Bidding Wars (Love Strikes)(22)

Sitting up, he marveled at how gorgeous she looked when she was aroused. Her lids were heavy as she stared back at him. He pulled his phone from his pocket and recognized it was the school calling.

“Luke speaking.”

On the other end was the school nurse, calling to let him know Sammy had come to the office complaining of a sore throat and was running a fever. They’d attempted to call his mother, but had gotten no answer. He said he’d be right there.

“What’s wrong?” Molly closed her robe.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. He was fine when I dropped him off. The school says he’s got a sore throat and a fever.”

“Strep’s going around.”

“But he was fine this morning.”

“It probably just hit him.” She looked at the clock. “I need to get ready for work, anyway. I have a half day. Bring him by after and we’ll have a look at him.”

He stood and pulled her up and into his arms. “I liked where things were going between us.”

She grinned at him. “It was getting rather interesting. We can pick it up at a later time.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll go get Sammy and then we’ll be by the office.”

“Ok, I’ll let Kim know when I get there.”

He kissed her on the cheek and then headed out to get his son.



* * *





“Hey, Kim, Luke is coming in with his son. Possible strep throat. Let me know when they get here, please.” Molly handed her Sammy’s chart. “Took care of this for you as well.”

“Oh, thank you so much. I’ll set this aside to make sure you get the chart—and the hot dad!”

She nodded and then made her way to the back. Two doctors were on roster: Dr. Hancock and Dr. Fisher—who typically only worked nights. The extra help was good because they were busier than usual, which only meant one thing: Sammy wasn’t the only kid who’d suddenly come down with strep. Fall was coming, and the weather was getting cooler. Kids would begin catching each and every cold there was.

“Good morning.” Theresa approached Molly.

“Hey, how are you?” Molly stacked a pile of charts.

“Feeling good. My pedometer is happy to see me walking a bit more.”

“It’s nice to be busy, but I hate seeing all these kids so sick. It seems like it’s either strep or a stomach bug.”

Molly quickly checked to see how many rooms they had open. She made sure the vacant rooms had been freshened up and then headed back toward the reception area. Kim was on the phone, but pointed toward the waiting room. Luke stood in the corner, holding his son.

“Hey.” She opened the door and called to them. “I’ve got a room all ready.” As they got closer, she smiled at Sammy. “Hey, buddy. We’ll get you all better.”

“Hi, Nurse Molly.” Sammy’s voice was hoarse.

She rubbed his cheek before taking them directly to a room. Luke started to place Sammy on the table, but she stopped him.

“You can hold him. Have a seat right there and I can investigate with him in your lap.”

“Thanks.” Luke sat down.

She checked his temperature, seeing that he had a high one. After observing that his throat was red and tonsils swollen, she swabbed this throat and said she was going to run a strep test. She hated to leave them alone, but she had to do her job. Once the results were in that confirmed he did have strep, she went to find Dr. Hancock to let him know.

As the doctor went in to check out Sammy, she collected up a bag of helpful things while Sammy was home sick with his dad. Back in the room, she handed the bag to Luke.

“I have a favor to ask.” Luke glanced at the bag and then back at Molly.

“What is it?”

“I had to cancel that meeting I told you about and changed it to this evening. A certain someone…” Luke gave her a look, hoping Molly was following along, which she was. “Is working. Is there any way you can watch Sammy?”

Babysit? Luke wanted her to watch his son? She didn’t know what to say.

“You don’t have to.”

“No, no. It’s fine. What time?”

“Seven thirty. It’s a late meeting, but I expect this guy to go to bed early.” He looked at his son. “A nurse as a babysitter will make sure of that.”

“Your dad has that right. What do you think, Sammy? Are you OK with me coming over to hang out with you tonight?”

“Will you bring popsicles?”

She laughed. “Sure thing.”

Luke picked his son up, thanked her again, and left. Molly had never babysat, except when she was a teen. The only experience she had with children was here, with their parents. The thought of being alone with a kid scared the crap out of her. What freaked her out even more was that Luke trusted her with Sammy. That meant things were progressing between them more than she had realized.





Chapter Seventeen





Luke was wiped out. A sick kid could do that. Sammy was finally back at school. Being Friday, he debated keeping him home, but he’d missed two days of work. He’d really pissed Leslie off by taking Sammy home with him Tuesday evening, and she hadn’t returned any of his calls since. She didn’t even know he had been sick. If it hadn’t been for Molly helping him out, he wasn’t sure he’d have made it through.

Thinking of her, his mood brightened. She’d brought them meals and made sure they stayed stocked up on the things they needed. Her motherly instinct had kicked in big time, but he could see her constantly fighting with herself. She had tried her hardest to keep her distance, but it didn’t take long before he found her and Sammy cuddled up on the couch. He’d even snapped a photo with his phone without her knowing.

Every chance he got, he’d open the gallery up on his phone and look at the picture. His heart fluttered each time. He knew what was happening. He was falling in love with her. It didn’t surprise him. From the moment he’d met her, she’d piqued his interest. He was almost positive that life would never be dull with her—she’d always keep him entertained.

She was a puzzle, and she hadn’t made any of this easy on him. If she could learn to stop overthinking everything, he knew she’d be happier. But he wasn’t about to tell her that. Although he hadn’t made as much progress on breaking down the wall surrounding her as he’d have liked, he knew that he was close to getting inside that wall. It could happen a lot sooner if they could move past the house on Maple Street.

He didn’t regret backing out. Sure, he’d love to own the house, and it had a lot of great potential. But he really had gotten sucked into the whole mess because at the time, he felt the competition. He wanted to win. But it was just a house. He wasn’t picky. He’d find another home, unless things worked out the way he hoped they would with Molly. Then they’d each have the house and Molly would have a family.

He picked up a stack of papers on his desk. He had to get to work now and stop daydreaming. It was going to be a long workday. He’d arranged for his neighbor to pick Sammy up from school. It was his weekend, so he knew Leslie wouldn’t be there to get him. Obviously, she hadn’t even tried to pick him up once this week while he was out sick.

All this was adding up though. His lawyer assured him that he wasn’t going to get in trouble for keeping Sammy, especially since Leslie hadn’t come to ask for him.

At his desk, Luke looked over everything that had piled up. He was thankful for the great department that he had. They’d stayed on top of everything for him, which was going to make this workday a tad bit easier.

The messages Annie had left for him contained a note to call his realtor. Had there been a development? Molly was supposed to hear something within a few days, but it had been longer.

He returned the call but all he got was his agent’s voicemail. He left a message and said to return the call when he could. He was sure if anything had happened, Molly would’ve called him by now. And as long as it was taking, he wasn’t sure if that was good or bad for Molly and her crazy idea.

He still couldn’t believe she wanted the seller to look at his offer. She sure kept things entertaining. And he would do whatever it took to make her happy, even if it meant in the long run, she lost the house to him. But would that really make her happy? If that happened, what did that mean for them?

The more he thought about it, the more he was beginning to hate the home on Maple Street.



* * *





Molly checked her messages—still nothing. No news on the house. It was getting frustrating, especially because she was off work. She was given the next few days off because she’d be training all next week; they felt she should enjoy some time to herself. Little did they know time to herself meant her mind never stopped.