammy wouldn’t be coming back.





Chapter Sixteen





The next morning after Luke dropped Sammy off to school, he called the station to see if anything needed his immediate attention. After that, he scheduled an appointment with his lawyer again but had over an hour to kill before they could meet. He decided to take a chance and stop by Molly’s.

When he pulled up, he was grateful that her car was there. He lightly knocked on the door and waited to see if she’d answer. If she was asleep, he didn’t want to bother her, but he hoped luck was with him and she was awake.

The door opened and through the outer glass door, Molly looked at him with groggy eyes, pulling her bathrobe tightly around her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by.”

“Seriously?”

He grinned. She could probably see right through his excuse. “If you let me in, I’ll explain.”

She pushed the door open, and he entered the darkened house. He had definitely woken her up. No lights or blinds had been opened yet. And Tigger sat at the end of the hallway, looking as though she didn’t appreciate being woken up either.

He followed her into the living room. She curled up on one end of the couch. Instead of joining her right away, he made a dash to her kitchen to get the coffee started. He laughed—of course, her coffee was already made. She must have been one of those people who got it ready at night and had a delay brew actually programmed. He poured a cup and then brought it to her.

“I hope you don’t mind me stopping by.” He sat down on the couch.

“I needed to get up anyway.”

She was beautiful. Most people thought they looked their worst in the morning, but she was stunning with her messy hair and a face just coming to life. She yawned and took another sip of her coffee.

“So, what’s up?” She delicately cupped the mug in her lap.

He told her a few details about the night before, and she looked genuinely concerned but kept her opinion to herself. In some ways, he wanted to see her get mad and go off on a tangent about how horrible Leslie was. But then he realized that although he wanted to share this with her and she was the wonderful woman she was to listen, she probably felt like she couldn’t give advice. God, he hoped someday she did become a mother. He didn’t know anyone more deserving.

She set her cup down on the coffee table and leaned back, stretching. He needed a taste to hold him over. Just a small kiss, and maybe a little more. There was something about this woman—he couldn’t keep his hands off of her, nor did he want to.

“I don’t want to talk about my ex anymore.” He inched closer to her.

“I have morning breath.”

“Ah, but you’ve had some coffee as well. And I don’t care.” He bent down to her, nudging her legs open. As he climbed between them, he reached down and opened her robe. “Oh God.” All she had on was a tank top and panties.

As he stared down at the perfection before his eyes, he could see her nipples harden under her top. His body responded in just the way he expected it should.

Before taking her lips the way he wanted, he caressed her shoulders and gazed into her eyes. He needed to connect with her in a different way—the way where he could watch her and read her.

Slowly, he rubbed down her collarbone to the top of her chest, right above her breasts. Her breath quickened. He let a finger slide under her top. He lightly flicked her hardened nub and watched as her eyes began to close. Her mouth opened. Now he was going to kiss her. As he continued to tease her underneath her shirt, she kissed him back with greed. She wanted more as much as he did. His erection pressing into her was surely telling her that.

“Oh God.” She moaned.

Her little noises were driving his libido mad. Hearing that he was pleasing her was all the direction he needed to take his explorations further. He began to kiss a line down her neck, to her shoulders, and finally to where his hand had been. He pressed his mouth over her the thin material of her top. He teased her with the tip of his tongue and then closed around her and sucked in.

“Luke.” She lifted her hips.

He smirked; he couldn’t help it. Knowing he was causing her to lose control pleased him. He started a path lower down. Pushing her shirt up, he found her soft stomach and explored it, leaving light nibbles on her side. Just as his tongue found the top of her panties, and so ready for a taste of her honey, his cell phone blasted from his pocket. He wanted to ignore it, but knew in his line of work, he couldn’t.