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“Ye-yes, Sir.”
“Be careful with that title, little one. If you say it, I’ll want to hear it from your mouth more often.”
Oh hell. Biting down on my lip, I worked it in and out of my teeth, utterly speechless.
“That gesture ain’t helping, darling.”
I released my lip, keeping my eyes on him. “A long time ago, before shit went sideways, I might have been worthy of a relationship with the two of you.”
“There is something very special about you, Emma. I hate whoever dulled your sparkle, but if you give Lee and me a chance, I think we might have a lot of fun together.”
“I’d like to try.”
“I’m really glad to hear you say that. Be right back.”
Watching Luke get to his feet and stride through the room left me with a strange sense of longing. Whenever he touched me, I wanted to throw my arms around his neck and crawl into his lap. For every thought that flitted into my brain about trusting him and Elias, an equally upsetting one popped in.
They aren’t Shawn. They have treated you better in a few short hours than during the entire relationship with Shawn. It’s okay to trust a little bit.
Things were already looking up.
Chapter 3
Lucas
After settling Emma on the couch with cocoa and a movie, my phone buzzed. I patted her legs, assuring her I’d be back, before walking into the hall.
Glancing at the message it showed the words,I’m outfrom Elias. Drawing in strength I didn’t know I needed, I went upstairs. I handled everything around the house when it came to decision making, finances, and the like but Elias wasn’t spoiled. No. He saved my life. I’d never allow him to forget how grateful I was for him.
My accident on the bronco was one of the top twenty-five worst. Brain bleed aside, there had been severe damage to the rest of my body. By some miracle, I hadn’t broken my neck. My foot got caught in a rope, I had little memory of it, and the injuries worsened when the bronc crushed me against a wall.
Elias told me I was airlifted to Cheyenne Regional where he was working that night. No surgeons had been available to operate. The head of surgery hadn’t been willing to allow Elias to operate solo when it was risky under the best of conditions. He had only been an attending doctor because the board fought him time and time again, refusing to allow him a coveted surgical rotation, but everything changed that night. My best friend clinched the approval in minutes instead of hours. I don’t know how he pushed away emotions, choosing to focus on the task rather than the fact that I was laid on his table, but the surgery was a success.
Months of recovery followed, but Elias never left my side except to go to work. I owed him everything.
Elias could play that card forever if he wanted. He could literally ask for anything. Hell, I’d carry him princess style up the stairs at the end of a long ass day if he wanted me to do so. All of those things aside, Elias worked in a high-stakes, high-pressure environment. If making decisions could remove even one burden a day, I’d do it happily. We weren’t in a clear dynamic, though. Sure, I threatened to spank him a few times, but I never followed through, mistakenly thinking Elias didn’t want the structure. I should have pushed without offering an alternative.
Pausing for a moment, I knocked once on the door before letting myself in. Waiting for permission would start us off on the wrong foot. Seeing Elias in nothing but a towel slung low around his hips caught me off-guard. We had seen each other in limited clothing, obviously, but my intentions were different tonight. Dripping wet from a shower, he ran a hand through his hair. My attention drifted lower.
Lord help me.
If I ever thought I was straight, the sight greeting my eyes would have woken my dumb ass up. Clearing my throat, I brought my gaze back to his face.
“Emma and I talked,” I said, calmer than I felt.
“Do you want a cookie?”
“Is this how you want to start?”
Elias chewed on his bottom lip, a gesture he didn’t do often. He stared at me without speaking, something else he rarely did. Elias talked more than anyone I knew. I allowed him the silence, simply standing nearby, waiting patiently for him to process the question.
“Did you and Emma reach an agreement of sorts?”
“Don’t answer a question with a question, Lee. You know I hate that.” I studied his posture. Arms crossed. Legs together. Chewing on his lip again. It gave me a glimpse into the mind of a worried boy instead of the confident, cocky surgeon I knew. “This is between you and me. Whether or not she’ll agree to our rules is moot.”
“Our rules?” Elias sank down onto the bed. “So, you’re not just going to tell me to pack my shit and leave so you and Emma can ride off into the sunset all happily fucking ever after?”
“Do you think so low of me that you think I’d allow someone else to destroy what we’ve got?”
