Bidding Wars (Love Strikes) Read online

  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.

  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.”

&
nbsp; “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.

  Gail, her lender, had called her earlier this morning to tell her they couldn’t put the appraisal on hold any longer. They were going to move forward with the idea that closing was only a few weeks away as planned. She couldn’t fault them for it; she was the one causing all this added complication.

  She thought back to what Dr. Hancock had said. Maybe he was right; she was causing most of her problems. If only she could accept that Luke walked away from the house—but she couldn’t, and she didn’t know why. Things were progressing with them—a lot. The
y didn’t talk about Maple Street at all. He made it clear he wanted to avoid that topic. And in return, things were wonderful. She’d loved helping take care of Sammy while he was sick. And she’d really gotten to know the little boy a lot better. He was precious. His mom was losing out.

  She often caught Luke watching her and Sammy, and he had a look on his face she almost didn’t recognize. She’d never seen it from her ex. When he would gaze at her and his son, he looked to be at peace, as though everything was right in the world. Almost as though he wished she was Sammy’s mom and they were one big happy family. No, that was silly of her even to think. There was no way he was imagining that.

  In the event they kept getting more serious, was that a possibility? A family? He didn’t seem concerned one bit that she couldn’t have kids. She’d attempted to talk to him again, and he brushed it off, reminding her that to be a mother, you didn’t have to give birth to a child. She was starting to believe it. Why she hadn’t been able to see it in the past, she wasn’t sure.

  She turned off the vacuum. That task was done, thank goodness. She had been in and out so much lately, her cleaning had been very slack. But the bathrooms were now sparkling, the dishes were washing in the dishwasher, and the floors were free of cat hair—at least for the time being.

  Now, to figure something else out to do. It was Friday after all. Maybe she could get together with Sandy and they could go out and do something fun. She texted her friend and then set her phone down as she waited for her to reply. Sandy was working, so it might be a bit before she heard back.

  It was a little after lunch when she finally did hear back from her friend, who had a date. Molly was thrilled for Sandy, but that left her evening open with nothing to do.

  Picking up her phone, she dialed Luke.

  “Luke Logan.”

  “Hey.” She realized this was the first time she’d ever called him.

  “Molly.” His tone was upbeat immediately. “What a surprise.”