Perfect Stranger (Serendipity's Finest 2.50)

If she said yes.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Alexa sat up in bed, the sheets pulled up over her breasts as she stared at Luke. Come to Texas, he’d said, and boy was she tempted. She’d never wanted to chuck the responsibilities in her life and take off for the weekend, but she did now.

Unfortunately, the reliable, dependable side of her spoke louder in her head and took over. “I can’t just pick up and go when the whim strikes me.” She winced, knowing she sounded more like her father than herself.

And the hurt on Luke’s face confirmed it.

“Luke—”

“I get it. You have to work.” He’d been sitting on the edge of the mattress and now he reached down and grabbed his pants off the floor.

She wasn’t ready for their time together to end, especially not like this. “No, you don’t get it. I want to go with you. I really do.”

He paused in the middle of pulling on his jeans and glanced over his shoulder. “It’s not as hard as it sounds. I’m guessing you have plenty of vacation time built up, and since you managed today, I figure you also have people to cover for you. Hell, knowing you, half the hospital probably owes you a favor.”

Her cheeks burned because he was right and he’d figured her out in a very short time. “I want to go,” she repeated, needing him to hear her and believe. “But I can’t leave without giving any notice.”

He secured the button on his jeans before answering. “Lex, I’m not gonna lie to you. These past few days weren’t just unexpected, they were fucking amazing,” he said, letting loose with his language for the first time.

She grinned but said nothing, mainly because, a) it didn’t bother her, and, b) she agreed. Their time together had been exactly that.

He hooked his fingers in the loop of his jeans, his chest bare, his gaze level on hers. “Nobody respects discipline and routine more than me. I wouldn’t be where I am in my career if I didn’t dedicate myself one hundred and ten percent during the season and stick to some kind of schedule on the off-season. And if I thought you were saying you couldn’t come because you wanted to work or it would affect your career, I’d never push. But that isn’t it, is it?”

With every word he spoke, her defenses rose higher. She stiffened her shoulders until her neck hurt, and she glared at him, but he clearly wasn’t finished. “Tell me what you think it is,” she said, folding her arms across her chest, protecting herself from whatever he would say next.

Which was ironic since, five minutes ago, she wouldn’t have thought she’d have to protect herself from this man—ever.

“You don’t want to tell your father you’re taking more time off. You don’t want to disappoint the old man or lose the legacy he’s so carefully prepared for you. But, darlin’, I’m asking you straight out to be sure that’s the future you yourself want.”

Her mouth ran dry. As quickly as her anger had grown at his words, it deflated with his further insight. She wasn’t sure about her life and he knew it. And he didn’t want to hurt her; he wanted her to be happy.

His gaze softened. “If I could stay longer and be with you, I’d do it. Give up a meeting or two, miss a practice if I thought I could work it out. But the one thing I won’t miss in life is a family event because those happen only once. I can’t get back a missed birthday or the look in my niece’s eyes when she sees that power-charged Barbie car I bought for her that’ll be waiting in the driveway.”

Oh my God. He was killing her. Alexa didn’t even know the little girl he spoke of, but she suddenly had a whole new vision of Luke Thompson, and it took her breath away. His words sliced deep because how many of her birthdays had her own father missed because of work, while Luke wouldn’t skip his sister’s daughter’s special day?

She’d thought this man was something special. Something real. Now she knew for sure.

Her cell phone suddenly rang inside her purse, the ringtone the one she’d programmed for her father. She cringed at the interruption.

Luke glared at her bag. “That him?” he asked.

Alexa nodded. Unable to help herself, she reached for the purse and pulled out the ringing phone. At least half a dozen missed calls, all from her father. “I didn’t tell him I was taking off today.” She glanced at Luke but found no understanding in his gaze.

“How long are you gonna let him run your life?” he asked.

“He doesn’t—”

Luke pinned her with a knowing gaze. “Give me more credit than that. He does.”

The cell stopped it’s incessant, annoying ring, and another missed call and voice mail notification popped up on the screen. Disgusted, she threw the phone onto the bed.

“Get dressed,” he said, more gently than she’d have expected. “I’ll toss the sheets into the washer. Sawyer said there’s someone who comes in and does laundry, so she’ll finish up what I start.”

Nodding, she rose, feeling self-conscious that she was naked and he wasn’t. In silence, she looked for the clothes she’d shed and realized her jeans were still damp. She pulled on her underwear and shirt, her back to him.

“Do I have time to dry these for a little while before I put them back on?” She turned to find him right there, in her personal space, and she sucked in a shallow breath.