Perfect Stranger (Novella) (6 page)

“You’ve got yourself a date,” he’d promised her.

Afterward, they’d enjoyed their lunch at the cabin, cleaned up, and made out a little bit. He grinned at the memory of them sitting on the old, beat-up couch, kissing and groping. He’d ended up aroused to the point of pain. She’d ended up grumpy and annoyed, but he’d left her hanging, too, reminding her that good things come to those who wait.

Then he’d driven her back to the hospital, walked her to the big sliding doors at the entrance, kissed her in front of he didn’t care who, and sent her back inside with a goofy grin on her face. Not that he’d told her that. He figured Dr. Alexa Collins wouldn’t appreciate knowing she’d returned to work well kissed.

Laughing, he’d driven back to Sawyer’s and helped his buddy, who’d rented a Dumpster to get rid of the garbage his father had accumulated. That night, he and Sawyer had shared a couple of beers and watched a movie, and now, the next morning, Luke was implementing the next phase of teaching Alexa how to have fun.

“Where are we going?” she asked as he helped her into his truck.

He glanced at her, discovering yet another facet to her personality. She looked like a happy young woman, not a sexy siren, an uptight doctor, or even the tense daughter he’d seen yesterday. Today she had on a pair of jeans with boots over them and a light sweater, her long hair pulled into a ponytail. She was, in a word, breathtaking.

“It’s a surprise,” he said, controlling his emotions.

She clapped her hands together in excitement, and again he experienced a wave of passion so strong it nearly drowned him. He’d given her that rosy flush in her cheeks from just these plans alone.

“Another picnic?” she asked.

“Among other things,” he said, deliberately vague and
teasing. It wouldn’t do to reveal his intentions. Part of having fun involved spontaneity, something else he sensed she hadn’t had much of in her well-organized, routine life.

“How about a hint?” She curled her legs under her and turned toward him as he pulled out of her driveway.

He laughed. “How about not?”

Her phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket, glanced down, and hit send. The next ten minutes consisted of her talking to someone at the hospital about medications and various patients.

He clenched his jaw and tried not to let his annoyance get the better of him. He respected her job. Hell, who wouldn’t? But they’d planned for this. He didn’t have a huge temper but he was finding he was impatient when it came to anyone or anything cutting into his limited time with Alexa. He had to head home tomorrow for his niece’s birthday party on Saturday. He had only this limited time with a woman he wanted way more from—he knew it already.

Most people would call him crazy. Most, but not his mother, who’d met his father and called it love at first sight. He’d romanced her, she’d fallen hard, they married quickly and stayed together happily. Besides, it wasn’t like he was a child. His sisters were younger than him and they were all married with kids. He’d been through dating and living enough to know Alexa was the one he wanted to test some serious waters with.

How they would do that, with her living in New York and him in Texas, he had no idea. But for now, every minute counted.

He stopped the car down the street from his ultimate destination, not wanting to ruin the surprise, and parked.

By the time Luke climbed out of the truck, Alexa waited by the trunk for him to open it up and reveal his surprise. She hopped up and down, excitement filling her, wondering what he had planned for them today.

“I can’t imagine what you’re like at Christmas,” Luke said, chuckling.

“Christmas was never like this,” she spoke, more to herself than to him.

He turned, one hand propped on the trunk door, eyeing her with a serious look on his face. “Talk.”

She sighed, knowing that, once again, she’d be revealing something more about herself and, oddly enough, wanting to share with him. “Dad didn’t have time for a tree, his mother didn’t care, hence…no tree.”

Luke stiffened. “No tree.” He sounded appalled, his expression disgusted.

“Okay, now you know. I come from a family of Scrooges.” She ducked her head and avoided his gaze. “So if the bloom’s off this rose, you can take me back home now,” she said, wanting to give him an out.

“Hey.” He touched her arm. “I wouldn’t take you home just because you never had a Christmas tree! What kind of jerk do you think I am?”

She managed a laugh. “I was more worried about what you thought of me. But I can assure you that
I
have a Christmas tree. Even if I’m not home much to enjoy it, I make sure I have one.” She was rambling from embarrassment and changed the subject. “So what’s in the trunk?” she asked too brightly.

He stared at her for an uncomfortable minute. It was probably just a second or two but it felt like a full sixty seconds. “Something else I’m now thinking you didn’t get to experience.” He reached into the trunk and pulled out a pair of ice skates.

Brand-new, shiny white skates with purple laces.

“Oh my God.” She didn’t know what got to her more, the gesture or the purple laces. “My favorite color.” The lump in her throat grew bigger, her awareness of just how deep this man went dawning on her.

He just laughed. “Can you skate?” he asked.

“I used to go with a friend when I was younger. Until my
dad found out and made me stop because it was too dangerous.
What happens if a blade cuts your hand? How will you ever operate? Or be a doctor?
” she said in a perfect imitation of her parent.

“How old were you?” Luke asked, his voice gentle.

A bigger lump swelled in her throat. She swallowed hard. “Fourteen.”

“Son of a bitch.” He slammed a hand against the truck. “You should have been out having fun with your friends, not worrying about a future I’m sure you didn’t even think you wanted.”

Her eyes misted. “Did you know what you wanted at that age?”

“Yeah.”

“You did?” she asked.

A grin took hold and a wicked gleam lit his gaze. “Yep. I wanted to get my hands up Lucy Granders’s shirt.”

She chuckled, softly at first, then harder. “You are too much!”

“I’m also deadly serious. I played, but wasn’t thinking about pro football when I was fourteen. And you shouldn’t have had to think about medicine.” He held her hands in his larger ones. “Now, do you want to go ice-skating?”

“Will you hold on to me until I get the hang of it?”

His eyes darkened. “Oh yeah, darlin’. I’ll hold on to you.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “You’re still that fourteen-year-old boy at heart, aren’t you?”

“God, I hope so.”

She grasped his shoulders and pulled him close. “Me, too,” she said, and settled her lips on his.

Sparks ignited immediately. She curled her fingers into his jacket and pressed herself into him. She might have started the kiss but his low groan gave her fair warning he’d be taking over. And he did. His tongue delved deep into her mouth, possessing her, marking her in a way she’d never
forget. She loved his taste, the hint of mint and the dark flavor that was all Luke. Add in the sweet part of him and the impossible was happening.

She was falling hard for this man. Too bad all they had was a few days of time. Because when all was said and done, nothing in her life had changed, her time for a relationship was zero, and Luke Thompson was a good man who lived in the state of Texas.

L
uke didn’t have to guess what Alexa wanted or how she was feeling. She wore her heart on her sleeve, her feelings on her face. And when she reached for him, he knew he was a goner. If he let the kiss go on, they’d end up on the ground, not on the ice. As much as he wanted her, he had plans for her first.

With more willpower than he thought he had, he broke the kiss. “Skating, darlin’.”

Eyes glazed, she looked up at him and nodded. “Skating.”

“You gonna be steady out there?” he asked, his hands on her forearms, keeping her upright.

“No, but you already said you’d hold on to me.” She grinned and stepped back. “Do I get to try on my skates now?”

He nodded and walked with her to the ice rink, already knowing that they fit. This time he’d had to go to the source, her best friend, Cara Hartley, a Serendipity police officer who Luke found at her home. And it hadn’t been easy to get her address. When he got there, she looked him up and
down, placed her hands on her hips, and divulged Alexa’s shoe size. “I have a gun and I know how to use it,” she then said. “Break her heart and you’ll answer to me.”

“Message received,” he told her. “I like how you two look out for each other.” He inclined his head. “Well done. And glad to see you’re feelin’ better.”

The big bad cop’s expression softened. “Thanks.”

“Also glad your man came around,” Luke said, pushing his luck a little further.

Her eyes narrowed.

“And now I’m getting out while the getting’s good.” With a wink, he’d taken off, heading next to the small store located in the skating rink in the next town over.

Sawyer joined him for the ride, laughing all the way there—and back. Luke ignored him, figuring he’d have some chuckles of his own when the other man found his woman.

Now, Luke turned back to
his
female and watched her lacing up the skates.

“They fit!” she exclaimed, her excitement like that of his niece’s on Christmas.

“But they’re new, so you’ll probably end up with blisters,” he warned her. “We’ll take it easy.” He stood and held out a hand, which she readily grabbed.

A few minutes later, they were on the ice. He wished he could say she was a natural. She wasn’t. But what she lacked in skill, she more than made up for in both enthusiasm and a willingness to keep getting back up—no matter how many spills she took. And unfortunately for her, she took plenty. Her ass was going to be sore tomorrow, which meant he’d have to give her some TLC today.

No big chore.

On what felt to Luke like her hundredth tumble, he caught her before her butt hit the ice. “And we’re all finished for today,” he said.

“I can go more,” she said through chattering teeth.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and steered them
toward the edge of the rink. “If you won’t admit to freezing your ass off, I will. I’m cold and I need your body heat to warm me up.”

Her eyes darkened, but she didn’t give up that easily. “One more circle around the rink.”

At that moment, Luke cursed her father for instilling that need to prove herself in his daughter. “No. You’re freezing and your butt cheeks hurt like hell, but I’ll bet you’ve never given up on anything in your life. If I don’t call it a day, we’ll be out here while you try to prove something to me you don’t have to prove. This was supposed to be fun, remember?”

She blushed. “I…yeah, I remember. And I did have fun!” From the sparkle in her eyes, he couldn’t help but believe her.

“Me, too. Now just a short drive away, we have a cabin all to ourselves where the heat’s pumping and the bed’s warm. So you tell me, do you want to keep on bruising your pretty behind, or let me ease those aches and pains in a way that I promise you’ll like?” His own blood pumped faster at the notion. He raised an eyebrow and waited for her to decide.

“Well, when you put it that way…” She grasped his hand. “Last one to the truck is a rotten egg.” She took off, but Luke wasn’t about to let her fall again, so he grabbed her around the waist and carried her off the ice, listening to her shrieks of
put me down
the entire way.

*   *   *

A
lexa had a blast on the ice. Sure, she sucked at skating. Who knew that it wasn’t like riding a bike, easy to pick up again? Not that her father encouraged that either—
Concussions are dangerous, Alexa
. But Luke never lost patience, he just held out a hand, helped her back onto her feet, and off they went again, him holding her tight in his strong arms until she was ready to try going solo again. She inevitably fell onto her butt again.

By the end, her feet hurt like hell, she probably had those blisters he’d mentioned, and the cold was setting in, and he’d still had to drag her off the ice. “Luke?” she asked, as he drove them from the rink to the cabin.

“Yeah?”

“I loved every minute,” she said, wanting him to know exactly what kind of gift he’d given her.

“Yeah?” A smile pulled at his lips.

“Absolutely.”

He parked in front of the cabin and cut the engine, got out, and met her on the passenger side, opening her door.

Before she could hop out, he braced a hand on the roof over her head. “You know you didn’t need to prove anything to me. I didn’t care if you could skate or not. I just wanted you to enjoy the day.” His serious gaze told her he was worried she’d pushed herself too hard.

“I did. Every last minute. Even when I fell on my ass,” she said with a grin.

He scowled at her comment. “You won’t be feeling so generous about that tomorrow.”

She smoothed the frown lines on either side of his luscious mouth with her fingers. “I will if you take care of me like you promised,” she said, her voice deep and husky.

Next thing she knew, she was back in his arms as he carried her to the front door. He smelled delicious, a combination of outdoors and sexy man, and she tangled her fingers in his hair as he somehow worked the key, never putting her down as he let them in.

“What’d you have to promise Sawyer to get this cabin again?” she asked as she kicked off her shoes and let them fall to the floor.

He laughed, the deep sound rumbling through her. “Just my firstborn.” On his kidding words, his gaze snared hers and her breath caught at the intensity she saw there.

Luke and kids. The idea, once planted, no matter how lightly, buzzed around her brain. Alexa loved kids, worked
with them when she could, because as patients, they were far more fun than cranky adults. Hence her youth center hours and free medical care for them. She was beginning to think she’d never have a family of her own. With one joking comment, this man caused a yearning deep in her soul.