Bidding Wars (Love Strikes)

chapter Nine





Molly sat on her couch, petting Tigger and staring at the empty to-go container. It was Friday evening, and it had been three days since she’d seen or talked to Luke. His card sat on her nightstand in her bedroom, taunting her to call. He’d left it up to her. He made his intentions clear. He wanted something with her. It was in her hands now. She needed to make the decision: get to know him or walk away.

Walk away…ha ha, yeah, right. The man was smoking hot and knew how to woo a woman. If he hadn’t come out and told her he’d been celibate since leaving his ex, she would have been sure he was a player. He knew all the right things to say to make her heart pitter-patter. But how would it ever work?

Right now, sure. She was living in this little house. He’d pick her up for dates or come over to watch movies. But when she moved into the house, what then? When he picked her up, would it be awkward? For her, she was sure it would always be in the back of her head. They had each wanted it and only one got it. Perhaps if he hadn’t withdrawn his offer and she won fair and square—but she hadn’t. If he hadn’t backed out, it would be his house. He must realize that as well.

And because he had dropped out, did that hurt his chances of getting custody of his son? She would hate to feel as though it was because of her that Sammy had to stay with his mom. Was his mom really that bad? Or was Luke just an overprotective parent? If Sammy’s mother was that horrible, it wasn’t as though he would have left him there.

She let out a loud groan. Once again, she was letting her mind get carried away, worrying about things that she didn’t need to worry about. It was Luke who walked away. She had no reason to worry about Sammy, his mom, or that whole situation. She was getting too involved in this.

Giving Tigger one last ear scratch before she got up, she headed into the kitchen to clean up from dinner. After she loaded her plate and fork into the dishwasher, she glanced around her small home. In thirty days it was going to be just her in a big house. It would still be just a few dishes a day. Very bare cabinets. Right now she was in a two-bedroom house; soon it would be four. And only one room would be used, with a big king-size bed that she always curled up on the left side of. It never even looked as if she’d slept in it.

What was she thinking?

Her eyes got heavy, and she knew what was coming. The tears. She sunk to the floor, buried her face into her knees, and cried. She was tired of being alone. And tired of feeling sorry for herself. Maybe she could cry it all out. Then move forward.

There was a knock at the door, and her head jerked up. Was someone here? God, she hoped not. She was a big blubbery mess. Maybe whoever it was would go away. It was Girl Scout season. It was probably some cute little girl selling cookies. Did she want cookies? Yes, she wanted cookies. The chocolate ones that tasted like mint.

Another knock came.

Ugh. Molly pulled herself up by the counter. She grabbed a napkin to blow her nose and then went to open the door. Only, it wasn’t a girl scout on the other end like she hoped; it was a drop-dead gorgeous blond man.

“Luke, what are you doing here?”

“Have you been crying? What’s wrong?” He stepped inside her house.

She closed the door behind him and wondered if she should dart to the bathroom and splash some water on her face. “I stubbed my toe.”

“You look like you’ve been sobbing. Go sit down, let me have a look at the toe. You might have broken it.” He took her hand and led her to the couch, promptly making her sit, and then lifted her foot.

“I didn’t stub my toe.” She looked over his shoulder, not wanting to look him in the eyes.

“I can see that. Why are you upset?” She could hear the concern in his voice.

“I thought the ball was in my court. Why are you here?”

Still holding her foot, he lightly rubbed her arch. Oh God, it felt really good. Pleasure traveled up her leg and right to her center. “I had to see you. It was driving me crazy that you hadn’t called. I had to come find out if you were thinking of me.”

She tried to come up with a coherent response, but couldn’t. He laid her foot in his lap and then brought her other one up to rub it.

“I bet your feet must ache, being on them all day, helping all those sick kids. I think it’s amazing what you do. You have a real knack with kids.”

She nodded. It was all she could do. Her head rolled back, and she let the sensation take over. A moan escaped her lips. What he was doing to her felt too damn good.

“You’re making it really hard not to climb on top of you and kiss you.” He glanced up at her.

She giggled.

“That’s much better. You’re laughing and smiling now. Now, tell me why you were crying when I got here.”

“I don’t want to.”

He stopped rubbing her feet. “If you open up to me, I’ll continue to massage your feet and ankles.”

“Luke…”

“You can trust me. Talk to me.”

She took a deep breath. “I want you to have the house.”



* * *





Luke rubbed his temple. “What did you say?”

“It would be only me there, and I don’t need such a big place. I only use one plate and one cup a day. I can barely fill up this place. And I’m lonely here. I could only imagine tripling my space. I’m a horrible person for taking that house from you and your son.” The tears started again. Luke didn’t do well with crying women. Even in the office, he hated it when they cried. No one was rational when the faucets were pouring.

“I don’t understand. You love the house. You’ve been very passionate about how much you love it, in fact.”

“I do. I really do love it.”

“It’s yours.” He didn’t understand this woman or where this outburst was suddenly coming from.

She shook her head. “It’s not. It would’ve been yours. I know it. It’s not meant to be mine. I don’t have a family to fill it and you do. Take the house, please. I’m going to call Diane right now.” She jumped up off the couch.

She was definitely being irrational, just as he had expected. He grabbed a hold of her shoulders and held her in place. “Stop. Don’t call Diane.”

“But you’re not going to get your son without the house.”

“Not buying that house doesn’t mean I won’t get Sammy.”

“But…”

“Please sit down and calm down for a bit.” She listened, thank God! Now to find a way to talk sense into her. “You don’t need to call your agent. The house is yours.”

“But…”

He placed a finger over her lips. He wanted to find out what brought this on, but knew it was best to not talk about it anymore. Right now he’d love to know who had caused this pain and loneliness. She was a beautiful woman and he was dying to know what was causing her so much hurt. He had ways to find out because of his profession, but he wanted it to come from her. Because when she finally did, he would know she had opened her heart to him.

“Let’s watch a movie.” He gestured toward the TV.

She cocked an eyebrow at him and then leaned forward and grabbed the remote. He expected her to put something on, but instead, she handed the remote to him, giving him control of the TV. This was a woman after his heart, she just didn’t know it.

He took a seat next to her. A good three inches was between them, but it felt like a whole foot. He really wanted her touching him, curled up in his side as he flipped through the channels, but he’d do with what they had.

He finally stopped on a comedy, an Adam Sandler movie. His movies were always funny. They needed funny. He set the remote down on the armrest and debated reaching out to take her hand. Just as he was mustering up the courage to do so, the biggest cat he’d ever seen in his life leaped onto the couch and landed right in his lap.

Molly laughed. “Luke, meet Tigger.”

“What is this, a mini lion? He’s huge!”

“She is huge. She’s a Maine coon, and Tigger’s a girl. You better apologize or she’ll never like you.”

He scratched the cat behind its ears. He wasn’t about to talk to the cat; a good ear scratch was always an apology. And Tigger agreed. She purred and then burrowed herself into the three inches between them. Damn lucky cat.

As the movie came to an end, he noticed that Molly’s eyes were slowly drifting shut. The cat had slept between them the entire time, but he had gotten the courage to lay his arm across the back of the couch. Not around her though. He had told himself he wasn’t going to push himself on her. It was hard. He’d wanted to wrap his arm around her, pull her into him, and have her lay her head across his chest. But until she made a move in the direction of wanting him, he was going to force his needs aside.

The last scene of the movie played, and her eyes were shut. He turned the TV off, and it didn’t startle her. Feeling slightly awkward, he wondered if he should leave or not. He looked at Tigger; maybe the cat could tell him what to do. He pet the animal and, out of nowhere, the cat jumped off the couch and took off down the hallway he assumed led to the bedrooms. Looks like the cat was giving him a sign—carry Molly to bed.

He got off the couch as slowly as he could, trying not to disturb her. He bent over and started to pick her up when her eyes flew open.

“What are you doing?”

“I was going to carry you to bed.”

“Oh. I can walk.” Molly pushed herself up and walked toward her bedroom.

He stood there, not sure what to do. He supposed he should head out. He began to leave when he heard his name. She stood at the end of the hallway, watching him.

“Luke, this might be forward, but I don’t want to be alone. I’m really tired of it. Would you lay down with me until I fall asleep?”

He gulped. “In your bed?”

“Yes.”

“Uh…OK.” He started to cross the living room to her.

“Wait, let me get undressed first and then I’ll call you.”

He nodded. The only thing he’d really heard was undressed. As in, she was taking her clothes off. And she was going to call him back there to get in bed with her. And she was going to be undressed. How undressed? T-shirt and panties?

His cock sprang to life and ached to know the answer.

“I’m ready.” Her voice echoed down the hallway.

Oh God, he couldn’t go in there with a hard-on. Down, boy. He had to think of something other than her in panties. He went down the hallway and into her room. She already had the lights off. He let out a sigh of relief. She wouldn’t be able to see what effect she was having on him.

He slipped his shoes off and climbed onto the bed, staying above the covers.

“You can get under the sheets.”

No, he couldn’t. If he crawled under the sheets with her, he was going to have to learn what she was wearing. And that wasn’t a good idea. “I’m OK.”

Molly rolled over so she was facing him. She scooted closer and laid her head on his chest. “Your heart is really pounding.”

He wasn’t sure how to respond, so instead he wrapped his arm around her, hoping she would fall asleep quickly. He gazed up at the ceiling and willed himself to stay awake. He was positive she didn’t want him to stay the night—just until she was sleep. But as he listened to her breath, he relaxed and decided a short nap would be OK before he sneaked off.