Forever Devoted

by Kathleen Brooks

  “This way,” Layne said, walking to the last door. She opened it and Walker stepped into her bedroom. It seemed strange to have him filling her space. And there was no doubt about it; this man filled her house with his presence.

  She saw him checking out the king-sized bed covered with a teal comforter. The tan walls were covered with pictures, some of friends and family, others of landscapes from her cousin Jace’s humanitarian travels, and some from around Keeneston she’d taken herself.

  Walker moved around to the side of the bed and peeked his head into the attached full bathroom and then turned to look at her. “It’s you. But what’s the problem?”

  “How many beds did you count in the house?”

  Walker’s eyes flew toward the door as realization set in. “Oh. I’ll sleep on the couch. It’s fine.”

  “I don’t know if you’ll fit,” Layne said as bad memories of Walker shoving her out of bed flashed through her mind.

  Walker didn’t answer but instead headed for the living room. Layne followed, already knowing the answer. Her couch was six feet long, but take out eight or so inches from the two armrests and Walker wasn’t going to be able to lie straight, which is what his leg needed. Walker lay down on the couch. He rolled this way and that, but it was clear. He wasn’t going to fit.

  “If you can stomach it, then you can share the bed with me. But no funny business and no kicking me out of my own bed,” Layne offered, even though it was laced with a threat.

  “About that,” Walker started, but Layne stopped him.

  “We will never talk about that humiliation again.”

  “Layne,” Walker said with that voice that went straight to her hoohah. She was temporarily lost in a fantasy and didn’t realize he’d done it to quiet her. “I didn’t mean any insult. I was trying to be respectful of you and didn’t want you to think I was pressing myself on you. Only, I forgot about my strength and am simply guilty being overzealous in my southern gentlemanly manners.“

  His voice caressed her breasts and danced farther south until she realized what he had said. “What bullshit. I’m not some delicate flower who will get the vapors if a man touches me. Geez, if that’s the kind of women you’ve been dating, I’m not surprised you’re a virgin.”

  Walker tossed up his hands in the air. “Virgin?”

  “Only a virgin is that much of a prude,” Layne countered back, placing her hands on her hips.

  For an injured man, he sure moved fast. Layne didn’t have time to gasp in surprise when Walker had her in his arms and pulled her flush against him. Her breasts were pushed against his muscled chest. His lips claimed hers in a searing kiss as his arms anchored her to him. When she didn’t pull away, he loosened his grip and dropped one hand to her ass. He squeezed her cheek as he pulled her hips to his and ground into her.

  Layne moaned with pleasure and frustration as she pressed herself closer to his body. She wanted to feel all of him. She wanted to rip his clothes from his body and feel the incredible chest and abs she’d seen when they were swimming. She wanted him to take her now and never stop. To make sure he didn’t fling her across the room if some semblance of so-called gentlemanly manners returned, Layne speared her fingers into his hair and pulled him to her.

  Walker obliged as she opened her mouth to him. His tongue was as slow and seductive as his speech as he explored her. Layne wasn’t sure how much time had passed as his hands ran up and down her back and his mouth left her breathless and eager for more.

  Slowly, he pulled away and brought his hands to her cup her face. He brushed back her hair and tucked it behind her ears, keeping his eyes locked with hers. “Would a virgin kiss like that?”

  “Well, they better since they aren’t doing anything else with a woman.”

  Walker’s lips tilted up into a smile before he bent and placed a quick kiss on her lips. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman quite like you before.”

  “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” Layne asked.

  “Good. It’s nice not to play games. I like not having to guess what you’re feeling or thinking.”

  Layne smiled innocently up at him. “And what is it that you think I’m thinking?”

  Walker’s tilted smile grew into a grin. “You’re thinking about having me strip you naked, kiss every inch of your body, and then—” Walker leaned down and began to whisper what he’d do to her. His lips gently brushed against her ear, his hot breath and the words he was saying shot straight to her core, and Layne was pretty sure she was panting. Walker leaned back and smirked at her flushed face.

  “How does a virgin know about that?” Layne asked breathlessly.

  Walker’s smile fell as he growled low in his throat. He had her shirt off and his mouth at her nipple before he registered she was smacking his head.

  “The door!” she whispered frantically.

  Walker made an inarticulate sound of annoyance as Layne’s nipple popped from his mouth.

  “Layne? What’s taking you so long?”

  Layne’s eyes widened. “Oh my God, it’s my father. Hide!”

  Layne shoved Walker into the half bath’s small linen closet and raced topless to the door. Crap! Her top.

  “Layne?” Her father’s voice became more demanding as she twirled around, looking for her shirt. She didn’t have time to locate her bra as she pulled the shirt over her head and reached for the door.

  “Are you hurt?” her dad called as she heard the sound of his key scraping the lock.

  Layne flung open the door. “Dad! Geez, I was changing. I thought you weren’t coming by tonight. And where’s FP?”

  Her mother’s head peeked over her father’s shoulder. “Somehow your father forgot him at home,” she said with a grin as Miles pushed past her and walked into the living room. He was walking into the kitchen when her mother froze.

  “What?” Layne whispered, but her mother didn’t answer. Instead, she darted around Layne and kicked something under the couch. Something that was dark purple. Something that looked exactly like her bra.

  “Who is he?” her mom whispered.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” Layne said innocently as her dad took off down the hall. Layne held her breath as he turned on the light in the half bath, looked around, and then turned the light back off.

  “I mean, the man you have stashed in your bathroom. The one who so carelessly dropped your bra in the living room.”

  “Mom,” Layne said with a roll of her eyes. Her mother only smiled more.

  “Don’t Mom me. You’re flushed, your bra was on the floor of the living room, your eyes practically bulged from your head when your dad went into the bathroom, and your shirt is on backward . . . and inside out.”

  Layne looked down at her shirt. Busted. Layne turned her back to her mom, ripped off her shirt, turned it the right way, and slipped it over her head right as she heard her father coming down the hall.

  Miles stopped where the hall met the living room and looked back and forth between his wife and daughter. “Did I miss something?”

  “No, dear. We were just talking about Layne’s trip. We’d better let her get to bed now that you’ve searched the house for intruders. Sorry for the interruption, dear, but we are glad you’re home.” Morgan kissed her daughter as her father approached them.

  “I’ll bring the rat by your office tomorrow. We’re real proud of you, Layne. The speech at the conference was outstanding.” Her dad kissed her cheek before walking out the front door, leaving her mom behind.

  “Have fun tonight.” She winked and Layne rolled her eyes.

  “Mom, come on. There will be no fun. He’s a virgin, for crying out loud.”

  Morgan blinked and Layne wanted to slap her hand over her mouth. “Well, there are plenty of things virgins can do and do well. Um, goodnight.”

  Layne watched her mother walk down the front steps, shaking her head while she mumbled something Layne couldn’t hear. She closed the door and rested her forehead against it
when she really wanted to bang it with her head. Oh my God, she’d told her mom about Walker being a virgin. At least her mom wouldn’t say anything to her dad . . . or she hoped.

  “You can come out now,” Layne called. She heard Walker squeeze himself out of the bathroom closet.

  “I haven’t done that since I was in high school. Don’t you think you’re a little old to be hiding your—?”

  “My?”

  Walker’s jaw tightened as he looked up at the ceiling searching for words. “Patient?”

  Crap. “You’re right. You are my patient and this needs to stop. I’m not going to take your V card while I’m treating you. That’s totally unethical. I’m so sorry, Walker. From now on, nothing but professionalism.”

  Layne went down on her hands and knees and pulled her bra from under the couch. “But—” Walker started.

  “Nope. It’s wrong for me to take advantage of you. I’ll sleep here tonight. You take my bed.”

  “Take advantage? Layne . . .” Walker started as she hurried past him toward her bedroom.

  “Just let me change and grab a pillow, then the room is all yours.” Oh my God. How could she have done that? She’d practically thrown herself at a patient. It was wrong on so many levels.

  “I’ll take the couch!” Walker yelled after her.

  “Nope, I will. Tonight you sleep in my bed. I insist, especially after a long car trip.”

  And that was how Layne found herself staring at her ceiling in the living room in the middle of the night.

  10

  Walker didn’t sleep a wink. He could smell Layne all over the sheets. He probably should have been worried since he’d had an erection for over four hours and hadn’t taken any medication. Why on earth did he mention being her patient?

  With a frustrated punch to the pillow, he rolled onto his back. The sun was coming up, and he was still up . . . in more ways than one. There was only one solution to this . . . um, problem. Walker got up and headed for the bathroom Layne had told him he could use. He stopped himself from looking in on her in the living room and closed the bathroom door. He turned on the shower, stepped into the freezing cold water, and swore that no matter what it took, Layne would be sleeping with him later that night.

  * * *

  Walker looked up at the three-story new building Layne had parked behind. “I’m on the third floor,” she explained as he slowly got out of the car. He didn’t want to admit it, but his leg was sore.

  “We’ll go in through the back. And you’ll spend the day with me. There’s a television in the staff kitchen you can watch when we’re not doing rehab. I’ll fit you in around patients. Luckily, I don’t have anyone until later this afternoon, so we’ll be able to do a lot this morning.”

  Layne continued to ramble as they took the elevator to the third floor. The elevator opened, and across from it were two glass double doors with LD Physical Therapy written across the glass. Walker could see some patients already waiting inside and easily recognized the ones who were former soldiers. They had a completely different bearing from the others who seemed more, well, snobbish.

  Layne didn’t go in the double doors, though. She turned down the hall and used a key to unlock an unmarked door. Inside was the staff kitchen. A woman was in the middle of pouring coffee and looked up to see who had entered. She was around fifty with light blonde hair and a warm smile.

  “Layne, we weren’t expecting you until later. How was the conference?”

  “Hi, Jill. The conference was great. I actually have a new client I’ll be working with extensively, which is why I came back early.”

  Walker held out his hand. “Owen Selkey.”

  “Nice to meet you, Mr. Selkey. Um, I guess we need paperwork on him?” Jill asked, clearly thrown off by having Layne bring him in through the staff door.

  “I’ll take care of it. Mr. Selkey is a referral who needs intensive treatment, so he’ll be around quite a bit for a couple weeks, so don’t be surprised if you find him relaxing in here sometimes,” Layne said completely professionally. “Come on, Owen. Let’s go to my office and review your rehab plan and then get to work.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Walker smiled kindly at Jill as she took her coffee and returned his smile.

  “You too, Mr. Selkey.”

  Walker followed Layne through a maze of halls to an office in the back. There were no interior windows, but when she opened the door, one whole side was floor-to-ceiling windows.

  “Nice office,” Walker said, taking a seat on a loveseat pressed against the wall next to the door.

  “Thank you.” Layne reached into her desk and pulled out some papers. “Fill these out, then we’ll get started warming up your leg. Leave your name or any identifiable markers blank.”

  Walker took the papers and filled out his medical history while she returned some phone calls. When he placed them on her desk, she reviewed them as she talked to someone named Sienna. Wait, he remembered that name. Was she a cousin maybe?

  “I’m glad the morning sickness is getting a little better,” Layne said, her eyes reading every word he had written down. “I can imagine Ryan is being a little overprotective.”

  Layne looked up and stared at his leg before looking back down at his paperwork. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

  Walker knew something was wrong in an instant. Her eyes went wide as her head came up to stare at him. She swallowed hard. “Family dinner? Tomorrow? No, no, I remember now. Okay, I’ll see you then. Bye.” Layne hung up and dropped her head to the desk. She softly banged it three times before letting out a long breath and sitting back up.

  “Bad news?” Walker asked worriedly. Layne always seemed so put together that it was unnerving to see her upset.

  “Um, I have a family dinner at my grandparents’ tomorrow night that I forgot about.”

  “So?”

  “My grandparents,” Layne said, holding up one finger. “My parents,” she said, holding up another finger. “Eight aunts and uncles,” she said, reaching ten fingers. “And sixteen cousins . . . not counting spouses. And every single one will want to know what happened in Charleston and why I came home a day early. And why my bra was on the floor of the living room.” Layne grimaced.

  “How would they know your bra was in the living room?” Walker asked, thoroughly confused.

  “My mom saw it and kicked it under the couch before my dad could see it.”

  “Okay, so what’s the problem? Your mom thinks you’re a slob.”

  Layne was already shaking her head. “I also, um, had my shirt on backward and inside out, and she caught me freaking out when my dad walked into the bathroom. She put it all together.”

  “Look, we have nothing to hide. I don’t understand the big deal.”

  “Oh, you’ll understand it if we’re discovered.”

  “If what’s discovered?” a strange male voice interrupted.

  Walker was already up and ready to pounce on the man in black slacks and a French blue button-up shirt. His blond hair was cut like a politician’s, which instantly made Walker wary of the man.

  “Aaron!” Layne said suddenly, looking nothing but happy to see the man a couple years younger than Walker’s thirty-four. “I’m so happy you’re here. This is Mr. Selkey. He’s a special case and will require a lot of attention. I was hoping you could work with him when I’m unavailable.”

  She handed him the papers Walker had filled out. “Mr. Selkey, this is Aaron Ornack. He’s a physical therapist who works here and donates time to help with my veterans.

  Aaron smiled up from the paperwork and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you. I see Layne has you all set on a plan, so it’ll be easy for me to jump in and work with you when needed.” Aaron turned away from him after shaking his hand and flashed a smile Walker easily recognized at Layne. “How about dinner tomorrow to talk about your conference? Jill’s been fielding phone calls since your keynote.”

  “I’d love to, but I have a family dinner. We’ll
catch up in the break room.”

  Walker relaxed a little even as the man moved closer to Layne. Her body language was easy for him to read. She wasn’t interested. Aaron propped a hip on her desk and leaned forward, effectively cutting Walker off from their conversation.

  “I was hoping we could talk about our future as well,” he said cryptically before the intercom went off.

  “Layne, your dad is on his way back,” Jill said a moment before her father strode into the room. Walker watched with amusement as Aaron leapt from the desk.

  “Good morning, s-s-sir,” he stuttered. “I better get to work.” And like a coward, he fled the battlefield leaving Layne all to Walker.

  Although, when Mr. Davies turned to look at him, a strategic retreat did seem like a good idea. “You look familiar. Have we met?”

  “Dad,” Layne said, jumping up from her chair. “You know HIPAA and all the regulations. Did you bring Fluffy Puppy?”

  Walker snorted and tried to cover it with a cough. Mr. Davies looked over to him with understanding. “I know, right?”

  “A little girl named him for me, come on!” Layne said, throwing her hands up in the air, and Walker got the impression this conversation came up regularly. “Just call him FP like everyone else does.”

  “I prefer Rat,” Mr. Davies said while sounding completely affectionate. He reached into the satchel he was carrying and unzipped it. A little white fluffy head popped out. “Here’s mommy, Rat.”

  Walker tried not to smile and turned away as Mr. Davies lovingly picked up the little dog who was aptly named. The little dog’s long haired tail wagged happily as his tiny pink tongue darted out and covered Mr. Davies’s cheek with kisses before losing his little mind at the sight of Layne.

  “See you tomorrow for dinner at the farm, right?” Mr. Davies asked reluctantly, handing FP over.