by Debra Elise
He didn’t make her wait. She heard the rustle of the condom package being ripped open and watched as he sheathed himself. He entered her and she felt her orgasm begin to build again. She moaned and opened herself wider to the man who now owned her body.
She watched as he thrust himself into her again and again, building yet another orgasm.
“Lara!” He locked gazes with her as they each came apart.
No words were spoken for quite a while. He’d wrapped himself around her as their bodies cooled and their breathing settled into a shared rhythm. She must have dozed because the next thing she remembered was a delicious floating sensation as he roamed her body with his hands and mouth as they once again exploded in each other’s arms.
CHAPTER 9
Luke climbed onto his custom motorcycle and sat for a few minutes in Lara’s driveway. He secured his helmet and rode through her neighborhood calling himself all kinds of fool for leaving her bed after one of the best, if not the best, nights of his life.
He’d left wanting to say so many things, but lost the courage to man up. He couldn’t get a grip on the vastly different signals his head and heart were sending out. He wasn’t sure why he had to be such a bastard. Not with her. But the need to give his standard parting after a night spent with a woman compelled him.
When he woke her with kisses along her spine, he had every intention of letting her know he wanted more than just one night, that maybe they could master the friends with benefits theme. For the first time in a long time he wanted to call a woman and make plans to get together for something more than to scratch an itch.
He looked down at his gauges before he made the final turn home and T.S.’s words came rushing back to him. He did see himself in the team leader role and he needed to make better decisions and follow through on the promise he’d made him the other day.
When he got home, he’d park the bike in his garage and leave it there till he retired. As much as he hated being told what to do, he’d stop thinking of himself first and grow the hell up.
He never saw the kid in the fast and furious lookalike pull out in front of him. If pressed, he’d say he heard the bass of the high-end sound system in the background of his thoughts, but did not see the purple wanna-be pull out onto the river road and send him tumbling onto the pavement a half mile from home.
After the impact and while he was sliding on his left side along the blacktop, Lara’s pouty lips and heavy-lidded green eyes banked with desire flashed into his mind. He’d told her he had an early flight and needed to leave. The hurt look she tried to cover up had gutted him.
And now he lay broken on the side of a road full of regret and could-have-beens. His last thought before he blacked out was of her. Not his team, not his dad who never left the ranch to watch him play, and certainly not the mother who’d left him when he was a boy and betrayed him when he was man, but Lara.
It seemed fitting somehow that a life spent avoiding commitment was going to end full of hope to have been the opposite.
He came to in the back of an ambulance, sirens wailing, as a burly and bearded man calmly assessed his injuries.
“Probable cracked ribs. Left side. Contusions to the hands and swelling on the left knee. He’s breathing on his own. Pulse steady and alert. Look like he’s up from his nap. Hey there, buddy. We’re on the way to Harmony. Best ER staff in the state. They’ll take good care of you.”
Luke tried to lift his head and failed. He managed a nod at the EMS technician before he once again passed out.
The second time he came around, he was naked, cold, and pissed. Someone was poking at his left knee and it felt like a thousand needles were being jabbed into him. A nurse lifted his arm and expertly put a hospital gown on him. The doctor who was checking out his knee now stood at his head and told him the good news.
Bruised ribs, a concussion, and a banged-up knee as well as numerous patches of road rash. All he knew was that he wouldn’t be making the flight to Ft. Worth and he was in a shitload of trouble.
“I’m supposed to be on a flight with my teammates. Could someone call the Outlaws’ front office and tell them I’ve been hit by a bus while walking an old lady across the street?” No one was amused at his joke.
“Mr. Garibaldi?”
“Luke.”
“Luke, is there someone else you’d like us to call?”
Once again Lara’s face flashed in his mind. But he’d bet his now trashed motorcycle she wouldn’t be taking that call.
“No. My family’s not local.”
“Okay, someone will call your work, let them know you won’t be making that flight. Right now our priority is to get you into X-ray, check out those ribs and your knee. Sound good?”
“What about the guy who hit me?”
“Young kid, high on meth. He has minor injuries and will be on his way to jail after he gets stitched up.”
Luke sighed. Well, at least no one died. The tabloids were going to have a field day with this. The kid would become notorious by noon and he’d be out for the rest of the season, or . . . he didn’t want to think about any other possibility.
Shit, it had only been a little over a day since he’d hit his walk-off home run, and less than two hours since he held heaven in his arms, and here he was laid out with a bum knee and wearing a goddamn dress.
Yeah, he was lucky to be alive and after the X-rays he learned he only had a torn meniscus. Only. Like that made it better. No surgery, right now. But he’d need rehab and rest if he wanted to play again before the end of the season.
It was pretty laughable to think the injury could have occurred during a game. One misstep or a collision at the plate could have done the same thing to his knee.
Caris’s words from last night came back to haunt him. The crap he went through with Syndi hadn’t humiliated him, but this would. His own stupidity overruled the promise he’d made to the Outlaw organization, his teammates. He’d always lived his life on his own terms, writing and breaking his own rules, taking his life and his career for granted.
Sore and achy in all the right places after her epic night with Luke, Lara was more than conflicted. She was pissed off at herself and a little bit at him. He’d fed her what she knew had to be a standard line. “I have an early flight . . .” She shouldn’t be hurt by it, but she was.
Luke had given her a night to lock away and sigh over, and one to regret she’d agreed to and promised would only happen once. Still thinking about what they’d done, she shuffled over to her coffeepot. While it noisily perked, she grabbed her cell and—although she’d never admit it out loud—secretly hoped Luke had texted her. The only notification on her phone since yesterday was a voice mail from Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Lara’s hand shook as she ended the message she’d been waiting days for. They wanted to see her for an in-person interview. She couldn’t wait to tell her best friends.
If she got the job she would have to tell the families she worked with that she was leaving. Oh my lord, it was going to break her heart to leave her favorites, but she could do it. This was the change she needed, and bolstered by a night of mind-blowing sex, she felt confident this was meant to be. Besides she’d have until the end of summer to figure it all out.
She hoped it was enough time to sell her house, pack up her grandparents’ meager belongings, and stash away money for moving costs by picking up some extra hours at work. She figured if she sold the house right away and bunked in with one of her best friends—probably Noel since Kelsey was now living with Maverick—she might be able to save enough to put a down payment on a place in the sought-after neighborhood next to the Seattle hospital. Just barely.
Since grad school Lara wanted to work at Seattle Children’s. Job openings were rare but now that her grandparents had passed and her brother had moved to California, she no longer had family ties to the area. Her friends were her family now.
Her parents were wanderers. Phone calls were sporadic and often only made to ask
for a little money, just to tide them over till they found a new job. And even though she made a good salary, she had student loans to pay off and her grandparents’ medical bills to cover when Medicare wouldn’t quite get there. She had a small emergency fund, but that was it.
She grabbed her phone and called the realtor Kelsey had recommended. They made an appointment for the next day to meet at the house and go over the listing paperwork. This was happening.
Excited and a whole lot scared, she couldn’t wait to tell Kelsey and Noel. They had made plans last week to meet up for an early dinner tonight at Club Cortana.
After a day spent working with one of her favorite patients, she arrived early and was greeted by the owner, Reese Kincaid, whom they’d known in college.
“Hi, Lara. I was happy to see your name on the reservation list. I can always count on you, Kelsey, and Noel to class the place up for me when you’re here.” She gave Lara a quick hug and showed her to their table, waving off the harried hostess.
“Wow, business is good so early.” Lara sat down in the chair against the wall so she could better see her friends when they arrived.
“There used to be a time we were lucky to have five tables before six. But now with the Outlaws in town, we rarely have any lulls. I’ve had to hire another line cook and five servers in the last month. Business is great.”
Lara raised her water glass. “I’ll drink to that, congratulations.”
“Thanks. And the first round is on the house. Do you want to order before the other two arrive?”
“Sure. I’ll go out on limb and order the J. Lohr chardonnay for all of us.”
Reese chuckled. “That’s a small limb. How about I send over a bottle, and when they’ve settled in I’ll send the server over for your dinner choices?”
“Deal. And thank you for the wine. But you’ll never make a profit if you’re always giving away free drinks.”
Reese was still chuckling as she hurried away to greet some new guests, and Lara sat back in her chair and took in her surroundings. She’d always loved this old building. It was built during the heyday of the logging industry, and all subsequent owners had kept the original layout intact. When Cortana opened, the locals were worried that Reese would modernize it.
Instead she enhanced it and added a Tuscan twist to the furnishings and fixtures to create a soothing ambience that became a fast hit with the locals. Deep earth tones with splashes of lemon yellow and sage warmed the walls. Lara was pondering using a similar palette once she had a new place in Seattle when Kelsey and Noel walked in. The reminder of her possible move made her palms sweat at the realization she’d be leaving the almost daily presence of these two women.
The wine steward arrived at the same time they sat down so she was saved from making conversation until after he presented the bottle and poured them each a glass. She lifted hers to her friends. “To us.”
“To us,” Noel and Kelsey echoed.
“So what’s the occasion?” Kelsey waved her hand toward the wine bottle.
“Reese. She’s treating us to a bottle tonight.”
“I knew I liked her,” Noel teased as she took a second sip.
“So, do we splurge and get the yummy lobster ravioli or are we going for healthy tonight?” Kelsey raised an eyebrow at Lara.
She was used to Lara being the downer of the group when it came to unhealthy food choices. But not tonight. Tonight was about celebrating.
“Definitely the ravioli. And the Parmesan garlic toast,” Lara answered.
She watched as Kelsey and Noel first looked at each other, then at Lara. Noel even went so far as to put her hand on Lara’s forehead. “You feeling okay? When was the last time you ordered pasta?”
“And bread,” Kelsey added.
Lara couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Yes, I feel okay. Better than okay. We’re celebrating.” She lifted her glass and held it out. “I received a call today. Seattle Children’s wants to see me in two weeks. They have an opening in the pediatric unit. The one I’ve wanted for a while.”
Stunned silence was quickly followed by squeals of joy and “how come you didn’t tell us about this sooner?” and “when did this happen?”
Lara felt tears well up and she had to take a moment. And then another. They were so happy for her. But she would be leaving them. And that would soon sink in after they gave it a moment. Damn, and Kelsey had just moved back home a few months ago.
“If I get the job, it starts right after Labor Day. They had a position open up just this week. A therapist who’s out on maternity leave decided not to come back. They have a temp in her spot but want someone with more training, now that the position will be full time.”
She looked from one to the other. She grabbed one of their hands and squeezed. “Thank you so much for being supportive. It was a hard decision, but now that Grandma and Grandpa are gone and . . . well, you know I’m not happy at the clinic. Haven’t been since they brought in the bean counter. I . . . oh, no you don’t, Noel. You put that lip back where it belongs.”
“I can’t help it. Whenever I’m sad it just pops out on its own. This sucks. I hate being happy and sad at the same time.”
Kelsey gave Lara’s hands a hard squeeze. “Well, you know what this means. You’re just going to have to get used to flying back on the weekends. I can’t plan my wedding without you. I mean, Noel has most of it planned but you need to be here for the big stuff. Picking out your dresses and shoes and . . .”
“The bachelorette party,” Noel said. “My vote is for the male revue club.”
Kelsey sent her a narrow-eyed glare. “Noel, you know very well that Mav would crash that party. We don’t need the paparazzi sniffing that story out. No, we’ll fly to Seattle and go to one of their clubs.” She grinned and took a big sip of her drink.
“That’s what I love about you, Kelsey. You think of all the cons first and then come up with the perfect plan.”
Lara noticed they’d all finished their glasses so she refilled them and toasted again. “To Kelsey’s bachelorette party.”
The three women clinked their glasses and all promptly burst out crying. So much for being happy. Noel was the first to recover. “We need to stop this. She’s not leaving tonight, for Pete’s sake. Let’s get a grip, take a breath, and order our ravioli.”
The server had rushed over when she noticed them all bawling, and they ended reassuring her that everything was fine. After they ordered the meal and the bread and one more bottle of wine, Kelsey delivered a sucker punch.
“I talked to Mav before I drove over here. He says it looks like Luke will spend a couple of days in the hospital. He received a concussion, scratches, and bruised ribs, but the knee injury is going to put him on the disabled list for at least two if not three months. He might be out for the season.”
“What!?” Lara’s hands began to shake and she felt like she was going to throw up. “When? I mean he was just . . .”
“Oh, didn’t you hear? I guess with everything going on, I just assumed I’d already told you both or you’d heard about it on the news. Luke was hit by a kid on meth early this morning. Um, Lara, are you sure you’re okay? You look green.”
Lara had to get it together. She hadn’t yet told them about spending the night with Luke. A night that she’d remember forever, and now he was in the hospital with a possible career-ending injury.
She’d spent the day talking herself out of a snit. She was a big girl; she knew it was just one night. His reputation spoke for him and she hadn’t expected anything more, but . . . what had happened last night had been more. A man didn’t make love to a woman like that, then just walk away. At least not in her limited experience. And there was the difference between them. Why she’d never done one-nighters and he lived by them.
Throughout the day she’d tried to keep at bay the thought that for him it hadn’t been all that special. Just another night of great sex where he could move on without any messy emotions.
Kelsey
made it sound like he was going to be okay, thank god.
Lara took a sip of her water and a couple of deep breaths. “I’m fine. The news just came out of left field, you know?” She cringed at the bad pun. “His injuries don’t sound life-threatening. Sounds like he was pretty lucky.”
“That sucks,” Noel said. “All that yummy manliness is just going to be sitting around his house bored to death.” She looked pointedly at Lara.
“What’s that look for?” Lara asked. “I mean, I’m sorry Luke was injured, but I’m not going to offer myself up to be his nursemaid or anything.” Images of her giving him a sponge bath flashed in her mind. Now that she knew what he looked like naked, it made the possibility more enticing.
Noel was just a tad tipsy, so Lara didn’t take her seriously until Kelsey made an odd statement.
“Well, I don’t think he has anyone to help him out at home. I’m sure the hospital will help him set up a day nurse to come over. But the unfortunate part is that with Manny, the head trainer, out on paternity leave, that means the only one on staff qualified to rehab Luke’s knee is Nelson.”
“What’s so unfortunate about that?” Lara asked.
“It seems a couple of months ago Luke had a minor muscle pull in his shoulder, and the assistant trainer gave him a shot of something to help the muscle recover.”
Lara and Noel looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. “I don’t get it. What’s so bad about that?” Noel asked.
“It was in the wrong shoulder.”
“Uh, oh,” Lara whispered.
“Yeah. Luke went off on the guy. Threw a few things around the room and the guy won’t work with him. Ever.”
“And this means, what?”
Lara was glad Noel asked the question. She didn’t dare say a word. She could see the wheels turning in Kelsey’s head and she didn’t like it. Hopefully Kelsey wasn’t waiting for her to offer to be Luke’s physical therapist. There were plenty in town who were qualified to work with a pro athlete.
